Spending time overseas for work can be a little lonely and we like to talk to our friends and family over the phone, but international roaming charges get so expensive that we would rather be the ones calling the people we dearly miss. And usually the by the time we return home, we have incurred an incredible phone bill that will leave us scratching our heads. Don’t fall victim into international roaming data charges, get a virtual phone number instead.
The concept
Virtual phone numbers are local telephone numbers that will route calls to your actual phone number. It lets people call you locally from a different country. So let’s say you’re in America and I’m in Australia, I can set up a virtual phone number that’s the same area code as your telephone number so you can call me in Australia without incurring international fees. Wherever I am in the world, you will still be able to reach me as if I was just around the neighborhood. Although mostly used by businesses who want to have a local presence in an area without putting up an office, this service can be used personally in a residential area. You can also use virtual phone numbers to track family members. Like if you have a son away for college at another country, this is an easy way to regularly talk to them without calling long distance.
You can contact any voice over IP (VoIP) service provider to assign you a virtual phone number with the area code of your preferred location, be it a city or a country. When your family members or friends dial that virtual number, they will be calling locally but the call will be forwarded to your real telephone number. You can forward the call to a phone line or to your mobile phone. This service if paid for through a small monthly fee. It will be able to give you huge savings especially if you like to talk to people every day.
Advantages
If you have a business, the advantages of having a virtual phone number are as follows:
- You will be able to extend your business beyond your actual physical location. Having international presence can add value to a company. Customers in foreign markets will be able to reach you.
- Customers can call you anytime using a local number and they will not incur long-distance fees. And when you’re that easy to reach, sales and profit will benefit.
- Easy to stay connected even when you’re travelling. You can manage business from anywhere.
- You will get a detailed call records and reports on the activities in that phone line giving you an insight on your performance.
- You can set up mail forwarding, fax and email services along with that virtual phone number.
