Category: Business Insights

The ability to gauge emotions and pick up on the unsaid dynamics of a conversation is an important skill in business. A conveying handshake, a confident gaze, or a subtle shift in tone can speak volumes in a business conversation. But what happens when those interactions move to a digital space?

Closing a critical deal or resolving a frustrating customer issue is challenging enough while dealing face-to-face. Now imagine trying to achieve the same outcome without the benefit of seeing their reactions, hearing their tone, or reading their body language

Understanding intent and emotion has been challenging now as business conversations happen over calls, emails, and chats.

That’s where the magic of call sentiment analysis comes in.

Call sentiment analysis is crucial for business and a key mechanism in enhancing customer experience, proactive issue resolution, data-driven decision-making, and competitive advantage. This tool can overcome the digital gap and provides insightful information on your customers’ feelings, which is even more accurate than in-person conversations.

Let’s discover how call sentimental analysis can help you make your digital chats more efficient.

What is Call Sentiment Analysis?

Call sentiment analysis evaluates customer feedback to determine opinions, emotions, and views regarding product lines, services, brands, marketing campaigns, and any other business matters. By leveraging natural language processing and artificial intelligence, call sentiment analysis provides valuable insights into customer emotions.

Businesses can better understand the quality of phone interactions by using this feature to assess the overall sentiment or mood of a business call and categorize the sentiment as positive, neutral, or negative.

Use this feature to understand customer emotions, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions that improve conversations and drive proactive sales and support efforts.

For example, organizations can contact disappointed customers directly and improve their offerings by monitoring customers’ opinions about the businesses and products or services.

With Global Call Forwarding, call sentiment analysis is seamlessly integrated into our AI Call Insights, offering businesses comprehensive insights into customer conversations.

How Does Sentiment Analysis Work?

Sentiment analysis uses artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) to analyze call transcripts. It then provides a clear sentiment ranking (positive, negative, or neutral), giving businesses valuable insights into call handling and customer reactions.

Here’s how sentiments are analyzed with Global Call Forwarding:

1. Call Recording
Firstly, the process of sentiment analysis starts with securely recording every incoming and outgoing call, and then the entire conversation is saved.

2. Process of Converting Call into Transcription
Next, our AI converts these calls into transcripts and thoroughly evaluates and analyzes the context and content of the discussion.

3. AI Analysis Using LLMs
The AI then uses LLM technology to analyze the conversation’s flow, tone, word choice, and discussion.

4. Sentiment Evaluation and Ranking
A sentiment ranking, such as “Mostly positive,” “Slightly positive,” “Neutral,” “Slightly negative,” and “Mostly negative” is generated from the analysis results to measure the sentiment.

5. Post-Call Reporting
After the call, sentiments are available on your control panel’s AI Insights dashboard. These sentiments are based on textual analysis of customer conversations and call transcription.

Businesses use this data to pinpoint areas for improvement in their communication tactics, enhance customer service, and gain a deeper understanding of customer emotions. For example, you can quickly identify and examine calls that require more attention. For instance, you can explore calls with “mostly positive” ratings to see what the customers liked and then those with “mostly negative” ratings to see what went wrong.

How Sales & Support Teams Can Use Sentiment Trends

By understanding sentiment trends, sales and support managers may improve team strategies, enhance customer experiences, and achieve more favorable outcomes. Managers can gain important insights by examining sentiment data to improve overall performance and call effectiveness.

Let’s explore how sales and support teams can use sentiment trends:

1. Gauge the Success of Sales and Support Calls

Identifying whether calls are heading toward success is essential for improving sales and supporting team performance. Sentiment analysis gives managers a clear picture of call outcomes, enabling them to determine which conversations achieved their business goals and which did not.

2. Analyze Why Calls Succeed or Fail

Support teams can dig deeper by examining call recordings and transcripts and researching the “why” behind call sentiment results. While unsuccessful calls highlight areas that require improvement, such as tone and handling objections, successful calls can be analyzed to uncover best practices.

3. Use Failed Calls as Training Opportunities

You can use calls marked with negative sentiments to teach team members how to handle difficult conversations and situations. Review recordings of these calls to identify opportunities for improving the quality of the service, building a faithful relationship with customers.

4. Monitor Team and Agent Performance

Sentiment data offers a quick overview assessment of team and individual performance. Whether you want to see individual agent performance or broader department or phone line activity, you can use phone tags and filters to narrow down call reports.

Managers can use these features together to nurture a culture of continuous development by highlighting underperforming team members, recognizing top performers, and rewarding excellence.

5. Encourage Proactive Issue Resolution

Bad calls don’t always have to have negative consequences. Managers can proactively handle critical issues, providing prompt solutions and preserving customer relationships by quickly recognizing negative sentiment.

6. Leverage Successful Calls for Upselling Opportunities

Positive sentiment immediately indicates customer satisfaction and engagement with your products or services. You can use these calls to explore cross-selling or upselling opportunities by offering more products or services that align with the needs of your target market.

7. Refine Sales and Support Strategies

Sentiment analysis can also help fine-tune your support and sales strategies by giving you a better read on customer emotions and feedback. For instance, sales teams can create more persuasive pitches by recognizing typical objections or pain areas, and support teams can modify their responses to better address customer issues.

8. Create a Feedback Loop for Ongoing Improvement

To establish a feedback loop, share and discuss sentiment trends with your team regularly. You can talk about what is effective, what needs improvement, and how data-driven initiatives are changing among your sales and support team. This openness keeps everyone aligned with company objectives and promotes a cooperative atmosphere.

This way, sales and support teams can turn call data into workable plans by methodically examining sentiment trends. This ensures ongoing development, improved customer relationships, and business growth.

Tired of Missed Customer Opportunities? GCF Can Help

Global Call Forwarding offers real-time sentiment insights from each call. With advanced AI VoIP capabilities, our AI Call Insights features—including our Sentiment Analysis, Call Transcripts, and Call Summary—are designed to meet the demands of businesses.

Our AI features help managers and agents stay on top of every call by filtering conversations across phone lines and teams. With sentiment analysis, they can pinpoint problematic calls, quickly review key details through summaries, and investigate deeply with transcripts and recordings. This enables smarter decision-making, improving customer satisfaction and boosting overall efficiency in sales and support.

Want to give sentiment analysis a test-drive? Please speak with our representatives and get in touch with us. Call us at +1 (561) 908-6171!

Imagine a busy hospital where unanswered calls lead to missed appointments and critical lab results get stuck between departments. Such scenarios can compromise patient safety and satisfaction, creating a stressful environment for healthcare professionals.

The healthcare industry requires clear and efficient communication. From booking appointments to receiving critical medical advice, timely and accessible healthcare communication tools and channels are essential for both patients and providers.

As the demand for more streamlined healthcare communication grows, the limitations of traditional phone systems become more apparent, affecting patient satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

Cloud telephony has varied solutions to bridge these healthcare communication gaps. Its secure and scalable platform can transform communication within your institution. This translates to streamlined workflows, facilitated information sharing between departments, and ensuring calls reach the right person. Ultimately, this improves healthcare accessibility for patients and enhances overall care delivery.

Challenges of Medical Phone Systems

Here are some of the reasons why traditional phone systems fall short of providing effective communication.

1. Traditional phone systems lack integration with electronic health records (EHRs) and other digital platforms, which creates information silos. This may cause delays in patient care and hinder interprofessional collaboration.
2. These phone systems have limited scalability. Therefore they struggle to handle fluctuating call volume and adding new features, phone lines, or users.
3. Traditional systems also lack advanced telehealth capabilities. Audio call conversations don’t have the visual cues and detailed information exchange that video consultations offer.
4. Traditional and legacy systems can prove more expensive than VoIP alternatives. Research shows companies can reduce costs by 87% when switching to a cloud phone solution.

What Role Can Cloud Telephony Play?

Cloud telephony leverages the internet to make and receive phone calls. Instead of relying on traditional phone lines, this technology transmits voice data as packets over the internet using voice over internet protocol (VoIP).

VoIP in healthcare allows for greater flexibility, scalability, and advanced features compared to traditional systems.

6 Ways to Increase Healthcare Coverage and Accessibility with Cloud Telephony

Besides facilitating telehealth services, cloud telephony has offered innovative solutions to overcome traditional communication barriers in patient care.

Let’s take a look at six ways in which you can leverage cloud communication for healthcare telephony:

1. Extend global reach with virtual phone numbers
2. Streamline communication for distributed healthcare teams
3. Organize call flows with IVR
4. Track calls to improve caller experiences
5. Enhance privacy for professionals with caller ID management
6. Ensure service continuity with failover options

1. Extend Global Reach with Virtual Numbers

Cloud telephony provides extended global coverage for target regions through virtual numbers. You can get toll-free numbers or local numbers for your business from different regions. And for hard-to-reach and remote regions, some providers offer other bespoke solutions to enable accessibility.

Patients from these regions requiring specialists can reach your organization for free or with local standard rates. This expands access to specialized care and breaks down geographical barriers for patients in remote areas.

Global Call Forwarding can set you up with international phone numbers from more than 160 countries around the world. Check out our global coverage to see if we cover your target regions!

2. Streamline Communication for Distributed Healthcare Teams

If your clinics, teams, or specialists are dispersed globally, you can connect through a centralized communication platform. With cloud telephony features like international call forwarding and advanced routing, you can automate call management, sending calls to the most appropriate location automatically.

Or, acquire multiple international numbers and have the calls pass through one phone service to the right location. For example, one of our healthcare clients Healthy Stuff needed a phone system that covers their sales and support teams across Australia, Ireland, and US and sends incoming calls to their teams in the UK.

With international phone numbers and routing, you don’t need a manual operator managing incoming calls. You simply set everything up beforehand and let the system work for you.

3. Organize Call Flows with IVR

Cloud telephony empowers healthcare providers to manage call flows strategically, fostering both efficiency and patient trust. An interactive voice response system (IVR) routes calls based on voice or touch-tone inputs from callers. You can plan for different call flows and customer queries beforehand and feedback them into your healthcare IVR.

For instance, the IVR can greet callers and present clear options—‘1’ for scheduling appointments, ‘2’ for prescription refills, etc. Based on the input, the IVR system can route the call to an agent or voicemail or the appropriate destination accordingly.

This automated telephony system can significantly improve patient satisfaction by reducing wait times, improving accessibility, and empowering callers with self-service options.

4. Track Calls to Improve Caller Experiences

Every call holds valuable information. Track trends in call volume, wait times, and reasons for calls using call records and analytics. By analyzing this data, healthcare institutions can identify areas for improvement like appointment scheduling bottlenecks.

Say there’s a spike in calls for appointments during lunch when lines are busy. Features like time of day routing can be implemented during these times, and incoming calls can be redirected to another available team. In this manner, you can reduce wait times and deliver better customer experience.

Moreover, dedicated hotline numbers for emergencies and non-emergencies ensure patients receive the appropriate level of care promptly. Then, when calls come in, your teams can identify the type of call and know how to respond. This targeted approach prioritizes urgent situations while also addressing non-critical needs through self-service IVR options.

Also, call tracking data can help in allocating resources effectively based on call types. For example, if a high number of calls are related to pediatrics, more staff or dedicated lines can be channeled for pediatric inquiries.

Marketing and advertising campaigns benefit greatly from call tracking data. By using multiple numbers for different marketing channels such as flyers, social media, and websites, you can track call volume and determine which channels generate the most calls. This allows businesses to make targeted and efficient marketing spends.

5. Enhance Privacy for Professionals with Caller ID Management

Caller ID management is a valuable feature that empowers healthcare organizations to protect their professionals’ privacy during private patient consultations. Adjust your caller ID to display the healthcare organization’s number instead of a professional’s personal number, especially during telehealth visits.

This way, patients don’t have access to professionals’ personal contact information and vice versa, maintaining clear boundaries and avoiding unwanted calls outside of work hours.

6. Ensure Service Continuity

Cloud telephony platforms and features are built for resilience. And both provider and customer redundancy mechanisms are crucial for a reliable communication system.

With phone calls being the preferred communication channel, VoIP providers must maintain robust backups and redundancy options to ensure their network and servers are always operational. Make sure to check their network distribution to understand how they protect their systems and servers.

They should also provide features like failover forwarding and redundant routing that help keep communication active in the event of technical glitches or internet outages. When you set these features up, they automatically route calls to alternative numbers or backup systems, if the primary communication system fails.

Another way to maintain continuous service is to use a responsive provider. For instance, another healthcare client Novartis was experiencing service-related issues and outages with their local provider. They needed a responsive cloud telephony provider so they could continue to communicate with customers without any downtime.

As a healthcare provider, you must safeguard patient access to communication channels and professionals even in unprecedented scenarios. This reliability can make your business a dependable source of healthcare support in times of crisis.

How Can Global Call Forwarding Help?

A robust communication system is absolutely vital for any healthcare setup. Using a combination of solutions like call forwarding, IVR, voicemail, call recording, etc., you can meet unique communication demands of your organization.

Global Call Forwarding has been helping healthcare institutions worldwide with a suite of communication tools to build advanced business phone systems.

Talk to our experts and find out how you increase healthcare accessibility with cloud telephone!

Related: Why Cloud Telephony is Essential for Scaling Tech Startups

Are you in the travel and hospitality business, striving to enhance global support? Imagine offering round-the-clock assistance to your global clientele, leveraging the latest in cloud telephony.

Travel companies face the critical challenge of providing exceptional, uninterrupted customer service to a global audience. But how do you maintain high-quality support across various regions and time zones effectively and cost-efficiently?

By building a global phone service that efficiently routes calls from traveling customers to the right agent at the right time. From understanding diverse customer expectations to offering multilingual IVR support to optimizing outbound calling efforts, the possibilities for enhancing global customer satisfaction are endless.

In this article, we’ll go over the different ways travel companies can offer 24/7 global customer support using cloud telephony solutions, including:

• Getting international phone numbers
• Leveraging advanced routing features
• Organizing custom call flows
• Using global support strategies
• Optimizing outbound calling campaigns, and more.

Cloud Phone Solutions for Travel

The travel industry encompasses diverse businesses, including travel agencies, hotels, transport services, ecotourism ventures, and more. But the common denominator is the need for exceptional, responsive, and, at times, global customer support.

One way to achieve this is by offering round-the-clock customer support. Doing so meets the needs of travelers from different regions across time zones. Cloud telephony solutions can help set up a state-of-the-art 24/7 global support system for travel companies.

What Cloud Telephony Helps With?

Cloud telephony allows you to connect with customers across different regions and time zones virtually. And call management features like international call forwarding and routing lets traveling customers reach you, regardless of your or their physical location.

You can also set up multilingual support options so that when travelers call your business, the automated IVR system greets them and provides language options to choose the language in which they need support. Based on their selection, the call routes to the most appropriate agent or department.

Certain advanced IVR systems can also provide self-service options for travelers. This can include options for common inquiries, such as booking status or account and flight information, allowing callers to resolve their queries without agent assistance.

How to Offer 24/7 Global Support as a Travel and Hospitality Company

There are several ways in which travel companies leverage VoIP to offer 24/7 support to their global customers. Here are some of our recommendations:

1. Find a Global Telephony Provider

First and foremost, you’ll need a global telephony provider that can cover the target regions where your customers reside or travel to. This phone service provider must be able to offer all the solutions you need—from global phone coverage to call management features—to centralize communication across multiple locations and platforms.

Doing so will help you streamline operations and provide consistent customer experiences worldwide. And by consolidating communication services onto a single platform, you can manage customer interactions more smoothly.

From international numbers to high-quality voice calling, your global telephony service provider can equip you with solutions to enter the global stage.

2. Get International Phone Numbers

Extend your voice coverage and establish a local presence in target countries with in-country international phone numbers. This includes using local and toll-free options that are accessible and cost-effective for traveling customers. These virtual numbers enable you to enter different countries without a physical presence. By making it easy for customers to reach your business, you show your dedication to helping them.

For instance, a US-based tour agency can get virtual numbers for popular tourist destinations like Singapore or Japan. By offering toll-free number options, travelers visiting these countries can easily reach the agency for assistance without incurring charges.

EaseMyTrip, a global travel service provider, used Global Call Forwarding to consolidate global telephony with local numbers from 6 countries. By doing so, they were able to offer uninterrupted support for international clients while accessing real-time call data and management settings through the control panel.

3. Leverage Advanced Routing

Once your global phone numbers are set up, you can use advanced routing features to provide 24/7 support. Most cloud phone service providers offer different types of routing features and strategies. We recommend businesses use time-of-day routing and geo-routing to provide global support.

With time-based routing, you route calls according to the time of the day or day of the week. If a customer calls outside of your regular business hours, you can send the call to another location, such as a team in a different time zone or backup call center.

With location-based routing, you can direct customer inquiries based on the caller’s geographical location or their caller ID. So, a Spain customer calling for assistance is automatically routed to the European service center. Agents there are available during local business hours and speak the customer’s language. This ensures that customers receive localized support from agents who understand their needs, enhancing the overall customer experience.

By pairing these routing strategies, your business can adopt a follow-the-sun support model, becoming available to customers 24/7.

Crystal Cruises found that many customer inquiries were reaching their US-based reservation office after hours due to time zone differences. This led to missed calls, delayed responses, and lost sales opportunities. They used virtual phone numbers to forward calls to a local support center in Cyprus, ensuring that customers could receive prompt assistance during Gulf Standard Time.

4. Create Custom Call Flows

Now, when you’re juggling multiple phone numbers and countries, call handling can get tricky. To ensure efficiency, you’ll need to create tailored call flows for different regions and requests to cover core touchpoints in the customer journey. That’s where IVR and auto attendant systems come in handy. You can use these tools to redirect inquiries to the appropriate departments, such as bookings, check-ins, or complaints.

For instance, at the booking assistance level, customers may have questions about available destinations, pricing, package deals, or special accommodations. Once you have identified the various possible inquiries, you can design a multi-level IVR system that guides callers through various options. Something like: “Press 1 for Destinations,” “Press 2 for Pricing and Packages,” etc. Each option leads to a different branch of the call flow, directing the caller to the appropriate and available agent.

This way, a call flow builder and multi-level IVR systems can create personalized communication systems to assist customers, regardless of the time of the day.

5. Use Global Support Strategies

24/7 global support strategies range from using VoIP features to distributing workforce. Here are strategies to consider:

• Establish a network of global and regional contact centers or leverage remote agents in different time zones to provide round-the-clock support.
• Train agents to understand, distinguish, and respect cultural differences when working with global customers.
• Ensure smooth handoffs across different regional teams with proper documentation within a CRM or help desk software.
• Use IVR to automate responses to common FAQs and redirect or provide self-service options for callers. For instance, directing travelers to the best websites for booking flights can empower them to find quick solutions on their own. This lets your caller independently get the help they need swiftly.
• Utilize multilingual IVR systems to cater to callers who speak different languages. Provide prompts and menu options in multiple languages, allowing callers to select their preferred language for assistance and then route them to teams located in those regions.
• Use translation features like voicemail translation and call recording translation to increase comprehension and accessibility, leading to efficient follow-up and resolution. Check out our guide on how to translate voicemail in your preferred language.

Learn more in our guide to global customer support strategies.

6. Prepare for High Call Volumes

Anticipate peak travel seasons and prepare for high call volumes using automated routing tools for self-service and escalation. With these tools, you can:

• Reduce wait times
• Distribute workload efficiently among agents and teams
• Enable customers to resolve simple inquiries on their own
• Free up your support staff to handle more complex issues and handle every call with care
• Set up backup support options during high call periods, and so on.

Design an escalation matrix within your IVR and ACD systems for callers who require further assistance. This makes sure high-priority inquiries are attended in a timely manner.

7. Optimize Outbound Calling

Outbound calls with recognizable caller ID, such as your local business number, are more likely to be answered. This is because travelers may be wary of answering calls from unknown or unfamiliar numbers due to concerns about potential scams or unsolicited marketing calls.

By using and displaying local phone numbers, you can streamline the follow-up process, making it easier for your agents to engage with missed connections. Local numbers will also encourage more return calls (callbacks) from customers.

8. Integrate with CRM

Adding cloud telephony to CRM systems allows your support agents to access comprehensive customer profiles. They can:

• Access real-time booking information and purchase history,
• Assist with reservations and queries, and
• Review customer preferences and interactions.

With this information, your agents can personalize the support experience without needing to catch up on the call. They can address customers by name and anticipate their needs based on past interactions. Plus they can add notes and make and receive calls directly from the CRM interface. This reduces the need for customers to repeat information, enter data manually, or toggle multiple platforms.

VoIP CRM integration systems provide valuable insights into customer behavior, trends, and preferences. You can analyze call data, customer interactions, and booking patterns to identify opportunities for improvement and refine marketing strategies.

How Can GCF Help?

Cloud telephony solutions can greatly help in offering 24/7 global support. Pair these with your customer support strategies, and you can improve customer experiences across the board.

Global Call Forwarding has been helping businesses across industries worldwide with top-notch cloud telephony solutions. We can help you design a global support system with our advanced calling solutions.

Want to see how we can help your travel business? Call us or chat with us online today!

The way a business communicates — internally or externally — is key to its success. Through communication, you can determine the strengths and weaknesses in your business and its products. You can also work with the necessary parties to improve quality and serve your valued customers better. In this post, we will discuss what business communication entails and how to better enhance it to align with your business’s goals.

Business Communication: Definition

What is business communication? Business communication refers to sharing information internally (within the office and its teams) and externally (between the business and its customers).

Effective communication in a business should be goal-oriented. That is, everyone in the company interacts and works towards a common goal. And this goal should revolve around creating better experiences for customers, thereby improving customer satisfaction and sales.

And so, communication within teams and departments or between management and its employees will generally include:

• Making plans and setting goals
• Presenting new business, marketing, and sales ideas
• Making decisions
• Compromising, as needed
• Meetings with agendas and goals in place, and so on

Good and reliable communication systems can help increase a business’s productivity and organization. Unclear or miscommunication can lead to the core systems failing. Therefore, it is extremely crucial to pay attention to both internal and external business communication.

Different Types of Business Communication

A business communicates in two general ways: internal and external communication.

Internal communication

This type of communication is focused internally within business teams or departments. Internal business communication consists of different types of communication:

• Upward communication — going up the organizational hierarchy such as from a subordinate to a manager.
• Downward communication — going down the organizational hierarchy such as from a manager or supervisor to a subordinate.
• Lateral communication — also known as technical communication refers to cross-departmental interaction between team members or coworkers.

External communication

This type of communication relates to any interaction or communication leaving the office or coming from outside the office. External business communication deals with interacting with customers, business contacts, vendors, etc. Examples:

• Sales and telesales
• Conducting market research
• Obtaining customer feedback
• Managing leads and prospects
• Account management, and so on

Communication Methods: Ways to Communicate for Business

Like any other type of communication, businesses interact internally and externally either verbally or in writing. And so business communication takes place in person or face-to-face, through phone conversations, video conferencing, chat, SMS exchanges, etc. Or through email exchanges after collecting email contacts through website pop-up forms, lead magnets, LinkedIn email finder, high-converting landing pages, etc. In broader terms, businesses generally communicate in-person, virtually, or remotely.

Choosing what method of communication is best for your company depends on a few factors. For instance, written communication is good for documentation of ideas and actions while verbal allows for instantaneous and collaborative idea formation. Additionally, your communication methods would depend on where your business is located, its hours, how many people are involved, whether you have offices in different time zones (remote offices), and so on. Also, a well-structured process flow diagram enhances communication by visually depicting complex processes, ensuring shared understanding among team members.

So what are some different methods that can be used for effective communication?

1. Written communication — This consists of emails and mail primarily and can also include chat and instant messaging portals. Examples: Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Teamwork, Google Hangouts, etc.)

2. Phone conversations — This consists of communicating via telephones, smartphones, or a cloud phone system where two or more people are actively involved and participating in the conversation.

3. Video conferencing — This takes phone conversations to a visual level where remote teams can work more in sync through video, mimicking in-person meetings.

4. In-person meetings — In-person meetings are every business’s most preferred communication method as they promote clear interaction and decisions more quickly.

5. Web-based communication — This includes virtual communication over web applications or a cloud phone system: email, live chat, virtual phone numbers, messaging apps, video-chat apps, and so on.

6. Official documents — This refers to any essential documentation such as agreements, terms and conditions, medical records, and so on. Such documents reduce confusion, protect against liability and fraud, and provide clarity.

7. Presentations — Presentations through PowerPoint slides or using other tools can come in very handy when presenting ideas, strategies, and even training to a large group.

8. FAQs and content — This type of communication is externally-focused. Having a well-designed website includes providing informational and educational content and FAQs so web-visitors can find what they are looking for and witness your company’s expertise.

9. Surveys and feedback — This refers to internal surveys studying how teams are working and customer surveys to determine how customers can be served better. The ultimate goal is to identify areas of weaknesses and convert them into strengths as well as opening up a communication channel between all levels of the office hierarchy.

10. Customer-related — Covers customer interaction, support, CRM systems, reviews, etc.

Related: 7 Must-Have Global Expansion Tools for Communication

6 Reasons Why Effective Communication is Important

So, why should your business enforce better internal and external communication? Creating an environment for constructive and effective communication lets your business:

1. Align all teams and goals

By communicating consistently with your teams, your business can ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding short-term and long-term goals. Proper business communication encourages teams to collaborate, share ideas and suggestions, and collect feedback. Use a vision statement to articulate your organization’s aspirations, guiding everyone’s efforts toward a common business goals. All of this can help the business create a better work environment as well as develop efficient products and services for customers.

2. Improve employee engagement & productivity

Internal communication can enhance employee experience by providing coaching, training, and support. Through this, employees are equipped to improve productivity and stay on top of their work.

3. Encourage inter-departmental communication & collaboration

Sharing ideas and feedback can go a long way in building better experiences and products not only for customers but employees as well. Enabling your teams to work together through collaboration can help your business develop well-rounded products and market them in a way that means something to your customers.

4. Keep in-house and remote teams connected

Business communication is essential to keep all teams connected, whether in-house or remote. Make it easier for employees to connect with each other so that they can work together towards your business’ goals and milestones.

5. Support knowledge-sharing
By establishing an easy-to-use and efficient business communication system, your teams can follow knowledge-sharing best practices. This way, employees can share essential information and knowledge about the industry, field, and products and services. Without such a system, organizational knowledge will suffer.

6. Improve employee and customer satisfaction & retention
Lastly, all of the above reasons lead to the most important impact of business communication: satisfaction and retention. Happy employees make happy customers. And so, your business’ goal should be to retain employees and customers by improving their satisfaction and experience.

How to Communicate Effectively in the Workspace: 8 Useful Tips

Effective business communication best practices have been talked about for years as we continue to find better ways to express ourselves and collaborate with others. Here are some key points to keep in mind so that you communicate well in your place of work:

1. Adopt active listening

Many times, we assume we know what the problem is and what solutions work best. But our experiences differ, and so it is always a good idea to actively listen to what your colleague, supervisor, or customer is telling you. Actively listening to and acknowledging the other person shows them that you actually care about their concern. Treat their issue or concern as new and personal to them. This will help you offer solutions that will work for them instead of general, unattached help.

2. Be empathetic

Empathy is growing more and more important in customer service. However, that is not where it should start and end—practice empathy in all business- and non-business-related communication. Being empathetic and actually trying to understand where the other person is coming from will help you offer better and more tailored responses. And it will create better customer service experiences through genuine interactions and care.

3. Eliminate assumptions and biases

Biases are still very much present in communication. However, people are more aware and have been consciously trying to eliminate their own assumptions and biases when communicating with others. Avoid assumptions by communicating openly and honestly about needs and expectations. And reduce implicit bias in communication by being aware and respectful of the other person. This includes respecting the other persons’ identity — their gender and gender pronouns, race, culture, religion, disabilities,

4. Ask questions

When in doubt, ask questions and be open to receiving help. Asking questions can help clarify confusion, get assistance, and receive feedback. You also show the other person that you are paying attention and listening to what they’re saying. Make sure you ask relevant questions instead of asking about something they’ve already talked about.

5. Be respectful and patient

Working can be tough, especially during high-traffic periods and high-stress situations. Be patient and respectful during these moments. It is easy to get carried away and demand more than a person can accomplish. Communicate effectively to set realistic expectations, clarify confusion, and avoid misunderstandings.

6. Acknowledge and reinforce positive behaviors

Part of good effective business communication is highlighting good and positive behaviors and accomplishments. This helps your employees and colleagues feel validated, heard, and seen. And it will, in turn, reinforce desirable behaviors.

7. Validate feelings and ideas

Finally, validate and acknowledge feelings, ideas, and suggestions when shared. Dismissing how your colleagues feel or ignoring ideas they have for improvements can lead to distrust and indifference towards the company. This will further reduce the amount of investment the employee or customer has in your company leading to high employee turnover and losing valuable customers.

8. Be aware of international phone etiquette

When communicating with business contacts and customers in other countries and regions, it is a good practice to be aware of international phone etiquette. Practicing good phone etiquette demonstrates that you respect their culture by making an attempt to connect with them in ways that matter to them.

Setting Up Business Communications

It is important to find the right business communication system for your company. Ideally, you want systems that you need and will use effectively. When setting up your communication system, keep these steps in mind:

1) Review your current business communication set-up and identify new goals.

Before reinventing your communication system, review the current one to understand its strengths and weaknesses. This will help you determine what to look for in the new system. Consider some common reasons why communication systems need replacement:

• Low employee satisfaction
• Low customer satisfaction or weak caller experience
• Information being lost due to remote work or improper documentation

Then consider what your company’s goals are:

• Low employee turnover rate
• High customer satisfaction rate
• Proper tracking of projects, documents, interactions, tasks, etc.

2) Consider how you want your core groups to communicate with each other.

Next, develop a structure for how your teams will communicate:

• Horizontally (departments)
• Vertically (between teams and managers)
• Externally (between the company and customers, suppliers, partners).

In order to create this structure, consider:

• Which teams need to talk daily.
• Which teams need specific methods of communication. For example, do all teams need access to phones or direct lines? Or, do all teams need a project management system that documents tasks and projects?
• How can managers maintain and report progress in a department? What tools might they need?
• Can a forum or knowledge base be created to reduce meetings/interactions regarding basic elements?

3) Choose methods of communication suitable for your needs.

Based on the above analysis, pick from the communication methods discussed above that would fit well with your core groups. Then consider which methods are absolutely needed and which can be optional.

4) Invest in the right communication tools.

Some businesses start off using the most commonly-used tools such as Gmail, Outlook, Google Drive, Microsoft Office, Slack, Google Hangouts, etc. However, what tools are best suited for your company depends on what you want to achieve through them. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• If you run a small business, use a single tool for email, internal chat, and calendars that can be shared, etc. Using multiple platforms can lead to confusion and slow down important processes.
• For external business communication, create guidelines regarding your brand. For example, editorial notes, tone of voice, etc., and make sure that everyone communicating externally is made aware of your brand’s voice.
• Consider an easy-to-use and reliable VoIP phone system to keep remote teams well-connected.
• You may even consider investing in virtual phone numbers that help you communicate easily with international customers.
• Use cloud storage to secure and keep track of important documents. If you use your phone’s storage, make sure to clear it up regularly to free up space and maintain optimal performance.
• You may even consider using a project management system such as Teamwork or Monday to keep track of projects and tasks as they move within different teams and departments.

How Global Call Forwarding Can Help

We can provide you with essential communication tools to boost internal and external communications. From VoIP to a variety of virtual phone numbers and communication features, we can help you build and set up a high-functioning office phone system that keeps you connected no matter where you or your teams are located. For more information, speak to an expert at 1 (888) 908 6171.

International phone numbers allow businesses to establish a local presence in other countries.

Incoming calls can be routed to any phone, PBX, or SIP destination worldwide. Users can also make outbound calls with their phone number shown as the caller ID.

To provide these numbers, Global Call Forwarding must adhere to international phone number regulations. We comply with these regulatory requirements to minimize the risk of disruption to your numbers and service.

This guide to international number ordering requirements was created to make this process as easy as possible.

Which Countries Require Documentation?

Countries around the world are becoming increasingly strict when it comes to telecommunications regulations and compliance. These regulations vary from country to country.

The following popular countries require documentation to order a number:

• Singapore
• UAE
• France
• Spain
• Germany
• Bahrain
• Austria
• Belgium
• China
• Denmark
• Hong Kong
• Thailand
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Saudi Arabia
• Turkey
• Vietnam
• Taiwan
• Poland
• Netherlands
• Finland

These are some examples of countries but it is not a complete list. For more information, please contact a Global Call Forwarding representative.

What are the Acceptable Types of Documentation?

When ordering international phone numbers, your provider may request different types of documentation. In order to make the process of number provisioning as fast as possible, we need your help gathering and providing the necessary documentation.

The most commonly requested types of documentation are proof of address, proof of ID, and a letter of intent.

These documents should be sent to our customer service department.

Acceptable Proof of Address

Acceptable Proof of Address can be one of the following:

• Utility bill (gas, electric, or fixed-line telephone bill) within the last 3 months
• Bank statement within the last 3 months of a lease/tenant agreement

In some cases, especially for geographic numbers, proof of address is required from the same city in which the number is located.

Acceptable Forms of Identification

Acceptable Forms of Identification can be one of the following:

• Passport
• Driver’s license
• National ID card

In some cases, our provider will request a selfie with the end-user holding their identification.

What if this Information is Sensitive?

We take our responsibility to safeguard your sensitive personal information very seriously. We apply technical controls when processing this data, and all our staff undergoes training on the proper handling of this data.

How Long Does it Take for Documents to be Approved?

In most cases, it can take between 3-5 business days for documentation approval.

While we do our best to activate your numbers as quickly as possible, timelines can vary depending on the country origination.

Our vendors reserve the right in their discretion to deny phone numbers or request additional information at any stage of the process.

How Can I View the Status of my Submission?

Once your documents have been approved and the order has been processed, you will receive an email confirmation with further details. You can check the status of your submission at any time by contacting our customer service team.

International Number Ordering with Global Call Forwarding

Global Call Forwarding has been a reliable global telephony provider for over 26 years. We have extensive experience navigating international telecommunications regulations and providing reliable services to multinational clients.

Let us help you navigate through compliance requirements for purchasing international phone numbers and make this process as smooth as possible.

While global expansion efforts often yield significant benefits for businesses, the transition to a new market may also include significant challenges and uncertainties.

For this reason, this article will discuss the top global expansion mistakes to help you avoid common setbacks. This way, you can properly prepare for the transition by building an effective expansion plan, ensuring your business’ international success.

What Expanding Internationally Really Means For Businesses

The first global expansion mistake businesses make is thinking the work is done once they successfully enter a new market.

By definition, global expansion refers to when companies extend their operations to new markets and regions. But, this process involves much more than simply selling your products and services in your target countries.

In fact, sustained international growth requires tons of coordination before, during, and after you enter a new market. So, it’s essential to reflect on your business and if expansion is the next best step.

Is Your Business Ready for Global Expansion?

Global expansion isn’t right for every business. And if you try to expand before your operations and teams are ready, it could result in failure. So, before planning to expand globally, it’s important to first evaluate if you’re ready to transition internationally.

Start by asking yourself:

• Why do you want to take your business to a global level? What goals are you trying to achieve?
• Do you have enough resources and people power to expand globally while maintaining the success of your domestic/current markets?
• Does your company have the financial means to sustain international growth? Have you considered moving, labor, shipping, equipment, and other costs?
• Is there a stable demand for your products or services in the markets you plan to expand to?
• Is your management team prepared to meet international demands and challenges?

Take time to decide if this is the right move for your business and learn what factors to consider. Read more in our ultimate guide to global expansion.

8 Global Expansion Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When properly approached, a global expansion strategy holds many benefits for businesses, including:

• Increased ROI, sales, and revenue
• Access to new markets, skilled talent, and a broader customer base
• Exposure to foreign investment and growth opportunities
• Improved company reputation and global market perception
• Enhanced competitive edge and more.

So, what are the common roadblocks that may be fatal to your expansion plans, and how do you avoid them? Let’s discuss the 8 most common mistakes businesses make when expanding internationally and how to avoid them. This way, you can dodge these pitfalls and successfully grow your business on an international scale.

1. Entering New Markets Without Researching

Entering a new market without data to back your expansion decision is a recipe for disaster. There will inevitably be markets that are not a good fit for your business. So, without proper market research, you subject your business to unnecessary risk. And this could lead to major problems such as diminished reputation, over-saturated markets, loss of revenue and time, etc.

To ensure a smooth expansion, conduct thorough local market research and test your product throughout your target regions. These tactics will help you determine:

• Demand for your product or service
• Target audience segments
• Consumer perceptions and expectations
• Competitive pricing
• Direct and indirect competitors
• Unique selling proposition
• Government regulations
• Effective sales, marketing, and advertising methods
• Local language, culture, and so on

Using this information, you can adequately plan your international expansion and ensure you enter the right markets for your business goals.

2. Using the Same Marketing and Sales Strategies

No market is identical. As such, the same marketing strategies and sales tactics that work in your domestic market may be less effective in others. Everything from how customers place purchases to their preferred communication channels varies throughout different regions.

This is because a country’s cultural and economic background impacts purchase frequency and customer lifetime value (CLV). So, failing to adapt your strategies could result in decreased conversions and, ultimately, a failed global expansion.

To avoid this mistake, it’s vital to adapt your marketing and sales strategies to the needs and preferences of each market.

3. Not Taking Advantage of International Talent

One of a business’s biggest assets is its people. And growing internationally gives your business access to a larger talent pool than ever before. This not only allows you to diversify your teams but also your range of skill sets. On top of that, local talent already has an in-depth knowledge of your new markets. You can use their know-how to enhance your local efforts and better engage with customers.

As you can see, hiring international talent holds many benefits for your business. So, failing to do so would be a critical global expansion mistake.

4. Neglecting Content Localization Strategies

Conversions become increasingly harder to achieve when your global customers cannot understand what you’re offering. And while translating content is a good start, even this strategy can lead to misinterpretations. Or worse, your content can come across as offensive to customers.

Businesses are now turning to content localization as a solution, which includes:

• Accommodating local language needs and preferences
• Opening physical offices
• Observing regional traditions and cultures
• Supporting local businesses and talent
• Providing global customer support, etc.

This strategy not only helps meet the language requirements of your markets, but also considers cultural customs, specific market preferences, local practices, and so on. The result is a more globally accessible and credible business with improved customer satisfaction and sales.

Always localize content before expanding or entering a new market for the greatest effect.

5. Not Getting a Local Business Phone Number

How your teams will communicate locally is another factor often overlooked during a global expansion.

Using the same phone number you use in your home market is a bad idea for 2 major reasons:

1. Low response rates – Customers are less likely to answer unknown or unrecognizable phone numbers.
2. Expensive for callers – If overseas customers choose to contact your business, they will have to pay high international calling fees.

Enter: Local phone numbers.

Buy local phone numbers for each of your target markets. This not only increases connection rates but also charges local calling rates, which are relatively inexpensive.

And, if you sign up with a global telephony provider, you can forward your incoming calls to any location or device. This means your business doesn’t have to be physically present in these new markets to provide services to global customers.

Case Study: CROSSNET launches in new markets with local numbers from GCF

6. Overlooking the Value of Expert Advice

It goes without saying, there are many best practices for successful international expansion. With so many moving parts, it’s easy to make mistakes or miss something important, especially if you’re treading in unfamiliar territory.

This is why expert advice is extremely valuable for companies looking to grow. They can help you understand all business-related requirements, local legislation, and other important factors in your new market including:

• Standard payment methods
• Employment and payroll laws
• Tax regulations
• Foreign exchange rates
• Contract laws
• Corporate and securities regulations
• Transfer pricing, and so on.

While expert advice can be expensive, the results are well worth it. These experts help your business avoid risks and better understand the inner workings of the target market.

7. Only Offering Phone Services in Home Market Language

Since adding new target markets means gaining new customer bases, each comes with its own needs. Among the most critical of these needs is language. And while content localization is a good starting point, it’s not enough. To satisfy these new customers at a basic level, you must also offer phone services in their language.

Let’s say you own a US company. One of your new customers in South America is browsing your localized support page, trying to find a solution to their issue. But since their issue is complex, they have to contact your business directly for an answer. So, they call your business to find that your call system operates only in English. Somehow, they reach the support department to find only English-speaking support reps again.

What happens next?

This customer will most likely grow frustrated and hang up. They might even cancel their service if they can’t find a fix and sign up with one of your competitors that meets their language needs.

To avoid this, consider setting up a multilingual IVR that caters to all of your incoming callers’ language requirements. On top of that, it’s a good idea to hire reps that speak each of your target markets’ languages, particularly for sales, support, and other customer-facing roles. This way, customers always feel supported and taken care of when communicating with your business, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

Related: 7 Must-Have Global Expansion Tools for Communication

8. Disconnected Team Communication

Communication affects many aspects of your business, including efficiency, productivity, employee trust, innovation, collaboration, turnover rates, and so on. When miscommunication occurs, it directly affects these factors in addition to other business metrics.

In fact, results of a study showed that miscommunication costs companies with 100 employees an average of $420,000 annually. And, the chance of miscommunication only increases as you expand your business and add more offices and employees to the mix.

With a VoIP service, you can connect teams distributed across multiple locations through one business phone system. This service is accessible from any location or IP-enabled device, making it a great solution for remote teams, too. You can also scale your VoIP service, as needed. Simply, add or remove users as your business expands globally.

Additionally, cloud phone providers typically offer advanced features with their services that help boost team communication and collaboration, like free in-network calling. And it’s all easily manageable through an online portal.

So, you can centralize business communication, connect distributed teams, access advanced features, and save on traditional phone system costs – all through one solution.

Expand Globally with Global Call Forwarding

Now that you know the top mistakes businesses make when expanding globally and how to avoid them, you’re ready to expand!

Global Call Forwarding can help you transition into an international business. We offer reliable global voice services in 160+ countries, which covers over 90% of the global economy. You can get local, toll-free, and international numbers in each of your target countries to add global coverage to your phone system.

We also offer free in-network calling, centralized call control, multilingual IVR, and more to fit your global expansion needs.

To learn more about how we can help you establish a global presence, call us at +1 (561) 908-6171 or chat with us online!

The rise in modern technology usage and emerging markets has made Africa a prime location for international business.

So, what does that mean for companies wanting to invest in the continent? Whether you’re a multinational business or a foreign investor looking to tap into this growing economy, it is important to take a closer look at what the continent has to offer.

Why Africa is a Good Destination for Foreign Investment

According to the World Investment Report (2022), “FDI flows to Africa reached $83 billion, from $39 billion in 2020.” This upswing was welcomed as the continent worked hard to recover from COVID-related downfalls.

Local companies and global players are continuing to invest in the continent. And governments are expanding their foreign investment policies to encourage more investors, leading to a rebound in foreign direct investment (FDI).

One such initiative is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is the largest free trade area in the world, including 55 countries with a population of 1.3 billion and combined GDP of about $3.4 trillion.

AfCFTA creates jobs and incomes, attracts investments, and furthers the development of regional supply chains. With this in place, we can expect an increase in intra-African trade by 81% by 2035. Specifically, AfCFTA’s Sustainable Investment Protocol can lead to a rise in FDI flows – both into and within the continent.

Additionally, high commodity prices, reopening tourism, and dissolution of pandemic restrictions are a few other factors contributing to Africa’s positive economic outlook.

All of this means new sources of investment are becoming available, and emerging sectors are expanding.

Remittances into Africa are Growing

As global remittances are expected to reach $630 billion in 2022, remittance inflows into Africa will continue to grow. In fact, 2021 saw gains in Sub-Saharan Africa with 14.1% and the Middle East and North Africa with 7.6%. And the driving force is an increase in investment and access to credit.

“There are significant numbers of people from Africa that live and work in Europe and America and send money to family and friends. The funds are used for investments, medical expenses, school fees, and day-to-day expenses,” explains James Kimani, Workforce Manager, NatWest.

The top 3 destinations in Africa for remittances are Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.

In Africa, the labor supply is abundant, and the people are willing. These incoming remittances bring new economic opportunities such as the growth of small businesses and self-employment, and they help reduce poverty within the continent.

According to Kimani, “Technology has made it easier to send money. However, the main challenge as I see it is that the margins are very thin for [remittance] businesses. So, increasing volumes of transactions will make it a more viable service.”

What Makes Africa Popular

Unlike its reputation for being conflict-ridden and inundated by corruption, Africa offers countless opportunities for establishing profitable businesses. Often described as the fastest-growing continent, there are many reasons why local and global players continue to invest in Africa.

The continent boasts a large, young population and a steady rise in the middle class. It is also going through a telecommunications boom and technological revolution. This means that more and more people from the continent are online and reachable. And your business has access to an educated and skilled workforce.

In fact, keeping the growth of mobile connectivity in mind, experts at Deloitte are convinced that Africa’s telecommunications sector will attract more inbound investment and economic development.

On top of that, Africa has over 400+ companies with revenues of over $1 billion. And thanks to major multinational corporations investing in the continent’s natural resources, infrastructure, and more, Africa has a pretty sizable consumer market with over $1.4 trillion in consumer spending.

What Industries are Most Poised for Growth?

In 2022, African start-ups seem to be taking off, with more and more investors interested in and ready to support up-and-coming businesses. In fact, African start-ups attracted a record $5.2 billion in venture capital in 2021, which is more than the previous seven years combined.

Financial Technology (FinTech), particularly, has great growth potential, with new opportunities and start-ups leading the way. According to a Disrupt Africa report, investors in African tech start-ups more than doubled in 2021, an increase of 108.4%. This boom is corroborated by those in the African financial services and FinTech industries.

Munya Chiura, Head of Growth Rest of Africa, Flutterwave, suggests that FinTech has brought about “multiple opportunities to continue to drive financial inclusion.” Kimani seconds this opinion of FinTech and financial services thriving in Africa. Specifically, he explains that “Mobile Money is very big in Kenya,” referencing businesses like Safaricom, which provides the mobile wallet product, M-PESA.

African industries and emerging markets most poised for growth include:

• FinTech and Mobile Money
• Renewable Energy
• Technology
• Telecommunications

According to Chiura, “Other industries that are exciting [and poised for growth] are e-commerce, mobility services, agric-tech, and healthcare.”

Experts predict that North Africa and Francophone Africa have the potential for accelerated growth because they do not have as much venture capital funding as other regions of Africa.

Have a look at FT’s ranking for Africa’s fastest-growing companies in 2022.

But, There are Challenges in Doing Business in Africa

Despite its growth potential, there are a few things to keep in mind when doing business in the continent:

1. Skepticism of Foreign Investment

Africans tend to be wary of foreigners that want to invest and do business in the continent. This is often chalked up to historical, ideological, and political reasons. While changes in economic policy and growth in FDIs have welcomed foreign investment, there may still be a few indirect barriers preventing Africans from doing business with global parties.

So, as a newcomer, you’ll want to establish a local presence. You may even benefit from connecting and building relationships with locals on the ground.

2. Rate of Digital Adoption

Secondly, while new technologies are being developed and used, digital adoption is still relatively low. For instance, smartphone and 4G usage are not as high in Africa compared to the rest of the world. In fact, by the end of 2020, only 46% of Sub-Saharan Africa was subscribed to mobile services. And 4G adoption is expected to reach only 28% by 2025.

Because of this, not a lot of consumers even have access to WhatsApp, video conferencing, etc. And others might not know how to use such services, except for making a basic phone call.

3. Telecommunication Scene

Additionally, high tariffs still exist for African locals who want to call internationally. So, it may benefit you to have a local number in countries where you want to do business. This way, local customers and interested prospects can call your international business without paying high long-distance rates.

But, local and international toll-free numbers are difficult to come by for some hard-to-reach and rural areas. Unless telecom providers have connections with local, regional operators, they cannot guarantee connectivity to different parts of the African continent. This is true even of some major global telecom providers. So, it is always a good idea to double-check a provider’s coverage before signing up.

How Can African Call Forwarding Services Help?

To combat these challenges, you can work with an Africa call forwarding service like Global Call Forwarding. This way, you can get local phone numbers or international toll-free solutions to target different countries in Africa and then forward incoming calls to your business wherever it is located.

Our parent company, United World Telecom, has extensive experience navigating Africa’s complex telecommunications environment. This also means that you don’t have to spend time managing contracts with a bunch of different local vendors because we take care of that for you.

Since our early callback days, we’ve been providing global telephony solutions to businesses and consumers in the region. Find out how we can help you expand your business in Africa; call us today or chat with our experts online!