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When it comes to business communication, VoIP-CRM integrations are a game-changer. Not only do these solutions improve voice connectivity, they also optimize workflow efficiency. By creating a unified platform, you can empower agents to have quality customer interactions entailing personalized efforts.

To this effect, we’ve recently launched the Zendesk integration for Global Call Forwarding, aimed at helping you streamline communication processes and improve customer support.

In this article, we’ll cover what is the Zendesk-Global Call Forwarding integration along with:

• How VoIP-CRM Integration Works
• 6 Benefits of the Zendesk-Global Call Forwarding Integration

What is the Zendesk-Global Call Forwarding Integration?

The Zendesk-Global Call Forwarding integration merges your Zendesk CRM platform with Global Call Forwarding phone services seamlessly.

Use the GCF softphone within Zendesk and boost your business communication capabilities. Access our cloud telephony solutions directly within your Zendesk interface. In other words, you can add phone calling functionality to your CRM. This means you can make, receive, and log calls through the CRM with the softphone.

From small enterprises to large corporations, particularly international companies—this integration interface is beneficial for all business types.

To activate the Global Call Forwarding integration with Zendesk, our existing customers can get in touch with their account managers. Activation and cancellation of the CRM integration can be done at any time from the account control panel. New users can contact our telephony experts to know more today!

Best part? Setup is a breeze, requiring only a few clicks, no coding or developer assistance needed.

How Does a VoIP CRM Integration Work?

VoIP CRM integrations bridge your voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone systems with customer relationship management (CRM) interface to optimize voice connectivity. This enhances the functionality of both platforms.

How does it work? You need a CRM interface and a VoIP provider offering a compatible integration solution. Once integrated, you can enjoy a variety of new telephony features such as click-to-call, softphone calling, auto data syncs, and more.

With such features, the integration interface lets you optimize sales efforts from any location, with minimal errors. Read more about VoIP CRM integrations in our guide.

6 Benefits of Integrating Global Call Forwarding with Zendesk CRM

6 Benefits of the Zendesk-Global Call Forwarding Integration

1. Access to Global Call Forwarding Softphone within Zendesk CRM
2. Added Global Voice Coverage
3. Improved Customer Management and Support
4. Increased Flexibility
5. Optimized Business Communication
6. Global and Distributed Team Collaboration

Integration of CRM and VoIP is one way to empower your agents to provide quick and timely customer service. With both platforms combined, you can enjoy features like inbound and outbound calling, access voicemail, manage customer data, and more within your CRM.

So let’s take a look at the key benefits of the Global Call Forwarding integration with Zendesk:

1. Access to Global Call Forwarding Softphone within Zendesk CRM

A significant advantage of this integration is that users of Zendesk can access the Global Call Forwarding softphone which comes with our Outbound Calling solution. Use it from within Zendesk or download the app onto your favorite devices and access Zendesk contacts there.

A softphone app lets users make and receive calls over the internet with devices like a computer, smartphone, etc. Use it to connect with local and international customers at the click of a button. As part of our outbound calling solution, you can even use your local phone numbers as outbound caller IDs when calling internationally. It increases the likelihood of calls being answered and improves communication with local customers.

Streamline workflows by automatically syncing call records and contacts between the softphone and the CRM interface.

2. Added Global Voice Coverage

Combine your CRM with global voice coverage with Global Call Forwarding. Get access to international phone numbers—local and toll-free numbers—from more than 160 countries. Enhance your global voice coverage with our high-quality communication services and advanced calling features such as international call forwarding, call routing, voicemail, and more.

Wherever you want to expand, simply add new phone numbers to your phone service and they get automatically integrated with Zendesk.

Check out our country coverage.

3. Improved Customer Management and Support

Thanks to the two-way data syncing, agents can easily review notes and track opportunities by logging calls with associated accounts in the CRM. No need for manual duplicate entries. This means that the latest customer interactions are always up-to-date and available to everyone across different platforms.

Plus, features like call pops allow agents to see customer information before answering calls, making it easier to provide personalized support. All this makes customer and call tracking as well as follow-up easier.

Optimize call handling and agent preparedness so your teams can improve customer management and better communicate with customers.

4. Increased Flexibility

The click-to-call or click-to-dial feature is a VoIP capability that allows users to make outbound calls directly from the CRM interface with ease.

Whether your teams are working from their computers or need to make calls on the go, they can comfortably place calls through the GCF softphone connected to their Zendesk CRM.

Global Call Forwarding also offers a Click-to-Dial feature as a Chrome extension that lets you place calls directly on any Chrome webpage.

5. Optimized Business Communication

By centralizing communications and saving time, agents can create new contacts, track leads and opportunities, and resolve tickets while on call. This ensures that agents are always on the same page as their customers, leading to improved interactions and customer satisfaction.

6. Global and Distributed Team Collaboration

Access to business calling tools and customer data from anywhere enhances remote work capabilities. This means your business can comfortably facilitate global and distributed team collaboration. In this way, you enable teams to stay connected and productive, regardless of geographical location, leading to more efficiency and teamwork.

Get the Zendesk CRM-Global Call Forwarding Integration

Want to add cloud telephony to your CRM? Consider the Zendesk-Global Call Forwarding integration for a top-notch business phone system upgrade. Centralize business communication and access crucial telephony capabilities in a single platform.

Ready to test out the Global Call Forwarding integration with Zendesk? Reach out to our experts today to find out more!

Existing customers can contact your account managers for more assistance.

That customer experience is the driving force behind business success is a given. And therefore, ensuring responsiveness is critical at every stage of the pre-and post-sales processes. In this effort, combining cloud telephony with your CRM through a VoIP integration emerges as a pivotal solution.

Besides facilitating connectivity between VoIP telephony and CRM software, this integration helps in streamlining business operations. How?

By allowing quick and easy calling and synchronizing essential data between the two platforms. This way, such integrations empower agents and managers with valuable and timely customer interaction insights.

We recently launched the Zoho CRM integration for Global Call Forwarding to help you consolidate your key business processes.

Let’s look at advanced call functionalities, the benefits of the single unified platform, and some practical use cases.

• Benefits of the Zoho-GCF integration
• How to Use the Zoho-GCF Integration

What is the GCF-Zoho Integration?

The Zoho integration is a seamless connection between the Zoho CRM and Global Call Forwarding cloud telephony solutions. In other words, you can add cloud telephony functionality to your CRM, letting you consolidate customer interactions and calls.

The Zoho-Global Call Forwarding integration works with our Outbound Calling solution and our softphone, making it easy for your business to make and receive business calls on any device and in any location. This integration comes with many calling features in Zoho like click-to-call, call logging, and data sync.

Global Call Forwarding offers international inbound and outbound virtual phone numbers. And these phone numbers come with sophisticated features, such as international call forwarding and advanced call management.

Once set up, you can utilize the GCF softphone extension within the Zoho CRM environment. By opening the softphone dialer, you can make and receive calls to contacts, leads, and accounts directly from Zoho CRM pages. Similarly, you can access Zoho contacts in the GCF softphone desktop and make calls from your preferred devices.

Benefits of Integrating Global Call Forwarding with Zoho CRM

From enhanced customer management to streamlined team collaboration, there are many advantages of the Zoho-Global Call Forwarding integration. Let’s have a look:

Centralized Business Communication

By combining your phone service and core business applications, you can centralize communication efforts within a single platform. Agents can remain within the Zoho CRM to make and receive calls without switching between applications, improving call handling and overall operational efficiency.

International Calling Capabilities

A significant advantage that Global Call Forwarding customers have is the access to international calling features. When you get outbound calling with us, you can improve connection rates by displaying local caller IDs when making international calls. This enhances credibility and improves call connection rates when dialing customers in different regions.

Advanced Features and Enhanced Call Management

Through the integration, you can get a wide range of advanced calling features offered by Global Call Forwarding, such as call recording, voicemail-to-email, and interactive voice response (IVR). Check out our suite of features that help upgrade global telephony systems, optimize business workflows, and increase productivity.

Improved Customer Relationship Management

The integration gives agents easy access to customer information and their interaction history. They can quickly review this data during calls and personalize interaction, improving customer satisfaction.

Better Team Collaboration

As call data gets automatically synced into a single platform, team members can share call logs, notes, and customer information. Therefore, the integration fosters better team collaboration and promotes teamwork and knowledge sharing.

How to Use the Zoho-Global Call Forwarding Integration?

This powerful integration brings together robust communication tools and comprehensive CRM functionalities. Here are some of the use cases illustrating the versatility and efficacy of this integration in driving business growth in different ways.

1. Add Global Coverage to your CRM

Global Call Forwarding has a wide global voice network and businesses can access this to establish themselves locally without physical presence. Multinational businesses can integrate our international phone numbers into Zoho CRM to expand global reach.

With access to numbers from over 160 countries, gain a local foothold in key markets, allowing your teams to easily connect with global customers (and vice versa) regardless of location. This way, you can strengthen your brand presence and improve accessibility for customers worldwide.

Check out our global coverage to see if we cover your target markets.

Example: Multinational hotel chains can add multiple international phone numbers to their CRM. This allows travelers to easily connect with reservations and customer service teams regardless of their location.

2. Call from within the Zoho CRM with Click-to-Call

Simplify communication workflows and boost efficiency by making calls directly from Zoho CRM using click-to-call functionality. Timing is crucial in converting interest into sales, especially when customers are buying online. With click-to-call, your sales reps can quickly initiate outbound calls directly from the CRM platform for follow-ups.

Example: An e-commerce business’ sales team can quickly return customer calls or chats, address customer interest and related queries, and guide them to purchasing.

3. Connect Zoho Contacts Directly from GCF Softphone

Additionally, you can find and call your Zoho contacts through the GCF softphone app. This enables agents to initiate calls directly from their preferred devices, wherever the softphone is downloaded.

Get quick access to customer information and have smooth communication, thereby improving engagement and relationship building.

Example: For real estate businesses, agents can use this integration to schedule property viewings, provide updates to clients, and follow up with leads.

4. Tailor Call Flows with Call Forwarding

Optimize call handling by designing custom call flows based on your business communication needs. Global Call Forwarding offers an IVR and call flow builder that lets you tailor and create different call flows for different phone lines.

You can also use this feature alongside your CRM for better customer and call tracking. By assigning different phone numbers to different regions or marketing channels, you can identify where your customers interact most with your business. These calls can all be forwarded to the same phone line for convenience. However, you can leverage call logs and reports to understand your customer base better.

Example: Medical and healthcare organizations use this feature for call tracking and distribution. How? By assigning different phone numbers to specific departments or specialists with access to the CRM platform. Then, forward incoming calls automatically to the appropriate person, and they can receive these calls within the CRM. In this manner, the business ensures efficient call handling, reduced wait times, and better patient experience.

5. Sync Call Detail Records Automatically Between Systems

Enhance data accuracy and reduce manual record-keeping by automatically syncing call detail records between Zoho CRM and Global Call Forwarding. This bidirectional synchronization ensures that all call activities and interactions are captured and updated across both systems.

Example: In an investment firm, capture and update interactions and call activities with clients in both systems. Then, advisors can use this comprehensive view of client engagements to deliver personalized financial advice and services based on accurate and up-to-date information.

6. Keep Track of Customer Interactions and Agent Performance with Detailed Call Logs, etc.

The Zoho-Global Call Forwarding integration comes with a call logging feature where agents and reps can input detailed notes based on customer interactions within the Zoho CRM. Since data between both platforms will automatically sync, agents can eliminate the need to manually log activities in Zoho. Share these call logs and notes with your teams or use them to analyze trends and customer behavior patterns. Furthermore, managers can review call logs to determine agents’ performance and effectiveness.

Example: Software companies can gain deeper insights into customer interactions and behavior by reviewing call logs. With this information, the company can identify areas of improvement and tailor its product offerings and support services.

7. Leverage Call Analytics and Reports

Harness the power of call analytics and reporting tools to gain valuable insights into call performance, trends, and metrics. Our call reports offer information on call origination, destination number, duration, call volume over set periods, and so on. Combine that with our call recording feature and you can even listen in on calls that took too long, were cut short, or featured a high-value prospect. Use this data to make informed business decisions.

Example: Management and consulting firms can access and review analytics detailed metrics to identify communication trends, measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and evaluate client satisfaction levels.

Get the Global Call Forwarding Integration

Do you use Zoho CRM for your business? Integrate our VoIP service with your CRM and enjoy the perks of centralized and consolidated communication. Plus, the setup is quick and easy, requiring no coding or developer intervention, making it accessible to all users.

Ready to streamline your communication? Contact our experts now to find out all about Global Call Forwarding integrations.

Existing customers can reach out to your account managers for more assistance. We’re here to help!

Related: Learn about the Best Zoho Integrations

The role of technology as a transformative force of business growth cannot be overstated. And cloud telephony has emerged as a key solution that helps businesses stay resilient and competitive, owing to its flexibility, scalability, etc. From small startups to large enterprises, organizations are leveraging cloud telephony to streamline operations, boost efficiency, and maintain continuity.

In this article, we’ll examine cloud telephony and seven ways to save money with it.

What is Cloud Telephony?

Cloud telephony revolutionizes communication by using internet protocols, secure applications, and business integrations to facilitate seamless phone calls from anywhere. Unlike traditional phone systems, which rely on fixed phone lines, cloud telephony operates virtually, with its infrastructure, services, and data hosted in remote or cloud data centers. This means you can make and receive calls from any location with internet access.

How Does Cloud Telephony Work?

It relies on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to send calls over the Internet. VoIP converts analog voice signals into digital packets, which are then transmitted over an Internet connection. This allows you to make and receive calls cost-effectively across geographic boundaries, letting your business scale effortlessly.

Cloud telephony uses VoIP as an underlying technology, adding value and features to optimize business calling processes. All you need is an IP-enabled phone or softphone that can be used on computers, laptops, and smartphones.

7 Ways to Save Money with Cloud Telephony

By bringing cloud telephony into business communication, you can leverage this technology to upgrade the way your business connects with customers—while keeping costs down. Here are 7 ways in which cloud telephony reduces communication bills:

1. Scale Cost-Effectively

Cloud telephony allows you to scale your business communication solutions according to your needs. By simply using cloud phone solutions with your existing hardware and devices, you can easily avoid hefty upfront investments in hardware.

For instance, a small startup can begin with just a few virtual phone lines and easily add more as the customer base grows. This saves unnecessary expenses on unused capacity.

2. Eliminate Maintenance and Upkeep

And because you use existing equipment like computers and desk phones, there’s no need to worry about purchasing or maintaining expensive on-premises hardware. This means savings on repair, upkeep, and replacement costs. Your telephony provider handles the heavy lifting while you focus on running your business.

Related: Modernizing Legacy Phone Systems: How and Why to Upgrade?

3. Encourage Flexibility and Reduce Overhead Costs

Since cloud telephony doesn’t limit you to specific locations, your staff or agents can work from anywhere with an internet connection, reducing the need for a large physical workspace. By enabling remote work with cloud telephony, you can save on office space and related overheads. This could mean significant savings on rent, utilities, and office supplies. You can also outsource customer-facing positions to other countries and save on staffing costs.

4. Pay Only for What You Use

Most service providers offer monthly pricing models, meaning you only pay for the month. Most providers won’t need long-term contracts or impose cancellation fees, but double-checking is always good.

This makes adjusting for call volume and staff fluctuations (up or down) or season changes easy. For instance, a company conducting a seasonal marketing campaign can temporarily increase its call center software capacity without committing to a long-term contract. This saves money during slower periods.

5. Grow Globally with Local Costs

Establish a global presence without the need for physical offices in every location. Using virtual phone numbers with local area codes allows you to project a local presence to customers while saving on the expenses of maintaining multiple brick-and-mortar locations. Get different local phone numbers for target countries and forward incoming calls to your main office, remote employees, or to your PBX.

6. Improve Call Handling to Reduce Churn

By leveraging features such as call recording and IVR and analyzing call activity and custom reports, etc., you can improve call handling. This way, you can provide better customer service and reduce churn. Satisfied customers are more likely to remain loyal, saving you the costs of acquiring new customers to replace those lost to churn.

7. Maintain Business Continuity

Most VoIP systems have redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring business continuity during outages or disasters. This can save your business from the financial losses associated with downtime and lost productivity.

Planning ahead with a disaster recovery plan is more cost-effective than rebuilding your business and its reputation.

Save Communication Costs with Global Call Forwarding

While unlocking the benefits of cloud telephony, you can stay at the forefront of technological innovation. Global Call Forwarding helps global businesses optimize communication processes and reduce costs with our state-of-the-art cloud telephony features.

Let us help you leverage cloud telephony’s capabilities. Call or chat with our experts online to upgrade your business communication system today!

The process of contact center agent elevation, also known as escalation, is one of the quickest ways to address customer expectations and queries. As customers want quick and tailored solutions, having a well-prepared escalation system is key.

Proactively managing escalations shows a commitment to customers. This leads to good word-of-mouth, repeat business, and overall growth. And so, adept escalation management is vital for long-term success and expansion by consistently meeting and surpassing customer expectations.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• What is Contact Center Agent Elevation?
• Impact of Frequent Escalations
• Common Causes of Agent Elevations
• Tips to Track and Minimize Escalations

Escalation in Contact Centers

Contact center escalation is the process of identifying and resolving complex customer issues efficiently by elevating these issues to agents better prepared to help. So, this typically involves moving inquiries or issues from one agent to another (or a manager) based on the type and complexity of the issue. This process offers reassurance to customers that their concerns are being addressed seriously, fostering trust and loyalty.

Frequent elevations may also indicate gaps in training, process, and communication within support that require improvements.

What is Contact Center Agent Elevation?

Contact center agent elevation plays a crucial role in customer support, ensuring swift and appropriate resolutions to inquiries or issues.

This process often entails moving customer interactions, chats, or phone calls, to experts or higher-ranking agents when specialized knowledge or intervention is needed. This structured approach involves tiered levels of agent support, each possessing varying degrees of expertise and responsibility.

Picture a customer calling tech support of their broadband provider due to recurring internet disruptions. Initially, a first-level agent handles the call. They are trained in basic troubleshooting and can suggest simple fixes, such as restarting the router.

If the problem persists and seems more intricate, the interaction is elevated to a supervisor or an agent with specialized knowledge in networking and technical configurations. This expert can delve deeper into the problem, analyze network logs, and offer advanced solutions made just for the customer’s specific tech issues.

In this way, agent elevation ensures a seamless transition from general support to a specialist. This streamlined process significantly enhances customer experience.

The goal of contact center agent elevation is to provide tailored and effective solutions. Doing so showcases the importance of a well-organized support structure in handling diverse customer needs.

However, a reliance on frequent escalations may also indicate a weakness in the system. While escalation is crucial for comprehensive support, there is a delicate balance that must be maintained. A high frequency of escalations may point to underlying challenges within the system, potentially resulting in longer wait times for customers and lower satisfaction rates.

Impact of Frequent Elevations

Contact center agent elevation operates with a customer-centric approach. This means it focuses more on getting the customer the right, accurate solution as efficiently as possible, even if that means bringing in an expert.

However, frequent elevations can also have a detrimental effect on the overall customer experience. This is because elevations require more effort from the customers to have their issues resolved. They need to explain things again, wait longer for a solution, and provide more details. This leads to extra work, potential back-and-forth with different people, and as a result, angry customers. Plus, your agents will stay stuck on the same call for longer durations, reducing your teams’ responsiveness.

Your business can avoid this by having certain automated processes or resources in place such as:

• Knowledge base or support documentation
• Automated IVR systems that record issue details before sending calls to agents
• Efficient ticketing software that records customer issues so customers don’t have to repeat themselves, and so on.

With that said, let’s look at the positive and negative impacts of frequent agent elevations. Note that understanding these effects is crucial for optimizing the overall efficiency and satisfaction within a contact center.

Related: Contact Center Integrations

Common Causes of Agent Elevations

Identifying and addressing instances of elevations promptly is crucial for maintaining high-quality customer service. Let’s delve into the common reasons for contact center agent elevations.

1. Complex Issues

When customers present challenging problems that demand specialized skills or knowledge beyond the frontline agent’s capacity, escalations become necessary.

For instance, a customer is seeking guidance on a highly technical product customization beyond a frontline agent’s expertise. Elevating the inquiry ensures it reaches a specialized team or a senior representative with the necessary technical know-how and expertise. This way, the customer gets the specific and detailed help they need.

2. Communication Challenges

Miscommunication within a contact center can lead to a cascade of issues, resulting in escalations. These may arise for different reasons:

• Agents or customers providing inaccurate information
• Misunderstandings between agents during case transfers
• Language barriers with diverse customer bases
• Lack of clarity in company policies or procedures
• Failure to set proper expectations regarding resolution processes and timelines, and so on.

3. Service Level Agreement (SLA) Adherence

Contact centers often operate under SLAs that define the time frame for resolving customer inquiries or issues. When an agent is unable to meet these SLA requirements, the issue is escalated to expedite resolution and align with predefined service standards.

4. Other Causes Prompting Elevations

• Tool Limitations: If the tools or resources an agent has for solving a problem aren’t enough, they might need to escalate the issue.

• Refund or Financial Matters: Issues involving refunds or financial transactions often warrant careful handling and may require escalation.

• Training Purposes: Some escalations may occur for the purpose of agent training, providing a learning opportunity for enhancing skills and knowledge.

• Authorization Requirements: Issues requiring specific permissions or approvals may necessitate escalation to the appropriate authority.

• Customer Requests: Special requests that go beyond an agent’s immediate scope may need higher-level approval or support. For example, if a customer explicitly asks to engage with a supervisor, the system ensures the agent can quickly arrange that. This quick response is vital to meet customer needs and make sure they’re happy with the service.

How to Track and Minimize Escalations: 10 Tips to be Proactive

One of the best ways to mitigate the impact of escalations is to track and prevent them. A proactive approach includes adequate training for agents, regular assessment of policies, knowledge base, and more.

Here are 10 strategies you can use to track and minimize escalations:

1. Thorough Agent Training

Implement a robust feedback system to gather insights from both customers and agents, allowing for continuous improvement. Foster a culture of empowerment among agents, encouraging them to take ownership of customer issues and escalate only when necessary.

2. Monitor Interactions Actively

Regularly review recorded calls between agents and customers to identify recurring problems or areas where additional training is required. This provides valuable insights into customer pain points, allowing you to address issues at their root and prevent them from escalating in the future. Use call recording to analyze strengths and weaknesses, ultimately ensuring that calls measure up to predetermined benchmarks

3. Create and Utilize Knowledge Base

Develop a comprehensive knowledge base that agents can access swiftly during customer interactions. Populate it with troubleshooting guides, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and step-by-step solutions to common issues. This equips agents to resolve problems independently, minimizing the need for escalation.

4. Streamline Workflows

Analyze your support processes to identify any redundant or inefficient workflows that may contribute to unnecessary escalations. Additionally, monitor escalation trends to pinpoint specific patterns. This proactive assessment enables you to streamline processes, eliminating bottlenecks and reducing the likelihood of issues escalating.

5. Regularly Review and Change Policies

Regular reviews help identify policies that may be inefficient or outdated. By challenging these policies, you can uncover areas where improvements are needed to improve operations and product or system knowledge. For instance, warranty policies that are ambiguous or difficult to understand may lead to customer frustration. A review process can ensure that warranty terms are clear, fair, and aligned with industry standards, reducing escalations related to product defects. It is equally important to analyze the escalation event to prevent future occurrences.

6. Optimize the Escalation Matrix

Build an escalation matrix that focuses on efficiency during critical moments; this can be part of your call center disaster recovery plan. Prepare beforehand and outline who is involved, how the hierarchy will follow, and what technology will be used for seamless transfers. This ensures that escalations, when necessary, are handled swiftly and with precision.

Check our resource on how to design an escalation matrix for tips on improving your customer support system and making it more efficient.

7. Collaborate with Sales and Product Teams

Foster close collaboration between support, sales, and product teams to facilitate quicker and more accurate solutions. Ensure they actively share customer feedback and insights, enabling the product team to make informed adjustments.

Sales can then set realistic expectations based on the product’s capabilities and updates, reducing the chances of customer dissatisfaction and subsequent escalations. Regular interdepartmental meetings can facilitate this continuous loop of communication. This alignment ensures a holistic approach to addressing customer concerns.

8. Proactively De-escalate Situations

Train agents to identify early signs of dissatisfaction and de-escalate situations before they intensify. Focus on implementing a calm and empathetic approach, actively listening to concerns, and providing immediate, clear solutions. Timely intervention can prevent the need for further escalation, such as speaking to higher management.

9. Implement Robust Feedback System

Establish a system for collecting feedback from customers and agents. Encourage continuous input from both customers and staff to identify service gaps and potential pain points early. Use structured forms, surveys, or direct dialogue channels to gather actionable feedback. Ensure the system is easy to use and accessible, prompting timely and honest feedback. This valuable data can highlight areas for improvement, enabling continuous improvement of support processes.

10. Stay Ahead of Industry Trends

Research indicates that 62% of customers anticipate businesses to foresee their needs. It’s important to keep abreast of industry development and customer expectations like this as this will help your support teams to create and adapt strategies to proactively stay ahead of potential issues, minimizing the likelihood of escalations.

Related: Customer Service Expectations for 2024

Advanced Telephony Solutions for Proactive Agent Elevation Management

Advanced call management solutions can help greatly in receiving, tracking, and minimizing contact center elevations. For instance, a good call routing system can direct calls based on criteria like an agent’s skills, expertise, and workload. This ensures complex issues reach qualified agents, reducing the need for higher-level support escalations.

Global Call Forwarding offers a myriad of contact center solutions that have helped businesses worldwide to automate and optimize their business communications. For 27 years now, our modern call solutions have helped businesses scale up successfully.

Talk to our expert today to learn more about what we offer that can help you grow your business!

Thinking of expanding your business to South Asia? Consider Lakshadweep’s scenic and promising shores. Situated near international shipping ports like Karnataka, this archipelago beckons with untapped potential. Its pristine landscapes and authentic culture attract attention. And with the Indian government’s efforts to improve port connectivity and infrastructure, business in Lakshadweep is set to get to the next level.

In this article, we delve into the strategic advantages and business scope Lakshadweep offers, exploring its transformative potential for businesses looking to broaden their horizons.

• Lakshadweep Strategic Advantages
• Businesses that can Benefit from Expanding to Lakshadweep
• How to Establish a Presence in Lakshadweep?

Strategic Advantages of Doing Business in Lakshadweep

Nestled in the Indian Ocean, the Indian Union Territory Lakshadweep comprises 36 islands. It is located southwest of the mainland near the Indian state of Kerala. The islands, with their multiple transportation connectivity to endless natural beauty, present several strategic advantages for businesses considering operations in the region. Let’s have a look:

Investment Opportunities and Incentives

There are investment opportunities worth over $19bn across sectors and schemes. Interested businesses can also explore several government-backed schemes that promote industrial development and economic growth in these remote island regions. They offer incentives such as capital subsidies, interest subsidies, tax exemptions, insurance incentives, employment generation benefits, and transport subsidies among others. All this is designed to encourage business growth and sustainability.

Natural Beauty

Lakshadweep boasts unparalleled natural beauty. From charming coconut-palm fringed beaches to crystal-clear lagoons, the archipelago is a treasure trove of delights waiting to be discovered. Its vibrant underwater world, adorned with coral reefs and diverse marine life, attracts snorkelers and divers.

The islands’ untouched wilderness presents opportunities across tourism, marine conservation, outdoor recreation, events, and media production industries. For instance, the picturesque landscape makes Lakshadweep a perfect location for destination weddings, corporate retreats, and special events. Event planning companies can capitalize on this by organizing beachside weddings, sunset cruises, and themed events among others.

Robust Transportation Infrastructure

Lakshadweep is connected to the Indian mainland via sea and air routes. Water transport serves as the primary mode of travel within the islands and to and from the mainland. The nearest mainland seaport is in Kozhikode in the Indian state of Kerala.

Furthermore, air services have been strategically introduced to augment accessibility. Indian Airlines operates flights between Kochi and Agatti, while Pawan Hans operates a nine-seater DAUPHIN helicopter, serving as an emergency ambulance between the islands and the mainland.

The accessibility provided by air and sea routes opens up opportunities for expansion and growth, especially if you run a tourism business. A reliable transportation network can boost investor and stakeholder confidence. On top of that, India’s Ministry of Shipping is planning to develop 10 locations across Lakshadweep for tourism under its Lighthouse Tourism initiative. You can leverage these investments to attract more visitors to the region.

Cost Savings

Lakshadweep offers strategic location, economic advantages, and a skilled workforce akin to prominent global hubs, but at a lower cost. For instance, the basic wage in Lakshadweep is about $5/day compared to the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour for certain US workers. This way you can economically benefit from talented and hardworking labor.

Additionally, you can hire locally in multiple cost-effective ways. Open up a local office, bring in local agents, and have them run operations right from Lakshadweep. This will incur the local costs of operating an office on the islands.

Alternatively, hire agents in India who share the local time zone and language. Again, you can choose to have a physical office in India or simply remote agents to communicate with Lakshadweep travelers, customers, and vendors.

Another cost-effective option to virtually access Lakshadweep is via the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. If you already have an office in APAC—and don’t want to add another location in India—or plan to establish one there, you can bypass the expenses of setting up directly on the islands. This approach lets you remain synchronized with Lakshadweep’s time zone, saving on operational costs and streamlining communication.

For instance, let’s say you run a software company in Singapore and want to expand to Lakshadweep owing to its improving digital connectivity. Instead of setting up a new office on the islands, use your existing one in Singapore. Since the time difference between Singapore and Lakshadweep is less than 3 hours, communication will be smooth. So, leverage your APAC presence to efficiently tap into the Lakshadweep market while saving money and resources.

To make these approaches viable, you can work with global phone service providers like Global Call Forwarding which offer affordable global communication solutions like India virtual phone numbers. More on this below!

Rich Cultural Heritage

Lakshadweep is a major pull for culture vultures due to the islands’ unique, authentic, and rich cultural heritage. It boasts a long-lasting tradition of music and dance, with performances like ‘Lava’ and ‘Kolkali’ being integral to the island’s identity. Both dance forms serve as a means of cultural expression within the community.

The coconut crop is a special part of Lakshadweep’s culture and deeply ingrained in daily life, economy, and traditions. From cuisine to craftsmanship, coconut is ubiquitous. Its parts are used in handicrafts, coir-making, copra production, and more. These products are important commodities traded both locally and internationally. This offers businesses strategic advantages in branding, product innovation, tourism, sustainability, and export opportunities.

Businesses that can Benefit from Expanding to Lakshadweep

Now that we know about its strategic advantages, let’s discuss the opportunities this island destination presents. Traditionally reliant on fisheries and coir production, the island’s economy is diversifying into tourism, renewable energy, and sustainable ventures. Installation of a submarine optical fiber across 11 islands of Lakshadweep also strengthens its digital connectivity. This is especially important to businesses that are looking to establish a virtual presence in the archipelago.

So, what types of businesses and what industries can thrive in Lakshadweep? From travel companies, tourism agencies, hospitality companies and hotels, to water sports startups, there’s a little something for everyone in these islands.

Tourism and Hospitality

Tourism and hospitality industries thrive in Lakshadweep by offering tailored experiences to visitors. In fact, yearly visitor arrivals increased dramatically in 2022, demonstrating an increase in tourism and travel demands for this region.

Tourism agencies specialize in crafting bespoke itineraries, from thrilling water sports to serene beach retreats. Adventure seekers can enjoy jet skiing and parasailing, while those seeking relaxation can unwind on its white sand beaches. You will also find resorts or eco-lodges that blend seamlessly with the natural environment while providing luxurious accommodations.

Sustainability and Renewable Energy Solutions

The islands have been recognized as India’s first union territory to achieve 100% organic status, highlighting their commitment to sustainable practices and preserving their pristine ecosystem.
Sustainable tourism not only attracts environmentally-conscious travelers but also generates revenue that benefits local communities.

Lakshadweep also experiences consistent wind patterns and high solar irradiation levels, making it conducive for wind and solar energy generation. Therefore it is also a promising destination for renewable energy projects that can drive economic growth while mitigating environmental impact.

Fishing and Aquaculture

The country’s only coral island chain can be found here. And the sea surrounding the islands teems with abundant fishery resources, notably tuna and shark. You can explore business and startup opportunities while contributing to environmental conservation efforts. Consider teaming up with local fishing communities and investing in aquaculture infrastructure.

Coconut-Based Industries

Coconut cultivation and coconut-based industries play a crucial role in Lakshadweep’s economy.
And with coconut palms abundant across the islands, there are ample investment opportunities in coconut-based industries. The diverse range of products produced include coconut oil, copra (dried coconut flesh), dairy alternatives like coconut cream, handicrafts, and coir and brush, among others. You can leverage the supportive policies and initiatives of the government to promote coconut cultivation and related industries.

Water Sports

Many tourism companies boast water sports and adventure activities in the region. Plus, there’s a need for equipment rental, guided tours, and instruction for activities such as snorkeling, scuba diving, and kayaking. So, your adventure sports business can open a local branch or you can team up with local tourism companies.

Providing equipment rental, guided tours, and instruction for activities such as snorkeling, scuba diving, and kayaking.

How to Establish a Presence in Lakshadweep?

If you plan to expand to Lakshadweep, you will need a local mode of communication. For instance, travelers and clients might need to call their travel provider when traveling to the islands. Alternatively, your agents may need to communicate with customers to ensure they make their reservations, etc.

Thankfully, to tap into the growing market of Lakshadweep, you don’t need to establish the business physically. As a tourism business, goods and services company, or global travel agency, you could get a virtual India toll-free number or local number from global telephony providers like Global Call Forwarding.

With this number, customers can easily reach out for inquiries, bookings, sales, and support services. And your business can forward these calls wherever your headquarters or teams are located. This fosters a seamless and responsive communication experience.

Hire remote, local employees to manage the ground for you. This way, you maintain the main office in one country while hiring a couple of agents in Lakshadweep. As mentioned above, you can benefit from the country’s lower labor and overhead costs while providing localized support with regional knowledge and languages.

Expand in Lakshadweep Virtually

As you explore the opportunities this archipelago presents, consider leveraging communication solutions like virtual phone numbers. You can also benefit greatly from the VoIP features like call forwarding, voicemail translation, and call recording that usually come with these numbers.

Global Call Forwarding offers virtual phone numbers  — and a plethora of communication solutions that have aided businesses worldwide in scaling up. Whether it’s setting up an India local phone number or tapping into VoIP features, GCF can help you upgrade your business communication system.

Talk to our experts today to learn more about how we can help you grow your business!

Many of the insights for this article came from a breakout session at Cyara Xchange 2024. Global Call Forwarding also uses the Cyara Voice Assure product.

Despite the emergence of complex customer journeys and the omnichannel customer experience, voice and phone numbers remain among the most crucial business communication channels.

Why Are Phone Numbers Important?

Many customers prefer voice channels because conversations over the phone usually deliver immediate, precise, and personalized interactions.

Voice calls allow for more immediate feedback and faster resolution of issues, especially in urgent situations. Phone conversations can also prove more efficient than typing messages, particularly for complex problems and older customer segments.

Speaking to a live person creates a more personal experience, which is especially important in certain situations. Christoph Börner gives an example of an insurance company catering to a client who just had an accident—they don’t want to deal with a chatbot in this urgent and emotional situation.

Phone calls don’t require internet access and are more straightforward for customers of all ages, increasing accessibility.

Many global companies will set up local or toll-free numbers in different countries where they need to establish a line of communication.

Some companies will have dedicated support phone numbers for signature or VIP customers, tier 1 sales hotlines for top markets, and in-country phone numbers for employees to reach internal help desks.

Your business might have a ranking system prioritizing the importance of different phone numbers, but the bottom line is that all should work.

The Problem With Manual Phone Number Testing

In most countries, toll-free numbers can only be dialed from within the country. Additionally, certain toll-free numbers can only be dialed from specific networks or landlines.

One specific example is a UIFN, which has network restrictions and issues related to mobile accessibility in certain countries.

However, you must ensure that the numbers work and that all callers in a country can reach your business. Malfunctioning or partly-reachable phone numbers can frustrate clients and lead to lost revenue.

In our case, we provide international phone numbers in more than 160 countries. Before provisioning phone numbers, we need to ensure their reachability. Additionally, we must periodically check that the numbers we provide work across all networks, especially for ticket resolution.

Voice Assure – A Better Way to Test Phone Numbers

Cyara offers a Voice Assure tool that enables businesses to test phone numbers from different in-country networks. The tool can test phone numbers automatically or in real-time.

Before using Voice Assure, we used unconventional methods to test phone numbers.

Before Voice Assure

We hired freelancers through online platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. We would contact people in countries where we needed to test numbers and give them a list of numbers to test. Personally, I’ve even called local hotels and coffee shops and asked them to test my phone numbers.

In the breakout session at Cyara Xchange, another Voice Assure customer, David Conway from Salesforce, told an anecdote about calling local pubs and asking them to test phone numbers. They also talked about asking salespeople in different countries to test phone numbers.

However, these methods all have limitations.

For example, if you rely on testers from hotels, pubs, or coffee shops, you sometimes need to call a few places before someone agrees to help you. This process is time-consuming for whoever manages it and only occasionally effective. The same goes for hiring freelancers.

If you ask salespeople, that takes time away from their other responsibilities.

The most critical limitation, though, is the fact that you’re not getting a complete picture of the phone number performance. We wrote earlier about how certain toll-free numbers can only be reached from specific mobile networks. How would you ensure you test your phone numbers from the right networks?

The second point relates to call quality insights. The phone number connects, sure, but then what? How do you measure call quality quantitatively rather than relying on anecdotal accounts?

After Voice Assure

Voice Assure from Cyara offers one of the most effective ways to test global contact phone numbers, which is through proactive, automated testing from different in-country networks. From automated testing to real-time dialing, businesses can test their phone numbers from in-country networks in over 80 countries.

The Voice Assure tool also gives testers insights into their phone numbers’ performance, including audio quality, DTMF functionality for IVR systems, voice latency, post-dial delays, caller ID transmission, and more.

Benefits of Phone Number Testing

The main benefits of phone number testing relate to revenue and improved customer experience. If your sales and support phone numbers aren’t working, you’ll likely lose revenue and upset your valuable customers.

Let’s dive into some more specific benefits that lead us to more revenue and improved CX:

Diverse network testing for better visibility

Voice Assure enables users to test phone numbers from different in-country networks. One of the expert speakers in the breakout session mentioned that most customer interactions are no longer through landlines, underscoring the need for more robust mobile network testing.

Call quality benchmarks to reassure stakeholders.

Call quality varies among countries. Some have crystal-clear audio connections and highly developed telecom infrastructure, while networks in other countries are still developing. Regardless of your carrier, audio quality will naturally differ across countries.

Cyara’s tool provides benchmarks of average call quality scores in specific countries and call quality scores for your phone numbers.

If you’re on a company’s voice, UC, or infrastructure team, you can present these valuable benchmarks and insights to other stakeholders and show them that your phone numbers outperform average quality scores in specific countries. You can also compare call quality scores for different carriers you may be evaluating.

Improved time-to-resolution

Phone number testing tools allow for faster resolution in the event of issues. You will have insights into which in-country carriers might be failing and the ability to generate call detail records (CDRs) that you can take to your provider to give them specific examples of calls not working. These details will enable your provider to take specific examples to their local partners.

One of the expert speakers also highlighted the benefits of Cyara’s integration with Slack. Voice Assure pushes a notification into the department’s Slack channel when something goes wrong, enabling the expert speaker’s company to notify carriers more quickly during issues.

Value demonstration

Another expert speaker highlighted the benefit of value demonstration within his department. He recommended getting a clear picture of phone number performance before using Voice Assure versus after. This way, you can show the improvements in phone number uptime and compare carrier performance.

Maintaining systems reliability and ensuring network uptime are top priorities for IT leaders, and automated phone number testing enables IT professionals to show actual data to stakeholders.

From Testing to Monitoring and Assurance

Rather than looking at it as one-off testing, this process should be considered as phone number monitoring and assurance. You want to ensure that your critical business phone numbers are working and that you can resolve matters quickly in case of an issue.

Today’s customer experience is not just about a company’s products and services. Businesses need to ensure an outstanding customer experience to thrive, and one way to do that is by remaining available over the phone.

If you have yet to adopt more automated testing and monitoring solutions, consider how Cyara’s tools can help.

The forex market is inherently international as it involves the exchange of global currencies.

While the forex market has no central location, most traders are in major financial centers and emerging markets. As a result, most brokers have a global headquarters and regional offices catering to clients in their respective regions.

But with prospects and leads spread across different countries, how can companies communicate with customers and leads while simultaneously building trust?

Enter Virtual Phone Numbers With Local 2-Way Voice

Virtual phone numbers are telephone numbers that are not tied to physical locations. A key advantage of virtual numbers is that companies can use them to establish a local presence in another country without having a physical presence there.

For example, a forex broker headquartered in Cyprus can have local, city-specific telephone numbers or toll-free numbers in Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, the UAE, etc. The broker can cater to callers in those countries through a local phone number while answering calls in Cyprus or other regional offices.

When combined with virtual numbers, Local 2-Way Voice is a solution that enables international outbound calls with a local in-country caller ID. For example, sales reps in Cyprus could call South Africa while showing a local Johannesburg phone number as the caller ID.

This solution enables:

• Local telephone presence in 160+ countries.
• High-quality inbound & outbound calls with a local in-country caller ID.
• Functionality across multiple platforms (computer, mobile phone, CRM, or integration with an existing phone system).
• Statistics and reporting to evaluate agent productivity.

Learn more about specific use cases below. 

1. Warm Calling

Typical marketing strategies for forex companies include industry events, affiliate marketing, customer education, digital marketing, and brand partnerships. As with most industries, customer acquisition usually involves multiple touchpoints.

Leads don’t convert into paying customers immediately, meaning brokers must nurture leads and follow up on warm opportunities.

Forex companies can use virtual numbers and Local 2-Way Voice to make warm calls to interested prospects. To increase the effectiveness of warm calling efforts, sales reps can show a local in-country caller ID corresponding to the country they’re calling.

Leads are more receptive to calls from in-country numbers versus international numbers, and there will be an increased sense of trust that they will transact with a local entity.

2. Client Retention and Customer Experience

Client retention and customer experience are the name of the game in forex. Oftentimes, the majority of profits don’t come from the first sale. This means that brokers must take steps to ensure an outstanding client experience and encourage repeat business.

As a forex broker, clients are often distributed across multiple countries.

But suppose your support team operates at a global headquarters or regional office. How are clients going to reach out?

Virtual numbers enable brokers to have country-specific contact phone numbers for various countries. Companies can publish and display these phone numbers in their portal, support documentation, and email signatures to allow an easy point of contact.

Additionally, support teams can use these numbers to make outbound support calls to clients in other countries. Live chat, email, and other messaging channels are popular these days, but nothing beats a phone conversation when it comes to financial transactions.

3. Cold Calling

The forex industry is saturated and crowded – more white-label solutions have led to more forex brokers and competition. As a sales leader, you must find ways to stand out from the noise.

While the effectiveness of cold calling has diminished in the digital age, it remains a straightforward way of attracting new clients.

You might have an extensive database of prospects interested in the past. Combined with email marketing and other digital strategies, cold calls effectively get prospects’ attention.

But those prospects will be less likely to answer calls from unknown or international numbers.

Is Cold Calling Still a Viable Sales Strategy for FX Companies?

Each brokerage and sales team has unique strategies for growing its business.

Due to the rising costs of leads and customers, cold calling remains a high-margin customer acquisition channel, provided it’s done correctly. FX brokerages should ensure they are maintaining compliance with laws and regulations.

Additionally, companies should use the right tools and software to improve their return on these efforts.

If you want prospects to answer your cold calls, use a local in-country phone number.

4. Marketing

Marketers often leverage localized marketing materials and websites to cater to global audiences.

Localized marketing is especially effective in the forex industry because target customers span diverse geographical regions with different languages and cultures. Frequently, marketers offer market-specific promotions to traders. And almost always, the trading platforms are localized in several different languages.

To maximize the effectiveness of localized marketing, forex companies usually provide local contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, to reassure users and leads that help is readily available in their language and country.

5. Compliance & In-Country Registration

Compliance in the forex industry is a tricky subject. To offer services in specific countries, you must ensure that you operate per an established set of guidelines.

A critical aspect of compliance is in-country registration. In most cases, countries will require a local point of contact in that country. Our virtual number services have been used as phone numbers for various country registration documents.

Learn More

We’re regulars at industry events, including iFX Expo and Money Expo. These events allow us to connect with existing customers and meet potential clients.

Whether you’re attending these shows and want to talk to us in person or prefer to reach out online, we’re here to help provide innovative virtual numbers and telecom solutions to your forex company.

Fill out a contact form on our website or give us a call. We’ll help you get set up with a personalized demo or free trial account to see how our local calling solutions can benefit your brokerage.

A Nigeria phone number is a vital asset for businesses looking to make their mark in the heart of West Africa. With a population exceeding 200 million, Nigeria offers a vast consumer market hungry for goods and services across various sectors. This potential for demand drives business activity and investment.

Getting a local number facilitates effective communication and positions your business as locally engaged and committed, essential for business success in a local market. Explore this Nigeria phone number guide to understand the local business communication landscape and the strategic importance of having a local phone number.

Guide to Phone Numbers in Nigeria

Nigerian phone numbers can contribute to business success, from building trust and credibility to enhancing customer convenience.

Having a local presence is important for establishing your business, and a local Nigerian phone number can create that presence virtually while you build trust and brand credibility.

Consider a scenario where a customer needs assistance with a product or service. A local phone number on your website or advertisement may encourage them to contact you, knowing it won’t cost them extra to make an inquiry. In this manner, you can promote customer convenience.

Virtual numbers also enhance accessibility, promoting business growth and customer engagement.

Nigeria Phone Number Plan

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), an independent regulatory authority, oversees how phone numbers are assigned. Telecom companies provide phone number plans and services to individuals and businesses. The NCC ensures that telecom operators adhere to industry standards and regulations, promoting consumer protection.

In terms of communication services, you have various options. Telecoms offer cellular services like voice calls, text and multimedia messaging, and the Internet. You can also check out Nigeria virtual numbers from companies like Global Call Forwarding, which come with a gamut of service features like voicemail translation, IVR systems, and call routing, making communication more accessible and more versatile.

New Nigeria Number Formatting Changes (Jan 2024)

Recently, the NCC approved a new change in the country’s National Numbering Plan. This change affects the format of fixed line numbers—from an 8-digit to a 10-digit National Significant Number (NSN), by adding the code ‘02’ to the existing numbers.

For instance, if your current Nigeria Lagos number is 017006160, it will transition to the new format as 02017006160.

Nigeria Phone Number Format

A standard Nigeria phone number is around 15 digits long and includes the country code (234), area or toll-free code, and subscriber number.

It’s important to note that the actual structure of phone numbers may vary based on the specific region or service provider.

Different Types of Nigeria Phone Numbers

Navigating the diverse landscape of phone numbers is essential for effective communication and business operations. These numbers encompass a range of functionalities, cater to diverse needs, and are structured in specific formats.

Read on to learn more about Nigeria phone number formats, types, and how they can be leveraged.

1. Nigeria Toll-Free Numbers

Toll-free numbers allow callers to connect with your business without incurring any charges from within the associated country. Use this type of number to set up customer service, support, and general inquiries, encouraging customers to reach out without worrying about call charges.

Nigeria toll-free numbers will make your business look more accessible by removing barriers to communication, such as long-distance charges. Toll-free numbers are often associated with established and credible enterprises, giving your business a professional image.

Also, toll-free numbers come with features like an IVR system or call forwarding, enabling you to handle customer inquiries promptly. By ensuring that calls are routed to the appropriate department or representative, businesses can provide quick and efficient responses to customer queries. This immediate response fosters a sense of trust and reliability, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The toll-free number format includes the country code ‘234’, toll-free code ‘0800,’ and the six-digit subscriber number.

2. Nigeria Local Numbers (Geographic)

Local or geographic numbers are associated with specific locations or regions. These numbers are typically used for fixed communications services. The numbering plan divides the country into geographic areas, each identified by a particular prefix or range of digits in the telephone number.

Here are the major areas of Nigeria and their area codes:

• Abuja (09)
• Asaba (56)
• Benin City (52)
• Ibadan (02)
• Kano (64)
• Lagos (01)
• Maiduguri (76)
• Makurdi (44)
• Okitipupa (59)
• Port Harcourt (84)

Geographic phone numbers comprise the country code, a two- to five-digit area code with the prefix ‘02’ preceding it, and a seven-digit subscriber number.

3. Nigeria National Numbers

National numbers allow you to connect with customers at low rates. This is because these numbers operate on a shared cost basis. This means that the cost of the call is divided between the caller and receiver, i.e., your customers and your business.

Additionally, you can get a local 2-way voice number. This feature lets you present your national number as the local caller ID. This increases the likelihood of local customers answering the call, as they perceive it to be from a familiar, local source. Global Call Forwarding offers Nigeria national phone numbers with local 2-way voice.

Apart from the country code, this number format includes the area code ‘700’ followed by the subscriber number.

Get a Nigeria Phone Number with Global Call Forwarding

The strategic importance of a Nigerian phone number cannot be overstated. And beyond effective communication, it serves as a beacon of local engagement and commitment.

In your venture into Nigerian business, tap into the unmatched services of Global Call Forwarding for seamless communication and business success. GCF also provides 24/7 technical support, ensuring assistance is available at any hour.

Browse through our inventory to purchase Nigeria toll-free, geographic, or national numbers.

Contact Global Call Forwarding today and speak to an expert to know all about Nigeria phone numbers.

Telephone numbers typically get assigned according to national telephone numbering plans, such as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the United States and Canada. These plans can be “open” or “closed,” significantly impacting the structure and accessibility of phone numbers within different regions.

This article will explain global telephone numbering plans, the differences between open and closed ones, and the common ways to format telephone numbers across various countries.

Closed Versus Open Numbering Plans

Closed numbering plans contain a fixed number of digits for each telephone number. For instance, countries under the NANP adhere to a 10-digit format.

Conversely, open numbering plans in countries like Mexico, Germany, and Japan allow variable numbers of digits, offering flexibility but potentially increasing complexity for users.

The critical difference between an open and closed numbering plan is that telephone numbers under closed numbering plans have a fixed number of digits, while telephone numbers under open numbering plans do not.

What is a Trunk Prefix?

A trunk prefix is a necessary digit or series of digits dialed before the actual phone number, as it specifies the appropriate telecom circuit by which the call should route. Trunk prefixes play a crucial role in both open and closed numbering plans, enabling efficient call routing and maintaining system integrity.

In most countries, the national (in-country) trunk prefix is ‘0’, while the ‘+’ sign most easily represents the universal international trunk prefix.

For instance, consider dialing practices in Australia:

A Sydney phone number would be dialed (02) XXXX XXXX for callers in Australia. From out of the country, the number would be formatted +61 2 XXXX XXXX.

Countries like Australia, the UK, Japan, Brazil, and the UAE use 0 as a national trunk prefix, among many others. After 0, the most common national trunk prefix is 8, mainly used in the CIS.

Global Telephone Number Formatting

The formatting of telephone numbers varies significantly across the globe.

The standard 10-digit format (3+3+4 grouping) prevails in the US and Canada, while other countries might use different lengths and groupings.

The differences in telephone number formatting across countries can be significant. For example, in Sweden, phone numbers can vary in length and are usually divided into groups separated by spaces: +46 (08) XXX XXX XX for a Stockholm number. In contrast, Argentine numbers follow a different pattern, like +54 (011) XXXX-XXXX for Buenos Aires.

Luckily, the E.164 standard provides a unified format for international numbers, accommodating up to 15 digits and ensuring global interoperability.

Do ITFS Numbers Require a Trunk Prefix and Country Code?

ITFS numbers are only reachable from within their respective countries, which means they cannot be dialed internationally. This eliminates the need to enter a country code before dialing the toll-free number. In most countries, attempting to dial a country code before a toll-free number will make the number unreachable.

The ‘0’ trunk prefix should also be omitted when calling a toll-free number. However, it’s important to note that countries have different toll-free prefixes, such as 800, 0800, and 888, which indicate that the number is toll-free and must be dialed.

E.164, E.123, and Beyond

E.164 and E.123 are central frameworks in global phone number formatting.

While individual telephone numbering plans facilitate standardized approaches for their respective countries, E.164 extends this standardization internationally, ensuring global consistency and clarity in telecommunications.

Complementing E.164, the E.123 standard provides guidelines for presenting email addresses and telephone numbers domestically and internationally. This standard aims to enhance readability and reduce confusion in global communications, specifying notations for trunk prefixes, area codes, and local numbers.

Together, E.164 and E.123 form a comprehensive set of guidelines supporting interoperability and communication across different countries and regions.

Practical Implications for Businesses

Understanding the nuances of global telephone numbering plans is essential for businesses operating internationally. Proper formatting of international phone numbers on marketing materials, product packaging, or directives ensures accessibility for global contacts.

A basic understanding of global telephone numbering plans aids in navigating the complexities of international telecommunications, ensuring consistent and reliable communication across different countries and regions.

Global Call Forwarding Can Help

Telephone numbering plans are the backbone of global telecommunications, facilitating voice connections worldwide. Whether through closed or open numbering plans, trunk prefixes, or the standardized E.164 format, these systems ensure that every call reaches its intended destination.

To learn more about phone number formatting across countries, speak with one of our telecom experts. We have more than 28 years of experience helping businesses navigate the complexities of global telecommunications.