Starting a Business in Dominican Republic with Virtual Numbers

You could also set it up so that the auto attendant greets your callers and then routes them to voice mail, a dedicated customer service agent, or another phone number of your choice.

Dominican RepublicThinking about starting a business in the Dominican Republic? Whether you’ll be exporting goods, outsourcing manufacturing, or setting up a physical office, you’ll need a means of communicating internationally with your local contacts and potential customers.

As you explore the Dominican Republic marketplace, keep the following business communication tips in mind.

  • Communicating with local authorities — According to the World Bank Group’s Doing Business project, starting a business in the Dominican Republic requires: obtaining and publishing a business name, paying an incorporation tax, registering your business with the Chamber of Commerce, obtaining an RNC identification number, filing for the National Taxpayers Registry, and registering local employees with both the Department of Labor and the Social Security Office. Having a Dominican Republic virtual phone number as you start the business is useful in communicating with local authorities. Not only will they need your phone number as part of standard contact information, if they need to speak with you or return your calls, it will be much easier for them to call a local Dominican Republic call forwarding number than an international one.
  • Communicating with your local business partners — Having a virtual phone number for the Dominican Republic does several things: it makes it easier for locals to contact you by removing barriers like international long distance; it shows you’re serious about establishing a local presence; and it allows you to be reached from virtually anywhere in the world. Whether you’re visiting the country and introducing yourself to potential partners or need to speak with your contacts while outside of the country, all they need is your main Dominican Republic phone number. All you need to do is configure its “ring to” number to ring to the phone of your choice wherever in the world you may happen to be.
  • Communicating with local customers — You’ll continue to use your virtual Dominican Republic phone number once your business is up and running (or you can get a second one specifically for customer phone calls). In this case, you’ll need a Dominican Republic virtual number for receiving customer inquiries. Depending on the expected call volume and how your business is set up, you may want to route your incoming calls to your main office or a third party call center. You could also set it up so that the auto attendant greets your callers and then routes them to voice mail, a dedicated customer service agent, or another phone number of your choice. Either way, your callers will dial what appears to be a local or toll free number for the Dominican Republic — yet their calls will be forwarded international to the phone number you’ve designated.

Setting up a business in the Dominican Republic requires the ability to communicate with local authorities, partners, and, ultimately, your customers. Give your business an advantage by ordering Dominican Republic virtual phone numbers early in the process.

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Build a Local Presence in Costa Rica with International Call Forwarding

If you give your Costa Rica customers your US phone number, they may hesitate to call you because they’re worried about the potential cost of the call.

Costa Rica MapThe United States is Costa Rica’s largest trading partner, with US imports accounting for about 47 percent of Costa Rica’s imports. If you’re thinking of doing business in the Costa Rican market, consider taking it one step further by using international call forwarding numbers.

What is an International Call Forwarding Number?
Costa Rica, like just about every other country in the world, has its own “local” phone numbers and toll free numbers. In order to dial out of the country, callers need to enter the county’s exit code followed by the country code of the country they are calling. Plus, if they’re calling a toll free number for the other country, the toll free number won’t work. Not only that, the other country may use a different numbering convention, further adding to callers’ confusion.

That just covers the logistics of making an international phone call; it doesn’t address another factor: cost. If you give your Costa Rica customers your US phone number, they may hesitate to call you because they’re worried about the potential cost of the call.

An international call forwarding number solves all of the problems listed above (and delivers a variety of additional benefits). To your callers in Costa Rica, international call forwarding numbers look like any other Costa Rica phone number. You can choose either a toll free Costa Rica call forwarding number or a national one with the 506 area code. Your callers won’t need to worry about exit codes, country codes, or costs. They’ll simply pick up the phone and call your business.

Advantages of Using a Costa Rica International Call Forwarding Number
International call forwarding numbers can deliver several important advantages such as:

Add credibility to your business. Your business will look more professional if it has a toll free number.
Give your business the appearance of being local. If you have a Costa Rica call forwarding number listed on your website, products, and marketing materials, your business will look as though it has an established local presence in the country. This can instill greater confidence in consumers who might otherwise hesitate to place an order with an out-of-country supplier.
Eliminate concerns about calling an international company. Why put up barriers to communications when you could simply order a pay-as-you-go international call forwarding number? Our rates are extremely competitive, and you can order buckets of minutes with an optional rollover option without a contract.

Finally, international call forwarding numbers for Costa Rica are extremely flexible. Whether you want the calls routed to a central call center, to your main office, your mobile phone, to voice mail, or anywhere else in the world, you can easily designate – and change – your destination phone number.

Exporting your goods and services to Costa Rica could be a smart business move. Make it even smarter by establishing a local presence with international call forwarding numbers. How will you put international call forwarding to good use?

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Establishing Your Business in Colombia with Virtual Phone Numbers

Simply sign up for a Colombia virtual phone number online, pick the number of minutes you’d like to have included each month, enter your ring-to number, pick any optional features that appeal to you (such as optional call recording), and share your new virtual phone number with your contacts, partners, and potential customers in Colombia.

Medellin ColombiaDid you know that the Republic of Colombia is Latin America’s fourth largest economy?

With a population of 46 million, Colombia has the third largest population. In 2012, the United States entered into a free trade agreement with Colombia, making the country one of the largest export markets in South America.

If you’re thinking of entering the Colombia export market, consider establishing your business locally with a Colombia virtual phone number.

Why Build a Local Business Presence in Colombia?

According to Export.gov, Colombians look favorably on US businesses, appreciating the superior quality and reliability of US products and services. While this is good and potentially gives your business an advantage over exporters from other countries, having Colombia virtual phone numbers can bring even more advantages.

Some of the advantages of Colombia virtual phone numbers include:

• Virtual phone numbers make it appear as if you have an office located in Colombia. This can signal that you’re serious about serving consumers in the country as well as instill confidence.

• Virtual numbers make it easy for consumers to contact you. Whether you choose a toll free virtual phone number for Colombia or choose local virtual numbers for Barranquilla or Cali, callers in Colombia will be able to reach you internationally without concerns about international long distance.

• Virtual phone numbers are flexible. The beauty of using virtual phone numbers to route callers from Colombia to your US office is the flexibility that comes with this type of phone service. For example, you could route your incoming calls from Colombia to customer service representatives who speak Spanish. If you’ll personally handle incoming inquiries, you could route the calls to your home office, mobile phone, main office line, and so forth as needed. Additional routing features, such as time of day routing, are also available.

• Virtual phone numbers add credibility to your business. If you run a small import/export business but want your business to appear more professional and credible, getting a toll free or local Colombia virtual phone number can make your business appear larger than it actually is. Use the auto attendant to route callers to different departments or set up a professional greeting. With our international call forwarding service, your Colombia virtual phone numbers have PBX-like features.

• Virtual numbers are available on a month-to-month basis with no activation fees, no contracts, and no termination penalties. Pay as you go and cancel at any time.

What Do You Need to Establish a Virtual Phone Number in Colombia?

It’s more about what you don’t need. You don’t need to rent a local business office in Colombia, you don’t need to travel to Colombia to hire staff, you don’t need an expensive phone system… Simply sign up for a Colombia virtual phone number online, pick the number of minutes you’d like to have included each month, enter your ring-to number, pick any optional features that appeal to you (such as optional call recording), and share your new virtual phone number with your contacts, partners, and potential customers in Colombia.

How have you used virtual phone numbers in Colombia or any other country?

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Kenya Virtual Phone Numbers

Your Kenya international virtual numbers will remove barriers to calling you.

Nairobi Traffic KenyaKenya has one of the strongest market-based economies in East Africa, making it attractive to many businesses.

If you’re thinking of expanding your market into Kenya, international virtual numbers can play an important role in your expansion strategy. Below are a few examples of how you might use Kenya international virtual numbers.

Start Networking with Local Partners

You’ll likely make a few in-country visits as you explore the Kenyan market. You may need to tour local distribution centers or meet with local suppliers. By having a Kenya international virtual number printed on your business cards, you are giving your potential partners a convenient, local way to contact you at any time — even if you are located on the other side of the world.

Your Kenya international virtual numbers will remove barriers to calling you. For example, if you give your Kenyan partners your phone number for your office in Indonesia, they may balk at calling you because the number looks different from what they’re accustomed to dialing — or they may worry about how much it will cost to call you.

In contrast, they won’t blink an eye if you give them a local or toll free number for Kenya.

Use Your Kenya International Virtual Number to Make Cheap International Calls When Visiting Kenya

While you’re in Kenya, you’ll likely need to call home occasionally. Rather than dealing with an international operator or calling card, simply change your virtual number’s “ring to” number to the phone number you’d like to call, and then dial the local Kenya virtual number. You’ll gain access to our PSTN network — and our low international calling rates.

Set Up Your Office to Receive Customer Calls from Kenya

Finally, once you’re ready to begin marketing your goods and services to the Kenyan marketplace, you’ll want to order a toll free international virtual number for your customers to call when they have a question, want to place an order, or require technical support. Again, you can set the virtual number’s ring to number to just about any phone number in the world. This could be your main office, a third party call center, or the home phone number for your home-based customer service representative who will be handling incoming calls from Kenya.

These are but a few ways you can use international virtual numbers in Kenya. How have you used virtual numbers in your business?

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Expanding into Cambodia with International Toll Free Numbers

Expanding into foreign markets such as Cambodia is a great way to expand your business, and an international toll free number can play an important role in reaching your target market.

Cambodia Phnom PenhThinking about expanding into Cambodia? International toll free numbers are a fast, easy, and cheap way to establish a business presence in Cambodia as well as facilitate communications between contacts in the country and your main office located elsewhere.

Here’s what you need to know about Cambodia international toll free numbers.

1. Your main toll free number won’t work in Cambodia — You may already have a toll free number for your business, but it won’t necessarily work in international markets. Thus, you will need an international toll free number specific to Cambodia. That number will then use international remote call forwarding to forward your Cambodian phone calls to your designated office, call center, or mobile phone.

2. International toll free numbers for Cambodia are local to Cambodia but ring elsewhere — When you order an international toll free number for Cambodia, it will have the same format as any other toll free number in Cambodia. It won’t look like a foreign phone number. Thus, callers won’t hesitate to dial it — even if the number actually routes them to London, Hong Kong, Canada, or New Zealand. Your Cambodian callers will not incur any charges for using your international toll free number to reach you.

3. Local ring tones help your international toll free numbers “sound” local, too — Not only do different countries have different dialing conventions, the ringing sound that callers hear can vary from one country to the next. Local ringtones are available to help ensure that your international toll free number sounds the way it should.

4. You can set up your destination number to virtually any phone number in the world — Whether you’re located in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, South America, Africa, or a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, you can set up your toll free international phone number from Cambodia to ring to virtually any phone number in the world. You can change the destination number as needed, too. This is particularly convenient if you work out of several offices, plan on later outsourcing customer service to a call center, or want to set up “time of day” routing.

5. You can pay as you go with no contracts — We offer pay-as-you-go, contract-free international toll free numbers. Since there’s no contract, you can cancel at any time. You can also adjust your plan each month to reflect your expected call volume or order optional rollover minutes.

Expanding into foreign markets such as Cambodia is a great way to expand your business, and an international toll free number can play an important role in reaching your target market.

How have you used international toll free numbers to expand internationally?

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Austria Call Forwarding Numbers are a Great Idea

Once your business is established, you’ll have customers in Austria who will need a convenient means of reaching your office.

Salzburg Fortress HohensalzburgDoing Business in Austria: Call Forwarding Numbers are a Great Idea

Austria is a landlocked nation in Central Europe surrounded by Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Austria has a melting pot of citizens and a population of well over 8 million.

It is also one of the most stable — and richest — countries in the European Union, making it an attractive European country for businesses looking to expand into the European market. If you’re thinking of doing business in Austria, you’ll need to register your company with the appropriate authorities as well as set up your business communications. While there’s a lot to consider, one area not to be overlooked involves setting up Austria call forwarding numbers.

What are Austria Call Forwarding Numbers?

Austria has a highly developed and efficient telecommunications system. Its 8.5 million people use a combination of landline phones (roughly 3.4 million as of 2011) and mobile phones (more than 13 million as of 2011).

If you want people in Austria to be able to call your main office in another country, you have two choices: provide them with your main office number and hope they’re OK with dialing an international phone number or provide them with Austria call forwarding numbers that are local or toll free calls to them.

Austria Virtual Number Database

Austria Virtual Number Number Database

Austria call forwarding numbers look like local numbers to Austrians. For example, a national Austria call forwarding number will have the 720 area code, just like any other phone number local to Austria.

Your callers in any of Austria’s nine provinces (Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tirol, Vorarlberg, and Vienna) will feel as though they are calling a company within their own nation.

Meanwhile, your Austria call forwarding number will actually ring to the phone of your choice. That phone could be your office phone in Germany, Hungary, Italy, or Switzerland. It could be to a call center in Slovenia or Slovakia.

It could be to your mobile phone while you’re traveling on business to Liechtenstein. It could be to a virtual assistant’s home office in Czech Republic. The options are virtually unlimited.

The Benefits of Establishing Austria Call Forwarding

As you’re establishing you business presence in Austria, having local phone numbers shows that you are serious about your venture. You’ll interact with a variety of individuals initially ranging from bankers and tax authorities to property managers, public relations personnel, business partners, and more.

While calling you shouldn’t be a hardship to these individuals, they may hesitate to call an overseas number. Having an Austria call forwarding number removes this barrier.

Once your business is established, you’ll have customers in Austria who will need a convenient means of reaching your office. Austria call forwarding numbers are the best way.

Not only will they help your customers avoid making a costly international phone call, they’ll also inspire confidence in your business as it’s clear that you have a presence in Austria based solely on the local phone number.

From establishing a business in Austria to actively serving customers in the country, Austria call forwarding numbers are a great idea.

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Doing Business in Israel | Diverting Your Virtual Phone Numbers

Whether your customer service agents are located in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, South America, or Australia no longer matters.

If you do business in Israel, virtual phone numbers can play a starring role in your communications strategy.

Haifa Israel

Using an Israel virtual phone number, you can:

  • Establish a local presence in Israel
  • Divert phone calls from Israeli callers to any telephone, cellphone, fixed line, fax machine, PBX systems, or VoIP phone line in the world
  • Change your ring-to number on the fly

What are Israel Virtual Phone Numbers?

Our Israel virtual phone numbers are a special type of call forwarding number that look and act like local or toll free numbers in Israel yet ring to phones in other countries.

For example, if you have a graphic design business based in UK but would like to target Israel Virtual Number Databasecustomers in Israel, you could publish your Israel virtual number on your website and program its “ring-to” number so that all calls are routed to your UK office.

To the customer in Israel, the number looks like it originates in the country. With local ringtones, your Israel virtual number will also sound like it originates in the country. Toll free, national, Beer Sheva, Haifa, Hasharon, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv virtual numbers are available.

Benefits of Using Virtual Phone Numbers in Israel

Using virtual phone numbers in Israel allows you to reach a wider Israeli audience without the expense of establishing a physical presence in the country. Since you can route your calls to virtually any phone in the world, you can also centralize your call center operations.

Whether your customer service agents are located in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, Israel Tel AvivNorth America, South America, or Australia no longer matters. Simply configure the destination ring-to number, market your Israel virtual phone numbers, and begin communicating with callers.

How to Get Started with Israel Virtual Phone Numbers

Signing up for an Israel virtual phone number is easy, and month-to-month plans are available.

  • Start by selecting your desired Israel virtual phone number.
  • Choose your desired phone type (national, toll free, or city specific).
  • Enter your destination country and phone number (this can be changed later).
  • Choose your plan based on the monthly allotment of minutes you’d like each month.
  • Add any optional features you’d like such as optional rollover minutes or call recording.
  • Add your plan to your cart and check out. It’s that easy!

Note that our Israel virtual number plans are offered with no contracts. Whether you need a virtual number for a temporary project or a long-term expansion, you can use our service on a month-to-month basis with no penalties. Cancel at any time or scale your plan up or down as your call volume changes.

How are you using virtual phone numbers in your global business?

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Using Virtual Numbers in Jamaica

Simply change the ring to number to the desired international phone number, call the Jamaica toll free number, and enjoy speaking with your contact at a low and predictable rate.

Jamaica Negril, sunset beachDo you do business in Jamaica from another country? Whether you sell products or services in Jamaica, virtual numbers are highly recommended.

With a Jamaican virtual phone number, your customers and local business contacts have a no-cost, familiar, and easy-to-use means of contacting your office, call center, or technical support team.

Toll free virtual numbers are essential in any country, but they don’t necessarily work across borders. A caller in Jamaica, for example, will not be able to reach a business in Europe using that business’s main toll free number.

However, if you get a Jamaica toll free number and forward it to your business in another country, then the call will go through as expected — but only if you use a toll free virtual number designed for international call forwarding.

We offer Jamaica virtual numbers for this purpose. Whether your main office is located in North America, South America, Central America, Australia, Europe, Africa, or Asia, your Jamaican customers will be able to reach you without concerns about costs or international dialing.

What is a Jamaica Virtual Number?

Virtual numbers are call forwarding numbers that are not attached to a specific location. Through your online account, or by using a phone menu on your phone, you can control where your Jamaica virtual number rings at any given time.

For example, if you have issued a toll free virtual number for your Jamaican customers to call with questions, you’d likely want to forward those calls to your call center or even to a specific agent who specializes in the Jamaican market.

What if you have several agents who work from home? You could change the destination number to ring to the different agents’ phone lines based on who’s on call at the time. In a situation like this, it’s smart to set up “time of day” routing, a free, advanced call forwarding feature included in our Jamaica virtual number plans.

How Else Can You Use Virtual Numbers in Jamaica?

Customer service and technical support are two common use cases for Jamaica virtual numbers, but they’re not the only ones. You could also use virtual numbers to:

  • Interact with local vendors and business contacts — Jamaica has a high poverty rate, and while your local contacts may not be living in poverty, they may feel the pinch of international calling. They may postpone calling you about an important issue because of cost concerns. By using toll free Jamaica virtual numbers, you can make it easy for them to reach you. This technique takes cost out of the equation. It may also contribute to a stronger relationship.
  • Make cheap international phone calls — Because you can change your Jamaica virtual number’s ring to number on the fly, you can take advantage of your virtual number plan’s low international rates to make cheap phone calls when in Jamaica. Simply change the ring to number to the desired international phone number, call the Jamaica toll free number, and enjoy speaking with your contact at a low and predictable rate. Make sure to change the ring to number back once the call is complete.

Our customers have creative uses for virtual numbers, and we bet you do to.

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Should You Use One or Two Toll Free Belgium Virtual Phone Numbers to Accommodate Language Differences?

By using two Belgium virtual numbers, your customers will be immediately connected to a customer service representative who speaks the predominant language.

Antwerp BelgiumBelgium is an interesting European country whose population is divided into two main groups: the Dutch-speaking Flemish community and the French-speaking Walloon community.

Because of these language differences, establishing either one or two toll free Belgium virtual phone numbers may make sense for your business.

Why Use Two Toll Free Belgium Virtual Phone Numbers Instead of One?

When you establish a toll free virtual phone number in a country other than your own, it’s smart to set the destination “ring to” number to a specific phone line in your call center or office. That way, all calls coming from your virtual phone number in Belgium can be routed to a specific customer service representative who speaks the language and is familiar with the country’s nuances and business etiquette.

However, when you have callers from Belgium, you’ll need both French-speaking and Dutch-speaking representatives to field those calls. Having individual Belgium virtual phone numbers for the north (where Dutch is primarily spoken) and south (where French prevails) is one of the more efficient ways to divert the calls to the correct customer service representative.

Using Just One Belgium Virtual Phone Number

Having two Belgium virtual phone numbers does add some complexity to your marketing strategy as you’ll need to ensure that the appropriate virtual phone number is advertised in the appropriate geographical regions.

If you’d rather keep it simple with just one toll free virtual phone number for Belgium, you can definitely do so. Use the voice response system to prompt callers to select their language preferences. When callers who speak French call your Belgium toll free virtual phone number, they’ll be able to press “1” or “2” (depending on how you set up the IVR system) to be connected to a French-speaking agent. The same is true of callers who speak Dutch.

Which Option is the Best Option?

It’s ultimate up to you to decide which option makes the most sense for your business. Since there are two distinct language differences between the north and the south, you’d likely need to publish your marketing materials in different languages anyway. Having separate numbers for the north and south shouldn’t cause too much confusion amongst your marketing personnel.

The cost difference between maintaining one or two individual toll free virtual numbers for Belgium is minimal as you essentially pay by the minute.

Think about the customer experience as you decide. By using two Belgium virtual numbers, your customers will be immediately connected to a customer service representative who speaks the predominant language. This is more welcoming than an automated prompt, and it feels more local.

Which option would you choose?

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Improve Your Bahrain Consulting Business with Virtual Call Forwarding Numbers

Toll free numbers, in general, add credibility to any business. Thus, getting a Bahrain toll free number further cements your reputation.

Bahrain Sunset IndustrialDo you offer business consulting services to clients located in Bahrain?

Virtual call forwarding numbers are a great way to improve communications – and your business as a whole.

Why Use Bahrain Virtual Phone Numbers?

As you know, there are many ways to deliver consulting services. If you’re located outside of Bahrain with clients inside the country, options include: in-person (which requires traveling to Bahrain and incurring associated travel costs), videoconferencing (which requires both parties to have videoconferencing equipment), Skype (which requires Skype accounts and webcams), and phone calls (which requires international phone calls).

Each of the above options has its downsides which tend to fall into two categories: expensive or equipment required. Using Bahrain virtual call forwarding is an alternative that immediately puts your clients at ease.

Here’s how it works:

  • Get a Bahrain virtual phone number – You can either get a toll free number for Bahrain or a local one with the 973 area code. Either way, your clients will view this virtual phone number as being local because it is local to their country.
  • Set up your ring to number – Because it’s a “virtual” phone number, your Bahrain call forwarding number can ring to any phone number in the world that you designate as its ring to number. This can be your office phone number in Los Angeles, California, your hotel room phone number in Bali, your personal mobile phone, or any other phone you may use. You can even change your ring to number as needed.
  • Give your Bahrain virtual call forwarding phone number to your clients – Whether you’re prospecting for customers, scheduling consultations, or leaving a message asking for a returned phone call, give out your Bahrain virtual phone number.

How Bahrain Virtual Phone Numbers Enhance Your Credibility

As global as the business world has become, there’s still an aversion to dialing international phone numbers. In some cases, there’s a legitimate concern about the potential cost of placing an international call. In others, there’s uncertainty about how to make the call because international phone numbers look different from domestic ones. In others, there may even be a preference for working with someone local.

By getting a Bahrain virtual call forwarding number, you’ll circumvent all of these concerns. Your clients will be likely to perceive you as being serious about serving the Bahrain market. After all, if you’ve gone through the trouble of establishing a Bahrain presence, you won’t be “here today, gone tomorrow.”

Toll free numbers, in general, add credibility to any business. Thus, getting a Bahrain toll free number further cements your reputation.

With Bahrain virtual call forwarding, you can build a communications channel that works for all of your clients while also adding credibility to your business.

How have you used virtual call forwarding in your business?

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Virgin Island (British) Conference Calling and Remote Call Forwarding Tips

Using a British Virgin Islands call forwarding number in this manner allows you to take advantage of your existing staff and facilities back home and keep your costs down.

British Virgin Islands CollaborationAccording to the Government of the British Virgin Islands, if you intend to do business in the British Virgin Islands, you’ll need a trade license.

If you are an individual from outside the territory – even if you are a British citizen – and intend to work there, you’ll need a work permit.

Once you’ve established your business and fulfilled all of the obligatory business filing details, you’ll need a convenient means of communicating with your colleagues, partners, customers, and other individuals around the world.

Both international conferencing calling and international call forwarding in the Virgin Islands can help. Use the tips below to communicate with international business associates from the British Virgin Islands.

1. Make calling your BVI business easy with virtual phone numbers – As savvy as your business contacts may be, they may have an aversion to calling foreign phone numbers. First, there’s the cost concern.

People who have never called the British Virgin Islands will wonder how much it will cost to call you. Some will overestimate the cost of the call and avoid dialing altogether.

Even if money were not an issue, the phone number will look different to overseas callers. Those who rarely make international phone calls to the British Virgin Islands, or anywhere else for that matter, may not understand the appropriate procedure for dialing out of their countries.

British Virgin Island virtual phone numbers solve these problems. For example, if most of your contacts are in the UK, you could get a UK virtual number and set it up so that it rings to your British Virgin Islands office.

To your British contacts, your British Virgin Island virtual phone number looks and acts like any other UK phone number. Calling you is as easy as calling a local business.

2. Be mindful of time differences – Chairing a British Virgin Islands conference call is a great way to bring together a geographically diverse team into a group phone call. However, with participants located in various time zones, you’ll need to be mindful of these time differences when scheduling a conference call.

For example, since there’s a five-hour difference between the British Virgin Islands and London, you may want to schedule a conference call with your UK team to take place at 10 a.m. BVI time, which would be 3 p.m. their time.

3. Leverage existing resources – If you’ve built a qualified staff of customer service representatives at your home office, it often makes more sense to use remote call forwarding numbers in your new market than it does to establish physical numbers and staff a call center.

For example, you could establish a local British Virgin Island call forwarding number for your island business and route those calls to your main office in London. Using a British Virgin Islands call forwarding number in this manner allows you to take advantage of your existing staff and facilities back home and keep your costs down.

Do you have any communications tips for those doing business in the British Virgin Islands?

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Tips for Doing Business in the Bahamas with Toll Free Virtual Phone Numbers

For instance, if you have a call center in Florida that handles your Bahamas phone calls and a hurricane forces it to shut down for a few days, you could quickly and easily change the ring to number to your call center in another region of the world.

Bahamas FlagThinking of exporting to the Bahamas or even setting up shop on the island nation?

There’s a lot to do including (but not limited to):  researching your market, getting a business visa, registering your business, and ordering virtual Bahamas phone numbers.

Assuming you’ve done all the legwork and have decided that it makes sense to establish a business presence in the Bahamas, you’ll want to order virtual phone numbers so that your customers and business partners can easily contact you without concerns about dialing internationally.

Why Get Virtual Toll Free Bahamas Phone Numbers

Why order virtual Bahamas phone numbers when you could simply use your existing toll free phone number? While the Bahamas has a thoroughly modern and fully automatic telecommunications system, toll free numbers are not international.

In other words, if you have a toll free number in the United Kingdom, callers from the Bahamas will not be able to use it. What you actually need is a Bahamas toll free virtual number that is set up to ring to the phone of your choice anywhere else in the world.

A toll free virtual Bahamas number will also give your company a local appearance. It will look just like any other toll free number for the Bahamas, complete with the same dialing conventions. There are no international country codes or exit codes to dial, and no confusion on the part of your callers.

Virtual toll free numbers for the Bahamas can be changed on the fly so that they ring to any phone you designate.

For example, if you have a call center in Florida that handles your Bahamas phone calls and a hurricane forces it to shut down for a few days, you could quickly and easily change the ring to number to your call center in another region of the world.

Are your operations on a smaller scale? Even if you run a one-person shop, you could benefit from a virtual Bahamas call forwarding phone number. For example, you could set it up to ring to your home office or mobile phone.

If you travel frequently but need to be able to accept calls from the Bahamas seamlessly, you could change the ring to number so that it rings to your hotel room or temporary mobile phone number when you arrive at a new destination.

Many nations are encouraging businesses to export to the Bahamas, including the United States. Not only that, the Bahamas government offers some enticing incentives that may apply. With its stable democratic environment, proximity to the United States, and variety of market opportunities, exporting to the Bahamas may make sense for your business.

If it does, give yourself an advantage by establishing a virtual toll free number as soon as possible. They’re affordable and readily available. Plus, you can establish a Bahamas toll free virtual number without a long-term contract, making it ideal for testing the waters.

Have you ever used a virtual toll free number in the Bahamas or in another country?

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Virtual Number Australia

a virtual number for your Australia calls will save you a ton of money — and your customers won’t know that they’re calling another country.

Sydney, Australia Skyline HarbourNeed to help customers in Australia but hesitate to establish a branch office down under?

Whether you export products to Australia, offer consulting services to Australian businesses, or are thinking about entering the Australian marketplace for the first time, you could quickly establish a business presence with a virtual number. Australia toll free and local virtual numbers are available.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”350px” height=”” background_color=”#f2e989″ border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]In addition to ordering city-specific virtual numbers, you could also order a toll free virtual number and forward any calls from that phone number to your call center or office phone located anywhere in the world.[/dropshadowbox]

What is a Virtual Number (Australia)?

A virtual number is a remote call forwarding number that is not tied to a physical location. In the case of Australia, you could get a virtual number for Sydney complete with its local area code of 28, and set it up so that any calls made to your Australian virtual phone number would be call forwarded to the phone number of your choice.

Local virtual numbers for Australia are available for dozens of communities throughout the country including Sydney, Perth, Cape River, Liverpool, Adelaide, Sunbury, Swan Hill, and Wagga Wagga to name a few.

Use Cases for a Virtual Number in Australia

Perhaps the best way to see the value of an Australian virtual phone number is by seeing how others have used their virtual phone numbers. Below are a few use cases to inspire you:

  • Set up an Australian call center in the United States — In this example, you have an established call center in the United States and need to set one up in Australia as well. As you know, building, equipping, and staffing a call center is expensive. Instead of going to the trouble of doing all that, get a local virtual number for Australia, hire a few Australian CSRs, and route your Australian calls directly to your Australian CSRs desks in your US call center.
  • Set up an Australian tech support line based in India — This scenario is nearly identical to the call center scenario, only it involves technical support calls to your tech support center in India. Again, a virtual number for your Australia calls will save you a ton of money — and your customers won’t know that they’re calling another country.
  • Set up a personal Australian virtual phone number and forward it to your personal cell phone — In this case, you might have family, friends, or colleagues in Australia who need to call you on your personal cell phone. However, you want to save them the trouble and cost of an international phone call. By getting a virtual Australian phone number and routing it to your personal cell phone, you can make their lives easier and be easy to reach no matter where in the world you may be.

How have you used a virtual phone number for Australia or any other country? We love the creative uses our customers have shared with us and would love to hear your ideas. Connect with us on Facebook.

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Improve Service with Virtual Phone Numbers Featuring Automatic Call Recording

For example, if you need to record an interview, ask the person you’re interviewing to call you on your virtual phone number with automatic call recording enabled.

Virtual Number Automatic Phone Call RecordingVirtual phone numbers are ideal for routing calls from various locations across the country — or around the world — to a centralized call center. In fact, you may already be using virtual phone numbers to do just that.

As you know, virtual phone numbers can reduce your costs, establish a local business presence in locations far and wide, and improve operational efficiency.

By adding automatically call recording to the mix, your virtual phone numbers can help to improve service.

Here’s what you need to know about our new automatic call recording add-on.

  • Call recording is an affordable, optional add-on — Rather than investing in recording equipment or upgrading your phone system, you can get the benefits of automatic call recording by adding it as a service to your virtual phone numbers. It costs just a few dollars per month per virtual phone number. If you find that call recording is not for you, you can cancel the add-on at any time with no penalties.
  • Virtual phone number call recording is flexible — Do you want to record all incoming calls over your virtual phone number or just a small percentage? Simply set up your preference and let the call recording system do its work.

Why Enable Automatic Call Recording?

Businesses use call recording for several reasons including CSR training, compliance assurance, and opportunity mining. For example, one of the best ways to evaluate your customer service representatives is by listening in. Whether you record every call as it comes through your virtual phone number or opt to record one out of ten, you’ll have plenty of recordings for each CSR to listen to.

Does your CSR answer promptly? Greet the customer correctly? Sound professional and knowledgeable? Follow the script correctly? Build rapport with customers? Solve problems satisfactorily? The answers to these questions can be found in your call recordings.

Periodically listening to call recordings can also help you keep the pulse of your business, learn about potential opportunities, and more. For example, it’s not unusual for customers to talk about your competitors when they speak with your staff, but that information doesn’t always find its way back to upper management. By listening to your virtual phone numbers’ call recordings, you may gain insight into your competitors’ offers or trends affecting your industry.

Using automatic call recording with your virtual phone numbers can also help you comply with various legislation, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, that require electronic records of business transactions. For compliance purposes, you’ll want to set up your automatic call recording feature so that it records all incoming calls to your virtual phone number automatically. You’ll also want to upgrade to long-term storage of your recorded phone calls or arrange to store your recordings permanently.

Many of our customers have come up with creative uses for automatic call recording with their virtual phone numbers. For example, if you need to record an interview, ask the person you’re interviewing to call you on your virtual phone number with automatic call recording enabled. How will you use your call recording feature?

We’d love to hear your ideas, too.

Share your thoughts about automatic call recording with us on Facebook.

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The Benefits of Pay-as-You-Go Argentina Virtual Phone Numbers

You can quickly exit the market and cancel your virtual phone number without penalties.

Buenos Aires, ArgentinaIn Argentina and around the world, cloud computing has helped change the way businesses pay for software and services.

Rather than buying expensive networks and phone systems upfront, many business spread their costs by paying as they go.

This shifts capital expenses to operational expenses, reduces costs, and may even provide tax benefits. If you’re thinking of expanding into the Argentina market, consider taking a pay-as-you-go approach to setting up shop in Latin America by using Argentina virtual phone numbers.

There are several ways you can benefit from using international virtual phone numbers instead of physical locations including:

  • Minimal expenses — Let’s say that you intend to open a branch office in Argentina to schedule a new service you will be providing locally. At a minimum, you’ll need office space, a phone system, and a customer service representative to answer the phones. Of course, you already have all of that at your company headquarters. By ordering an Argentina virtual phone number and setting it up to ring to your main offices in another country, you can avoid those costly startup and ongoing expenses.
  • Establish a local business presence — Getting a virtual phone number for Argentina, or any other country for that matter, allows you to quickly establish a local business presence in that country. Your Argentina virtual phone number will look like any other phone number in Argentina complete with local area codes. For example, if you’re setting up shop in San Juan, Argentina, you could get a local virtual phone number with the 264 area code. Callers from San Juan would immediately recognize your virtual Argentina phone number as being local to them.
  • Establish a toll free business presence — If you’re less concerned about appearing local to a given city in Argentina and would like the credibility that a 1-800 number provides, you could also get a virtual toll free phone number that rings from Argentina to virtually anywhere else in the world.
  • No long-term commitment — When you lease office space or a phone system, you’re expected to adhere to the terms and conditions outlined in the leasing contract. With a pay-as-you-go international virtual phone number, you can test the market without contractual concerns. What if the market in Argentina doesn’t find your new service appealing? You can quickly exit the market and cancel your virtual phone number without penalties.

If you need virtual phone numbers for Argentina, choosing a pay-as-you-go plan with no contracts is beneficial. Our bundled virtual phone number plans for Argentina come with optional rollover minutes, allowing you to enter a new market without huge startup costs.

Have questions or ideas about using virtual phone numbers in Argentina? Connect with us on Facebook, and let’s get the conversation started.

Will Your North American 1-800 Number Work in Australia?

Overcome potential barriers to trust (such as foreign phone numbers) by getting your own local call forwarding numbers for Australia.

Will Your North American 1-800 Number Work in AustraliaSetting up a local presence in Australia is attractive to North American businesses of all sizes for a variety of reasons.

According to Export.gov, Australia has very few barriers to entry, a straightforward business culture, and a familiar legal and corporate framework.

Not only that, Australia is an English-speaking nation, making it a comfortable fit for many US and Canadian business professionals.

When you visit Australia as part of your market research, you may notice that Australian toll free numbers look surprisingly similar to those in North America. This, too, makes Australia seem like a good fit for your business.

However, this doesn’t mean that your North American 1-800 number will work in Australia. For starters, there are fewer digits in Australia toll free numbers. Plus, North American toll free numbers only work in North America.

Solving the Problem with an Australia Toll Free Number that Rings in North America

Don’t let the fact that your existing toll free number won’t work in Australia stop you from what could otherwise be the perfect match. If you intend to do business in Australia, the best, and easiest, solution is to get an Australian toll free call forwarding number. This number will conform to Australia’s toll free system and dialing conventions, yet it will be call forwarded to the phone number of your choice.

For example, let’s say you have a call center in Kansas City, Missouri where all of your customer service calls are handled. While you could build a call center in Sydney, Australia, doing so would be costly, difficult to manage, and time-consuming.

In contrast, with an Australia toll free call forwarding number, you could be up and running in a matter of minutes. Simply publish this number on your Australian website and local marketing materials and set up call forwarding so that all incoming calls from Australia are routed to your existing call center in Kansas City. Depending on the expected call volume, you may not even need to hire additional CSRs. You certainly wouldn’t need to search for bilingual employees because of the common language between the two countries.

Additional Use Cases for an Australian Call Forwarding Number

Toll free call forwarding numbers aren’t your only option, either. You could also order local call forwarding numbers for various cities in Australia such as Bairnsdale, Hobart, New Castle, or Perth.

  • Set up a “local” office (without the actual office) — By printing your local numbers for various cities in Australia on your business cards and marketing materials, you can make it look as though you have local offices throughout the country.
  • Build trust with local partners — Overcome potential barriers to trust (such as foreign phone numbers) by getting your own local call forwarding numbers for Australia.
  • Make it easy for local partners to reach you — Your local partners might not mind the expense of international calls, but they may be unfamiliar with the process. Make it easy by providing local or toll free Australia call forwarding numbers.

Australia could be a fantastic match for your North American business, but you’ll need call forwarding numbers e.g. virtual number that divert Australia calls back to the U.S.

How will you use your Australian call forwarding service?

Please share your usage ideas in the comments section below.

Doing Business with Argentina Call Forwarding Numbers

Expanding your business into Argentina could be a simple matter of marketing your services along with an Argentina call forwarding number.

Buenos Aires at nightAccording to Export.gov, the United States and Argentina have a long, bilateral trade and investment relationship. If you run a USA business and are considering a move into Argentina’s market, one of the first and easiest steps you can take is to order Argentina call forwarding numbers.

What are Argentina Call Forwarding Numbers?

Argentina call forwarding numbers are local or toll free phone numbers specific to Argentina. They look and sound like any other phone number in Argentina. For example, a toll free number in Argentina would look something like this: 0800800XXXX while a local one would look like this: 0221513XXXX. However, the actual call would be routed to your designated phone in the United States (or anywhere else in the world).

The Benefits of Argentina Call Forwarding Numbers

As you can see, Argentina call forwarding numbers look local. This means that you can immediate set up a local presence. Whether you need to coordinate with local manufacturers, officials, employees, partners, or customers, giving them a local phone number can:

  • Establish your company as having a local presence in Argentina
  • Reduce or eliminate concerns about calling a foreign country
  • Reduce or eliminate the need for travel into Argentina
  • Allow you to answer calls originating from Argentina at a remote call center located anywhere in the world
  • Reduce or eliminate the need to hire local staff
  • Reduce or eliminate the need to rent office space in Argentina
  • Allow you to test the market with minimum investments in a physical location

Use Cases for Argentina Call Forwarding Numbers

There are numerous ways to use Argentina call forwarding services. Below are just a few use cases.

  • Customer and technical support — If you are exporting your products to Argentina, providing your customers there with an Argentina toll free number for customer or technical support is a good move. However, instead of building and staffing a call center in the country, you could simply use call forwarding to transfer those calls to an existing call center.
  • Local coordination — Do you frequently need to speak with local partners, agents, distributors, or officials in Argentina? They could hesitate to call your out-of-country phone number because it’s unfamiliar or they may fear the cost. Some may prefer to work with a local or distrust foreign businesses. Give them a local number to call and overcome these obstacles.
  • Local consulting or virtual coaching — Do you offer consulting, coaching, or some other service that could be delivered over the phone? Expanding your business into Argentina could be a simple matter of marketing your services along with an Argentina call forwarding number.

These are but a few use cases for Argentina call forwarding numbers. Would an Argentine call forwarding number be effective for your business?

Contact us today to explore your options or view the available Argentina virtual number database online Argentina Virtual Numbers here

Establishing a Local Presence with a Uruguay Virtual Number

View from Artigas Hill in MInas, Lavalleja, UruguayWith roughly 3.3 million people as of 2013 estimates and consistently gaining attention as one of the world’s fastest developing nations, establishing a local presence in Uruguay could be a smart move. One of the best ways to tap into this market is with a Uruguay virtual number.

Why Set Up a Uruguay Virtual Number?
Uruguay is a representative democratic republic with a freely elected president – and a growing, free market economy. Its economy has an export-heavy agricultural sector with soybeans, horse meat, greasy wool, and beeswax among its main exports.

The Port of Montevideo handles well over 1 million containers each year, and Uruguay has the one of the most developed telecommunications systems in Latin America.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#FFFF99″ border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Setting up a Uruguay virtual number allows your business to appear as if it is operating inside of Uruguay. It’s a low-cost way to get started in the Uruguay marketplace.[/dropshadowbox]

For example, if you offer import/export consulting services to the agriculture industry, having a local Uruguay virtual phone number would allow your clients in Uruguay to call you directly using a phone number that makes it appear as though your office is just down the street. Your clients may feel more comfortable working with someone with a local presence – and they’ll appreciate being able to dial a local or toll free phone number.

How Your Uruguay Virtual Number Works
When you get a local or toll free Uruguay virtual phone number, you are getting what’s known as a remote call forward number. The number itself is local to Uruguay so callers do not need to be concerned about international calling costs. The Uruguay virtual number, however, rings to the phone line of your choice – and your “ring to” phone can be located virtually anywhere in the world.

For example, you could set up your Uruguay virtual number to ring to:

  • An office phone in New York
  • A call center in Madrid
  • A mobile phone in Tel Aviv

The options are practically unlimited! In fact, you can change the ring to number as your needs change or even program a different destination based on the time of day it is in Uruguay.

Virtual Uruguay phone numbers come with a variety of features and options such as auto attendant, time of day forwarding, local ringtones, rollover minutes, and more. You can even set up an optional call recording feature where all of your calls from your Uruguay virtual number are automatically recorded.

If you’ve been considering a move into the Uruguay market, getting a virtual number is an excellent way to establish a local presence and begin communicating with callers in the country. Ordering a Uruguay virtual number is easy and affordable. Select your new Uruguay virtual phone number now.

What do you think?

We’d love to hear about your experiences. How have you used virtual phone numbers in Uruguay or other nations?

View worldwide database of Virtual Numbers here

International Conferencing and Communication Tools for African Startups

It’s an exciting time to be an African entrepreneur. Extend your reach with international conference calling, mobile international conferencing solutions, and international virtual numbers

Africa is a hotbed for entrepreneurs right now. Last year, Tony Elumelu, an economist, philanthropist, and advocate for entrepreneurship, declared 2015 the year of the African entrepreneur. In a recent commencement address, Elumelu said, “All they need is a business idea and the commitment to succeed.” That’s the simplified version, but the climate is ripe throughout Africa for startups and entrepreneurs to succeed.

While ideas and commitment are essential ingredients, mobile technology has played a prominent role in facilitating entrepreneurship in Africa — and it will continue to do so now and in the future. Below are some of the most important international conferencing and communication tools for African entrepreneurs and startups:

International Conference Calls

Africa is a complex continent with 54 member states of the United Nations from Algeria to Zimbabwe. While many African entrepreneurs may start local businesses, others may interact with customers, business partners, mentors, and suppliers throughout the continent — or around the world for that matter. International conference calls in Africa allow participants to connect to a group phone call by dialing either a local or toll free number specific to the country that they are in.

For example, an African entrepreneur in Ghana could host an international conference call with participants located in Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia. Instead of requiring each to dial a Ghana phone number, the entrepreneur would issue local or toll free phone numbers for Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia — making it easy and affordable for all participants to call. If that same international conference call has participants located in the United States, Spain, China, and elsewhere around the globe, the host of the call could issue additional local or toll free numbers specific to those countries.

Mobile International Conferencing

As important and convenient as international conference calls are to African entrepreneurs, mobile international conferencing tools are even more important.

Last year, according to StatCounter, mobile Internet usage soared by 67 percent around the world with mobile usage having overtaken desktop usage Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Mobile Internet usage in Africa is certainly helping to fuel entrepreneurship throughout the continent.

For entrepreneurs hosting conference calls, it’s more likely than not that their go-to device is a smartphone rather than a desktop. Thus, international conferencing services catering to this market need to make it easy to schedule, coordinate, and manage international conference calls via mobile apps and mobile-friendly sites.

International Virtual Numbers

Finally, African entrepreneurs can benefit from international virtual phone numbers. While an entrepreneur may be physically operating from Ghana, for instance, he or she could also set up local phone numbers in other countries throughout Africa. Callers from Nigeria would dial a Nigerian phone number, but the call would be forwarded to the Ghana business.

International virtual numbers can be used for convenience — to make it easier for international callers to reach your business — or to create a local presence in locations outside the country.

It’s an exciting time to be an African entrepreneur. Extend your reach with international conference calling, mobile international conferencing solutions, and international virtual numbers — each of which can save you money as well as give you access to superior telecommunications networks than may be available to you locally.

How have you been using international conferencing or virtual phone numbers in Africa?

Share your ideas in the comments section below.

View details

Global Virtual Numbers

Global Conferencing

Sources:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201505121744.html

http://answersafrica.com/how-many-countries-are-in-africa.html

http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-internet-usage-soars-by-67-perc

Calls that connect you globally

The combination of technology, low costs, ease of use, and quality has contributed to doing business internationally a reality.

Calls that connect you globallyBusinesses are connected like never before thanks to communications innovations such as  global conference calling and virtual phone number technology. Not only is this real and happening, costs are remarkably low.

Now, people can communicate with others around the world while keeping travel to a minimum and without huge phone bills by using global conference calls and virtual numbers for quickly creating a presence in another country.

Best of all, line quality has kept up with the technologies. The combination of technology, low costs, ease of use, and quality has contributed to doing business internationally a reality. While email and traditional long distance phone calls have their place with international collaboration, virtual numbers and group overseas calls have become essential.

Rather than connecting two individuals from opposite ends of the earth, a global conference call brings together an entire international dispersed team. Global Conference calls allow for cost-effective group communications and interactions. Because everyone can speak to one another and hear and understand voice inflection and tone, communication is far more effective than exchanging group email messages.

Overseas Call forwarding is an amazing way to set up shop in the communities that you want to serve, either locally or internationally, without having to go through the hassles and the expense of setting up a physical location.

View details about global conferencing here

and international virtual numbers here