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Category: Business Insights

Insights and strategies for growing your business in international markets.

How to Add Global Coverage to Your Business Phone System

24th May 2025 blog, Business Phone Numbers, Integration
global coverage business phone system

Today’s most competitive businesses aren’t just thinking local — they’re building for global. From APAC to the Middle East and Africa, the opportunity to scale customer support and sales reach …Read More »

How to Manage Global Voice: 10 Tips

28th April 2025 blog, Business Insights, Cloud Telephony
Tips for managing a global voice network

Expanding your business globally is exciting, but staying connected across borders is an entirely different challenge. Managing voice communication across time zones, underdeveloped in-country telecom infrastructures, and complicated regional regulations …Read More »

Skype is Shutting Down: Here’s How to Port Your Skype Number

3rd March 2025 blog, Cloud Telephony
skype shutting down

Note (May 1st): We are no longer accepting Skype port-ins. Due to the May 5th cutoff date, porting requests will be rejected. Instead, clients can purchase a new phone number …Read More »

Benefits of Call Sentiment Analysis for Sales and Support Teams

25th February 2025 blog, Business Insights
The benefits of analyzing call sentiments

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 …Read More »

Understanding Why Your International Calls are Being Blocked

21st February 2025 blog
international calls being blocked

The rise of VoIP technology has improved global communication, offering businesses and consumers a flexible and cost-effective way to stay connected. However, as VoIP gained traction, it also opened the …Read More »

Navigating International Calling Challenges in the UAE

21st February 2025 blog
international-calling-callenges-in-uae

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is renowned as a global and regional business hub, attracting companies with its favorable time zone, strategic location, and competitive corporate tax advantages. Many businesses …Read More »

11 Global Expansion Best Practices to Enter New Markets

30th July 2020 blog, Business Insights

Is global expansion on your next business meeting agenda? Any business aiming for success will consider entering the international market at some point. Expanding beyond your immediate location can help increase sales and credibility. But how do you make such a big decision and ensure it doesn’t fail? Here are some best practices and tips when going global in 2025.

11 Global Expansion Best Practices to Enter New Markets

Considering global expansion for any business can seem like a daunting task. However, plenty of tools and resources are available to make this transition as smooth as possible. Here, we outline best practices to consider when expanding internationally. These practices are divided into different stages:

  • Planning
  • Presence
  • Follow-Through

Stage A: Planning

The first step to any business’s global expansion strategy is thorough planning. This includes choosing which countries to target and how to target them.

1. Which Markets to Target
Conduct market research and gather data and intelligence to help you determine which regions are prime for your business. Create new buyer personas and study different demographics. Research customer behavior, preferences, patterns, and local trends. Consider the demand for your product and the purchasing power of your buyer persona.

2. How to Target New Markets
You can start small by test-selling specific products or services in these markets to see how they respond. You may even consider using research and small business tools made available by the governments in those areas.

3. How to Offer Sales and Support in These Markets
Open lines of communication between your main office and the new areas you want to target. Standard options include contact forms, live chat on the website, social media accounts, and local phone numbers. This way, you can sell and provide follow-the-sun service to entities located in these new markets.

4. International Payment Methods
An essential aspect of global expansion is to make processes easy for customers and clients in different states and countries. One of these processes includes setting up international payment methods. You must research the local buyers’ preferred methods to decide which payment methods are helpful. Additionally, ensure that this payment method has a reputation for security and is credible.

Stage B: Presence

Once you’ve decided which markets to enter, the next step in global expansion is creating and maintaining a local presence in them.

5. Global Marketing with Partnerships
Start by establishing connections and partnerships with local experts and business contacts. A local partner with access to the right network of customers, employees, and contacts will prove beneficial. You can quickly enter the market, access the right audience, and create your local presence. You may also consider starting on existing online marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, etc. You can test the demand and make the necessary changes before selling with full force.

6. International SEO
Next, you want to optimize your online presence with international SEO strategies. International SEO is like geo-targeting, optimizing your website for different countries and languages. It helps search engines identify the countries you want to target. Then, it provides the tools to support your marketing efforts. For example, it may offer different languages you may use or show users local results before international results, etc.

7. Global Sales Development
Now, it’s time to start making calls. Once your partnerships are set up and your website optimized for different markets, the next step is to increase brand visibility and awareness in these local markets. To do so, you can use phone sales. A business phone service can support your sales development strategy by letting you call your local, long-distance, and international customers. Furthermore, you can use international SIP trunks to display a local phone number instead of one they don’t recognize. This way, you can establish connections virtually while taking your time to open a field office.

Stage C: Follow-Through

Once you’ve prepared your markets and established partnerships and communications, the next step in global expansion is to start making sales and offering customer support. There are several different ways to do this. The best way is to buy international virtual numbers and talk to your business contacts over the phone. Here are the most important tools to consider.

8. International Toll-Free Service
An international toll-free number is a toll-free number for different countries. In other words, each country has designated toll-free numbers that customers from within this country can call for free. Global Call Forwarding is the most trusted provider of international toll-free numbers. Your business can get international toll-free numbers for each country in which you want to do business.

9. 24/7 Customer Support
Another important global expansion best practice is to offer 24/7 customer support on different channels. This includes phone, email, live chat, SMS, support tickets, and more. You can offer after-hours service by developing an efficient automated self-service system that resolves common queries. Most commonly, businesses will facilitate global customer support using an ITFS number. Workers in remote locations and different time zones often handle customer support.

9. Regional Offices and Infrastructure
Ultimately, your business will need to open regional offices and colocation centers after reaching global revenue targets. Regional offices will host local staff in each region. In addition, your critical infrastructure will be hosted at colocation centers. You can find co-working spaces and regional data centers by quickly searching online.

10. Local Phone Numbers
Local numbers have specific area codes that distinguish them from other areas. Local calls are charged local rates instead of long-distance rates. This is why businesses choose to get a local business number so local customers can contact them without any hesitation. When driving international growth in 2025, convenience is more important than ever. Your business should aim to provide a convenient experience as part of your follow-through.

11. Universal Freephone Numbers
A UIFN is a single, universal toll-free number accessible from 60 countries. However, this list of countries is predetermined and cannot be altered. If most of the countries you want to do business with fall under this list, you search for a UIFN to streamline your inbound calls.

Start By Setting Up International Communications

We at Global Call Forwarding can set you up with local, international, and toll-free numbers to manage and unify your international communication. Start by signing up for our global inbound service or porting your existing number on our homepage. For more information, call us at 1 (888) 908 6171.

Virtual Team Communication: 10 Proven Tips for 2026

23rd July 2020 blog, Business Insights

Is your business considering moving to virtual offices? Then you need to be well-versed in virtual team communication tools and practices that will maintain productivity and efficiency.

Tips for Virtual Team Communication

When businesses allow for remote working, there’s always a certain level of nervousness attached to it. How will managers communicate with remote employees? How will different teams or offices communicate with each other? How do we track progress and productivity? Here are 10 proven tips to ease virtual team communication to ensure productivity.

1. Make Remote Working a Reality

In this day and age, a business that absolutely does not consider work-from-home as an option may run the risk of losing good employees. The most popular reason why business managers don’t want to consider remote working is because it’s hard to keep an eye on employees and maintain accountability. However, with the right work from home setup, you can establish and maintain communications while tracking the progress of remote teams.

When working remotely, many issues may pop up such as:

  • Lack of collaboration
  • Inability to contact employees
  • Urgent problem-solving needs, and so on

However, the right tools and platforms can help resolve these issues and create a more cohesive virtual office. Here are some of the tools available right now that can assist your team in virtual environments.

2. Invest in Reliable Technologies and Platforms

When working virtually and in different locations, what are the best ways to keep in touch and track your employees’ performance? The most popular answer: project management and cloud phone systems.

Project management systems can help track progress and milestones. On these platforms, teams can work together on projects and share them through the internet. As a manager, you can have access to your teams’ tasks and projects, and keep yourself up to date.

Get a business phone system that enables voice and video communication over the internet. Your entire team can make calls from their computers. This helps reduce costs and maintain connectivity. Communicate with employees as and when needed. Additionally, you can have calls routed to specific employees to ensure everyone is doing their job and no employee is sitting idle.

3. Choose the Right Virtual Team Communication Tools

Similar to the above point, depending on your business’ functions and needs, you will require appropriate virtual team communication tools. These include:

  • One platform for all communications (phone, email, chat, SMS, etc.)
  • Call forwarding and call transfer
  • Call recording software to record business calls
  • Audio and video conferencing
  • Project management systems
  • File storage and collaboration tools, and more

Find applications and software that work best for your teams. This may require some trial and error but getting the right tools can positively impact collaboration and productivity, even when working remotely.

4. Offer Different Mediums for Easy Communication

Don’t just stick to email or phone conversations for quick support. You may consider having a chat or SMS tool that can be accessed via their smartphone. You can also develop a system where employees who have queries or encounter issues may submit support tickets or “problem-forms” and receive the right solution via email. The trick is to offer different ways to stay connected.

5. Consider Time Zone Differences

Remote teams are not always located in the same city or country. And for this reason, all of your employees need to be aware of the different time zones involved. You may consider creating an online spreadsheet detailing contact and time zone information. This ensures no calls and meetings are conducted at inappropriate times. A time zone calculator may prove useful so users don’t have to spend time calculating the exact hour.

6. Create Guides, Knowledge Bases, and More

Another important aspect of virtual team communication is the ability to quickly access important or necessary information. One way to do so is by creating reliable communication channels (as mentioned above). However, another effective method is to create support guides and knowledge bases that can be accessed by relevant people. The point is to provide easy access to information so employees can do their jobs effectively. These guides can be stored on Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft’s OneDrive, or on your project management system’s storage feature.

7. Monitor Metrics and KPIs

Next, monitor important and relevant KPIs instead of constantly micromanaging and monitoring your employees. Focus on the results of their performance instead of how they are getting work done or how long they’ve been at their desk.

8. Make Goals and Proper Business Communication Behavior Clear

All your teams and employees need to be on the same page and know what the final goal is. The same goes for proper business communication. Define, explain, and practice. For instance, are emojis or GIFs allowed? How does voting take place? Does everyone need to respond or do only relevant people? How many times should employees check their messages or email, every 30 minutes or every hour? And so on.

9. Avoid Long and Unnecessary Video Calls

Video calls are necessary at times to get everybody on the same page to receive quick updates. However, it is easy to go off-track and end up on video calls for more time than needed. Therefore, plan to have video calls only when necessary and follow best practices. This will help in reducing the time spent on these calls and increasing productivity.

10. Check-in With Your Team Regularly

Finally, check in with your remote teams as often as possible but within reason. You may choose to do brief monthly meetings. However, it may help to check-in via email, a quick call, or chat every week to make remote employees feel valuable.

Need Help with Virtual Team Communication? Ask Us!

We offer tools that can help keep your business communication stay connected no matter where your employees or offices are located. Our virtual phone system can route calls as needed and it provides high-quality connection. To build your cloud phone system, call us at 1 (888) 908 6171 today!

5 Ways on How to Do a Winning Product Demo

30th June 2020 blog, Business Insights

A product demo goes a long way when trying to sell your business’ product or services. For some businesses, it can make or break the sale. And so, as a salesperson, you must do everything you can to make your product relevant to your prospect.

How to Do a Product Demo Successfully

A successful product demonstration includes describing the product well but also making it relevant and useful to the prospect. So, what do you need to keep in mind while preparing for a product demo? Here are some ways you can create a solid demo.

1. Study the Product Well

Nothing puts prospects off more than a salesperson who doesn’t know the product they are selling. To be able to sell during the product demo, you first need to know what the product is and how it can benefit your audience.

For instance, if you are selling a new version of a product or service, make sure you understand what comes with the new version before the demo. Pay attention to new features, technical details, and more. Essentially, be prepared for questions about the product or related processes.

2. Research Your Client

Every prospect is unique and has specific circumstances under which they are considering your product. Therefore, it is important that you are able to present your product or service as the ideal solution. To do that, you first need to know relevant information about your prospect. Do your research and study your client before the product demo.

Don’t just Google their name and skim their website. Understand their service, number of employees, size of the company, essential needs, and so on. Look through their LinkedIn page and social media accounts. Read their press releases, articles, interviews, and industry reports. You may even choose to see what their competitors are doing to see if you can help them achieve it.

There are plenty of helpful tools for salespeople to research potential customers.

3. Craft Your Offer, Rehearse, and Personalize

Once you have the right knowledge about the prospect, you can craft a personalized offer that is relevant to them. A successful sales demo not only demonstrates the product but highlights and identifies it as a solution to an existing problem. When creating your offer and product demo, consider these questions:

  • What are the prospect’s common challenges?
  • What are the main areas of concern in their industry?
  • Which features or sub-features of your product/service can solve their problem?
  • Are all features applicable and relevant? Which features should I pay more attention to?
  • What is the best way to describe the features? Can I use examples that are similar to the prospect’s situation?

4. Have a Plan (and a Plan B)

Plan out exactly how you want this product demonstration to go. Write down each point to cover. Map out the sequence of topics you want to bring up. Highlight portions you want to repeat or reinforce. Revisit and rehearse the plan a few times until you feel comfortable.

Create a plan B in case things don’t pan out the way you want them to. For instance, your internet or phone connection may not be good or your prospect may have to cancel. What can you do to continue this conversation? Have backup software or communication tools ready to go. In case the product demo gets rescheduled, have other activities that you can pour your energy into.

5. Make the Call Confidently

Finally, once you are ready to make your call, make sure that:

  • Your internet and VoIP phone service are strong.
  • Make sure your communication tool is working well.
  • Your microphone (and camera, if applicable) is on and works.
  • The software for the product demo is ready.
  • Your plan A and B are both readily available.
  • Keep relevant websites and tabs open.
  • Keep your CRM or notebook ready to take notes.

All Set to Create the Ultimate Demo

As a successful salesperson, it is your job to do the extra work that will give you better chances of making a sale. With all of this in place, you can confidently make the call and focus on giving an excellent product demo!

6 Ways to Get People to Buy Your Product

25th June 2020 blog, Business Insights

Most sales reps constantly contemplate: how can you get people to buy your product? What can you do to quickly close a deal that you have been working on for weeks? How do you convince prospects who are on the fence to make a purchase? What efforts can you make to ensure sales go smoothly?

How to Get People to Buy Your Product

Even though it’s hard to close certain deals, part of being a successful sales rep means not giving up. So, what can you do to get people to buy your product? Here is a look at the most common hurdles to closing sales and how you can communicate clearly to ensure your products get noticed and ultimately, purchased.

1. Avoid Using Heavy Jargon

Overly technical language can easily put a customer off. Instead of using jargon or commonly used industry cliches, make it easy for your clients to understand what your product consists of, what the benefits are, and how they can apply it to their needs.

2. Focus on the Benefits of Your Product or Service

Most agents or reps tend to list down all the features that come along with a product or service. However, while clients are interested in what a product does, they also want to know what it means for them specifically. Understand their needs and business so you can demo your product as a solution that helps them.

3. Keep Them Engaged with Email Marketing

Use email marketing to educate and inform customers, not just to remind them of your business. Why are prospects hesitating from making purchases? Can you offer more information about the product or service your company provides? Use email to continue the conversation in a productive, informative way.

4. Emphasize How Your Brand is Unique and Different

Get a prospect to pay attention to your specific product and brand by demonstrating how it is unique and different from others offering similar or the same product. Generic benefits and features may convince a client to purchase, but it does not guarantee that they will buy it from you. So show them how your brand is separate from the others, offers better features or functions, and why it’s important in the industry.

For example, our sales reps spend a majority of their time explaining how our international toll-free numbers are quite different from services offered by other providers. A focus on differentiation will surely help convince more people to buy your products.

5. Use Testimonials and Case Studies to Demonstrate Success

Include reviews, testimonials, and case studies on your website and social media platforms. You should constantly be asking your best customers for testimonials. Highlight how customers have already used the product so new customers can visualize it and see how it works in action. Include statistics and hard data to support your claims.

6. Create a Sense of Urgency for Difficult Customers

Sales reps have to deal with customers who do not get off the fence. Even though they are solid and promising leads, they need ongoing convincing. So how can you increase the urgency without using high-pressure tactics? Short-term offers or deals with an expiration date can help close these deals while triggering them with immediacy.

Close the Deal!

Now that you know a variety of inside sales tactics to get people to buy your product, start implementing these methods into your strategy to improve your sales record. Be patient and find maneuvers that will help you enhance your efforts; using the right tools and strategy, you will be converting sales successfully.

5 Ways to Earn Trust in the Financial Services Industry

11th June 2020 blog, Business Insights

Why is it important for a finance company to earn its customers’ trust? So that they see the value in your company and return. Additionally, returning customers hold the ability to bring new customers to your company. So, what can you do to earn trust for your finance company?

Finance Companies: Top Ways to Earn Trust

There are a few different ways of earning customer trust and respect. These range from improving the way your business and its employees interact with clients to using technology and marketing to your benefit. Here we look at 5 practical ways to earn trust in the financial services industry.

1. Value and Focus on Customer Interaction

This should come as a given. The best way to retain customers and earn their trust is by giving them a reason to trust your company and its services. Care for your clients. Focus on ways to improve client relations and increase positive experiences. Don’t let technology replace human interaction. At the end of the day, customers trust humans more than automated services. Make sure that clients and prospects reaching out through email and phone receive the same (or similar) treatment as they would in a face-to-face meeting.

2. Improve Transparency and Credibility

The best way to earn trust with current customers is by being forthright and transparent with them. Gaining new customers is more expensive than retaining existing ones. And therefore, your finance company should focus on customer satisfaction and retention. In other words, what can you do to provide honest, ethical, and good customer support?

Avoid hidden agendas and surprises in payments and billings. Run through your terms and conditions with them in detail. Explain early termination fees and other fees they should be aware of. Help them understand ways they can avoid damages and unnecessary payments.

By doing so, you will be creating a reputation for your company as one that provides honest work and actually cares for their customers’ concerns and benefits. By informing your customers and clients, the more they understand and value your work, and the more they trust your services. This further helps build credibility and trust.

As your financial services firm builds credibility with customers, it’s important to be in compliance with local and international regulations. Recent laws like MiFID II require all VoIP calls to be recorded. Penalization is among the worst things that could happen to a new financial services business.

3. Take Advantage of Digital Advancements

Any finance company that is not using digital and technological advancements is behind in the game. These advancements can help make processes easier and bring your services to your customers’ fingertips. For example, Positivly combines the principles of positive psychology with digital advancements in modern wealth management to create a stronger connection and build trust.

There are many other ways that financial services companies can incorporate digital advancements to build trust. Here are a few:

  • Optimize your website for smartphones
  • Allow for better digital payment methods: mobile payments or payments, renewals, and account verification through an automated IVR system
  • Create an easy-to-navigate app with helpful and informative resources
  • Use a PSP to accurately and securely accept payments
  • Use the latest cybersecurity to protect your clients and their information from fraud

4. Manage Reputation and Demonstrate Expertise Through Marketing Resources

Market creatively and for the benefit of your target audience. Your marketing strategies can determine how the public views your finance company and its reputation and credibility. Therefore, this is a good way to demonstrate your expertise and good customer service practices.

Produce informative and educational content on your website and optimize it for search engine results. Use social media to highlight important financial advice and information and connect with younger audiences. Generate newsletters with current news and promotions rewarding existing customers. Include reviews and testimonials.

Showing how your company conducts its business and that your employees are experienced and know what they are doing can help earn trust. Use marketing strategies to manage your reputation and improve the way customers view your services

5. Make Your Business Accessible

Lastly, being a financial services company, your company must remain accessible. A well-functioning and reliable business phone service can help you stay connected. Open multichannel communication such as phone, email, live chat, social media, and SMS (instant messaging).

You may even consider getting a toll free number so that prospects and customers can call your office for free. Additionally, if you get virtual business numbers with call forwarding, then you can have calls forwarded to different offices or lines.

Global Call Forwarding can help you set up a reliable business phone system with premium communication features that help in improving customer relations. To learn more, call us at 1 (888) 908 6171.

What is Call Tracking?

8th April 2020 blog, Business Insights, Call Management

Want to get insights into customer preferences and behaviors? Call tracking can help you determine the best ways to reach your target audience and sell to them. Learn how virtual numbers can improve your call tracking process.

Call Tracking: The Basics

Call tracking is the process to identify where and how customers and prospects are interacting with your business and brand. As such, it helps you understand how your marketing efforts are performing, which can lead to more accurate forecasting. Marketing and sales teams use call tracking to determine the success of promotional campaigns and return on investment (ROI). This data and information can then help your teams strategize how to proceed with their efforts, what areas need improvement, and how.

Virtual Phone Numbers with Call Analytics

You can track incoming calls in different ways, either manually or with tracking software. The point is to find a process that suits your budget and is easy for your employees to use. You can choose to track calls manually where your reps conduct quick surveys at the end of the call. A question such as “How did you find our service?” may be enough. Or, you can use call tracking software or a tool that provides more data without taking time away from employees.

Tracking calls with a virtual phone number is one of the most inexpensive ways to get this data. A virtual phone service provider like Global Call Forwarding offers multiple virtual phone number types such as toll free, international, and local numbers. Additionally, they offer call log and activity reports that record the number of calls being made and how each call is faring.

Virtual numbers are cheaper than traditional phone lines because they route calls over the internet. Therefore, you can make and answer calls from anywhere, locally and internationally, and through any device. All you pay for is the virtual service provider’s subscription fee.

Location-Focused Tracking

You can initiate call tracking with virtual numbers by purchasing multiple numbers based on your needs and spreading them across different marketing and advertising platforms. For example, say you want to target different cities within the country or want to get the right marketing data on how different states are responding to your product. You can get local numbers for the cities you want to study and advertise those numbers in those specific areas. Then, when calls come in, you can calculate which cities your product is doing well in and which need help.

Campaign-Focused Tracking

Additionally, you could also spread virtual numbers or a range of consecutive phone numbers across different advertising platforms. You can have a different number for each marketing campaign. For example, use a toll free number for posts on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc., You can also have local numbers in local directories, print media, etc. And you can use a different one along with your emails. This way, when calls come in, you will know where your callers are finding your product and interacting with it. Then, you can target those areas further or identify areas that need improvement and work on those.

Who Should Use This Service?

Companies in practically any industry — marketing, e-commerce, travel, etc. — can use call tracking to understand where their customers come from. Any business focusing on marketing efforts and testing out various campaigns can track calls to study where they are getting their leads from. Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a large established one with connections spread across the world, tracking your calls will give you insights into your audience’s preferences and behaviors.

Understand Your Customers Better

Call tracking helps you understand your target audience’s preferences and behaviors better. You will know where they look for products like yours, what is the best way to appeal to them and how to connect with them.

For more information on how virtual numbers can help your marketing efforts, call us at 1 (888) 908 6171.

How to Create the Perfect IVR System for Your Medical Answering Service

1st April 2020 blog, Business Insights, Call Management, Cloud Telephony

As a business owner, it is your job to provide good and quality customer service to callers investing in your business. Whether it is hiring highly skilled agents or using advanced communication tools, you need to take the right steps to present your business as professional and valuable. Getting an IVR system for your medical answering service is one such step in the right direction.

IVR System: A Business Phone Solution

An Interactive Voice Response or IVR system is an automated voice response that answers calls before an agent connects. The system interacts with the caller, identifies the purpose of the call, and assists them by redirecting them to the appropriate department or by presenting more menu options. The IVR system uses pre-recorded messages and predetermined rules to do so.

Call centers and answering services generally have a large incoming call volume. Using an IVR system can help them organize and distribute calls so that customers are better served. This system can complete simple tasks and free up agents to focus on more complex duties. In some advanced cases, the caller may not even need to speak with an agent to get their query resolved.

IVR is one of the premium business phone solutions available to businesses in different industries. Virtual phone service providers, like Global Call Forwarding, offer a customizable IVR system along with their phone service plans. You can use this feature alongside call forwarding, call recording, extensions, etc.

Designing the IVR System

So, what is the best way to set up an IVR system for your medical answering service? Designing this system depends on what you want your callers to be able to do when they call your business. Before you create the system, map out the different options that callers will have and what actions you want them to complete without interacting with an agent. Consider these questions:

  • What departments will callers have access to?
  • How many levels do you want your IVR to have?
  • What actions can callers complete through automation?
  • Why should the caller be directed to an agent?
  • Would you like to distribute calls based on geographic location or language preferences?

If you have multiple office locations or want to cater to different language preferences, you can start by distributing calls based on geographic location and language. Then, you can move on to sort out new patients and existing patients:

  • If you are a new patient, press 1.
  • If you are a recurring patient, press 2.

The next level can then provide more specific options:

  • To make an appointment, press 1.
  • To request a prescription refill, press 2.
  • For our office hours, press 3.
  • To review our directory, press 4.
  • For queries regarding insurance, press 5.
  • For customer service, press 6.

Based on caller input, you can either have pre-recorded messages that provide the necessary information or direct calls to specific individuals specialized in providing the required help.

For medical answering services, it’s equally important that agents know why a call was routed to them. Features like Call Whisper can privately alert staff whether a call is for appointments, prescription refills, or a specific clinic—before they answer.

Why Does Your Medical Answering Service Need an IVR System?

Medical businesses use IVR for a variety of reasons, whether they are clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, clinical research labs, etc. It can be used to collect or provide information, process renewals and payments, and more. Your medical answering service can use such automation to:

  • Schedule appointments
  • Collect new patient information
  • Provide drug information
  • Offer company updates
  • Process payments
  • Record prescription refill requests
  • Perform basic clinical trial screenings
  • Register complaints and issues
  • Provide recall information
  • Collect feedback, and more.

Medical answering services can use IVR Scheduling to route calls differently based on office hours. For example, appointment scheduling during business hours and urgent calls routed to on-call staff after hours—ensuring patients always receive the right level of care.

Organize, Manage, Serve

Global Call Forwarding offers IVR with every one of our plans. And this is because we know how essential such a system can be for the efficient running of a business. Our IVR system is customizable and can help you organize your medical answering service’s communications better. Sign up for a new business number, or port your existing number, and take advantage of the many virtual communications tools and services available. Call us at 1 (888) 908 6171 for more information.

1800 Numbers for Hotels, Resorts, and Timeshare Properties

1st April 2020 blog, Business Insights

More and more businesses in the travel industry are using 1800 numbers as their contact numbers to offer callers a free way to call. Learn how getting a 1800 number can boost your company’s incoming call rate and help customers build trust in it.

Toll Free Numbers for the Travel and Tourism Industry

First, what are 1800 numbers? These numbers are toll free numbers provided by cloud-based phone service providers. They are a preferred communication solution because instead of charging callers, calls are charged to the business using the number. So, 1800 numbers or toll free numbers for travel agencies ensure that they remain accessible to customers traveling to or using their service. With 1800 numbers, you can:

  • Provide uninterrupted customer service and care
  • Encourage customers to call whenever they need
  • Connect with travelers from different parts of the world
  • Increase and diversify your customer base

1800 Numbers: Why They Work?

When you purchase 1800 numbers from a cloud-based phone service provider like Global Call Forwarding, you have access to toll free numbers for different countries across the globe, no matter where your hotel, resort, or timeshare is physically located. This means that you can get 1800 numbers for countries that you want to target or where you get more of your customers from. This gives travelers in these areas a free and reliable way to connect with your business. Furthermore, they can contact you even as they travel to different locations, in case there is an issue.

For instance, you can purchase 1800 numbers for the United States, Canada, Australia, or Mexico, to name a few locations. Now, travelers contacting your hotel, resort, or timeshare from these countries don’t have to think twice to call you. This makes it more likely that they will contact your business over your competitors. And, it increases your chances of converting those calls into sales.

1800 Numbers: Making International Communication Easy

The reason why travel and hospitality companies are getting 1800 numbers is because these numbers encourage people to call. Additionally, most individuals associate such toll free numbers with large and established companies, placing your business among their ranks.

Additionally, you can provide 24/7 service by having inbound calls routed to different numbers and lines during specific times of the day or based on location. This is especially helpful for travel companies that have offices in multiple locations. During your office’s off-hours, forward incoming calls to your office in a different time zone. Or, direct calls to the nearest location based on where the call is coming from. Organizing and distributing calls this way can ensure callers get the assistance and care they need in a language and culture they are familiar with.

Using Toll Free Numbers for Marketing Purposes

Most businesses are unaware of the fact that 1800 numbers can boost their marketing efforts and provide valuable insights. When you purchase multiple numbers for different locations, you can track incoming calls to understand which markets are more successful than others. In fact, you can even run different marketing campaigns and use call tracking to determine which campaign has more ROI.

Should Your Business Get 1800 Numbers

Yes, travel and hospitality businesses like hotels, resorts, and timeshares often deal with travelers from different parts of the world. It is, therefore, essential to build convenient communication channels so that these travelers can count on your business to make their experience worthwhile. Want to know more about 1800 numbers? Call us at 1 (561) 908-6171

Push Your IT Business Towards Success with Good Customer Relations

30th March 2020 blog, Business Insights

The most important part of running a business is maintaining good customer relations. Whether this relates to selling new products or offering troubleshooting services, your IT business must focus on how it interacts with its customers so that you can serve them better. This, in turn, will lead to greater customer satisfaction and retention.

Build Stronger Customer Relations

What are some ways you can create better customer relations and have them return for more?
Developing a useful and high-quality product and marketing it well must be the first step. It is, therefore, necessary to present your product as a solution or one that your target audience needs. Think from your customers’ perspective, what can you do to draw them closer to your service?

1. Make it Easier for Customers to Contact You

Not all customers are going to interact with your business in-person. They may come across your brand or product over the internet or through ads. But how do you convert the interest to sales? Give them a reason to call you. Most customers know what they are looking for and if your business provides that, they will make a purchase. But there are individuals who need more information. And so, calling your company with queries can ensure they understand your product and follow through to making the purchase.

Toll free numbers for IT companies provide a free way for interested individuals to call your employees. Whether it is a new customer or a returning one, being able to reach your company easily lets them know that you care about their business. Furthermore, high first call resolution rates, where callers are able to resolve issues on the first call, leads to higher customer satisfaction rates. And an IVR system for IT companies can help achieve this by directing callers to the right department. And in some cases, you can even set up the IVR to assist callers in completing tasks without the help of an agent or rep.

2. Track Quality Assurance

Besides making your business available and accessible, you want to ensure that employees are doing their best when interacting with customers. Here’s where quality assurance becomes significant. Do you need employees to be informative and educational? Should they follow a certain script or can they customize interactions based on who they speak with? Are they following up with callers, as promised?

Monitor quality assurance with call recording for IT companies. Use recordings to study employee interaction and customer behavior. Which tactics are more successful than others? Additionally, you can reward good customer service, further incentivizing employees to do well. You can also use recordings as training material to teach new employees what they should and should not do. Better training leads to better customer service which vastly improves customer relations.

Connect with New Customers

Another way to improve customer relations is to use outbound calling for IT companies and be in touch with potential and existing customers. You can use this service to call local and international audiences for a reasonable price and by evading high long-distance fees. With outbound calling, you can:

  • Welcome new customers
  • Help new customers with setting up products and services
  • Generate new leads
  • Collect feedback
  • Conduct market research
  • Follow up with clients
  • Offer company updates or information about new products
  • Reward customer success efforts, and more

Global Call Forwarding’s Outbound Calling service gives you the opportunity to connect with potential customers across the world. If you purchase multiple local and toll free numbers, you can override the caller ID to display specific numbers when calling certain areas or regions. For example, you can display a Dallas local number or a Mauritius toll free number when you call those regions.

Customer Satisfaction = Better Customer Relations = Closer to Success

Connect with target individuals and serve them better with these communication tools. Improve customer relations and watch your sales increase. For more information on how Global Call Forwarding’s services can help, call us at 1 (888) 908 6171.