Why having a local European number, couldn’t be more beneficial for your business right now

If you are a business looking to accelerate growth across Europe, then having a European in-market virtual phone number can be an added competitive advantage, to accelerate expansion and avoid roaming charges, fundamentally controlling your costs. A virtual phone number is a telephone number that isn't bound to a fixed location or device. Virtual numbers can be used to make or receive calls on any phone, often through VoIP phones.

With a trusted provider like Zadarma, you can set up a virtual phone system in a few minutes. All you would need is a laptop and a good internet connection. Zadarma offers widespread geographical coverage of virtual phone numbers, with more than 30,000 phone numbers available across 100s of countries. Zadarma is continually expanding the mobile operator network, most recently adding to the European network with both France and Spain operators. International virtual phone numbers can have specific country code as a prefix. For example, France will have + 33 phone number and Italy will have + 39 phone number as the country code prefix. If you have a goal of establishing more business presence in European countries where you do not have a physical office then using a local virtual number can be a smart solution. Some say this is an essential business need post-Brexit.

Let’s take a closer look at the core benefits of owning a European virtual phone number.

1. A European Virtual Number Helps Avoid Roaming Charges

   By having a local European virtual number in place, you can avoid roaming charges. Roaming charges have scaled since Brexit, so if your mobile is never far from your hand it is important your business conversations are not hindered by a shock bill for calls and data. With a local virtual number in place, callers simply need to make and receive calls through their designated local virtual number to avoid tapping into roaming charges. This number can be diverted to your mobile, to allow you to receive calls on the go. Some mainstream mobile phone providers are telling their customers that they can only use up to 5GB of data a month in the EU. Above that level they will be charged 10p a MB. Many mobile companies have blamed the move on the connection charges incurred when people roam in the EU. This reinforces the necessity of establishing a network of local virtual numbers for your European target markets, through a VoIP provider, to avoid hefty roaming charges.

2. A European Virtual Number Provides Greater Security

   With a local European VoIP number in place, you can benefit from increased security compared to standard landline or mobile calling, avoiding spam texts and calls. Spam calls can severely affect your working routine. This can disrupt productivity across your workforce, due to irrelevant interaction and distraction. Also, it can cause security risks of important data on your system. Keeping your virtual phone number clean from spam calls is necessary to keep the flow of relevant calls. Some VoIP providers, like Zadarma, will even offer Secure VoIP with Call Encryption, which defends against any unauthorised use of your business phone line (for instance Spam or random sales calls). Zadarma for instance offers features such as 2FA, TLS and SRTP encryption. Two Factor Authentication (2FA) provides a 2 step password protection process to protect your data. Transport Layer Security, or TLS, is a security protocol designed to enable privacy and data security for communications online, encrypting VoIP calling. The Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (or SRTP) is a profile that provides authentication and protection when sending data. This adds additional security and allows you to enable or disable protocols presented.

3. A European Virtual Number Provides Cheaper Call Rates

   As mentioned above, having a European Virtual Number provides significant call rate savings, compared to landline or mobile calling. If your business has virtual numbers in place, it will provide you the opportunity to connect a phone number from your chosen European target market to your PC, SIP gate, office PBX, mobile phone, or to any other device that supports SIP. In addition, you can forward your virtual phone number to any country for free, or at a very low price.

4. A European Number is quick and easy to set up and maintain

   Establishing and maintaining a European virtual number is simple and fast to set up. There is no hardware or wiring required as you use your broadband connection to activate calls. With Zadarma you simply register on the site and log into your personal account. From there you can top up your account then go to the “Settings - Virtual Phone numbers” section and order the local virtual phone number you require. Activation happens after the verification of the details you entered. The process should take no longer than 5 minutes.

5. A European Number Will Provide Your Business With Greater Scalability

   The added advantage of having a virtual European number through a VoIP provider is it does not require additional expenses, whether you’re adding or removing users. Conveniently, you can add or remove new users, as soon as you grow your team. Equally, if you need to scale down, you can just as easily reassign the existing line or remove it completely. Back in the day businesses looking to scale growth into Europe would have to find a local office, buy local hardware equipment and even hire local staff. With a European virtual number, there is no requirement for any of this, as you can remotely drive growth and scale as you wish, without the need of physical infrastructure initially.

With Brexit now complete, there has never been a more important time than now to consider introducing virtual numbers into your business. The easiest way to avoid accidental roaming charges is to establish your European Virtual number(s) for your chosen European growth markets. Once you start using virtual phone numbers, you will really start to notice the efficiency benefits for your business. It offers significant professional advantages, helping you control costs as well as providing local relevance (a local prefix) to your callers receiving the call. More businesses than ever before are introducing a virtual European number into their business to avoid the now established, and set to surge, EU roaming charges, now in force.

If you would like more information around how to set up a European virtual or mobile number, then simply reach out to a Zadarma agent today through the online chat function on the website.