Chances are, you’re one of countless people living or traveling outside of the U.S. and Canada this year.
At some point, you’ll probably want to talk to your family and friends back in the States, and have them call you. But you’re wondering how to make international calls without risking huge international calling fees.
There are multiple ways to do this without the, you know, international calling. The easiest way? You just gotta pick up a new phone number, then set up call forwarding. We’ll walk you through several options depending on your situation, and guide you through important details you may need to know.
What’s the best way to get calls from the U.S. to an international number?
Ok, you have a number in a different country. Great! Now what?
The ideal game-plan is to get a phone number that is still based in the U.S., then get your calls forwarded from that new number over to the phone number you’re using outside of the U.S.
Already have a U.S. number you want to keep? We’ll share more on that too!
Here are the steps to international call forwarding.
How To Set Up International Call Forwarding
Wait! I don’t even have an international phone number yet! And I want to keep my old U.S. number.
We’re not here to advise you on phone plans abroad, but we can help you prepare for your adventure, and share some tips on international call forwarding if you’re already traveling. In either scenario, we’re assuming you have or will activate an international phone number in your foreign destination.
(Pro-tip: Many people get an international phone number by purchasing a local SIM card in their new location, or using an international VoIP number, etc. An international VoIP number will be internet dependent, so if you want to take calls without relying on an internet connection, you’ll probably want a local SIM.)
In some uncommon cases, you could consider “international porting” to port your number to another provider that’s based in another country. This is a lengthy and complicated process and you must check with both your overseas and original phone provider to ensure they allow for international porting first. (We can’t stress this enough!)
However, for keeping your calls affordable to you and your contacts, most people prefer the less expensive and more efficient route of getting a SIM with a local phone number in your new destination and then forwarding U.S. and Canadian calls to that number.
What is porting and call forwarding? Can you explain really quick?
Sure! We’re happy to explain the difference between porting and call forwarding.
- Porting is transferring your phone number from one service provider to a different one.
- Call forwarding sends calls from one phone number to a different phone number, without your caller knowing.
Say you have a number with T-Mobile. You can move (port) your number from T-Mobile over to NumberBarn to support your number (or vice versa!) — in this case, for the purposes of having your number overseas. You’ll stop paying T-Mobile (or whoever) to keep that number up and running, and instead you’ll pay NumberBarn (again, or whoever). Call forwarding however, simply sends incoming calls from one phone number to a different phone number, and we’ll talk more about it soon.
Porting Your Existing Number
I haven’t left yet and want to keep my old number.
Let’s say you’re getting ready to travel but haven’t left yet. You actually want to keep your old number so that you don’t have to change your contact info for your contacts in the U.S. and Canada. But maybe your current provider doesn’t offer coverage in your new location, or just flat out charges too much to keep it with them while you’re away.
Good news! You can consider porting your old number to a provider (like NumberBarn) that can support international call forwarding! That way, you can keep your U.S. or Canadian number, and have it forward internationally to many popular international locations. Your stateside contacts can continue to reach you via your current number without them needing to pay anything extra for international calls to you from North America.
(Not all providers can accommodate international forwarding, so again, always check with your preferred provider before you port any number. To see if your number is portable to NumberBarn, start here.) And of course, it’s always wise to check your new provider’s plans and fees for international forwarding.
If you are porting a phone number over to NumberBarn for the purposes of setting up call forwarding, don’t worry, we’ll help you through the porting process!
For a Complete Step-By-Step Guide to call porting to set up international calls, click here.
Note: Porting usually takes anywhere from 3 to 10 business days, though stuff like landlines and other rare cases could take longer. There’s only a one time $5 fee to port a number from an outside provider over to NumberBarn. You’ll then pick one of NumberBarn’s no-contract budget-friendly monthly plans so that NumberBarn now supports your number.
Some providers don’t charge extra for international calling from the U.S. to certain countries. For instance, NumberBarn has an extensive list of countries that are included in their standard call forwarding plans when international call forwarding is enabled (more on that below).
Or, Get a New Phone Number to Forward From.
I’m already abroad and can’t port an existing number.
Porting your original number can feel a bit complicated and it also can take a few days to complete, so now, back to the easiest way to get international call forwarding. If you’re not worried about saving your old number, or you already discontinued it, we’ve got good news for you. There’s an even easier way to help your friends and family make international calls to you.
The easiest and cheapest way to help your U.S. and Canadian contacts call you overseas is to get an entirely new number with a provider offering international forwarding. Simply purchase it, activate it, and make sure it’s set to forward to your desired international number. If you get a number through NumberBarn, you can guarantee access to some very fun, memorable personalized custom numbers to purchase, since we’re the largest online marketplace in the world with millions of local and vanity numbers available to choose from. (Hey, we’re just trying to be helpful.) So if you want Grandma to remember your number and call you a little more easily, you could get a number that spells your name or nickname!
Just check the search page, and get a number in a few moments (give or take, depending on your activation time frame. Hint: Click on numbers with the “Get It Now” label for faster activation).
Find Your Best Forwarding Plan
Aka, how much does international call forwarding cost?
In order to pick the forwarding plan that’s right for you, it’s best to have a broad idea of how much international talking you plan on doing. That’s because the cost of international forwarding with NumberBarn is based on how many minutes you use. So if you think your Grandma will call just a few times a month for about ten minutes a call, you could go with a cheaper plan like NumberBarn’s $6 a month / 300 minutes plan. But if you know Grandma’s a talker, you might want to go with the unlimited plan.
But how much more does it cost for the international rates?
Ah yes, the question we’ve all been waiting for. There’s an easy way to find international minutes rates at NumberBarn, luckily! Just check our simple to use international call forwarding database to instantly see how much monthly minutes cost for the country you’re forwarding to.
Note: The cost may vary depending on the type of number you’re forwarding to, and of course, every country has different rates. If you happen to forward to a landline number in the following countries, they will count towards your regular minutes at no additional international cost:
| Argentina | Australia | Bangladesh |
| Brazil | Canada | Chile |
| Colombia | Costa Rica | Denmark |
| French Guiana | Germany | Guadeloupe |
| Iceland | Ireland | Israel |
| Italy | Japan | Malaysia |
| Martinique | Mexico | Mongolia |
| North Yemen | Norway | Peru |
| Puerto Rico | Romania | Slovakia |
| South Korea | Spain | Sweden |
| United Kingdom | US Virgin Islands | Vatican City |
| Venezuela |
Set Up Your New Number with Whichever Features You Need
Once you have either ported your old number to NumberBarn, or purchased and activated a new number at NumberBarn, you get a few extra features with your phone number once it’s on a NumberBarn Call Forwarding or Unlimited plan.The cool thing about having a forwarded number is that nobody necessarily knows it’s forwarded — but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to tell the difference!
Having numbers through NumberBarn affords you really handy features, such as:
- Voicemail to Email
- Receive Incoming Text Messages
- Auto Attendant Menus
- Incoming Caller ID Select
- Call Blocking
- Call Logs
You can easily access any of the above via the mobile app on your cell phone or a web browser on any device like a tablet or laptop. So even if you miss a forwarded call or voicemail, you can actually go to your email and download the entire voicemail without having to use minutes to listen to your voicemails. And you can get those 2FA codes from your U.S. bank, etc.
Ready to get started?
You don’t need to know what you’re doing to get the ball rolling on your international phone situation. We’ll help you figure it out. Just click below to talk to our friendly Solutions team at NumberBarn.
