This guide talks about phone number regulatory compliance with Global Call Forwarding.
Phone Number Regulatory Compliance: An Overview
Global Call Forwarding provides virtual phone numbers in more than 150 countries. Some of these phone numbers have compliance requirements enforced by each country’s regional or local telecom regulatory body.
In many countries, phone numbers are considered scarce national resources, often considered the property of the government. So, governments need to identify the end-user of a phone number.
Usage of a virtual phone number is dependent upon an approval process in which customers must provide information and documentation to the regulatory body for a review.
Both Global Call Forwarding and our customers must adhere to local phone number regulations.
What Documentation is Required?
Although phone number regulatory compliance might sound like a complicated process, we’re here to help.
We want to assist business customers in easily obtaining international phone numbers for their legitimate operations while minimizing the risk of service interruptions.
The documentation required for regulatory compliance depends on several factors:
- Country of the phone number
- Phone number type: local or toll-free
Additional documentation sometimes required consists of the following:
- Business registration
- National identification, like a passport or driver’s license
- Proof of address, like a utility bill
- Address matching the city or country of the phone number (in some cases)
- A declared use case for the number.
So, we might request identity documentation and proof of address. These documents get submitted to carriers or local enforcement agencies. To avoid escalations, we urge prospective customers to provide the required information for each country.
Once reviewed and approved, you can use your number for international voice services.
Phone Number Regulatory Compliance Review Process
Some orders are subject to a compliance review process. This serves to ensure that your virtual phone numbers comply with local regulatory requirements. Global Call Forwarding handles most of the review process on your behalf so that you can focus on your business.
Here are the steps to ensure your phone numbers are in compliance with local regulatory requirements:
- Search for a number through our vast inventory and order online.
- Our provisioning team will contact you and request the required documents.
- Submit the documents to us.
- Allow Global Call Forwarding and carriers to review the documents.
- Start using your new phone number.
It’s a really simple process compared to other carriers.
If you have questions throughout the phone number compliance process, just reach out to someone from our team 24/7.
What Happens If My Phone Numbers Aren’t Compliant
The world of telecommunications is burdened with fraudulent and bad actors. We do our best to mitigate fraud and only provide numbers for legitimate use cases. To minimize risks, we require our customers to buy and use phone numbers legally.
If a phone number does not comply with regulatory requirements, we may need to revoke or suspend the account.
How Global Call Forwarding Can Help?
We have less strict documentation compared to other major operators. Through our long-standing partnerships with local and regional operators, we can provision numbers in many countries without documentation.
If your business phone numbers in other countries have been disconnected, please contact us for help with phone number regulatory compliance matters.
