Give US patients a +1 number for inquiries, and call them back during their day from your practice abroad.
Clinics, dental practices and medical-tourism providers outside the US use a US virtual number as an inquiry line. US patients call a familiar +1 number, or leave a voicemail out of hours. The TripoSIM number includes 300 minutes a month of calls back to the US and Canada, and it is for small practices, not call centers.
This page is about setting up a phone line. It gives no medical advice, and no advice on which health privacy rules apply to your practice.
A patient in Texas looking at dental work abroad, or a family in Florida planning treatment in another country, often wants to talk to someone before booking. Some people will not dial an international number, or they worry about the cost. A +1 number on your website and in your emails turns that first call into an ordinary US call.
The TripoSIM US Virtual Number runs in an app on a practice phone, over Wi-Fi or mobile data. Calls ring like normal calls. Out of hours, callers leave a voicemail.
Pick one person, such as a patient coordinator, to hold the phone during set hours. Then publish those hours in a US time zone, not your local time. From Europe, your afternoon is New York's morning. From the Gulf and Asia, US business hours fall in your evening. The US time-zone clock and our post on the best time to call the US show the overlap from your city.
Show the clinic's real city and country next to the number, so it never suggests the practice is in the US.
Keep patient names, treatments and appointment details out of the greeting. Anyone who dials the number hears it.
Say that the line is for inquiries only. For anything urgent, callers should contact a local doctor or emergency services where they are, because the TripoSIM number cannot call 911.
Voicemail messages can be up to 2 minutes, up to 30 a month, and are kept 30 days. If you expect more than 30 voicemails a month, the line is busier than one app number is built for.
Calls patients make to you are included up to a fair use of 300 minutes a month. Only call-backs use your 300 minutes to US and Canadian numbers. Each outgoing call is rounded up to the next full minute; unanswered calls are free. Three practices, worked out for a year:
| Example | Calls out to the US and Canada | Extra minutes | One year on the yearly plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| A quiet inquiry line | 3 call-backs a week, 6 minutes each: about 78 minutes a month | None: within the included minutes | $100 |
| A dental practice | 6 call-backs a week, 8 minutes each: about 208 minutes a month | None: within the included minutes | $100 |
| A medical-tourism coordinator | 10 call-backs a week, 10 minutes each: about 434 minutes a month | 17 × $5 = $85 a year | $185 |
Incoming calls do not use your minutes (fair use 300 minutes a month). Each plan includes 300 minutes a month out; extra minutes are $5 per 100, and unused extra minutes carry over to the next month, so the year counts the packs for all 12 months together. Prices before tax.
The monthly plan is $12.99 with the same minutes. Extra minutes cost $5 per 100 and carry over when you renew. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
Calls coming in have their own allowance. Count them separately from your call-backs:
| Practice | Calls from patients | Incoming minutes | Within fair use? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiet month | 25 calls of 5 minutes | 125 | Yes |
| Busy season | 70 calls of 5 minutes | 350 | No: after 300 minutes, callers reach voicemail until the next month |
| A front desk team | 200 calls of 5 minutes | 1000 | No: several staff answering all day need a business phone system |
They can. Texts from US and Canadian senders arrive in the app. But the number cannot send texts, so you cannot answer from it. Reminders by text are not possible from it either.
Two plans with the same number, minutes and app.
$100per year
About $8.33 a month, paid once a year
Renews yearly until you cancel
$12.99per month
Cancel the renewal anytime. $155.88 over 12 months
Renews monthly until you cancel
Prices in US dollars as published by TripoSIM. Payments are not refunded, except a full refund if your ID check fails or your number is not delivered within 72 hours, or where local law requires. Checkout continues on TripoSIM. Right after payment you complete an ID check with a selfie, then choose from the numbers available.