If you’ve been looking to capture a global market, you may have been considering using telecommunications to reach new international customers. However, you’ve probably hit some stumbling blocks when it comes to making your business accessible to new customers in countries around the world.
The answer? International call forwarding. In this article, we’ll cover what international call forwarding is, how it can be used for your business, and the vast benefits it can bring to your business.
What is International Call Forwarding?
Simply put, international call forwarding allows you to route calls from a domestic phone number to an international phone number instantly. This is due to the recent telecommunications advances as a result of the Internet and virtual phone numbers. Essentially, a virtual phone number is a subscription-based service that allows calls made to a virtual phone number to be routed instantaneously to any other phone number in the world (known as the “destination phone number”).As an example, suppose your US-based call centre in Minnesota wants to reach markets in the United Kingdom. Without international call forwarding, callers from the UK would be charged for contacting your business or blocked outright. Vice versa, if your call centre would try to reach those same customers, your business would be charged hefty long-distance fees or even face being blocked from completing the call.
On the contrary, with international call forwarding, these calls can be completed without incurring cost or service denial. For businesses, this means that world markets can be opened to you simply by subscribing to a service provider offering international call forwarding.
Benefits of International Call Forwarding
- Physical Presence Not Necessary: One of the misconceptions businesses have is that to capture international markets, their business must be physically present in the country/ region for customers to take notice. With international call forwarding, your business can circumvent all the regulations, paperwork, and capital required to set foot on foreign soil before your business even makes a penny.
- Accommodating Customers: The truth about your potential international customers is that they might need help to reach your business. Often, an international customer may not have the ability or personal preference to call outside their country, whether because they don’t want to accrue long-distance fees or are outright blocked by their service provider. For instance, suppose you received a phone call on your caller ID from another country or area code; how likely are you to answer that call? The answer is not very likely. With international call forwarding, you meet potential customers on their own terms and with a number on their caller ID that they recognize.
- Professional Appearance: International call forwarding can bring a professional aesthetic to your business that significantly enhances how your business is perceived in the marketplace. For new startups, this is crucial as they seek to muscle their way and uproot their competitors. Your business can gain trust and respect immediately because international call forwarding can be used with toll-free numbers. Without it, your business may have to spend a significant sum on marketing until the public finally understands that it is not a fly-by-night operation and wants to legitimately do business in international markets.
- Greater Functionality: As we touched on virtual phone numbers before, you should know that international call forwarding can be augmented with the advancements that make this process available to enhance your business. For instance, by using international call forwarding, you can couple the service with “call recording,” which records and stores phone calls made to and from your virtual phone numbers so that your business can ensure that both your employees and customers are complying with business legitimately. Furthermore, you may want to add extensions to your phone numbers that allow customers to self-serve their way through your company’s directory, saving both the customer and your business time and effort.
