Toll Free Number: What to Look for in a Call Forwarding Service

Call forwarding, also called call diverting, allows both businesses and individuals to activate one or more local number anywhere in the world. For example, a business in the U.S. can set up a toll free number in the U.K., Germany and France and all calls placed to these numbers would be routed back to that business' number in the U.S. or any other defined number.

The obvious benefits of using call forwarding include increased presence around the world as well as reduced cost in doing so compared to, say, setting up a new office in a new country or dealing with international or roaming fees. In fact, if you're planning on operating globally, setting up a toll free number is essential.

However, while call forwarding may seem fairly straightforward, there are a few qualities and features to look for in order to get the best possible service.

The first, and perhaps most important, quality is flexibility, which encompasses a few features.  At the most basic level, this means account management: The ability to manage your account, change account settings and preference, and add services is crucial. This type of control is available from most communications services, why not call forwarding?

This should include the option to enable or disable more advanced call forwarding capabilities, such as the ability to route calls to different numbers depending on the day, or even on the time of day. For example, route calls to your office line during the week, to mobile during the weekend, but all calls after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday are routed straight to voicemail. Other features to look for include sequential forwarding — the ability to register backup numbers in case your main number is busy — and the ability to create a black list of phone numbers.

On a more technical level, advanced IVR (interactive voice response) with PBX (News - Alert) (private branch exchange) is key. IVR allows you to set up a greeting system to manage incoming calls, while PBX is a private telephone network for connecting incoming calls with any internal telephone extension within a company.

Fortunately, finding all of these features isn't all too hard as Global Call Forwarding offers all of this and more with a selection of call forwarding plans, enabling calling with plenty of flexibility.