Your Swiss fixed-line phone number becomes mobile

Can you keep your SWISS FIXED Phone NUMBER and use it on your smartphone as a mobile phone number from anywhere in the world? Yes, it is possible. I did it.

At the request of an entrepreneur who often travels abroad, I tested and implemented an Internet telephony system.

He wanted to keep his FIXED phone number when traveling and use it on his SMARTPHONE, like a mobile phone number.

Saying it in another way, CALL from his smartphone WITH HIS FIXED NUMBER, and of course also be REACHABLE EVERYWHERE on the same number, regardless of where or in which country he was located.

Being accessible, a competitive advantage

Before the arrival of mobile phones, if you wanted to stay reachable, even when you were on a customer visit, you had no other option than to have a secretary to receive your calls and take messages.

You always had to check your messages either when you arrived at the office or by calling your secretary during the day. Then, one after the other, you tried to call back your correspondents who, this time, were just absent. In turn, their secretaries would then take the message… and so on.

At that time, successfully reaching the desired person often looked like a fighting course. So much time and energy wasted.

The arrival of mobile phones has made this easier. To remain reachable at your company’s fixed number, when you were traveling, all you had to do was to divert your fixed telephone with the well-known code *21*.

Managing your own diversions has made it easier for you to be reached, but in return, it has increased the costs of your communications. As…

The principle of a diversion is that the diverted number calls the new number at your expense and forwards your correspondent.

Forwarding on a mobile number can be very expensive for a company when traveling abroad, due to roaming charges. This is why more than one company still avoids it, or even prohibits it and encourages internal message taking or working with emails.

With Internet telephony, costs are falling down. As the rate applied is always a local rate, with no roaming fees. With this handicap raised, always being reachable becomes a real competitive advantage.

Indeed, the entrepreneur for whom I developed this system rarely pays more than CHF 40.00 per month (calls and subscriptions) for the use of his 3 Swiss fixed lines from HIS SMARTPHONE.

Call with your Swiss landline number from the other side of the world

Just as you keep your mobile number when switching from one communications company to another, you “port” your fixed number to your Internet telephony provider. You become it’s owner in a way.

From this point, how your smartphone will use a so called “fixed” number – because, formerly linked to a place – to call or a number called “mobile” – because, linked to a mobile phone – it is now only a matter of the technology.

Where Internet telephony becomes amazing is when you (re)call a customer, prospect or supplier, from your smartphone using your fixed phone number, as if you were in your office in Switzerland… and in fact, you are at Mexico City Airport, waiting for your next flight… or visiting a school site in Laos.

Your correspondent will see a Swiss number and think you are in Switzerland. Your speech and your activity will be all the more professional.

Other benefits….

Your credibility is enhanced

Undeniably, having a fixed telephone number for your company is a guarantee of seriousness and professionalism.

Your mobile phone number remains private

If you miss a call, you can call back, without worrying about hiding your phone number, because you will call back with your fixed phone number. Your mobile phone number will remain private, as it is not used.

You maintain contact with your customers

You can move an unlimited number of times in Switzerland and even change canton, the phone number remains the same.

This way you will not lose the link created with your customers, prospects or suppliers, because you have kept your number and its code, the same, for more than 20 years.

And you don’t disturb those who for years had been getting used to your landline phone number. For them, there is no noticeable change.

You are listed in the official telephone directory

When your call goes unanswered, your correspondent can check the official phone book to find out who you are before calling you back. This is not possible with a mobile phone number.

Your customer service remains fast and direct

As in the past, you are directly connected with your correspondents and do not miss any calls. You answer directly and personally to the questions you are asked.

You provide only one telephone number

You provide only one call number to all your correspondents regardless of the country you are in. It’s simple and effective. Above all, it is very practical to maintain a lasting relationship with your customers.

No unpleasant surprises for your callers

Wherever you are in the world, your callers pay their calls at a local rate, with no additional surprise charges. Unfortunately, this can happen when they call a mobile phone number without knowing that it is currently staying abroad.

Time saving and no financial worries

I remember a time when people did not dare to call, because it was expensive. With mobile phones this is always true, especially when traveling abroad. With Internet telephony, this is no longer the case.

You can therefore manage your business from anywhere with professionalism, free of any financial worries.

Adding multiple numbers on ONE phone

With this system, regardless of SIM cards, you can have a large number of additional phone lines on a single smartphone.

In short, with this system, you can…

1. Make and receive calls, using your Swiss fixed line number from your mobile phone or from your computer.
2. Make one or more Swiss fixed-line number(s) and your mobile number coexist in ONE mobile PHONE.
3. KEEP YOUR Swiss fixed-line telephone number, the one to which your customers, suppliers and prospects are already accustomed.
4. Drastically reduce your current communications bill.

There are also other systems…

Of course, there are many other more or less comparable means of communication today, such as Skype or Whatsapp. But they often do not allow you to keep an existing fixed phone number or receive a call from a new correspondent without first making contact.

Skype‘s strength is still video conferencing. Very practical for working sessions with several people, if you book an appointment in advance.

As for the Whatsapp application, it is very convenient for chatting or sending a picture, but only works with mobile phone numbers.

Finally… what are the prerequisites

For this system to work, there are a few conditions to be met. You must…

1. Be equipped with an unlocked smartphone, with a SIM card.
2. Have high-speed internet access when you travel.
3. Be registered with an Internet telephony provider.
4. Have a telephony application / software on your smartphone and/or PC.

I have been using this system since 2012

As per today, the system has been tested from New York, Montreal, Costa Rica, Singapore, Dubai, Manila, southern Laos, Mexico City and many other locations. It works just as well in Switzerland.

I have adopted this system and have been using it regularly, on a private basis, since 2012. I had the opportunity to test it with my elderly parents. My father had a health problem, so I called my parents daily from the other side of the world for a all month for an invoice of less than CHF 20.-.

I like to receive calls on my smartphone. However, for more comfort, I sit in front of my computer to make important calls. The environment is quieter there.

Without a doubt, today it is a major asset for my nomadic life.

Sincerely

— Suzanne —

First published on 11 November 2013 – Updated on 3 January 2019