How do you manage a business while on the road? The idea of traveling to far off lands while continuing to run your business may seem glamorous, but for business owners who are unfamiliar with cloud-based business management systems, the idea may also seem out of reach. It’s actually very simple to do with the right systems in place, however.
Staying on top of day-to-day operations and ensuring important calls are not missed while traveling is a top priority in today’s competitive business environment. Business owners who don’t want to put travel on hold until they retire can rest assured. Tools such as virtual toll-free numbers give you the ability to run a company while juggling travel and other circumstances that have you out of the office.
The first step is learning what tools are available and how they work. Learn more about how you can easily manage your business while you travel below.
Cloud-based phone systems
Cloud-based phone systems, which work with toll-free and local virtual numbers, allow you to work from any location where you have access to a reliable internet connection. This feature is what separates virtual phone systems from traditional landline-based phone systems. Virtual phone systems allow business owners to eliminate landlines and expensive hardware while gaining access to more effective call forwarding capabilities. Additionally, since many public places — like airports and local cafes — now have WiFi access, you can avoid missing important calls and stay connected with your business’ daily operations while traveling.
The benefits of call forwarding
With the use of a virtual system and call forwarding, you won’t feel like your business is keeping you from enjoying experiences when you travel. Instead of staying in a physical office to manage your business, you can have incoming calls to your business phone number set to automatically forward to your mobile device. This kind of mobility in your communication system means you can remain completely available to your clients and your organization no matter where you are in the world. Additionally, customers will have no idea that their call is being forwarded.
Virtual communication systems fuel growth and save money
When you choose a communication system, you want it to offer both flexibility and scalability so that you can travel and grow your business at the same time. Virtual phone system capabilities allow you to:
- Add phone numbers when you add locations
- Reroute calls as necessary
- Set up voicemail messages
- Add extensions as you move and grow, and so much more
These types of systems work just as well for startups as they do for large corporations. Not only do virtual phone systems work well for businesses of all sizes, but they also help small and mid-sized businesses appear larger and more well-established. This is crucial as it helps to build trust with new customers and markets. For example, in scaling up your business, you can purchase virtual toll-free numbers in the U.S. and offer a different number for each market you want to target within the U.S. Or, you may use the phone numbers to track the efforts of your marketing campaigns and measure the success of each. Alternatively, you can try marketing for franchises using the toll-free numbers in the US.
If you want to expand internationally, you can also invest in an ITFS number. You may be wondering, what is an ITFS number? ITFS stands for International Toll-Free Service. An ITFS number is an international toll-free number that a caller can use at no cost to them. In other words, callers can call these numbers for free. The company that offers the number is charged for the incoming call. ITFS numbers allow businesses to tap into international markets and enable callers from one country to dial a phone number in another country without the burden of a long-distance fee.
Blog and social media post scheduling
Additional tools to help manage your business while you travel include a blog and social media post scheduling tools. Remaining active on your blog and social media channels is imperative in today’s business landscape. Leaving even small gaps of inactivity over a number of days may cause a fall in search rankings and a loss in sales. To stay productive and effective, you should invest in one of many available online tools to schedule your blog posts and social media posts for the most effective times of the day. These types of tools are used daily by business owners who aren’t even traveling in an effort to better map out days and tasks ahead of time.
These tools will save you time and money
The cost-savings of virtual systems in comparison to traditional phone systems is significant. There is no need for software or heavy equipment. Everything you need to run the system is online or stored in the cloud.
Using tools for scheduling allows you to plan ahead in bulk, rather than work in a piece-meal format, which can be more productive. Saving time equals saving money.
Travel while you keep your business moving and growing
Now that you know about tools and processes that will help you run your business while you travel, it is important that you select the right versions of these tools. For virtual phone systems, look for a company like Global Call Forwarding that is well-established with an experienced staff to help streamline the process and save time and money.
Becoming location-independent has many advantages. Exploring the world and embarking on new adventures while staying on top of business matters and growing your business is a win-win goal that these tools can help you achieve.
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