South Asia Phone Number Carriers: A Comparison

If you’re a global company, you know the struggles of managing the communications between you and your customers or prospects. Different countries, various time zones, and disparate calling specifications and costs all serve to add to challenges in selecting and setting up an appropriate phone system. And, some geographic regions, like South Asia, have additional challenges around number availability.

Finding the right international number provider helps manage those challenges. The right provider offers the phone numbers you need along with the services and features that let you manage your global communications. AVOXI looks at three South Asia carriers—providers of international number phone numbers—TelServ, NumbersOnline and MyVirtualPhoneNumber—to help you determine what’s available to help you meet your business needs.

South Asia Carriers for International Phone Numbers

South Asia consists of the countries and territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. For our review, we focus on carrier comparisons for Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Unlike India, these countries have additional challenges in establishing global communication services. South Asia is a region we hear about frequently from our customers and prospects. Reviewing available carriers and services helps make your purchasing decision easier and showcases the differences among the available solutions.

TelServ

TelServ offers international phone numbers as well as a variety of other services including PRS (premium rate service), shared cost, and porting services. TelServ also works directly with NumbersOnline, another service provider reviewed further below.

• Pros: TelServ provides a broad range of services. Depending on your specific communication needs, TelServ may be able to satisfy all the service your company requires.
• Pros: TelServ offers expanded service in Pakistan.
• Cons: TelServ lacks an expansive inventory of either local DID or international toll free numbers for South Asia.

NumbersOnline

NumbersOnline offers global telecommunication services in the form of local DID and international Toll Free numbers. The carrier promotes its reach to more than 145 countries and works directly with local phone number providers within each country to offer the reliable and flexible service.

• Pros: NumbersOnline has the largest inventory of virtual phone numbers within South Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
• Cons: NumbersOnline typically works only with other carriers or resellers. That is problematic for you as an end-user; the carrier may not be able to assist you directly with your communication needs.

MyVirtualPhoneNumber

MyVirtualPhoneNumber offers virtual phone numbers for different countries around the world. As typical with this type of service, you simply have your incoming calls to your virtual phone number point to the mobile, VoIP or landline phone number you choose. MyVirtualPhoneNumber’s service also comes with a Cloud PBX. That gives your new virtual phone number access to features such as voicemail, call queues and conferencing.

• Pros: MyVirtualPhoneNumber offers competitive rates for forwarding your inbound calls from your South Asia phone numbers.
• Cons: MyVirtualPhoneNumber does not offer virtual numbers for Nepal, Bangladesh or Pakistan. The carrier remains a good option if you already have a phone number in these countries to which you want to forward incoming calls.

As you can see, the provider you select for your international number solution in South Asia is contingent on the type of service you require to meet your business needs. Do you need virtual phone numbers for countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan or Nepal? Do you just need to forward incoming calls to a phone number you already possess within that area? The first step in this process is to understand what your communication needs are as a business.

South Asia Carriers & Numbers: Use AVOXI's Guide

AVOXI published a guide that covers key questions to ask yourself when selecting an international toll free number. The guide walks you through the types of numbers, how they work, and forwarding strategies. Additionally, the guide discusses coverage and restrictions when selecting a toll free number. What questions do you need to ask your provider? What does your business require? Check out the guide and use the numbers checklist as you plan your requirements for numbers in South Asia.

AVOXI’s recent expansion of international service to countries within South Asia offers more coverage, more phone numbers and more cost-effective pricing, specifically for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. Additionally, the expansion offers additional mobile coverage, plus a greater inventory of numbers to select.

This service also comes with AVOXI’s premier call management portal, AVOXI Core. AVOXI Core allows you to manage your virtual numbers, configure features like call recording and IVR auto attendant, and more. Contact us today and let us assist you with your communication plans within this region.