Can employees use the company phone number while they're abroad?
Summary
For ordinary calls, yes. A cloud phone app works over hotel Wi-Fi or a local data plan, so a traveler can place and take calls on the company number. Emergency calling is the part that breaks: RingCentral states that someone with a U.S. line who travels to the UK cannot reach UK emergency services through it.
Emergency calls from another country
RingCentral's emergency services terms list being outside the country where your line is provided as a case where emergency calling won't work. The same terms say the smartphone app can't place emergency calls over Wi-Fi at all. A traveler needs a local mobile phone for that.
Address updates also move at different speeds. RingCentral applies them in real time for U.S. and Canadian users, usually within 24 hours elsewhere, and in some countries it can take up to ten days.
What calls from abroad cost
That depends on what the plan counts as domestic. Zoom Phone's US & CA Unlimited plan ($16 a month billed annually, $18 monthly) lists international calling as metered. Its regional plans cover domestic calling only inside the plan's region: U.S./Canada, UK/Ireland, or Australia/New Zealand. A separate Global Select option covers domestic calling in 40+ countries under a single rate plan.
Local numbers for an office overseas
This is a different project from travel, and the rules come from the provider and the country.
- Microsoft Teams: Calling Plan availability follows the country where the user's license is assigned, not the billing address. Some countries require Know Your Customer (KYC) approval before you can get or port numbers; Microsoft says reviews happen at the tenant level and most finish within three business days.
- RingCentral: its international virtual number table flags Estonia and Slovenia as needing a whitelist request at purchase, and marks porting in places like Barbados and Martinique as "Requires checking with supplier."
- Zoom Phone: PSTN coverage in 49+ countries, or bring your own carrier (BYOC).
A country on the list doesn't mean every number type is available there, so the row for your country is the one that matters.
Sources
- ringcentral.com/legal/emergency-services.html
- support.ringcentral.com/article-v2/International-Numbers-Supported-Countries.html?brand=RC_US&product=RingEX&language=en_US
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/calling-plan-overview
- zoom.com/en/products/voip-phone
- zoom.us/pricing/zoom-phone
Related on this site
- How do the big cloud phone services differ on price and features?
- Why UK and US business phone prices are not comparable
- Will 911 know where you are if you call from a VoIP phone?
- Can a Canadian business go by U.S. cloud phone prices?
- Do you still need desk phones if your business phone system has an app?
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.