Your browser does not support JavaScript!

Tag: local phone numbers

5 Ways a Local Phone Number Can Increase Business Visibility

Posted on by Luke Genoyer

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#347696228 ID#27446420

Local phone numbers are growing increasingly popular for their ability to help businesses expand without tremendously increasing expenses. Here are 5 ways you can use a local phone number to increase business visibility and awareness.

How to Improve Business Visibility Locally?

Local phone numbers or local access numbers are telephone numbers assigned to specific areas or regions. These numbers come with designated area codes that separate cities, states, or areas from other locations. For example, in the United States, almost every state and city has at least one area code. In Florida, some area codes include the Orlando 407 area code, Miami 786 area code, Jacksonville 904 area code, etc.

So, what are the benefits of using local numbers? Local phone numbers can increase your business visibility in the following ways.

1. Create a Local Presence in Target Markets

The main reason businesses choose to get local numbers for different locations (nationally and internationally) is because it allows them to connect with customers from those areas by creating a local presence. And so, if you have a list of countries to expand your business to, local numbers can create communication channels between your business and those markets.

With an outbound calling service, you can display a custom caller ID instead of unknown and unrecognizable numbers. Since recipients receive the call from a “local number,” they are more likely to answer the call. A survey by Software Advice concluded that people are four times more likely to answer calls from local numbers than area codes they do not recognize. More specifically, 27.5% said they would answer an unknown number with a local area code while 7% would answer an unknown caller with a recognizable toll free area code.

This is because local calls incur local calling charges and make the business or caller seem local instead of long-distance or international.

2. Offer Local Customers a Convenient Way to Connect Your Business

Besides giving customers a reason to answer your calls, you will also be giving customers a reason to call you back. Customers are more likely to return calls of numbers with area codes they recognize. This is because a local call may be someone they know, a business they have done business with, or another familiar party trying to get in touch. And so, by getting a local phone number, your business makes it easier for new and returning clients to stay in communication.

3. Gain Local Customers in Different Regions

Virtual phone number providers offer various local and toll free numbers from countries across the globe. United World Telecom, for example, can help you get a local or toll free number in more than 160 countries across the world. And so, you can enter your market in various geographical locations and global markets. All without relocating or opening new field offices. This makes local phone numbers a cost-effective expansion tool.

4. Advertise Locally

By entering your business in various local markets and creating a local presence, you can start advertising your services locally. For instance, you can use location-marketing to target customers in these areas. Furthermore, you can advertise on billboards, local directories, local exhibitions, conferences, and more. And you can promote your local number on your website, social media accounts, etc. This increases the chances of local prospects seeing and learning about your business.

5. Provide Customer Service that is Accessible

Finally, you can offer customer service and sales in multiple locations throughout the world. Doing so makes your business reachable and accessible from anywhere in the world. This is a key component to building a business that is trustworthy and credible.

Which Local Markets Do You Want to Target?

Local phone numbers can help you not only expand communications to different cities, states, and countries, but also increase visibility and credibility. A business that is accessible and easy to call is more trustworthy than one that is hard to get a hold of. Improve your professional reputation and watch your sales increase. Get a local phone number today!

Guide to Local Phone Numbers

Posted on by Luke Genoyer

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#12741170 #27446420

As a business, you want to remain reachable and accessible at all times. Customers need to know you are close by and can be contacted easily. And one way to achieve such a local presence in various areas is through virtual local phone numbers.

What are Local Phone Numbers?

Local numbers are virtual phone numbers attached or assigned to specific areas or regions. They have area codes to indicate which city, state, or region is being called. For example, the United States has area codes for almost every state and city across the country. Some states or cities may even have multiple area codes.

Calls made to local numbers are charged local calling rates as opposed to long-distance rates. For this reason, local phone numbers make for a good regional contact number. With multiple local numbers, you can establish a virtual presence in different areas and offer customer service to customers residing in these areas. Interested individuals can contact you without worrying about high calling charges. And the best part, you do not need to move or relocate to use these numbers.

Benefits of Getting Local Business Numbers

Local business numbers from a virtual phone service provider like United World Telecom come with various advantages and perks such as enabling you to:

  • Create a local presence in multiple countries, states, and cities across the world.
  • Choose local numbers from more than 160 countries world over.
  • Encourage interested prospects to contact your business from wherever they are located.
  • Forward incoming calls to any number or line you want.
  • Display a custom local caller ID when contacting clients in different regions or states.
  • Add DID numbers for each department, team, employee, branch, etc.
  • Expand globally without needing to relocate or open physical offices.

Additionally, you can make use of virtual communication features and tools that increase productivity and efficiency such as:

  • Call forwarding
  • Call recording
  • Interactive voice response system
  • Extensions or DID numbers for different departments
  • Outbound calling with customizable caller ID
  • SMS forwarding, and more

Local vs Toll Free Numbers

When choosing a business number, most choose a local or toll free number. How do you decide which is better for your business? You can get bulk numbers for different parts of the country. If you are trying to create a stable and reliable local presence or seem closer to your customers, then local numbers are the way to go. Toll free numbers provide a free calling option but they do make your company seem more distant compared to local numbers.

How to Get a Local Number?

Before you purchase local phone numbers, you first need to decide which areas or regions you want to target or expand services. Once you decide that, find a provider that offers you the coverage and numbers you need.

You can buy a local number from United World Telecom by simply signing up on our homepage. We offer virtual phone numbers for over 160 countries across the globe. Choose the country and area code you want, add premium services such as call recording and outbound calling, and complete your purchase.

Now prospects can connect with your business through local calls. And when you place calls, you can choose which caller ID to display.

Ready to Purchase a New Business Number?

We at United World Telecom can help you expand and cover the areas and markets most useful for your company. Sign up for local numbers on our homepage or call us at 1 (877) 898 8646 to learn more!

Local Numbers vs Toll Free Numbers: Which Does Your Business Need?

Posted on by Miguel Isabal

Source: DepositPhotos.com - Lic#86973682 #27446420

A company’s business phone number is an important element of running a business. This is usually the first mode of contact between a customer or prospect and the company. Therefore, it is in your best interest to make it easy and convenient for them to reach your customer service or sales teams. When choosing a new business number, the most common choices are local numbers or toll free numbers. Here, we will help you decide which is better for your specific needs.

Local Phone Numbers vs. Toll Free Numbers

Virtual phone service providers like United World Telecom offer a variety of telephone numbers to choose from. We offer toll free, international, local, vanity, and universal toll free numbers. Each of these number types has a distinct use and purpose. But which type of business number is more suited for your company depends on what you are trying to achieve with this number. Read on for the differences and how they can benefit your business.

What is a Local Number?

Local numbers are phone numbers assigned to specific areas such as a state, city, or region. These numbers are unique to these areas and have area codes to distinguish them. For example, one New Jersey area code is 201, Orlando in Florida is 407, and so on. Individuals calling these numbers pay local calling charges as issued by their providers.

Having a local number as your contact number makes your company accessible in a different location. For example, even if your business is based in Seattle, you could get a Texas virtual local number and provide an inexpensive way for individuals in Texas to call you. Virtual local numbers make it possible for your business to be virtually present in multiple locations without having to relocate. This way, you can provide customer service and support to more customers beyond your immediate location.

What are Toll Free Numbers?

Toll free numbers are not assigned to specific local areas such as cities or states. And so, receivers are not aware of the exact location of the business they are calling. However, the reason why these numbers are so popular is that they are free to call. Instead of charging the caller, toll free calls are charged to the receiver (the business).

These numbers have a distinct three-digit code at the beginning to separate them from other phone numbers. For example, the US has 800, 888, 877, and so on, while the UK has 0800 and 0808. Medium-sized businesses and large corporations generally have a toll free number to encourage customers to call by providing them a free calling method.

In fact, many companies get international toll free numbers (ITFN) for different countries where they want to provide customer service. Individuals from these locations will be able to call your company for free. And incoming calls are routed through an international call forwarding service to any number of your choice. Your business will appear as closer in proximity than it actually is.

Choosing Between Local Numbers and Toll Free Numbers

Local numbers will help you establish and maintain a local presence in multiple locations. Local numbers can receive calls from outside their origination country and some mobile networks. However, callers will be charged a local calling fee, as determined by their provider. On the other hand, toll free numbers create a free way for interested individuals to connect with your business. Unfortunately, toll free numbers cannot be reached from outside of their origination country.

However, with both local and toll free numbers, your business can:

  • Forward incoming calls to numbers or lines of your choice
  • Expand your business internationally
  • Extend customer service and support to customers across the globe
  • Use advanced virtual calling features such as call recording, SMS forwarding, and more

So the question remains, what do you want to achieve with your business phone number? Consider these questions:

  1. Do you want to set up multiple “virtual offices” in various locations?
  2. Are you a local, national, or international company? In other words, do you want to cater to all states and regions within one country or expand services to other countries?

Toll free numbers are more suitable for medium-large sized businesses while local numbers can help start-ups and small business scale as needed. You may even consider experimenting with both by purchasing a few of each and studying the results.

Get Local and Toll Free Numbers from United World Telecom

Get a local phone number for any region or state you want to target by signing up on our homepage. If toll free numbers seem a more suitable option, you can purchase one through our homepage by selecting the country and prefix you want.

Virtual Phone Numbers for Environmental Groups and Organizations

Posted on by Magaly Fuentes

Source: Stockphoto.com O#100015534987 - ID#100067081677

Any type of organization can benefit from the use of virtual phone numbers. Cost savings are important to all types of organizations, no matter the size or sector. However, a smaller organization may initially be drawn to the significant cost-savings benefit at first glance.

Virtual Phone Numbers Are an Environmental-Friendly Approach

The fact that there is no need for any bulky hardware may also be an immediate draw for environmental groups and organizations that promote cutting back on the use of plastics, metals, and other materials used in creating hardware systems. These are just two of many benefits when it comes to the use of virtual phone numbers for environmental groups and organizations.

Virtual Numbers Are the Perfect Option for Groups & Organizations

Virtual phone numbers are like any other phone number, except they are not tied down to any specific phone and location. When someone calls a virtual phone number, the owner of the virtual phone number may have the calls going to a landline or a cell phone of their choosing. Many different features can be activated to work with virtual phone numbers for environmental groups and organizations. Calls may be answered with a pre-recorded greeting. Calls can be forwarded to an extension within the organization. Time of day routing can also be used so calls are forwarded to different call centers depending on the time of day when they are received. This ensures that calls are not missed and the organization can essentially be operational 24 hours a day.

Virtual Numbers Are a Flexible Option for All Businesses

Virtual phone numbers can grow along with the organization. While the organization may not need extensions at first, extensions can be added later as more staff gets hired. This helps manage call volume when call routing to different staff members becomes necessary for efficiency and better service.

Environmental Groups using Virtual Phone Numbers
Source: Stockphoto.com O#100121057898 – ID#100067081677

Choose Local to Connect with Communities

Choosing a local phone number may help to create trust and credibility for a smaller, locally run organization while a toll free or vanity phone number may help an organization more quickly establish a national or international image. These capabilities help to strengthen a brand. Using virtual phone numbers allows the organization to be based in one state, yet have local phone numbers for many areas within the United States or even abroad. The ability to do this allows for the organization to reach these markets without incurring high financial costs in travel, relocation, training and more that is required to open different physical locations. That alone is a huge benefit to any organization that aims to expand without necessarily having the budget for expensive expansion.

Virtual Numbers Reduce Costs

The organization is also able to accept incoming calls without having the caller incur long-distance fees if the phone number is local or toll free. Calls can be routed and rerouted to a number of call centers in different locations and this helps to minimize the risk of missing any important calls. Another benefit is that using virtual phone numbers requires minimum set-up and training to get started. Using virtual phone numbers can be a significant step in scaling efforts and growth operation.

Numbers Can be Accentuated with Additional Features

Added features, such as call recording can prove to be extremely helpful in recording interactions with callers to use for training purposes or for accountability and tracking purposes. Accountability is becoming a more common standard used by organizations of all sizes to ensure best practices are being put to work and only improved upon as time goes on.

Another feature that can be added is extensions that can automatically forward calls to a department or specific staff member within an organization. SMS forwarding, sequential forwarding, simultaneous ringing, fax to email, local ring-back tones, voicemail to email, and failover forwarding are additional features that can boost the effectiveness of virtual phone numbers.

United World Telecom Has All of Your Virtual Number Needs Covered

United World Telecom also offers rollover minutes, so if all minutes are not used in a month, they are not lost and will automatically rollover to the next month.

Despite the advances in modern communication methods, the ability to be able to speak to a live person is still highly regarded. If someone is setting up an organization and wishes to be available to whoever they are working within the community or worldwide, using virtual phone numbers for environmental groups and organizations is a low-cost alternative to setting up brick and mortar locations while allowing the organization to easily access different markets. Setup with United World Telecom is quick and easy, enabling organizations to get started quickly and take advantage of all of the benefits immediately.