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The blog for Global Call Forwarding has articles on the latest customer service trends, telecommunications technologies, and business news.
27th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Why You Should Keep Educating your Team

working at desk
21st December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Surviving Long Days Working at Your Desk

21st December 2017 blog, Business Insights

7 Ways to Keep Employees Motivated

bring international teams closer with virtual phone numbers
21st December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Why Team Building Exercises Work

scam alert
14th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Scammers Buying Phone Numbers for Verifications

Australia virtual phone numbers
12th December 2017 blog, Business Phone Numbers

How to Get an Australian Phone Number in 2025

12th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

How Well do you Communicate with Others?

undersea cables
12th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

The Undersea Cables that Power the Internet

call 1800 canada numbers
6th December 2017 blog, Business Phone Numbers

How to Call 1800 Numbers from Canada

Why You Should Keep Educating your Team

27th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

As a team leader, one of your most important roles is to keep your team educated. This means ongoing training so that your personnel can keep up with the latest products, standards, and practices related to your business. In order to keep educating them, you have to maintain vigilant attention to your company’s vision as well as the goals and deadlines of the project at hand. It is also important to maintain your own motivation; only when you participate wholeheartedly in a project will your team be motivated to be there alongside you. There are a number of advantages to ongoing training; here is a look at some of the ways it pays to keep your team continuously trained.

Boosting Productivity

Training and development is an excellent way to increase productivity and retention. Don’t give in to the temptation of cutting back on outside training such as workshops and conferences for your employees because this can actually cause you to lose out in the long run. Studies show that employees who are well-trained are much more willing and capable of assuming a higher level of control over their assignments and they need less supervision when on task. Not only do they offer better customer service, but they also enjoy their work more.

Maintaining Communication

There is no such thing as too much communication, and this should be an integral part of all employee training. Make sure that you and all members of your team are on the same page all the way through each project. Employees need to be updated on the progress of the project on a regular basis. Though regular face-to-face meetings are very important, it’s not always convenient to call everyone together as this can impede progress, particularly if your team members do not share the same geographic location. Other good ways to keep your employees on top of the project’s ongoing status is through email, memos, conference calls, and video conferencing. Let your team know how important communication is for meeting long-term training goals and also addressing any challenges that are being faced, and encourage them to make suggestions.

Rewarding Efficient Performance

Another key factor to maintaining adequate training and motivation to learn is to reward individual and team performance. Recognition of achievement is a great way to provide positive reinforcement and encourage excellence among your employees. Use your company newsletter to announce specific achievements and goals that have been met. Take the time to make personal phone calls to commend high achieving workers. In recognition of team efforts, take your employees out for lunch, post-performance charts in the workplace or on your company website. Make these acts a regular part of your corporate motivation strategy.

Offering Your Team a Challenge

By setting your team-challenging goals, you are offering a stimulating way to learn new skills or to brush up on old ones. Your employees will work hard to meet new challenges and to achieve excellence. Make sure that the training goals are realistic and can be attained within a reasonable amount of time. Don’t forget to equip your team with the tools to succeed. They will soon lose motivation if they lack the tools required for the job. This doesn’t only include the necessary equipment, but also internal support, materials, and regular communication.

Keep Poor Performance in Check

Poor performance can lead to a downward spiral of decreased motivation and can undermine the whole point of ongoing training. Your team will rely on you to manage group members who are not participating fully, without causing conflict. Resolve such issues as quickly and diplomatically as possible. Avoid turning a blind eye to poor performance, otherwise, it will soon get out of hand and affect your team and their efficiency. Be clear about the changes you expect to improve performance, and if necessary explain what additional action will be taken if goals are still not met.

When and How to Use Praise

Praise is an important part of keeping your team educated, but remember, if praise is to be productive, it must be specific so that the individual is aware of what he or she has done to earn it. Clear and detailed feedback will help your employees understand their strengths and will ensure that you do not appear to be patronizing. Use praise conservatively; if you praise everything, it ceases to have any value. Try to avoid adding conditions to your praise; otherwise, it will come across as false or as a requirement for something else.

Another important thing to remember is that praise should be timely. If you wait too long after an event to make positive comments, they will have lost their impact. A good way of reinforcing praise is to coincide it with some form of recognition. Some possibilities include an achievement award, a write-up in the company newsletter or a gift certificate.

When and How to Use Constructive Feedback

There is an important difference between constructive feedback and criticism. Constructive feedback is given with forethought and with the intention of creating an empowering experience. Criticism, on the other hand, consists of being judgmental and most often creates negative feelings and loss of empowerment. While individuals and teams are inspired by constructive feedback, criticism can lead to resentment, loss of motivation and poor performance.

As part of your employee training, consider how you can strengthen your bonds with your employees and encourage them to fulfill their maximum potential. Remember to listen to suggestions from your team; their input may lead to new breakthroughs, especially if you are not afraid to try out new methods. Staying abreast of concerns and disagreements within your workforce will enable you to diffuse them before they get out of hand. It will help instill your employees with confidence in your leadership skills. Use training to address weaknesses in your company and to strengthen these areas. Don’t forget that before you begin training your staff, you should be personally up to date with the latest information to maximize the effectiveness of the team. An investment in your employees’ continuing education is an investment in your company as a whole.

Surviving Long Days Working at Your Desk

21st December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Working at a desk all day long does not seem physically taxing at first. You are only sitting, right? Yes, but sitting for hours at a stretch comes with its own share of drawbacks. And we all know, being sedentary is far more dangerous than being active. It eventually leads to our bodies being incapable of performing important physical tasks.

 

With virtual offices on the rise and an increasing number of people choosing to work from home, a vast majority of employed people now spend their days hunched over a desk in front of a monitor. The result? Nearly 80 percent of Americans suffer from lower back pain, stiff neck, and other joint pain because of a sedentary lifestyle. Even when you exercise every day for an hour or two, the long hours spent at a desk can still be detrimental.

According to a study, spending eight to 12 hours sitting down daily can lead to high rates of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Considering there are millions of people who go through decades of their life in this scenario, the findings are alarming.

But all is not hopeless. It is possible to survive long hours working at a desk if one is willing to add a little change in the routine. These following tips help counteract the negative effects of a sedentary job.

Pick the right chair

More often than not, the reason for lower back pain is using the wrong chair. The chair that you use at home or the office may be either too low or too high, causing you to strain your neck as you look at the monitor. The remedy? An ergonomically designed chair that’s just the right height to the desk.

You might need to try out a few different chairs to find the perfect one, but once you do, it may be the answer to your aches and pains.

2. The right desk and monitor height

Once you have found the right chair, it will be time to adjust the height of your desk and the monitor. Most of the time, a desk that is either too low or too high, can cause aches and pains. Make sure you are looking straight at the monitor and not bending or hunching over the desk.

You don’t need any fancy equipment; just placing your computer atop a few books should do the job.

3. Use a standing desk

Counter the debilitating effects of prolonged sitting by getting a standing desk. Research shows that you can burn up to fifty extra calories every hour just by working at a standing desk, instead of sitting down. Although it doesn’t seem like a big deal, standing actually helps improve your posture and strengthens your legs.

Considering the amount of time we spend sitting, using the same time to stand will burn so many more calories. Adjusting the height of your monitor is all you need to do.

4. Get up and walk

While sitting and working at a desk for long hours, we often lose track of time. We forget to get up and walk at frequent intervals, leading to stiff neck, joint pain, and backache. Whether you work from home or from an office, it is important to get up and walk around to avoid muscle stiffness.

To make sure of this, implement the use of regular reminders via apps on your phone or computer that will remind you every couple of hours to leave the chair and walk around. Going for a walk during your lunch break is also a good way to keep active and loosen your muscles.

5. Walk or cycle to work

Cars ruin our health more than we realize. If you commute to and from work daily, you may spend more than two or three hours sitting down every day. If possible, walk or try to bicycle to work sometimes to counteract the negative effects of sitting down. Both cycling and walking are great exercises for the body, and if your office is close by, ditching your car for your bike is a great way to save gas and incorporate a workout into the routine.

6. Exercise while watching TV

Instead of sitting and watching TV on a sofa, bring your treadmill out of retirement and place it in front of the television so you can use that time more constructively (and enjoyably) while watching a fantastic show. This will make sure that you get to watch TV only when you are walking, maximizing your time while taking care of your body.

If you don’t have exercise equipment, walk around the room or march in place while watching TV. Not being a couch potato will not only keep you active but also reduce your chances of cardiac problems.

7. Schedule a weekly walk or hike

After working at a desk the whole week, schedule a family walk or hike during the weekend. This is a fantastic way to keep yourself active and help your muscles relax after a sedentary week. It’s also an ideal way to spend some quality time with your family.

The average American is highly accustomed to sitting down. In fact, our bodies are trained to be seated – while eating, watching TV, and working. Even if you exercise every day, sitting long hours at a desk can negate all the benefits of exercise. For some perspective, there is a rural village in China known as the Longevity Village where people live up to a hundred years on average because of their lifelong active habits.

You don’t have to go to great lengths to be able to lead an active lifestyle. You can incorporate subtle changes in your life to balance out the harmful effects of a sedentary job. You may not be able to change the nature of your work, but you can always change the way you work.

Adjusting your desk and chair, walking around every half hour, and incorporating regular exercise into your work week and weekends are excellent ways to survive long hours working at a desk.

7 Ways to Keep Employees Motivated

21st December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Did you know that 3 million employees in the U.S. quit their job voluntarily every single month?

It’s not too surprising when you think about it. Many employers are unaware, or too busy to notice there are often company-wide bad habits that drive good employees to their competitor’s front door.

When workers don’t feel comfortable in a certain setting or are unhappy with their position, costly mistakes are more likely to happen. Instead, the focus needs to be placed on motivating employees at all levels, from interns to middle management and beyond. A truly successful enterprise is one that recognizes the importance of their workers and actively works to keep them. Not just for their talents and hard work, but their personal health and happiness.

Here are 7 different opportunities you can take advantage of to motivate your people in a positive work environment.

  1. Rewards and Incentives

If your workers have accomplished something worthy of a “job well done,” then say so with a reward. Recognition is one of the best ways to keep employees satisfied with their job. This is especially true if they’re recognized in front of coworkers. Here are some ideas of things you can reward them with to get started:

  • Gift cards to a nearby restaurant or coffee shop
  • Catered lunch for your team
  • VIP parking spot for a week
  • A “work from home” day
  • A trophy or framed certificate
  1. Recognize and Address Problems

When employees speak up about a certain issue, it’s best to listen. This has to do with good communication. If your company communicates well, then workers feel listened to and cared for.

For instance, let’s say that one of your teams is asking for more training or tools to help them with tasks. Instead of saying “we don’t have a budget for this,” schedule a meeting with everyone involved to come up with an alternative solution. While it may be difficult to resolve every single problem they face, you must at least recognize their concern.

This is because even “small” problems can snowball into bigger ones in the future, so try not to ignore them for too long. This could result in a top employee leaving your company.

  1. Get Their Input

According to a 2005 study, “84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their company’s products.”

Have you ever gotten an employee’s opinion on a process? When workers are more involved and offer input, they are naturally motivated to see a project succeed.

So create a culture where employees are encouraged to participate. Ask them how they feel about certain policies and how things can be improved. You would be surprised how many of them have smart ideas already. Try to set up a monthly meeting where everyone can get together and spitball ideas.

Remember, be sure to do more than just listen. Support their ideas, allow them to implement them and have ownership of them as well.

  1. Create a “Trust” Environment

How often have you worked in an office where, if something went wrong, everyone would start pointing fingers? This is a direct reflection of upper management. When employees make a mistake, they become anxious about getting reprimanded and are less likely to be open about it.

Instead, hire managers and team leaders who are willing to foster trust. They should encourage values such as respect, honesty, and teamwork on a regular basis. This way, when a mistake is made, workers can feel confident about going to their leaders for support. They can also work together on a plan for preventing that mistake in the future.

  1. Give Them Room to Grow

When a person walks into a company interview, chances are you are going to ask the question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Well, how are you helping them get there?

Most people enter the workforce with a goal. Complacent or “bored” employees have short attention spans and are more likely to leave if their goals aren’t met. Regular training, new challenges, and bigger projects are just a few of the ways to support employees professionally.

Offer top workers a chance at real development in your company. Send them to a career fair or conference where they can grow their skills. Have a quarterly review where they can make their own recommendations for how they will grow over the next few months. As they develop into their roles, you are more likely to retain them.

  1. Celebrate With Them

This is more than just a birthday cake in the conference room. Recognize the importance of personal and professional achievement from upper management and C-level executives. Here are a few reasons to celebrate with your employees:

  • A glowing customer review on your website as a result of service well done
  • A new and successful product release
  • Promotions and new hires
  • Professional milestones, such as years of service

Additionally, acknowledging personal and professional milestones can be enhanced by offering thoughtful employee gratitude gift ideas, turning routine recognitions into memorable moments.

According to the TINYpulse Employee Engagement and Organizational Culture Report, “Nearly two-thirds of all employees report working at organizations that lack a strong work culture.” Being able to sit regularly with workers in a casual setting will go a long way in developing a culture they enjoy.

Not only that, celebrations enable employees to want to reach new milestones on their own.

  1. Be Flexible

Offices will have many strict rules about when employees can take breaks, how many days they can have off, and may even dictate acceptable times to use the restroom.

While having office “rules” to a certain extent is actually very healthy, workers should never have to feel worried or anxious about when they can leave their desk. This kind of burden does not offer them a chance to attend to their personal lives. And as a result, they end up quitting. Instead, work with them and put into place a flexible work schedule that meets their needs.

For example, you can explain that if certain deadlines are met, a team can work from home every other Friday. According to studies, “Companies that support remote employees“ have 25 percent lower employee turnover than companies that don’t.”

Why Team Building Exercises Work

21st December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Time and again you read about the many benefits of team building and why it matters in the modern workplace. These may seem like frivolous activities, but there is actual data to prove otherwise. In fact, when team building exercises are regularly incorporated into an office environment, especially ones that include problem-solving, communication, and decision making, you create truly engaged employees and teams who find purpose in their work.

These are the employees who contribute to your ultimate success and end up boosting employers’ bottom line. And this isn’t just because they’re more productive. From a recent Gallup poll, “Teams that work together well (teams in the top 25%) incur lower healthcare costs.” This is likely connected with other studies that show how sitting in a chair for more than 8 hours a day has a direct negative impact on health.

Instead, separating long working hours with team building exercises can give employees a chance to take the breaks they need and “refresh.” If you want to reap some of these amazing benefits for your team, here’s how to get started with team building exercises at work.

When (and How) to Start

When: We’ll start by saying that every employee has their own work schedule and personal priorities. It’s best if you, as a manager, try to work around their time and not cause unneeded interruptions in workflow. That being said, try to get a majority to agree to a time and day that works best for them, and try to schedule activities in advance so no productivity is lost. For example:

 

  • Every Wednesday during lunch
  • Every other Friday at 1 pm
  • Every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 am

 

How: To set up team building exercises, you can assign individuals to groups. Every time the group meets, you can choose to “switch it up” by dividing them a different way. For instance, splitting up groups by department or floor. Switching groups or partners frequently and randomly helps you avoid office “cliques” afterward.  

Finally, make the time enjoyable. Your office space may allow for couches and more comfortable seating than desk chairs. Bring food and beverages. Share a meal or even a small snack. The success of this project is entirely dependant on the participants, and if they’d rather be at their desks working, then everyone is missing the point.

Workplace Clubs and Sponsored Teams

This isn’t so much a team building “exercise” as it is a weekly gathering for discussion. Clubs and teams are a great way to promote team building, however, especially since they are voluntary and all participants want to be there. Employees can choose a club by interest (books, photography, Yoga, knitting, volunteering, etc.) or by sport.

If your company chooses to sponsor a league by paying their registration fee, your brand can be advertised on team t-shirts or sweaters. Popular sports include basketball, bowling, soccer, or running. Partner with local charities for marathons and half marathons to raise money or awareness for a cause they feel close to.

Egg Drop

This is a team competition and a fun icebreaker for groups just getting to know each other. First, you will need at least two teams of people. Each team is given one raw egg and random office supplies to work with.

Office supplies could be anything, including paper, tape, utensils from the break room, straws, pens, or rubber bands. Once the supplies are distributed, start a timer for 20 minutes. The teams have that much time to build a contraption or package that would help protect the egg from an 8-foot drop. When the timer goes off, take all of the packages and one by one, drop them 8 feet from the ground. Teams with unbroken eggs will be declared the winner!

Two Truths and a Lie

This game allows co-workers to know each other better on a more personal level. First, the entire group starts out by sitting in a circle. Each person will take turns telling two true facts about themselves and one lie, in any random order. However, they cannot reveal which is a lie.

After sharing, everyone else must “vote” on which statement they believe is a lie. If they are right, they can have one point. After every person in the circle has had a turn, the person(s) with the highest number of correct guesses, or points, wins.

There is also another version of the game Two Truths and a Lie in which the statements are written down on pieces of paper. Once they are all written down, everyone in the group must “mingle” for 20 minutes while to try to figure out who is lying. Or they can spend time convincing others of their own lie. When the conversations are over, then the voting can begin.

Scavenger Hunt

This can be an individual or team challenge. While it is possible to conduct a scavenger hunt in the office, it’s best to try this outdoors since there may be some running involved. Make a list of tasks for each person or team to complete within a limited time frame. They should remember to bring their smartphones because they must snap a photo of someone from their team completing the task. The tasks could be as silly as you want, such as “Give a stranger a high five!”

Once the list is checked off, everyone can meet back at the office to view the photos if they wish. Points are awarded for each list item, so the more difficult the task, the more likely they are to win.

Drawing Back to Back

This is an interesting game of interpretation. Have two people sitting back to back in their office chairs. One person will be given an image or picture, and the other person will have to draw it with a pencil and paper. They can’t look at the image, though – their teammate in the other chair must describe it for them. Set up a timer to keep the game moving fast. At the end of the round, it’s interesting to see how the picture has been interpreted.

Scammers Buying Phone Numbers for Verifications

14th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Scammers have a history of buying local and 800 phone numbers, using free Google numbers, and pirating phone numbers to conduct fraudulent verifications and other scams. The following article discusses the applicable Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation, telephone verification, two different legal apps for spoofing telephone numbers, a process known as orange boxing, guidance on scams from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and additional information on avoiding scams.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer Guide

Spoofing is the deliberate falsification of information transmitted on caller ID displays. However, blocking a number is not spoofing. The federal regulation governing spoofing is the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, which prohibits the transmission of misleading caller ID information in instances that will:

  • Defraud
  • Cause harm
  • Wrongly obtain anything of value

Illegal spoofing can result in penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.

Under this regulation, telemarketers are required to transmit or display their telephone numbers or that of the entity on whose behalf they are making the call. Furthermore, if possible, the caller should display the name of the company for which it is selling products or services. They must also display the telephone number that people can call and request the cessation of calls.

FCC Citation for Scamming

In June 2017, the FCC issued a citation to a Miami individual and his associated companies for violating the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009. The proposed fine is $120 million based on 80,000 calls, which the FCC can verify. The FCC alleges that the scammers made 96 million illegally spoofed calls. “Neighborhood Spoofing” was the technique used by the scammers whereby the caller ID displayed the area code and first three digits of the recipients’ telephone numbers. Consequently, the recipients think the calls come from a neighborhood caller.

Telephone Verification

Telephone verification is a process where a website calls a consumer on their phone to verify their identity. Other names for this process are Phone Verification, Automatic Call Back Service, and Verification Service. Here is how it works. When a person makes a request to a website, that site automatically initiates a call or a text to the person’s phone that contains a randomly generated PIN. Upon receiving the PIN, the person enters it on the website, verifying their identity. However, as shown in the next two sections, spammers can use this process to get information from unwary persons.

Account Verification Scam

If an account holder has a phone tied to their account in the event of a forgotten password, and the scammer knows the victim’s email address or credit account number and their phone number, the account verification scam works as follows.

  1. The scammer initiates a password reset on the victim’s account and requests the sending of a verification number to the victim’s phone.
  2. The scammer sends a text to the victim posing as the email or credit provider saying, “We have noticed unauthorized activity on your account. Please respond to this text with the verification number being sent to your phone.”
  3. If the victim responds with the verification number that they subsequently receive, the scammer will have access to their account.

Double-Digit Google Phone Scam

People that have posted classified ads with their phone number should be wary of this scam. Scammers use it to maintain their anonymity with Google Voice numbers. Since Google requires a valid phone number to be associated with new Google Voice numbers, the scammer picks a victim from published ads and sends them a text. The text may say, “I am interested in your ad.” Text back when you’re ready to talk.” When the scammer receives the response, he or she calls Google Voice and specifies the victim’s number as the link to the new number. Google Voice responds with a double-digit verification code. The scammer then texts the victim saying, “I am on a Google Voice line. When you receive a call, enter the double-digit code to connect.” If this happens to you, do not hit the code.

SpoofCard

SpoofCard is a mobile phone app that changes the caller name and phone number that displays on outgoing calls. The SpoofCard website claims that it works on any cell phone. Your identity is anonymous using SpoofCard caller ID spoofing. Users can also get downloadable recordings of their spoofed calls. In addition, calls can go directly to voicemail making receivers think they missed your call. SpoofCard has a feature to change your voice to a man or woman, or it can add background noise to disguise your identity. SpoofCard also sends anonymous text messages. The following table shows rates for SpoofCard packages.

 

Rate $9.95 $19.95 $29.95 $49.95 $99.95
Minutes of Call Time 45 100 160 280 600
Rates for Pay-as-you-go SpoofCard Packages

SpoofTel

SpoofTel is another company that provides spoofing services. Users of the service must first establish a SpoofTel account. Use the spoofing service either through the SpoofTel website, the SpoofTel app, or by calling 1-866-SPOOF-ID (1-866-776-6343). To place a call follow these steps.

  1. Log into your account.
  2. Enter your telephone number in the top field.
  3. Enter the receiving telephone number.
  4. Enter the desired display number on the receiver’s display.

The features provided with the SpoofTel account are as follows.

  • Short Message Service (SMS) Spoofing and SMS history
  • Spoof Fax and Fax History
  • Voice Alteration – use higher pitch for female voice or lower pitch for male voice
  • Answering Machine Feature – If an answering machine answers the call, SpoofTel can send an uploaded message automatically.
  • Auto Redial Option
  • Time Limit for Calls
  • Call Back URL

SpoofTel offers two different apps, a desktop app, and an iPhone app. The iPhone app requires a jailbroken phone or compatible device. Jailbroken refers to the practice of removing restrictions that Apple places on a device’s operating system.

The cost for caller ID spoofing is $0.10 per minute. SMS costs $0.50 per message. Voice changing costs $0.25 per call. Recording a call costs $0.50 per call. The use of soundboards is free.

Orange Boxing

Orange boxing is a term for call ID hacking. An orange box emulates a caller ID signal to spoof the caller ID display. The following three methods accomplish this emulation.

  • A tape recording of a real caller ID signal
  • A software program to generate a caller ID signal
  • A hardware device that generates the caller ID signal

Follow these steps to use the orange box. First, make the call and wait for an answer. Then, send the caller ID signal. The orange box can also send a caller name and falsified date and time. When using an orange box, the answering phone displays the actual caller ID before receiving the spoofing caller ID signal. This limits the usefulness of the orange box.

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Advice for Dealing with Scammers

  1. Do not send money to persons you have never met face-to-face.
  2. Beware of unsolicited emails, and do not open links or attachments in them.
  3. Question everything that you see.
  4. Purchase online using only secure transactions.
  5. Be cautious of people that you meet online.
  6. Refrain from sharing personal ID information such as banking and credit card information, your birthdate, and your social security number.
  7. Avoid acting under pressure.
  8. Make all payments using secure, traceable transactions.
  9. Whenever possible, work with local businesses that have proper identification, licensing, and insurance.
  10. Be cautious when sharing personal information on social media.

Related: How to Prevent Your Numbers from Being Flagged as Spam or Scam Likely

How to Get an Australian Phone Number in 2025

12th December 2017 blog, Business Phone Numbers

Both a country and a continent, Australia is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans. The Australian continent is comprised of the Australian mainland, the island of Tasmania, and a number of smaller islands. Australia is the largest country in the region of Oceania and the world’s sixth largest country. The capital is Canberra. Other major cities include Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Australia is a self-governing British Commonwealth country. The government is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It is divided into the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The Prime Minister since 2015 has been Malcolm Turnbull. Get an Australian phone number and enter your business in its booming economy.

Buy an Australian Phone Number

To enhance your business prospects in Australia, we cannot stress the importance and the benefits of getting Australian phone numbers. They are affordable and highly convenient. Here are the steps:

  1. Go to our Pricing page.
  2. Select Australia as the country you need a number for.
  3. Then, choose the type of number (choose from toll-free, national, mobile, or geographic).
  4. Click View Rates and Select Plan.
  5. View the results and choose from the options.

Types of Australian Phone Numbers

Global Call Forwarding offers Australia toll-free numbers, local phone numbers, mobile numbers, and national numbers.

Advantages of Buying an Australian Phone Number

You may be surprised to learn how many ways international virtual phone numbers can benefit your business. Here are several examples:

Develop a winning local presence: Don’t struggle to attract customers from beyond your immediate vicinity. Often, customers outside your area may think that you are too far away to deliver a reliable service. But if you have a local virtual number, they will have no idea that you don’t have a local physical presence and they will dial your number rather than your competitor’s.

Establish a market overseas: You may want to expand your business overseas, but you may not have the resources to set up an operation there. A virtual international number allows you to run your business overseas while you are working from your base office or even from home. If your employees have skills in other languages, you can certainly take advantage of their abilities and let them plunge into international relations, without having to make investments abroad.

Boost your image: In the world of business, your image is paramount. With virtual phone numbers, you can give the impression of owning a global empire rather than a small business. This can be particularly beneficial if you are not located in a major city, as it boosts confidence with your partners, suppliers and your customers.

How Australian Phone Numbers Work

Virtual Australian phone numbers work by providing your company with a range of local, Australian 1800 numbers and a forwarding service that reroutes your calls to the number of your choice. The number could be your office, your company call center or even your mobile phone. You can change the number at any time. Each time your Australian clients make a call, they have the ease and confidence in knowing that they are calling a local number and talking to a local company. They never need to know your physical location. They will also be happy not to have to pay long-distance charges or to have the hassle of overseas dialing codes.

Global Call Forwarding offers a cutting-edge service that provides Australian phone numbers as well as virtual numbers in more than 140 other countries. Once you have signed up for an Australian phone number, you can establish business connections and take calls from your customers anywhere in the world. For example, if your company is based in Canada, but you’d like to expand your business to Australia, virtual Australian phone numbers provide a point of contact for you in that part of the world.

Customize the ringtones on your Australian phone number to match the local ringtone. To make sure you never miss a single call, you can have your calls routed to more than one number at the same time. You can also schedule calls to route to different numbers based on the time of day.

Doing Business in Australia

Whether you are starting out with a new business, or looking to expand your current venture, Australia has great business opportunities. The nation’s current economic state makes it very affordable and attractive to foreign investors. When it comes to business, Australia is considered to be the gateway between Asia and the Western world.

Furthermore, Australia has very strong trade relationships with China.

Australia’s Economy

The Australian economy is highly developed and is one of the world’s largest mixed market economies. In terms of wealth per adult, Australia is the world’s second wealthiest nation. The nation’s economy is dominated by the service sector, which comprises 61 percent of the GDP. Some of the country’s largest companies include Woolworths, Caltex Australia, Wesfarmers, Rio Tinto Group, and Telstra. The currency of Australia is the Australian dollar.

Australia’s Six Largest Industries are:

Financial industry: Australia has several valuable assets in the financial world. Its main four banks – ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, and National Australia Bank – are all ranked in the world’s 50 safest banks. The financial sector is one of Australia’s largest industries.

Metal and mining industries: The mining sector is Australia’s second-largest industry due to the country’s massive array of natural resources. The country is home to many categories of the mining industry including black and brown coal mining, iron ore mining, gas and oil mining, gold ore mining, copper ore mining, and bauxite mining.

Business consulting firms: Many of the world’s major business consulting firms are now based in Australia. Consulting firms fall into four categories: information technology consulting, strategy and general business consulting, sustainability consulting, and human resource consulting.

Energy and utilities: Australia has huge energy assets along with outstanding natural resources such as coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium. The nation also boasts renewable energy resources.

Industrial and material industry: Because this industrial sector garnered some big projects over the past decade, it was able to survive the financial crisis. Growth has maintained in part by the New South Wales $50 billion transport plan.

Healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry: This sector includes biotechnology and medical practice. Australia is currently undergoing a shortage of doctors and nurses, particularly in regional areas.

Using Australian phone numbers for your business allows you and your employees to work from anywhere and reach anywhere in Australia. With virtual call forwarding, the business world is your oyster.

How Well do you Communicate with Others?

12th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

We started with grunts, moved onto crude paintings, took the leap into spoken language, then written language was born, and now we speak roughly 6,900 languages. Most of us like to think we are at the pinnacle of sophistication in our ability to communicate with other people. Then Elon Musk proposes the concept of direct brain-to-brain transmission… what can’t this guy do? The purpose of communicating is to share ideas, feelings, emotions, thoughts, etc. Aside from creating differing avenues through which we can communicate (phone calls, texting, emailing), the way we communicate hasn’t changed much since speech first came to be.

And if we think about it, we aren’t always that great at it. Try having an argument with your significant other, or reason with your boss about why their new plan is awful. We aren’t always in touch with exactly how we feel or think, and then when we try to communicate these vague or confusing concepts, we choose which words (sometimes correctly, sometimes not) to convey the message to somebody else. Then, the other person hears those words from their point of view, with their own feelings and thoughts influencing the meaning of these words. And we go back and forth in what we call a conversation.

Musk wants to eliminate the guesswork and bias that goes into communication to allow us to literally wire our thoughts and feelings to another person. Obviously, we aren’t there yet, so it’s worth talking about how we can improve our current methods and modes of communication to eliminate professional mistakes and personal flounders.

Effective Communication is Key to your Success and Happiness

As a highly social species, we rely on relationships for our happiness and survival. Everything from the clothes we wear to the words that come out of our mouth communicates who we are to other people. It’s crucial to our success in business to be able to communicate effectively, and it’s definitely necessary to foster strong relationships.

An excellent communicator is self-aware and can easily identify and label their emotions and motivations. Having the insight required to self-reflect leads to an increased ability to convey how you are feeling, and why you are feeling a certain way. When you can do this, it becomes possible to enlist someone’s help in finding a solution. This is beneficial in both professional and personal settings. When you let emotions exist inside of you without seeking to identify their source or define their purpose, they can have control over you.

For example, it is difficult to act rationally when you are angry. Having the capacity to feel your anger, sit with it for a moment, and then tell your partner why it makes you angry that they constantly leave dishes in the sink will come across much more effectively than yelling at them for the 7th time this week to “PUT YOUR DISHES AWAY!”

Word choice, tone, volume, and body language all serve to help or hinder us in our ability to communicate effectively with another person. Try it now. Think of a sentence, maybe something you’ve been wanting to say but haven’t had the courage to.

First, say it softly and without confidence, then say the same sentence with hand movements and a loud voice. Try it again with an angry tone, then say it with a smile on your face. You’ll be able to see, even without an audience, the different effect the words can have on the meaning and effectiveness of your message. But remember, the first step in communicating well is developing a strong sense of self-awareness and a willingness to be introspective to better understand yourself before you toss words out into the universe.

Communication Made Simple

There is a saying that goes, “I’m sorry for the long email, I didn’t have time to write a short one.” It’s time-consuming and frankly, an art, to convey meaning in fewer words. In our very digital age, the rules of communication are more complex. Much of what we say is sent through text or email, and the spoken word still requires attention to tone and volume. Here are some communication “musts” that will take you far in your business interactions.

Texting

Even though texting has become the go-to for a quick message, the casual tone you use to find out which bar your friends are at does not convey professionalism. Make sure you stick with proper capitalization and punctuation.

Email

Email communication is a large part of business communication, especially if you work remotely. The key here is to put in the extra effort to send a short concise message that gets your message across in as few words as possible. The longer it is, and the more you try to dress it up with big words, the more you risk muddling your message. Try sticking to the Five W’s: Who, What, When, Where, Why. This can also be applied to texts and spoken communication.

Danger of Assumptions

Never assume. Don’t assume your reader knows how you feel or where you are coming from. Be direct, clear, and polite about your position. Don’t over-explain, but make sure whoever is reading your email will not be forced to fill in any blanks. It could create an uncomfortable or even expensive situation in the future. If you are unclear, the reader is given the freedom to infer. They may infer incorrectly.

Saying Too Much

Since we’re talking about communication here, for the most part that involves speaking or writing. But sometimes, a well-placed pause is far more powerful than the impact of any statement. Additionally, let the others do all the talking; too much talking can confuse the message. If you can sit in on a meeting and stay out of the gossip and emotional excitement of a passionate debate, so that when you do finally speak, it will carry more weight and value. You will be known as somebody who contributes value instead of just noise.

The Undersea Cables that Power the Internet

12th December 2017 blog, Business Insights

Undersea cables transmit 99% of all international data. There are currently more than 300 undersea cables, which have a combined length of 550,000 miles, which is long enough to circle the globe 22 times. The longest cable runs from Germany to Korea, has 39 landing points, and is 24,000 miles long. Some undersea cables are positioned as much as 25,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. The process of laying them may take several months to complete and can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

History

The first commercial cable across the English Channel went into service in 1851. Beginning in 1853, additional commercial cable projects connected Great Britain with Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

The first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid on the ocean floor between Valentia Island in western Ireland to eastern Newfoundland. The project to lay the cable took four years, from 1854 to 1858. Using that cable, transmission of transatlantic messages took only 17 hours as opposed to ten days by ship.

In 1863, a cable to Bombay (now Mumbai) provided a link to Saudi Arabia. By 1870, there was a link from Bombay to London; by 1872, a link to Australia from Bombay via Singapore and China; and by 1876, from the British Empire to New Zealand. From 1850 to 1911, Britain dominated the cable industry in the North Atlantic Ocean, and by 1923, British companies owned and operated two-thirds of the world’s undersea cables.

Listed below are historic dates for undersea cables across the Pacific.

  • In 1902, cables established links from the US mainland to Hawaii, and additional links to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.
  • In 1903, Guam and the Philippines linked to the US Mainland.
  • Japan joined the network in 1906.
  • A Hawaii–Japan connection occurred in 1964.
  • In 1991, the first regenerative (repeated) system directly linked the US Mainland to Japan.
  • Undersea Optical Cable Construction

Undersea optical cable construction varies according to the application, water temperature and depth, and cable manufacturer. The schematic shown below is from a Hexatronic Submarine Catalog. The model number is TOL 404 1051 GJMLTV, 15-ton DAL. This particular cable weighs 15 tons per mile, is used in depths less than or equal to 3,000 meters, and has a capacity of 12 to 96 optical fibers.

Schematic of a Modern Undersea Communications Cable

The schematic shows a double-armored, unitube cable for applications needing high protection due to ocean conditions. The optical fibers are free to move within the hermetically sealed, stainless steel sheath. A thixotropic water-blocking compound surrounds the fibers. The polyethylene sheath protects the stainless steel tube from water incursion. Two layers of galvanized steel wire protect against chafing and corrosion. The inner wire sheathing is made of small wires and the outer sheathing uses heavier wires. Mylar tape or a similar material covers these wire bundles. Finally, a polyethylene yarn wrap, impregnated with an organic material to prevent deterioration, completes the cable.

Cable weights vary from 2.5 to 60 tons per mile. The heavier cables are those that approach the shore because they need more armoring. Such installations use two wraps of galvanized steel wire as shown in the schematic.

Laying Undersea Cables

Before laying an undersea cable, it is important to perform a Desktop Study that encompasses many separate steps as follows.

  • Obtain a route description
  • Get information on landing sites
  • Learn about geopolitical and cultural issues
  • List security concerns
  • Determine geology, meteorology, oceanography, fisheries, and hazards
  • Understand permit requirements

The typical cost of an undersea cable installation is between $100 and $500 million, and the process requires a variety of steps:

  1. Coiling the cable into the installation ship takes three to four weeks.
  2. The end of the cable runs from the first landing station to several miles into the sea.
  3. The ship then begins the laying process.
  4. The cable feeds into a plow, which trenches the ocean floor and lays the cable.

After laying sufficient cable onto the ocean floor, the cable feeds into an open trench from the low water mark to the landing station. The cable enters the landing station through the floor and attaches to its circuitry. Dirt or other material covers the trench so the cable is not exposed.

Operational Considerations

Multiplexing

Pairs of optical fibers work together with each fiber transmitting in only one direction, and most modern cable systems use a transmission speed of 2.5 Gbps (gigabits per second) for each fiber pair. However, it is possible to send signals through fibers at four to eight different wavelengths. This results in capacity of 10 to 20 Gbps per fiber pair. Multiplexing is the process of transmitting signals in this manner.

Repeaters

When the optical signals travel over distances greater than 400 km, they become dispersed or attenuated. Repeaters amplify and reshape the degraded signals before transmission to the landing station.

Repeaters use solid-state amplifiers to process the signals. The repeaters require a direct current of 20 watts to operate. Repeaters are series connected and spaced at intervals along the cable run. Copper sheeting in the cables conducts power for the repeaters. Repeaters cost between $500,000 and $1 million each.

Cable Repairs

When a break occurs, each landing station tests the cable to determine the location of the break. A repair ship then travels to the spot of break and drops a mooring with a buoy attached to mark the location. Next, the ship moves a convenient distance from the break and drags the seafloor with a grapnel to locate the cable. When the grapnel hooks the cable, the ship stops moving forward. Then, picking machinery lifts the cable, secures it to a mooring anchor, and workers cut the cable. They stow the short end of the cable on the ship. Workers test other end of the cable to determine its condition. If it is good, electricians splice it to a length of spare cable aboard the ship. They protect the splice with heavily tarred jute yarn. Next, the ship moves back to the location of the break, paying out cable as it goes. When it reaches the break location, it will then lift and test the other end of the cable. If that end is in proper condition, workers splice the two cable ends together. This splice is also protected with heavily tarred jute yarn, and the cable is laid as close to its original position as possible.

Submarine Cable Map

TeleGeography’s website, https://www.telegeography.com/, has a link to its free Submarine Cable Map. The map shows active and planned submarine cable systems and landing stations. The map is interactive, and one can select a cable from the list and get the cable’s profile, which has the following information.

  • Cable name
  • Ready-for-service date
  • Length
  • Owners
  • Website
  • Landing Points

How to Call 1800 Numbers from Canada

6th December 2017 blog, Business Phone Numbers

Are you interested in learning how to call 1800 numbers from Canada? If so, we can offer some assistance. The following article will offer the steps to take to make a 1800 call from Canada. Read on to learn more.

What are Canada 1800 Numbers?

Canada 1800 numbers are just like toll free numbers in the US, or anywhere else. These numbers do not have a specific, location-centric area code. They can be used nationally, or in the case of Canada 1800 numbers, throughout Canada and the US as well. As the name states, these numbers start with the “1800” prefix with seven digits following.

How do Canada 1800 Numbers Work?

They are toll free numbers, which means that the numbers are free for callers to dial. The owner of the number pays for all calls that are received. In the age of mobile and VoIP calling, having a toll free number has a different meaning than in the past, when callers used landlines to make calls. Even though most callers don’t necessarily need calls to be “toll free” because they inherently won’t be charged, toll free numbers are significant because they indicate business establishment. Therefore, when you have one, it indicates to your clients or potential customers that you are a well-established business.

It’s important to note, however, that you typically cannot make calls to toll free numbers outside of the country they are intended for. So for instance, if you are in Australia and you want to call a Canada 1800 toll free number, it will not work. However, if you’re in the US, it will be no different than calling any other toll free number in the US. Similarly, if you want to call the US from Canada, on a standard phone number (not a toll free number) you will just have to dial 1 + the area code, then the phone number.

How to Call 1800 Numbers from Canada

Here are the steps you can follow to make a call to a 1800 number in Canada.

Step 1: Using the dial pad your phone, enter the exact digits of the 1800 Canada number you want to call.
Step 2: Press the “Call” button for the call to be made.
Step 3: Hang up or press “End” when the call is complete.

1800 Toll Free Canada Numbers for Your Business

If your business is considering using toll free numbers to communicate with clients or potential clients in Canada, here is some more info on why they are an excellent option.

    • Professional Appeal: Toll free numbers are great when used in marketing because they are an instant symbol of being an “established” business.
    • Widespread National & Continental Reach: They give your business the ability to be reached by people anywhere in all of Canada (and the US). So, if you’re aiming to create a national or continental presence, an 800 toll free number in Canada will be great for your callers.
    • A Distinct Business Number: If you need to purchase a designated business phone number for your business and you do business in Canada or the US, a 1800 toll free number is ideal. This ensures your customers will know they are dialing a business number. While local numbers are perfect for creating a “local” presence, a toll free number indicates your company is national/ continental.

About Canada 1800 Toll Free Phone Numbers

When you purchase a 1800 number for Canada, it can be used ubiquitously in the US as well. This is because phone numbers for Canada and the United States are determined by the North American Numbering Plan, also known as the NANP, which is the governing body for the assignment of phone numbers in North America. Therefore, toll free numbers in the US and Canada are used the same way.

Conclusion

If you were interested in learning how to call 1800 numbers from Canada, hopefully, this article shed some light on the process. It’s important to remember that if you’re in North America, dialing Canada toll free numbers will be a simple process, however, if you’re elsewhere, they may not work at all. If you would like to get a Canada 1800 number for your business, contact Global Call Forwarding today to do so.