Technology...it’s become an ubiquitous way to do, well, anything: order food, purchase items or services, discover new and historic information, optimize legacy processes and technologies, to name a few. The need for technology is growing all over the world, and global businesses are looking to expand their product offerings, including mobile apps, in new markets.

During the midst of the pandemic, consumer technology spending was down and business technology spending was up. While not completely out of the pandemic woods yet, 53% of companies intend to increase their spending into 2022. Consumer service spending is expected to grow too, especially in the travel and hospitality space as countries begin to open up borders and accept visitors. 

As B2B and B2C software companies expand into new markets, these promising trends put them in a great position. But before you expand your tech’s reach, it’s a good idea to take into account the processes and communication tools you’ll need before taking on a new market. For example:

What’s your plan to break through language barriers?

What communication systems will support your expansion and support     new markets? 

How do you plan to capture cultural intelligence as you interact with new target audiences?

If you’re researching ways to expand your tech’s reach on an international stage, you’re in the right place! Here’s your plan for successfully expanding your tech offering in a new country.

Step 1: Upgrade Your Virtual Communications

If you haven’t switched your phone communications from a local public switched telephone network (PSTN) to a cloud-based VoIP platform, now is definitely the time to upgrade. As you expand your offering to other countries, you’re going to have new users calling your company for support. You need your phone system to be able to handle an increased call volume. You also need the infrastructure to route support and sales calls to the best available agent as quickly as possible, so your teams can offer the best customer service.

VoIP providers offer many essential services for software companies needing to keep up with international customers that on-prem PBX systems just can’t match:

Scalability: Instantly add virtual numbers or agent licenses to your platform and scale up or down as needed.

Mobility: Remote teams are equipped with the tools and functionality to handle calls anywhere in the world with a reliable Internet connection. 

Flexible Terms & Contracts: No term contracts, coupled with pay-as-you-go plans, empower businesses to control their spend, on their own terms. 

Cloud Agility: Unlike traditional PBX providers, cloud-based communication platforms remove the need for bulky equipment and unnecessary infrastructure costs. 

Global Redundancy: A fully resilient network supports end-to-end global voice coverage, exceptional voice quality, and enterprise-grade security protection to shield your business from malicious activity. 

Integrated Communications: Seamlessly integrate legacy platforms, number inventory, and popular business applications to enhance international connectivity. 

You may be thinking you can simply cobble together a patchwork of local phone carriers in each country where you plan to expand. But why rely upon local carriers who don’t always offer the most stable phone networks or offer the easiest implementation and reconfiguration that VoIP networks do? VoIPs offer crystal clear voice quality and foolproof data backups - often for a lower overall cost than local carriers. 

Don’t risk first-time customer impressions with unstable connectivity and spotty call quality. Opt for the seamless, interconnected network of a global VoIP provider like TRAVERSE TELECOM.

Step 2: Secure Robust Voice Coverage

When it comes to your voice provider, it’s important to ensure they not only support you where you want to go now but where your product will take you in the future. A provider that can offer real-time inventory for instantaneous number purchases in varying regions is most effective for a global software company. Enter TRAVERSE TELECOM.

With coverage in 170+ hard-to-reach countries, we offer instant-activation virtual numbers so you can access thousands of destinations around the world when you need them.

Local Presence Dialing

You don’t have to be local to a country or region to look local. You can use local presence phone services to establish the same local area code as a caller. Local presence dialing is a 2-way voice technology that assists sales and support reps to make and receive calls while appearing from the same location as the caller or call recipient.

This type of voice plan helps international brands build trust and engagement among their customers. People naturally trust businesses that share a geographic or cultural connection and are 4X more likely to answer the call. Having a local number reduces their cost to call your company, but greater than that, it subtly reassures the caller that your technology and company are legitimate. This can mean big revenue opportunities for your business. 

Toll Free

If you don’t need local presence dialing, toll free virtual numbers are another solution to connect with customers in your new markets. It’s a free way for them to call in with their inquiry. When setting up your business’s toll free number, make sure to set up forwarding rules to ensure your customers are routed to the right agents each time.

Use automatic call routing to direct calls for support, sales, job inquiries, or other calls. If you have teams for different languages, set up forwarding rules that automatically direct calls from certain countries to the right language team. With the right mix of local numbers, country-specific caller ID, forwarding rules, and in-app messaging, your product users will think your company is native just like them!

In addition to two-way local dialing and toll free numbers, TRAVERSE TELECOM also offers a robust inventory of other virtual phone numbers for your business needs: 

Local DID. Local numbers that help businesses establish a local presence, making the company more accessible to individuals in local communities.

Non-Geographic. Non-geographic numbers are represented on a country level, not by a locality.

UIFN. A universal  international freephone number (UIFN) is a global toll free number that can be dialed from multiple countries.

Vanity. Vanity phone numbers use digits that spell out a brand name or memorable word associated with the company. 

Step 3: Get to Know the Culture

Organizing your communications technologies is important. But, so is brushing up on the local culture where you plan to expand services. Knowing the culture of your customers and prospects impacts your ability to succeed in that region. An Accenture study estimated that becoming culturally competent in your business interactions and strategic decisions through regular training can increase your employee’s productivity by 30 percent. That’s huge! 

Teach your employees local customs with respect to speech and formalities so they know how to talk with the locals. Call monitoring tools like whisper and barge can assist, ensuring your agents are hitting the mark when it comes to aligning your brand successfully with cultural norms. Get familiar with accepted customs and principles that go along with doing business in a foreign land, and that includes learning the ways of how your prospects shop around. It all starts with a positive brand image. 

You can do so by monitoring and engaging with reviews and taking action based on the feedback. 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 52% believing that companies need to act based on the feedback left by their customers. This is an easy way to support your customers and business in a new region, even for an international company. If you’d rather focus on core business functions, utilizing a BPO that has local industry expertise can help ease your global expansion. 

Step 4: Localize Your Tech Product

Even though many people across the world speak multiple languages, they often feel most comfortable communicating in their native language. When introducing your product to a new country, make every effort to translate the text into the local language. Include dialects, if possible. For example, there are some significant differences between American English and British English. 

Another prime area to localize is the support/resource section for your business and mobile app. If someone’s having issues with the technology, you want them to contact a rep at your company that not only speaks their language but who’s familiar with the culture and how to best interact with them professionally. You can optimize your call center phone system by doing the following:

Get a local number

Ensure your IVR is set up to support different languages and regions

Leverage advanced routing to prioritize the customer experience

As previously mentioned, a local number helps boost engagement and builds trust with your brand. Include local service numbers that direct callers to a local call center agent. In doing so, you can improve your first-call resolution rate and customer experience through the establishment of a local and cultural connection to your brand. 

IVR, or interactive voice response, is an approach to route callers to the right departments that can handle their inquiries. IVR is a business phone feature that gives callers choice from a spoken menu. The caller speaks their choice into the phone receiver (or selects the associated digit on the dial pad), and the IVR software routes them based on their response. You’ve probably experienced IVR when calling a large company like your Internet provider. But IVR services are available for companies of all sizes when using a VoIP platform!

Setting up advanced routing can also direct callers to the right agents with common skill sets (like language or product expertise) to quickly resolve the issue. Intelligent call distribution like skills-based routing helps reduce wait times by matching the caller with the best agent for the task. 

Step 5: Unify Your Communications

Expanding your operations globally means that you’ll have a lot more data to organize. Having the ability to easily connect your communications platform to other critical business tools will be important. Support your current - and future - market expansion by connecting your phone system with your customer relationship management (CRM) or ticketing system, or other business tools that drive your business. 

Having a cloud communications platform like TRAVERSE TELECOM will enable you to seamlessly track customer conversations in every country, improve customer satisfaction and team collaboration, and reduce resolution time from within your preferred cloud platform environment! 

If you’re looking to integrate voice into your PBX or contact center, deploy SIP trunking (SIP interconnect) to bridge together your legacy infrastructure to the cloud. SIP connects your voice services to your software and allows you to better manage your phone numbers through one platform instead of juggling dozens of local carriers. You can also help employees be more productive through integrated technologies and automated workflows while your company eliminates hardware costs and accesses better international call rates.

Step 6: Track Your Analytics

Once you’ve set up your phone communications to handle international calls, you’ll want to monitor performance in real-time across your number portfolio and team. By tracking your calls and how your agents are performing you’ll have a wealth of information that will inform your future business expansion. Capture it through:

Call Tracking: See where you’re getting the most calls from and when.

Call Monitoring: Ensure your team is delivering an exceptional customer  experience every time with call monitoring, especially as you’re launching     new markets.

Call Queueing: Monitor call volume trends and customize ring     strategies so you can ensure efficient call distribution among teams and     agents.

Performance Reports. Easily view, schedule, and share key metric reports - by team or  agent - to more efficiently communicate call center performance across your organization.

Service-Level KPIs. Measure how your team is doing against your service-level agreement and performance goals.

Live Analytics Dashboard. Get visibility into your team’s historical and real-time performance.

While sales and customer support teams play different roles within an organization, they do share a commonality - they’re both on the front lines of driving a positive customer experience. And one bad experience could mean a loss of customers, and ultimately, a loss in revenue. Data shows that 73% of customers put having a good experience with a brand above that brand's price and product quality. 

With customer retention and revenue on the line, it’s more important than ever to ensure your customer-facing teams have the tools they need to do their job. Successful leaders rely on communications tools like call monitoring software that give them the flexibility they need to listen in on calls and coach where needed.

In this post, we will cover how call monitoring is helping convert more leads, drive higher customer satisfaction, and gain unique insight on market trends.

What is Call Monitoring?

Call monitoring is the process of monitoring customer calls in order to improve the customer experience while also optimizing employee performance. While this contact center feature is typically associated with quality control and training, call monitoring can also be used for a variety of use-cases and across multiple departments. 

Who Uses Call Monitoring?

Call monitoring can be leveraged across many departments within your organization. While sales and customer support are most popular, other teams like marketing and product can also find this functionality useful by listening to customer calls to better understand market research trends and product adoption. 

Benefits of Using Call Monitoring Software

There are numerous benefits for sales and customer support managers to leverage call monitoring to better manage their teams and drive performance. From identifying problems, training employees, and keeping your finger on the pulse of customer needs, here is a complete list of advantages this communications function can provide you and your teams:  

Reducing     Contact Center Costs: Quality     training can help reduce your contact center costs. Well-trained agents     have the skills necessary to handle their calls efficiently and resolve issues     the first time. Excellent coaching can better develop agents, reducing     minutes used, improving service, and lowering your overall cost-per-call 

Ramp     New Employees Faster: Cut     the onboarding time for new employees with call monitoring. Easily listen     in, whisper or barge calls where needed as new reps start to feel more     comfortable taking calls on their own. 

Improve     Team Performance: Whether you have a team of     rockstars or a few reps that are struggling to make it, call monitoring     can play a major role in pushing them to the next level. Call monitoring     enables your team to re-listen to their calls so they can hear their tone     of voice, sales pitch, and responses to customer questions. This is a     surefire way for them to understand what can be improved.

Improve     Customer Experience & Enhance Lifetime Value: By making sure that your sales and support teams     are handling conversations the right way, you'll be able to quickly see     lifts in customer experience. Over time those interactions will evolve     into stronger customer relationships that can drive lifetime value up for     your business.

Better     Understand Customer Expectations & Market Trends: What better way for you as a leader to keep up     with the ever-changing dynamics of your consumers than by listening directly     to their feedback? With call monitoring, you’ll be able to stay at the     forefront of your customers' needs from both a sales and support     perspective.

Reduce     Employee Turnover: Did     you know that disengaged employees can cost $3,400 for every $10,000 in     annual salary? Call monitoring gives     companies an alternative path in boosting employee pride and job     satisfaction while reducing expensive employee turnover through customized     coaching. 

 How Sales Leaders Use Call Monitoring to Boost Rep Performance & Drive Revenue

As a sales leader, you are directly measured by the revenue you are driving for the organization. That’s why it’s incredibly important to make sure your team is seamlessly able to convert prospects into paying customers. Call monitoring gives sales reps the ability to better understand who your customers are, their pain points, and how your product or service can solve their problems.

Where to Start

For sales leaders, monitoring phone calls can be a time-consuming task, but it can pay off big time if done right. When driving performance across your entire team, start by focusing on the outliers - the reps who are on top of their game and those who are underperforming. Through this, you’ll want to hone in on the high-yield behaviors. What are your top performers doing well that can easily be replicated across the board? A few high yield behaviors to look out for:

Those who can set agendas     and stay in control 

Those who can adopt smart     product positioning

Those who can clearly     personalize product value 

Those who can handle     objections and make it past the gatekeeper

And of course, those who can     convert conversations into demos or customers 

Get Your Team Involved

When it comes to call monitoring, don’t keep all the intel to yourself! Instead, bring your sales team along for the process. Enable them to listen to their own conversations - and when possible - bring your entire sales team together to evaluate calls as a group. Your best sales reps will be able to share priceless insight on what works, and what doesn’t - helping to more quickly “coach up” struggling team members. 

Setting Clear Expectations

When setting up your call monitoring process, make sure to set clear expectations for your team on what you’re looking for when listening to their calls. Also, lean on analytics to track important details like: 

Lead Origin: Where did the     lead come from?

Customer Sentiment: Was the     potential customer engaged? Do they have purchase intent?

Call Duration: How long was     the call and was it productive?

Buyer Intent: How     likely is the potential customer to buy after the call?

Call Conversion Rate: How     successful was the rep/agent at securing a conversion?

Missed-Call Response Times: How     many calls does the rep miss, and how quickly do they attempt to reach     that potential customer after missing the call?

How Customer Support Leaders Use Call Monitoring to Improve Customer Experience

As a customer service leader, your goals are different from those of a sales leader. As opposed to directly driving net new revenue for the organization, you may be more focused on enhancing customer service to ensure retention rates are met. With that in mind, you’ll likely be using call monitoring to:

Improve call center KPIs 

Deliver a more personalized     customer experience

Implement quality control 

Maintain compliance

Obtain operational     efficiency 

Having the capability to coach your support agents can help ensure that quality standards are consistently being met. Quality management tools like call recording, whisper, and barge provide valuable insights and direction into your agents’ customer conversations. Make sure that your call center is supported so you can support your customers. Here are four ways to ensure your call monitoring plan is built out for achieving these deliverables: 

1. Set Quality Standards

First, you need to determine how success or failure is measured in your agents’ interactions with customers. How they handle calls on the phone impacts the customer experience, which can influence your call center’s KPIs.

Level of customer     satisfaction

Brand experience 

Agent problem solve ability

Agent professionalism and     attitude 

Agent competency on the     product or solution

Start pulling reports to see which agents are reflecting poor levels of customer satisfaction, and begin to listen to their calls to identify coaching opportunities to improve performance going forward. 

2. Determine Your KPIs

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, help you benchmark overall and individual call center performance. It can help you drill down on how long agents are on the phone, their productivity levels, and how long a customer sits on hold before hanging up. 

Important KPIs to measure include but are not limited to:

Average     Talk Time

Average     Handling Time

Abandon     Rate

First     Call Resolution

Average     Wait Time

Agent     Turnover

Of course, there are numerous other KPIs to measure for. But depending on your organization's needs, you should decide which metrics to focus on and how to benchmark the performance of those KPIs. 

Find those agents who have exceptional records and see what they’re doing well via call monitoring or recording. Use those insights to set up a training session with the broader team, or have those high-performing reps facilitate the training so your team can learn from the top. 

3. Create Quality Monitoring Scorecards

An important tool coaches use while monitoring calls is quality monitoring, including evaluation forms or scorecards that coaches use to evaluate a rep's performance against company goals or KPIs.

Sometimes called quality assurance scorecards, this tool assigns a score to your agents’ performance and quality of interactions with customers. Scorecards help agents know what level of performance to aim for, and what goals they should work toward when interacting with customers. At the same time, scorecards help leadership like you understand where an individual agent shines and where they could use some additional guidance. 

An efficient way to discover which agents would benefit from more coaching is to use automated scorecards. Unlike traditional versions, call scoring is a digital agent scorecard that provides contact center leaders a holistic view of each team members’ performance. Many CPaaS/cloud-communication platforms offer this software, which listens to calls and calculates a score for agents based on predetermined criteria, such as key phrases uttered, words, or pauses in conversation, that it recognizes during any given call.

4. Evaluate the Process

As you monitor calls don’t forget to evaluate your own process and adjust it accordingly to further improve agent performance. Ask yourself questions such as:

What further tweaks to your     coaching methods could you make? 

Have any new discoveries     about how to resolve obstacles emerged that everyone should know about? 

Are there any concepts     people are still not getting, that everyone needs further instruction to     successfully handle? 

Are there any routing     strategies causing unnecessary loops or a poor customer experience? 

Use monitoring tools like real-time dashboards and call quality scoring to measure agent progression. Leaving conversation feedback and assigning call dispositions can help them gain perspective and correct inconsistencies to help pull inquiries over the finish line. 

Improve Company Sales & Customer Experience with Cloud Communications Software

Don’t waste precious time in assuming your sales and support teams are sufficiently handling call volume without contact center software in place. When agents don’t have the right communication tools to use, many pieces of the operation can easily fall through the cracks. 

There are many ways to boost your organization’s sales and customer experience with cloud communications. Call monitoring is just one path to increasing sales and revenue, improve agent performance, and reduce costs at the same time. If you’re looking for actionable tactics regarding your call center’s efficiencies with respect to a tight budget, check out our latest eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Contact Center Costs. 

The New Normal of Sales Interactions

The year is 2021 and the world is getting smaller. As we recently discussed in the The Big 6 Benefits of SIP Trunking, 2020 saw sales and support teams around the world adopt virtual communications at record rates. 2020 is over but the direction of that trend hasn't changed, and consumer expectations for their business interactions are evolving just as fast. Based on customer service data from contact centers around the world, we know that consumer use of digital channels to contact a company is increasing and that customers with just one poor sales or service experience are willing to forgo a brand. 

There's a bright side to this story for sales leaders. As the global economy rebounds back from uncertain times, many sales teams have found innovative ways to succeed by expanding their outbound calling efforts internationally. Global sales strategies still deliver massive ROI, although more companies adopting unified communications means competition is only growing. Expanding your sales and revenue generating efforts to a global marketplace is the new standard for large companies, and a game changing advantage for small and emerging businesses that adopt of cloud communications in their international calling campaigns.

Outbound Sales Techniques Must Evolve to Stay Relevant

Customer expectations for sales and support interactions is evolving with the new normal of virtual communications in business. A recent review of our global network trends revealed some interesting statistics sales leaders should be aware of:

Decline in consumer trust due to fraud. 40% of  the billions of robocalls made each month are fraudulent. Consumers are suspicious of incoming calls, rarely answering calls from unfamiliar area codes.  

Customer visibility is at all time high. 80% of customers say experiences provided by a company are as important to them as its product. 

Customers answer their phones less often. 3/4 calls are unanswered due to unfamiliar area codes. Calls are even less likely to be answered when displaying an international caller ID. 

Despite lower contact rates, phone calls are still king. While use of multiple digital channels is on the rise, the phone is still king for sales teams: Phone calls are 10x more likely to lead to sales than     email. 

Modern communication solutions must enable remote workforces. 76% of support functions are now fully remote, with remote sales roles on the rise. Small businesses and large corporations alike implement cloud-based solutions so they can easily manage their phone numbers, agents, and call flows from anywhere in the world.

Advantages of a Well-Designed Global Sales Strategy

While the challenges can seem daunting, the benefits of expanding your outbound sales team into new geographic markets are worth the squeeze for most technology companies, regardless of their size. 

1. Expand Sales Targets to International Markets

Don't be bound by geography. Modern businesses sell anywhere and anytime with solutions with TRAVERSE TELECOM; All you need is a wifi connection and a computer. Expanding your sales efforts international benefits your existing sales channels as well, as consumers are more likely to trust companies that have the processes in place to serve a global customer base. 

2. Access Customers & Talent in New Geographies

Selling internationally isn't just good for driving revenue in new markets, it's an opportunity to access a global talent pool! Localizing your international sales efforts with an in-country team is a great strategy when expanding your efforts, especially when it comes to outbound sales. As revenue generated in new markets increases, you have more opportunity to invest your local teams and areas outside of your communications system.

3. Stabilize Revenue with Agile Communications

Tired of bracing for seasonal shifts in business activity, especially during slow seasons and holidays? At TRAVERSE TELECOM, we don't believe in seasonality! Or more specifically, we don't accept seasonality as a reason for downturns in business, thanks to our international sales and marketing strategy. When things slow down during holidays in one market, there is always another full of prospects ready to do business.

4. Modernize at Your Own Pace with Improved Technology

As companies worldwide adopt cloud-based communications, solutions like TRAVERSE TELECOM continue to improve our tech stack and product offering, making it easier than ever for organizations to modernize their communications. Our global communications platform allows companies to provision phone numbers from 170+ countries in minutes, manage remote agents from anywhere, self-configure call routing rules anytime, and so much more. 

Challenges of Global Sales & Marketing Strategies

Considering the powerful benefits of international sales strategies, why doesn't everyone start dialing international prospects tomorrow? As it turns out, international communications gets tricky in a hurry! The challenges of expanding your sales efforts into new geographic markets include: 

Cost to the customer to reach you. In many countries, the cost to call your company may be expensive for locals depending on your number type. For example, callers in the UAE are more likely to call a toll free or local number than they are a shared-cost 600  number. 

Differences in preferred number types between     countries. While you want to set up a number in each     region you expand to, you also need to ensure you're choosing a popular     number type. For example, a toll free service number is a great idea for     most countries, but these numbers can be problematic for connecting to     callers in China.

High rates of fraud make it harder to get on the     phone. Have     we mentioned that consumers are less likely to answer unfamiliar area     codes? This is where TrueLocal™ comes in! In every country we serve, we     see significantly better answer rates when using a local area code during outbound calls. 

Complicated, country-specific regulatory requirements. Every     region has a different regulatory body (sometimes multiple), and getting     approval to receive or make calls to in-country prospects is a process     that may take months in certain countries. Usually run by government, slow     process to get connected, success often depends on who you reach that     day. 

Set Up Your International Sales Team for Global Success

In this webinar, Look Local, Sell Local: How to Increase Your Global Call Answer Rate, we’ll show you how to leverage your voice calls to better connect with customers and increase engagement. You’ll leave our 15-minute conversation knowing how to:

Improve     your global sales team's results in popular but difficult markets like     Australia, China, Russia, Singapore, and more. 

Why your calls sometimes show     unknown or "international" caller ID, and how to avoid caller ID     issues when calling abroad.

Avoid long     wait times or qualification issues with local regulators, as well as     security risks and fraud attacks on your numbers. 

Reduce the     total costs of communications while expanding your reach.

Get     professional looking phone numbers in 170+ countries within minutes.

How Global Sales Teams Reach More Prospects (Without Making More Calls)

Global Marketing Strategies are the New Normal

The year is 2021 and the world is getting smaller. As we recently discussed in The Big 6 Benefits of SIP Trunking, 2020 saw organizations around the world adopt cloud communications at record rates. 2020 is over but the direction of that trend hasn't changed, and consumer expectations for their business interactions are evolving just as fast. Based on customer service data from contact centers around the world, we know that consumer use of digital channels to contact a company is increasing and that customers with just one poor service experience are willing to forgo a brand, raising the stakes for marketers.

There's a bright side to this story for marketing leaders. As the world economy rebounds back from uncertain times, many marketing teams have found innovative ways to succeed by expanding their inbound and outbound marketing strategies internationally. Global marketing strategies still deliver massive ROI, especially as many agencies and in-house teams struggle to adapt to the new business climate. Expanding your marketing team’s revenue-generating efforts to international customers is the new standard for large and midsize companies, and a game-changing advantage for small and growing businesses that use new technology to manage a global marketing team.

International Marketing Techniques Must Evolve with Customer Expectations

Customer expectations for sales and marketing interactions are evolving with the new normal of business communications. A recent review of our global network trends revealed some interesting statistics marketing teams should be aware of:

Decline in     consumer trust due to fraud. 40%     of the billions of robocalls made each month are fraudulent. Consumers are     suspicious of incoming calls, rarely answering calls from unfamiliar area     codes.  

Customer     visibility is at an all-time high. 80%     of customers say experiences provided by a company are as important to     them as its product. 

Customers answer their phones less     often. Three     out of four calls are unanswered due to unfamiliar area codes. Calls are     even less likely to be answered when displaying an international caller     ID. 

Contact     rates are down, but the phone is still king. While     the use of multiple digital channels is on the rise, the phone is still     king for revenue-focused marketing teams. Phone conversations are 10x more     likely to lead to sales than email. 

Modern     communication solutions must enable remote workforces. 76%     of support functions are now fully remote, with remote marketing positions     on the rise. Small businesses and large corporations alike implement     cloud-based solutions so they can easily manage their phone numbers,     agents, and call flows from anywhere in the world.

Advantages of a Well-Designed International Marketing Strategy

While the challenges can seem daunting, the benefits of expanding your outbound marketing techniques into new geographies are worth the squeeze for technology companies of any size.

1. Expand Your Addressable Market to a Global Audience

Don't be bound by geography. Modern businesses sell anywhere and anytime with solutions with TRAVERSE TELECOM; All you need is a wifi connection and a computer. Expanding your brand efforts internationally benefits your existing marketing channels as well, as consumers are more likely to trust companies that have the processes in place to serve a global customer base.

2. Access Customers & Creative Talent in New Regions

Marketing internationally isn't just good for driving revenue in new regions, it's an opportunity to access a global talent pool! Localizing your international marketing efforts with an in-country team is a great strategy when expanding your efforts, especially when it comes to outbound marketing and telemarketing campaigns.. As revenue generated in new markets increases, you have more opportunities to invest back into your international teams. 

3. Stabilize Revenue with a Global Marketing Channel Mix

Tired of bracing for seasonal shifts in business activity, especially during slow seasons and holidays? At TRAVERSE TELECOM, we don't believe in seasonality! Or more specifically, we don't accept seasonality as a reason for slow business cycles. This is one benefit of our international marketing strategy; When things slow down somewhere due to holidays, our international mix of marketing channels keeps us engaged in areas of the world where customers are ready for business.

4. Empower International Teams with Better Remote Work Technologies

As the adoption of cloud-based communications continues, solutions like TRAVERSE TELECOM make it easier to expand globally and manage international marketing teams. Set up toll-free hotlines or local call tracking numbers in 170+ countries, boost outbound contact rates with local caller ID in 20+ countries, manage remote employees from anywhere with a wifi connection and so much more within the TRAVERSE TELECOM platform. 

Challenges of Global Marketing Strategies

Considering the powerful benefits of global marketing strategies, why doesn't everyone start reaching out to international prospects tomorrow? As it turns out, international communications get tricky in a hurry! The challenges of expanding your marketing channel mix into new geographies include: 

Cost to the     customer to reach you. In     many countries, the cost to call your company may be expensive for locals     depending on your number type. For example, callers in the UAE are more     likely to call a toll free or local number than they are a shared-cost 600     number. 

Differences     in preferred number types between countries. While     you want to set up a number in each region you expand to, you also need to     ensure you're choosing a popular number type. For example, a toll free     service number is a great idea for most countries, but these numbers can     be problematic for connecting to callers in China.

High rates     of fraud make it harder to get on the phone. Have     we mentioned that consumers are less likely to answer unfamiliar area     codes? This is where TrueLocal™ comes in! In every country we serve, we     see significantly better answer rates when using a local area code during     outbound calls. 

Complicated,     country-specific regulatory requirements. Every     region has a different regulatory body (sometimes multiple), and getting     approval to receive or make calls to in-country prospects is a process     that may take months in certain countries. Usually run by the government,     it’s a slow process to get connected. success often depends on who you     reach that day. 

Set Up Your International Marketing Team for Global Success

In this webinar, Look Local, Sell Local: How to Increase Your Global Call Answer Rate, we’ll show you how to leverage your voice calls to better connect with customers and increase engagement. You’ll leave our 15-minute conversation knowing how to:

Improve     your global marketing team’s contact rates in popular but difficult     regions like Australia, China, Russia, Singapore, and more. 

Why your     calls sometimes show unknown or "international" caller ID, and     how to avoid caller ID issues when calling overseas.

Avoid long     wait times or qualification issues with local regulators, as well as     security risks and fraud attacks on your call tracking numbers. 

Reduce the     total costs of communications while expanding your brand marketing reach.

Get     professional-looking marketing phone numbers in 170+ countries within     minutes.

How Outbound Marketing Teams Reach More Customers with Less Effort

At TRAVERSE TELECOM, we work hard every day creating ways for companies to connect with their customers no matter where they do business. One of the most common problems international marketing teams face is how to engage new international prospects. As we covered above, consumers are answering their phone less often compared to just a couple of years ago. So how do you get international prospects to pick up when your sales reps call?

As we covered in The Big 6 Benefits of Modern SIP Trunking, the world is migrating to cloud communications faster than ever. BPOs, global enterprises, and VoIP resellers are leaning on wholesale voice partnerships to expand their phone number coverage, drive more revenue opportunities, and reduce ownership costs.

The global shift towards unified communications is a shot of energy for the VoIP industry, already leading to faster innovations that benefit resellers, and the customers they serve. Those innovations include simple yet effective phone number APIs, which save countless hours of manual configurations by wholesale voice partners to serve their customers or global employee base.

The Modern VoIP Reseller's Checklist for Success

Apigee, the global thought leader in API, released an interesting report before they were acquired by Google Cloud. The report looked at product trends amongst telecom providers, and we have a hard time disagreeing with their findings! The telecom trends for success outlined in their report include: 

All services will be consumed by     applications.

Applications get their     functionality by APIs.

The market     for services is global.

Hosting is     moving to the cloud.

Telco     competition is no longer just other service providers.

A     huge amount of innovation happens outside your company.

The     need to differentiate services and appeal to application developers.

The     need to change technology and business structures.

Source: Apigee

So we know APIs are a bridge to the future, and that APIs are essential for modern voice partnerships to succeed. But why and how are APIs used exactly? In fact, what does voice API even mean?

What is Voice API & How Does It Work?

API, or application programming interface, is a network connection between two software systems. Voice API is a bridge between your software and your voice partner's network. This allows developers to automate tasks like phone number lookup, provisioning, and configuration, as well as embed phone call and messaging functions in your product.

Voice API connects you directly to your VoIP provider's platform, which comes with a host of productivity benefits. Voice API is a catch-all term covering many APIs that perform specific functions, which are made possible by the direct connection VoIP resellers have to their partner's network via API.

That sounds awfully technical, so what does API mean in plain English? Think of APIs like an interpreter who translates a conversation between two speakers of different native languages. But instead of translating a conversation between people, an API is a translator for conversations between technologies. Just like an interpreter, the APIs translate the conversation between two machines one task at a time.

How Virtual Number Resellers are Using Voice API

Enterprise customers and virtual number resellers want to be able to provision and configure numbers from within their own platforms. In days gone by, resellers would have to manually provision phone numbers from multiple carriers and their platform. APIs take the manual work out of it, allowing you to lookup, validate, provision, and configure numbers automatically within your own interface.

Flexible Voice APIs empower businesses to integrate TRAVERSE TELECOM’s software-driven communications into their own customer-facing applications and are built to provide immediate access to our massive global inventory, instant number configuration, and more within your preferred interface. 

Search & Validate. Search by ISO country code and     number type to receive package, subscription, service fee, included     minutes, order times, and more.

Number     Provisioning & Configuration. Provision     and configure a single virtual number or several at a time.

Compliance     & Documentation: Returns     documentation requirements, portability, and geographic restrictions     associated with the voice service.

SMS &     Call Recording Configuration. Configure     call recording rules and automatically reply to a customer text in SMS     format from email while remaining in regulatory compliance.

3 Reasons Virtual Number Resellers Love Voice API

You know what APIs do, but what do virtual phone number resellers expect to achieve with them? Let's start with the most common benefits we here from our reseller partners using our APIs in their business. 

1. Automate the Provisioning & Configuration of Numbers

When we first launched TRAVERSE TELECOM Flex, our program for wholesale voice partners and resellers, we did it without APIs. When a partner received an order from their customer, they would have to manually provision the number from our cart and configure it within a separate interface. Now, TRAVERSE TELECOM Flex partners use APIs to find, provision, and configure routing & recording settings automatically when a customer orders a number or they provision them to a new office.

2. Expand Your Voice Coverage to the Global Market

Your network coverage is directly linked to your potential sales opportunities. Don't be shackled by your coverage when it can easily become your strength. APIs allow you to connect directly with your wholesale voice service, making their coverage your coverage. Hard-to-find number types create opportunities for higher margins, driving up your profits from multiple angles. Plus, customers and partners are more likely to trust your business when you check the boxes for the markets they care about the most. 

3. Reduce Your Cost of Ownership

APIs are an unbelievable savings tool for voice partners. Not only do you save with superior wholesale rates, you free your service team from the hours often required to provision and configure international phone numbers correctly. APIs allow you to scale to a global market without more headcount or expensive third-party tools, just like we have at TRAVERSE TELECOM. 

Finding the Right VoIP Reseller Program for You

Wholesale VoIP providers require flexible communications solutions to drive their business. That’s exactly why we built TRAVERSE TELECOM Flex, a global partner program for wholesale voice. We help brands better connect and serve their customers with authentic, reliable voice solutions. Here's what you can expect as a Flex Partner:

Expanded     Voice Service Portfolio. Partnering     with TRAVERSE TELECOM allows you to provision phone numbers from 170+     countries in minutes. That includes rare coverage others struggle to     obtain, like local numbers in India, Nigeria, the UAE, and many more. 

Phone Number Management Made     Easy. Manage     your voice features and phone numbers, including ones from other carriers,     in one intuitive user interface.

Scalable API Toolkit. Take     advantage of the same APIs TRAVERSE TELECOM uses internally to scale our     services for our global customer base. Automate the provisioning and     configuration of new numbers with Voice API.

Dedicated Account Service. In addition     to 24/7 follow-the-sun support, TRAVERSE TELECOM Flex partners have a     dedicated account manager from TRAVERSE TELECOM that understands your     business model and always watches out for your needs.

International     Porting Expertise. When     other carriers say it can't be done, our world-class porting team finds a     way. TRAVERSE TELECOM removes stress from the number porting process so     you can just enjoy your savings.

What Is VoIP?

The term VoIP is an acronym for Voice over Internet Protocol. In a nutshell, it’s a telecommunications technology that allows the transmission of voice signals across an IP-based network such as LAN, WAN, and even Wi-Fi. VoIP works by taking analog voice signals from a regular handset, converting them into digital bits, and transmitting the digitized information as packets over a network.

To make and receive calls via VoIP, you must have a VoIP-enabled phone system or a softphone app installed on your computer or smartphone. These have built-in VoIP adaptors that convert analog voice waves into digital signals. The digital voice packets are then sent through the internet router to the VoIP phone provider, where servers route calls over the correct network to reach the intended recipients. This whole process may seem complicated, but let’s keep things simple for now.

Using a VoIP Provider Compared to Conventional Phone Systems

VoIP’s predecessor is the traditional PBX (Private Branch Exchange) phone system. In all fairness, VoIP technology is a massive leap from PBX. Unlike older phone systems, VoIP transmits over ethernet connections and doesn’t rely on a physical switch to route calls or switch between callers. PBX phones transmit via copper lines connected to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN). The copper wiring carries a modulated analog voice signal in the form of electrical pulses.

A modern PBX version—IP-PBX—is the closest traditional phones can get to VoIP. And although IP-PBX uses VoIP technology to facilitate on-prem calls, it still lacks most of the capabilities of full-scale VoIP phone systems. What do you actually get with VoIP telephony that other phone systems can’t match?

Lower Call Rates and More Savings

One of the main reasons most businesses switch to VoIP phones is to cut communications costs. No matter how you look at it, running a VoIP system is much cheaper than using a landline phone system.

For one, the call rates are much lower. Most VoIP service providers bundle unlimited local calls and heavily discounted international minutes in VoIP subscriptions. For instance, while a PBX line might cost upwards of $50, a VoIP subscription can start as low as $30 per month. And that’s not all. Keep in mind that you’ll have to pay standard call rates to your telecom provider when using a landline PBX phone.

 Second, VoIP system installations and maintenance cost way less than wired alternatives. Business VoIP providers usually sell VoIP-enabled handsets at a discounted price. They also take care of the phone’s technical backend.

Finally, VoIP is so versatile that it can streamline your entire communications infrastructure, subsequently improving work and business efficiency. This realizes some indirect and valuable cost savings too. For instance, VoIP-powered teleconferencing allows remote colleagues to attend virtual meetings without having to incur travel expenses.

Completely Portable

VoIP technology allows you to make and receive calls from multiple devices. With VoIP, your business lines are no longer tied to office desk phones. In fact, you don’t need desk phones at all. Through softphone apps, your Smartphone, Laptop, or Tablet can just as easily place and answer VoIP calls. One good thing about VoIP is that it’s not hindered by international borders. VoIP works from any part of the world, as long as there’s a stable internet connection. This means you can take your office on the go at any time without ever missing a beat.

VoIP’s portability does not end there. Thanks to its advanced call forwarding and routing capabilities, incoming calls can still reach their recipients no matter where they are or the devices they’re using.

Better Scalability and Flexibility

Scalability is another strong point for VoIP systems. A growing business needs a communications infrastructure that’s flexible enough to meet changing demands. VoIP phone system providers offer easy scaling options, allowing you to increase or decrease the number of users and phone features at any time. Usually, this means switching between VoIP subscription packages, but you can also customize your own voice solution to match your business’s unique phone needs.

On the other hand, scaling a traditional phone system would mean laying more copper wiring, upgrading the switching hardware, and getting all new handsets. Doing all this can be expensive, tedious, and time-consuming. More so if adding new lines or users ends in an overhaul of the entire system.

More Call Features

VoIP is not just your regular phone system. You get so much more with VoIP than conventional voice calls. VoIP’s versatility and multi-functional capabilities allow users to multitask communications using various tools simultaneously.

Suppose you’re returning a call. As you wait, you could read through a transcribed voicemail from your inbox to find out the reason for calling. At the same time, you could forward an important voicemail to any of your colleagues with just the click of a button or screen tap.

VoIP also comes with a host of automation features that you won’t find on other phone systems, such as advanced call transfer and forwarding, intelligent call answering, auto assistance, call monitoring and logging, hot desking, conference bridge, and more.

VoIP gives you the convenience and scope that make for a robust unified communications system. The right VoIP platform will practically cover all your communications needs.

Superior Voice Quality

VoIP is far superior to traditional phone technologies when it comes to connection speed and reception quality. The only way VoIP interferes with voice or video information is by turning it from analog to digital packets. Some end-points may compress the data to save on bandwidth, but even that is done using lossless algorithms to preserve audiovisual quality. In most cases, landline systems intentionally clip voice waveforms in order to minimize the transmission data load, resulting in muffled voices and distorted dial tones.

Additionally, since VoIP transmits across IP networks, it suffers little to no external noise interference. VoIP transmissions are also latency-free, meaning the calls never drop or get jittery. In the end, you get a crisp voice transfer and sharp HD images during videoconferencing.

What Is a VoIP Service Provider, and What Is Their Role?

A VoIP provider is a company that sells products and services that enable businesses to make and receive calls over the internet. Sophisticated algorithms and servers route incoming calls from the conventional cellular or landline networks to the internet to reach business phone lines when using VoIP. The same thing happens the other way around when making calls on a VoIP phone. The call has to leave the internal ethernet network to reach phones using other telecom networks. The VoIP host is responsible for providing the infrastructure for these processes.

Since VoIP is a lot more than just a voice call technology, VoIP providers also offer more robust communication solutions such as instant messaging, SIP support, emailing, and call management. Modern VoIP providers basically sell a complete business toolbox catering to all enterprise communications demands. On top of that, VoIP hosts also help organizations integrate existing digital resources such as CRMs, cloud, helpdesk, and e-commerce platforms with VoIP services.

VoIP support has evolved to cover all aspects of business communications. So an all-rounded VoIP provider essentially becomes a technical business partner.

Why Is Traverse Telecom the Best VoIP Provider?

Traverse Telecom’s VoIP platform provides a powerful yet easy-to-use cloud business phone system that seamlessly integrates with popular CRM and helpdesk systems. Our solutions are purposely designed to bolster collaboration and introduce exciting new ways to drive business productivity. And thanks to flexible plans and tiered service packages, Traverse Telecom VoIP is ideal for call centers, large firms, and SMBs.

VoIP Features Traverse Telecom Provides

Traverse Telecom provides businesses with all the basic VoIP capabilities, plus so much more. We go above and beyond to deliver exceptional business phone services to broaden the scope of the communication. We believe you should do more with VoIP than just make calls. Here is the list of features making Traverse Telecom the best VoIP service provider for international calling and internal communications:

FAQs

Here is a list of frequently asked questions about VoIP phone systems and VoIP hosted service providers:

Do I need a provider for VoIP?

Yes. You need a VoIP SIP provider to make and receive external calls. Without a SIP VoIP service provider, you can only make and receive internal calls over IP-PBX within the organization’s network. Plus, you need a VoIP host to unlock advanced VoIP capabilities.

Does VoIP require a service provider?

VoIP requires a service provider to route incoming and outgoing calls outside the internal business phone network. Also, cloud VoIP providers offer unlimited access to advanced business communication features.

What is a VoIP service provider?

A VoIP service provider is any B2B business that offers a cloud-hosted communications platform for enabling VoIP services. The service provider forms the link between internal and outbound business communications via the internet.

What makes a VoIP provider good?

Trends Towards Dedicated Voice Stay Strong in 2021

We're in the last quarter of 2021 and the world continues to adopt virtual communications at an astonishing pace. While some speculated that the surge in demand for hosted voice in 2020 was a temporary market shift, companies worldwide continue to embrace modernized communications. Work from home is a cultural hit, and the hybrid work model is working better for global companies than anyone could have (confidently) predicted.  

Now, that's not to say that the global migration to the cloud has been easy. Whether you're replacing a legacy PBX system or just trying to optimize your current business phone setup, integrating new VoIP services or technologies into your operations can feel like a daunting task. That's especially true when it's your first time setting up a dedicated voice termination service!

We want to equip you with the knowledge you need to make confident, competent decisions about your voice termination needs. Today we're simplifying some of the complexities of global telecom so that you feel prepared to make the best choices for your voice termination needs, starting with call origination and termination 101.

How Call Origination & Termination Work in VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) refers to the process of making calls over the Internet. VoIP calling benefits the user by requiring no special equipment beyond a mobile-compatible phone, tablet or computer (which are pretty common these days), mobile network data and access to the Internet. VoIP calling is usually cheaper and less restrictive than landline-based telephone services.

VoIP is similar to the traditional PSTN in that calls might travel across several networks before reaching their recipient. Traditional telephone carriers have agreements in place to accept or pass through calls placed from outside networks so that end users can enjoy an uninterrupted conversation. 

The same is true for VoIP providers. They work together to connect calls from one location to the recipient number, or destination. Call origination is where the number is dialed from, while call termination refers to the location of the recipient.  

What is VoIP Termination?

The process of patching through calls from one VoIP phone to another is called VoIP termination. You might see esoteric definitions of VoIP termination laid out like this:

VoIP call termination refers to the procedures that route telephone calls from one provider to the next provider until the call is routed to the last telephone company and received by the recipient. 

That’s a mouthful! You can think of VoIP termination as telephone carriers mutually agreeing to connect callers around the globe so calls can connect people between any location.

So, a VoIP termination service provider is a type of carrier that ensures your outgoing calls are connected to your recipients via their network and/or partner networks. VoIP termination services are also responsible for security, audio quality, and least-cost-routing for those calls, as well as any other solution standards laid out in their service level agreement. 

Now, this is telecom we're talking about here, and it wouldn't be telecom without acronyms. Common terms you'll see in this article or others as you continue your research include: 

A-Z VoIP Termination: A-Z     VoIP termination is normally used in reference to a provider's complete     list of rates for outbound calls to all available countries, beginning     with Afghanistan and ending with Zimbabwe.  

SIP Termination: SIP     stands for Session Initiated Protocol. SIP is one method of VoIP call     connection, although "SIP" termination is usually used     interchangeably with "VoIP" termination in online content.

SIP Trunking: SIP     trunking is the connection between your phone system and an external voice     service. SIP trunking can be used for VoIP origination, termination, or     2-way voice services. 

VoIP Origination: While     VoIP termination services are concerned with the delivery of your outbound     calls to your destination, a VoIP origination service refers to the     inbound phone numbers and service used to manage incoming calls.

Who Uses Voice Termination Services?

There are several types of organizations or businesses that use voice termination services. The most common use-cases include: 

BPOs & Call Centers

Partnered Services &     Enterprises

Embedded Communications

BPOs & Call Centers

BPO, or business process outsourcing, are outsourced call centers that handle aspects of your business operations that your staff either doesn’t have the bandwidth to complete or can't perform efficiently. Running an efficient sales or service call center requires major time and investment, and BPOs manage those operations so your company doesn't have to worry about all the work that goes into setting up the technologies, negotiating pricing, staying compliant, hiring & training agents, and so on. 

Because BPOs manage call center operations for multiple companies or sometimes a single enterprise, it's easy to see why a dedicated voice termination provider is required. Dropped calls and frequent call quality issues are disastrous to a BPO's operations, and even a small difference in VoIP termination rates makes a huge difference on your bottom line when your agents are making thousands of outbound calls per month. 

Partnered Services & Enterprises

Enterprises and medium sized businesses with international calling needs frequently partner with VoIP termination providers. The reasons are the same as with a BPO - when you have that many agents on the phone making thousands or even million minutes of outbound calls per month, any lags in your QoS standards are devastating and even a small reduction in call termination rates makes a major difference. Enterprises usually use SIP trunking to integrate these dedicated voice services into their existing systems. A common example of this is when companies use Microsoft Teams as their virtual phone system, but opt for Direct Routing with a partner like TRAVERSE TELECOM rather than settle for limited Calling Plans.

Partnered services may also include resellers or "channel partners." These are other voice services or unified communication platforms that partner with one or multiple call termination providers to improve their own service offering in regions where their network is lacking. Arrangements like this are even common with your major cable providers, who bundle VoIP services with their Internet and broadcast/cable media products to offer their commercial and residential customers the convenience of purchasing all media-related services in one place.

Embedded Communications

Calling apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, or Apple’s FaceTime rely on VoIP termination services to carry out calling features. Calls placed from mobile apps often travel through several networks before they reach their end point, especially if the recipient resides in another country. The extras that come with many of these apps—video chat, file sharing, SMS—are part of the data packets transferred through the cloud and reassembled at their destination device thanks to the call features bundled within these apps.

The programmable voice APIs required for those functions can also be used by partners to embed products into their own platform or shopping cart. For example, if you are looking at an international voice provider's online shopping cart for available numbers, there's a chance some of the numbers being displayed are actually from TRAVERSE TELECOM's shopping cart and being displayed via phone number API!

8 Reasons Organizations Use VoIP Termination Services

The business cases for a great VoIP termination provider are endless, but we've filtered out list down to 8 no-brainer reasons to take advantage of these services. Common business benefits of partnering with a reliable call termination service include:

1. Outbound CLI (Local Voice Termination)

Want more people answering your calls? Use a local number as your outbound caller ID! Sounds easy, but of course, international telecom never so simple. The ability to use local caller ID in target markets is a top priority of most companies when choosing their VoIP termination providers. And it's no wonder why; companies that don’t display a familiar caller ID may miss out on more than 75% of answered calls. In China, for example, recipients are 10x more likely to answer calls from companies using local numbers!

Call termination service with guaranteed outbound caller ID is known as Local voice termination. Local voice termination features such as TRAVERSE TELECOM TrueLocal prevent poor answer rates in your target markets, especially during international calls. Check out our free webinar Look Local, Sell Local for more statistics and use-cases for guaranteed CLI during outbound calls. 

2. Expanded Call Coverage

VoIP providers usually offer a wider variety of vanity phone numbers than traditional phone service providers. In terms of the ability to reach people, VoIP offers greater access to phone numbers in hard-to-reach places such as app-based numbers, PBX-based lines or accounts within unified communication platforms (like Teams).

Connecting with a global voice termination provider like TRAVERSE TELECOM or partnering with several local vendors in your target markets gives companies worldwide call coverage, also known as A to Z termination. These arrangements often expand your inbound number coverage as well. For example, TRAVERSE TELECOM partners have the ability to provision inbound virtual numbers from 170+ countries within minutes, all from one intuitive user interface. This includes rare number types other providers struggle to obtain in Australia, India, Nigeria, the UAE, and many more.

3. Friendly User Experience

Partnering with reliable call termination providers means your business is not responsible for maintaining your telecom network, freeing you to focus on the daily operations and goals that drive your business success. There’s no need for additional IT staff, and live phone support is available 24/7 when you choose a reliable provider like TRAVERSE TELECOM. 

4. Price Reduction (Wholesale Call Rates)

VoIP termination rates are more affordable (and much easier to work with) than PSTN-based services in practically every scenario companies may find themselves in. This is especially true for businesses that qualify for wholesale voice termination rates. In addition to the time savings and reduced headcount requirements when using a voice termination provider, wholesale VoIP partnerships unlock the most competitive call rates vendors are able to offer.

5. Automated Work Flows

If your business opens a new office, goes remote or sends representatives overseas for an event, your VoIP network follows you. There’s no need to install new hardware or configure new server rooms. Take advantage of unified communications and integrate your voice service with your CRM and other technologies to automate tasks and free up your agents to communicate with customers.

6. PSTN Replacement

If your business and customer base are all within your local or regional area—meaning you could rely upon the local telephone network for all phone service needs—contracting with a VoIP termination provider could still benefit your company. The VoIP provider could offer a full suite of business call services most local phone vendors can't match, and at more affordable rates!

7. Consolidated Technology for Unified Communications

Almost all VoIP termination providers offer some level of unified communication integrations. You and your employees can continue to use the systems you’re familiar with without sacrificing productivity. 

Need to upgrade your system or planning a rip-and-replace migration to a cloud phone system? No problem. Your VoIP provider will handle those changes in the cloud. Technology upgrades happen online, too. Meaning a simple download of the new tech and a reboot of your computers puts your phones back on the same page. 

8. Superior Call Quality (Especially Internationally!)

VoIP termination providers continuously work to solve the inconveniences of dropped calls, post-dial delays, poor audio quality, and other annoyances that can crop up, especially when making long-distance calls. Most providers guarantee a good connection no matter the location of the outbound/inbound caller. It’s the VoIP provider’s job to route your calls efficiently. They maintain backup systems so if technical errors crop up, your phone service will continue uninterrupted.

Understanding VoIP Termination Providers

VoIP termination service is the process your carrier takes to ensure your VoIP calls reach their intended destination without being dropped and with as high quality as possible. As the number of carriers that you rely on to place outbound calls increases, so does the chance of something going wrong. To address this, VoIP termination services continuously optimize these outgoing call routes on their network and then pass those benefits on to companies or partners that use them to host their outgoing calls. If you’re conducting a video call, or using a UC that allows audience chat or file transfer while on a call, VoIP termination services also ensure your data transfers seamlessly. 

Because there are so many use-cases that companies use call termination services for, the first thing you should look at with potential VoIP services is the type of organizations their service is built around. For example, is the provider focused on voice termination routes in the US & Canada but also offer some international services, or are they focused on primarily on international call traffic? Do they offer local VoIP termination, and if yes then where can they ensure local caller ID and which destinations are best effort? And of course, are they a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 voice provider?

We'll cover best practices for vetting potential voice termination providers in a future article, but this free guide wouldn't be complete without addressing the tiers of VoIP providers and why that matters. There are three main categories of VoIP termination companies, known as "tiers." If you're unfamiliar with VoIP provider tiers, you're in luck! They are easy to explain and once we do, you'll be able to understand 80% of what you need to know about a provider's network infrastructure just by knowing what carrier tier they fall under. 

The 3 Tiers of of VoIP Termination Providers

VoIP termination providers, or telecom carriers in general, can be broadly categorized into three categories; Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. The differences between tiers of telecom carriers come from the way in which their network operates. Let’s explore each tier in more detail.

Tier 1 Telecom Carriers

Tier 1 telecom carriers are large organizations that own their own infrastructure and maintain a network with direct connections between all points. These large carriers have peering agreements with Tier 2 and sometimes Tier 3 carriers, but always prioritize their own traffic first. There are only a handful of Tier 1 carriers in the world. 

Tier 2 Telecom Carriers

Tier 2 telecom carriers have peering agreements with one or more Tier 1 carriers. While many Tier 2 carriers simply piggyback off a Tier 1 network, some run a hybrid network where they own their own infrastructure in certain regions and/or maintain direct connects with multiple Tier 1 carriers and run calls through the carrier best suited for that call based on when and where the calls take place. 

Tier 3 Telecom Carriers

Tier 3 telecom carriers are startup carriers or niche providers that works through one or more (usually more) Tier 2 carriers to host their customers' calls. 

While Tier 3 carriers have a role to play for niche use-cases, if you're reading this article you are probably looking for a Tier 1 or 2 carrier. Why? For several reasons, but none more important than reliable voice quality. The more "handoffs" there are between networks, the more likely you are to experience audio issues, post dial delay, jitter, dropped calls, etc. Tier 1 carriers don't need any handoffs to connect calls, while Tier 2 carriers minimize handoffs and can even optimize international connections by switching to their own network or a different Tier 1 that's better suited for that particular call. 

The Reliable Choice for International VoIP Termination

Interested in reliable, high-quality voice termination around the world? If that's a yes, you're in the right place! We encourage you to continue using our free resources to educate yourself and arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make a confident, competent decision about your voice termination providers. And when you're ready to compare carriers, we hope you'll consider TRAVERSE TELECOM during your search.

TRAVERSE TELECOM is here to deliver the highest ROI for any organization we partner with. No overly complicated buzzwords or sales hocus-pocus; if we aren't confident we're the best voice provider for your needs, we'll help you find the best fit even if that means pointing you towards a different solution. The reason so many organizations trust TRAVERSE TELECOM as their voice termination provider include:

Secure, Reliable Global Voice Network. Transport Layer     Security (TLS) and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) encryption,     plus 24/7 fraud monitoring and live support, helps ensure the highest     level of security for calls. 

Exceptional Global Call Quality. Our resilient global network     delivers an average MoS score of 4.2 for international traffic, thanks to     50+ local carrier connections and optimized routes for minimum call     congestion and packet loss.

Outbound CLI & Local VoIP Termination. TRAVERSE TELECOM's     TrueLocal 2-Way Voice Numbers, which include local VoIP termination &     origination, are now available in nearly 30 countries!

Affordable A-Z VoIP Termination Rates. No carrier but TRAVERSE     TELECOM consistently delivers reliable, high-quality audio at such     affordable rates globally. Talk to us today for our latest A-Z VoIP     termination rates.

Unmatched Global Number Coverage. Provision and configure routing rules in     minutes for any of our 40K numbers in inventory, all from one intuitive     user interface. We provide inbound numbers in 170+ countries,     including rare number types in India, Nigeria, the UAE, and many more.

International     Porting Expertise. When other carriers     say it can’t be done, our world-class porting team finds a way. Our     international porting team can transfer numbers in over 100     countries and regions at no cost. 

Expect the Best from Your VoIP Termination Provider

Being responsible for the success of your BPO means ensuring that your clients' customers are satisfied at the end of each call. And that’s no easy task with today’s rising consumer expectations…

The numbers don’t lie:

In the U.S, companies     lose nearly $700B in revenue due to poor customer service

61% of consumers say they stopped doing business with a company after a poor     customer service experience

59% of customers say they have higher expectations for customer support than     they did a year ago.

What these statistics tell BPO leaders is that your customer service is a revenue-impacting function for your clients. If you do a great job servicing their customers and help them increase revenue, you’ll have a client for the long haul! If those interactions are slipping, however, you may find yourself losing business. 

It’s a risk no call center manager can take. And your success ultimately relies on properly measuring and improving your BPO’s customer satisfaction score (CSAT).

What is Call Center CSAT?

CSAT, or customer satisfaction, score is a measurement call centers use to determine how happy customers are, on average, from an interaction with a company. It is typically measured by asking customers to take a quick one-question survey after the call.

That question is: How would you rate your satisfaction with [company name]?

Customers can then rate it on a 1-3, 1-5, or 1-10 scale. 

Call centers typically measure their customer satisfaction score as an average value or as a percentage, with 100% being a perfect score and 0% indicating no customer satisfaction received. Below are the calculations for measuring these two ways of evaluating CSAT: 

CSAT (average) = Sum     of all score values / number of all scores

CSAT (percentage)=     (number of all positive scores / number of all scores) x 100

9 Ways to Improve Your BPO's CSAT Score

1. Measure the Right KPIs

If your data isn’t leading you to practices that will move the needle on customer satisfaction, you may need to re-examine what type of information you collect about your customers' experiences within your call center. Ensure the key performance indicators your organization is using to measure customer sentiment align with your business goals. Only then will you be able to turn insights from those KPIs into action. 

Start by re-evaluating your call center metric benchmarks, make the necessary adjustments, and begin monitoring your customer satisfaction data to proactively review and communicate your BPO value with leadership and clients to help grow your book of business in the process. 

2. Reduce Hold Times

Over 70% of customers get ‘extremely frustrated’ waiting on hold. And average hold time standards suggest that calls are answered within the first 20 seconds. One way your BPO can reduce hold times is by optimizing your interactive voice response (IVR) phone trees and automated routing rules so customers aren’t taking unnecessary steps. Intelligent call routing rules can help customers reach the agent who can most efficiently serve their needs the first time. This is much better than bouncing your callers from agent to agent, wasting their time (and yours) as they explain their issue over and over again. 

3. Queue Callback

Another way to reduce your call times and improve satisfaction is by offering the request for a callback. Queue callback is an easy-to-implement feature that gives callers the option to hang up (and go on with their lives) with the promise that one of your agents will return their call when it’s their turn in the queue. 

Offering a callback option conveys that your company cares about your customers’ valuable time while also relieving pressure on your call center agents to rush through calls. Your agents will be set up to perform their jobs better, and your customers will feel as if they’re getting better service. Incorporating queue callback can also help your bottom line - reducing the on-hold minutes that are acquired as customers wait on the line. 

4. Personalize Customer Conversations

No one likes to repeat themselves, so don’t make your customers do it with an automated system, then again with a live agent. Instead, integrate with your CRM so agents enter the conversation with context and can provide personalized support that saves both them and your customers time.

Research shows that consumers prefer personalized support. According to Microsoft, 72% of consumers expect contact center agents to know who they are, what their purchases were, and have insight to previous engagements. 

Personalizing BPO conversations also helps improve your intelligent call routing rules. Smart call center software can analyze the content of conversations and map out what’s needed for a call to end in the desired outcome. Your software should then suggest rules to implement that will lead to more efficiency. 

Empower your call center staff to engage with customers on an individual level by giving them a robust view of the customer, their information, and their history with your company.

5. Use Local Caller ID to Increase Answer Rate by 10x

When your BPO call center offers callbacks, make sure you’re using local outbound dialing to increase the answer rate and deliver a local presence. Our research shows that customers are 10x more likely to answer a call that looks familiar and displays a local number. 

6. Increase Repeat Business with a Toll Free Number

Your customers shouldn’t have to pay extra to make a reservation or find support via your phone number. Deploy a toll-free number for customers in any region to interact with your business. TRAVERSE TELECOM offers a deep roster of toll-free phone numbers in more than 170 countries. Drive more repeat business by covering the financial burden of your customers. 

7. Leverage External Sources for Customer Insight

Monitor customer feedback from all channels to get a better understanding of your customer experience. Look to sources like online reviews, your web chat, or social media to see what callers are saying about your company’s ability to serve them via phone. Customers are often more honest when they can leave anonymous feedback online. Even if it’s brutal, honest feedback is the kind that will most help you improve your CSAT! 

BPO’s should also consider conducting ongoing, random caller surveys, either through a phone-based survey tacked onto the end of support calls or through a targeted campaign at certain times of the year. Supplement quick, quantitative surveys that offer a numerical score about your services and agent performance with qualitative research such as open-ended questions or focus groups that go deeper into the customer experience. 

8. Capture Feedback in Real-Time

Studies show that 90% of customers believe that organizations should provide the ability for customers to leave feedback. But, even then, only 51% believe that brands won’t take any action from it. 

Raise your customers’ spirits and trust by asking them to remain on the line after the call has ended for a brief survey, or send them a post-call satisfaction survey via email or SMS message. SMS open and read rates are particularly high at 98% and 95% respectfully. With emails averaging 20% (open) and 22% (read), having both communication channels available allows customers to get their experiences across in real-time, in the way they prefer. Make it clear in your message that you welcome all feedback, and emphasize that the organization leadership will see and act on it. 

9. Minimize Required Caller Interactions

Every customer service interaction matters. And only 40% of customers prefer talking to a customer service representative on the phone. It’s about meeting your customer base where they are, and that means you need to be prepared to provide support via an omnichannel approach. This includes:

FAQs on your website

Knowledge base to     house product/services guides and troubleshooting documentation

Social media     monitoring

And someone to answer     contact and lead forms

Determining what your customers and prospects are frequently asking, as well as identifying emerging trends within your industry or network, are important steps in minimizing required caller interactions. A knowledge base with detailed content is a huge help to resolving customer issues before getting an agent involved. 57% of support calls come from customers who visited the company’s website first. You could essentially cut more than half of your inbound calls by creating and regularly updating your knowledge base content. 

By having your team equipped to manage these other channels and quickly answer customer questions, you will not only improve customer satisfaction rates but also save your agents time so they can focus on more pressing inquiries. 

A Better CSAT Score is Good for Business

As we stated earlier, even the most loyal customers don’t always want to talk with your business, especially if it’s to resolve a problem they think shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But if your BPO operates efficiently and your agents have the tools to expertly resolve their issues, your company has the chance to restore customer confidence in your brand and keep them loyal. If you’re still unsure of where to start when it comes to improving your customer experience (and your customer satisfaction score), talk with an TRAVERSE TELECOM representative. We have a full suite of tools that will help your BPO deliver a superior customer experience, every time. 

Drive Client Success with Modern Cloud Communications

The existence of electronic devices such as smartphones and PCs is indispensable in our daily lives . However, on the other hand, overuse is said to affect both mind and body. If the usage time of electronic devices continues to grow, it is no wonder that some changes appear in our bodies. What is going on with humankind in the future? A strange 3D model that doesn't really make jokes is attracting attention. Results of adapting to excessive use of smartphones

The name of the 3D model released by Maple Holistics, which incorporates various scientific knowledge and sells health foods and skin care products, is Mindy, a human female.

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The back is greatly bent, the head is flat due to the degeneration of the brain and the deformation of the skull, the second eyelid is deformed to the eyes, and the hand is deformed like an animal's claw. All of these are the result of human adaptation to the use of electronic devices.

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It's an unbelievable adaptation for us living in 2019, but "holding a smartphone causes" text nails "and" right-angled elbows, "so-called cubital tunnel syndrome," said MedAlertHelp founder Nicola Georges. Dr. Bitch speaks. "A few years ago, mobile internet usage outpaced desktops. So to speak, we grab the internet with our own hands."

Also, balance when you're looking down on your PC, smartphone, or tablet. Because of this, the muscles in the back of the neck support the head, but muscle fatigue occurs and the neck becomes painful. Dr. Daniel Liu calls these symptoms "tech necks," but Mindy's adaptation results in the development and shortening of the muscles around the neck. 

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Although there is much room for debate, it has been pointed out that radio waves emitted from smartphones may affect cancer, memory, and the formation of skulls in children.

Or, as cognitive science expert David Gary advocates "idiocracy theory," all-purpose technology prevents natural selection from occurring in humankind, and the size of the brain shrinks over a very long span. It may be (* The movie "Idiocracy" is the original story. The Japanese title is "26th Century Youth". As a result of only low-intelligence human beings leaving offspring, the mediocre hero of IQ100 is now awakened from cold sleep in the future Comedy treated as a genius).

It is because of these findings that Mindy's head is distorted.

Do you need to take it seriously?

The other day, a study saying that "overuse of smartphones may cause protrusions of horn-shaped ridges (external occipital protuberances) in the skull of young people" said, "Overuse of smartphones causes horns in young people. " as, and I think that is just called a great topic on the Internet, smartphone users might feel a look at Mindy is not a gas.

However, it's a good idea to receive these “evolution” reports as much as advice. The external occipital protuberance is not a "horn" because it is common to everyone, and the research did not actually examine the degree of use of smartphones. There are also voices questioning that "there is no data to support the theory."

Unless extreme selection pressure is applied to it, the shape of a person does not evolve significantly in a few decades to a few hundred years at most. If the acquired trait is inherited, a group of farmers who devote themselves to field work and have many acquired ancestors with a bent spine may have significantly more bent or less bent spines than those who do not. It's no wonder they do, but those theories were denied over 100 years ago as "lamarckism." The same applies to the use of smartphones.

Virtual toll free numbers are an economical alternative to opening a new office in Australia and employing additional staff. An Australia toll free number is a 10 digit telephone number that starts with 1 800. Australia 1800 numbers are perfect for a business with an existing or prospective customer base in Australia, and the service is easy to activate. These numbers are also quite cost-effective, which makes them great for startups and small businesses.

How Australia Toll Free Phone Numbers Work

Australia phone numbers allow your company to promote a telephone number that is accessible to clients in Australia. Australia toll free numbers allow customers to reach your business at no cost. Incoming calls to your Australia phone number can be directed to any mobile phone, landline, or IP address.

Why Australia Phone Numbers Are Excellent for Business Communication

Toll free numbers automatically indicate that your business is large, established, and thriving. Another major benefit your business receives when you buy an Australia toll free number is that customers can call you for free. Our service will forward calls dialed to your phone number anywhere in the world. Call forwarding services ensure that no leads get ignored. In addition:

Your business phone number becomes easier to dial for customers in Australia.

Your business has a global reach — you can be situated anywhere in the world and still answer incoming calls from Australia.

No complicated contracts are required, meaning you are at liberty to cancel the number at any time.

How Australia 1800 Numbers Can Help Develop your Business

In today’s competitive market, it is very important that you allow prospective callers to reach your business at little or no cost to the caller. Australia phone numbers allow your customers to call your company for free or at a local call cost.

The prevalence of online searches makes it possible for customers from all parts of the world to discover your business. Research shows that prospective customers will do business with the company that is most accessible. Australian phone numbers make your business more accessible to callers in Australia. These numbers indicate that your company is local to Australian markets and doing business there.

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Small and medium enterprises continue to grow. Although email is a readily-available, often-used method of communication, a growing portion of the population prefers to talk on the phone. Australia phone numbers offer customers an option to speak to a representative and discuss business matters in detail over the phone.

Traverse Telecom’s Australia phone numbers are among the most effective inbound promotion tools because they are accessible from landlines in any part of Australia.

How to Get an Australia Toll Free Number From Traverse Telecom

There are no hidden fees associated with using our service — no activation fee, no additional equipment necessary, and best of all, no contracts required. Simply purchase an Australia phone number from our online directory and it will be activated shortly. You will be on your way to drawing in new customers in no time!

Rather than setting up an expensive physical office, you can create a virtual office in Australia with our affordable toll free numbers. A virtual office delivers the communication services of a physical office without requiring a brick-and-mortar building. Australia's virtual phone numbers are ideal for businesses looking to expand into Australia.

Traverse Telecom’s local and toll free numbers come with an array of amazing smart features. These advanced features enable you to manage where your phone calls are answered, wherever you or your associates are located around the world. These numbers also offer you an option to convert voicemails and faxes into emails, for added convenience.

We offer a variety of local and toll free numbers in Australia. Call forwarding services will allow your clients in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and nearly any other city to get in touch with you at any time for little to no cost. Australian forwarding numbers are a smart selling strategy to new clients, and existing customers will appreciate the reliability of being able to reach your business.

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Accessibility of Australia 1800 Numbers

The benefit of owning an Australian phone number is your business becomes instantly more accessible to callers in Australia. Australia virtual phone numbers can be dialed from any landline, mobile phone, VoIP phone, and even payphones. However, mobile accessibility depends on the caller’s network.

Australia toll free numbers are generally accessible while roaming and Australia International Toll Free Service comprises Tasmania and the Australian states including Christmas Island and the Coco Islands.

Conclusion

Australia toll free phone numbers enable your company to communicate with ease if you do business in Australia. They allow you to maintain a presence throughout Australia while giving your customers the peace of mind in knowing that your business is established and easy to reach. If you would like to learn more, or if you would like to purchase a toll free number for Australia, contact Traverse Telecom today.

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Doing business in Australia

Australia is the 6th largest country in the world ranking by total area. The Commonwealth of Australia is a developed country with the 12th largest economy in the world. The inhabitants enjoy living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with the 5th highest per capita income.

Major trading partners include China, Japan, and the United States. Primary import goods include machinery and transport equipment, computers, telecommunications equipment, and crude oil/petroleum products. There are plenty of opportunities for your company to succeed in Australia.

What is an Australia toll free number?

An Australia toll free number is a phone number based in Australia that charges the owner of the number instead of the person dialing the number.

How can I get an Australia toll free number?

To get an Australia toll free number, simply go to the Traverse Telecom website and select an Australian number, then enter the number you would like calls to be forwarded to. Complete the checkout process, and start using your number as soon as it is verified. In some cases, numbers are auto-provisioned and available to use instantly.

What is the country code for Australia?

61 is the country code for Australia.

How do I call a toll free number in Australia?

Toll free numbers are country-specific and this means unless you are located in that particular country, you cannot call them. To call a toll free number in Australia, simply dial the number.

Can I dial an Australia toll free number from a mobile phone?

Australia toll free numbers can be dialed from most mobile networks in Australia. However, mobile accessibility depends on the caller’s network.

What are the benefits of an Australian toll free number?

1) Australia phone numbers make your business more accessible to callers in Australia. 2) Global reach — you can be situated anywhere in the world and still answer incoming calls from Australia. 3) No complicated contracts are required.

Does Traverse Telecom offer Australia toll free numbers?

Yes. Australia virtual phone numbers are ideal for businesses looking to expand into Australia. Our numbers include smart features enabling you to manage your calls anywhere around the globe.

Upgrade your business communication with India toll free number & ensure enhanced customer calling experience.

All about Traverse Telecom India tollfree number

India toll free number enables your customers to reach out to your business free of cost. It’s an 1800 number that helps in connecting your client to your business with a hassle-free experience. India toll free number comes with a well-customized IVR that welcomes your customer with a professional greeting. Toll free number provides a smooth customer call experience with swift customer query redressal. Traverse Telecom is a modern cloud based call management system provider which provides tollfree number with some remarkable features like CRM integration, call tracking, call masking, call routing, sticky agent, etc.

Benefits of Indian tollfree number

Better business presence

India toll free number helps in building your business presence with improved customer outreach. Your potential customers can reach out to your business without any difficulties with India tollfree number. It helps your business to stay up and running round the clock. With improved customer experience, toll free number makes it easier for you to enhance your business’ growth and productivity.

Enhanced customer service

India tollfree number increases your business’ efficiency and helps in delivering excellent customer service experience. You can get your own customized vanity numbers that will help your customers in memorizing your business number instantly. With the automated IVR, route your calls to the right agents and departments quickly.

Round the clock availability

Missing on business calls in virtue of time constraints is not a case when you’re using a tollfree number solution. Tollfree number, combines with an IVR, helps in keeping your business active 24X7 irrespective of time restrictions. Hence, it allows you to get connected with your customers even after office hours. Furthermore, all this process can be executed while chilling at home as you can map your agent’s mobile number behind a centralized tollfree number.

Effective marketing campaigns analysis

Tollfree number acts as a best campaign analysis tool because of its nominal cost and brand image feature. With 1800 tollfree number, managers can measure the performance of their paid campaigns by attaching different tollfree number with them. As a consequence, campaigns which receive the highest number of customer calls will be the best performing campaigns and vice versa.

Features of India toll free number

Call recording

Record, monitor, and measure all your essential business calls for swift customer service.

CRM integration

Organize, integrate and evaluate your entire customer facets with CRM integrations.

Welcome greeting

Give a professional voice to your business communication with a well-customized IVR.

Live panel

Have a detailed overview of your business communication in real-time with the live panel.

Call reports

Achieve a detailed insight into your business call logs with analytical call reports.

Call tracking

Track your business calls and gain detailed insights into your business communication

 Are Toll Free Numbers Free to Call from Anywhere?

International toll free service is an essential piece of any business's communication strategy. They allow customers to call a business free of charge. More importantly, they can be used to create a point of contact in markets where businesses may not have a physical location.

Despite the fact that toll free numbers are such a popular and important business tool, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions about how they actually work. In this post, we'll answer one of the most frequently asked questions about toll free numbers: "Are toll free numbers free to call internationally?" Then, we'll review some of the ways that businesses can make ensure that customers around the world are able to contact them free of charge.

Are toll free numbers free to call from anywhere?

The short answer to this question is no. And here's why:

First, toll free phone numbers are country-specific. And each country has its own set of coverage, restrictions, and accessibility rules associated with toll free numbers. Each country has its own dialing format for toll free numbers, too.

For example:

Germany toll free numbers begin with 0800, and are followed by 7 digits. So, the standard format looks like this: 0800-XXX-XXXX. Ireland toll free numbers begin with 1800 followed by 6 digits. An Ireland toll free number format looks like this: 1-800-XXX-XXX. And Romania toll free numbers are different, too. Their standard format looks like this: 0-800-XX-X-XXX. So as you can see, toll free number formatting is a little different for almost every country.

Most toll free numbers can only be dialed for free within their own country. This means that in most cases, toll free numbers are only free for customers who are physically in-country.

If you are dialing a USA toll free number in the US, it is free to call. (But keep in mind that you may not be able to dial a US toll free number from abroad.) If you are able to call the number, you may be charged the international rate.

Are there numbers that are free to call internationally?

A lot of our customers come to looking for toll free numbers that are free to call and can be called from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, there is really no such thing as a "global toll free number." The closest thing to this would be a universal international freephone number (UIFN).

UIFN numbers aren't really global toll free numbers; but, they can be dialed from multiple countries. There are quite a few rules and restrictions that come with UIFN numbers:

A UIFN number must be registered in at least two     countries.

A UIFN number must be in service for two or more     countries 180 days from the day that your business reserved it.

If your business wants to use one number (that is free to call for customers) in multiple countries, a UIFN number is often a viable choice. But, be sure to check with your provider on coverage and restrictions before you sign any contracts. UIFN numbers are expensive, and they come with a hefty setup fee.

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