Put a +1 inquiry line on your website and booking emails, so American guests can call before they book.
Tour operators, small hotels, guesthouses and travel agencies outside the US use a US virtual number as an inquiry line for American guests. Guests call a familiar +1 number and reach you in an app, or leave a voicemail. The TripoSIM number includes 300 minutes a month of calls to the US and Canada. It cannot send texts.
Many guests want to talk before they pay for a tour, a room or a week-long package. They want to ask about the pickup, the walking, a child's age or a dietary need. An American who sees a foreign number on your site may email instead, or book somewhere else. A +1 number is an ordinary call for them.
The TripoSIM US Virtual Number runs in an app on your phone over Wi-Fi or mobile data, wherever your office or front desk is. Calls ring like normal calls. When you are closed or asleep, guests leave a voicemail.
Pick an area code many of your guests know, such as New York 212; the area code list has more. Then say plainly where you are: "Call our US line, answered from our office in Seville." The number makes you easy to reach. It does not give you an office in the US.
Answer when US guests are awake and you are at work. These windows cover the start of the US working day. New York is UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer, and Los Angeles is three hours behind (NIST).
| You are in | East Coast guests | West Coast guests |
|---|---|---|
| UK and Portugal | 2 to 5 p.m. | 5 to 7 p.m. |
| Central Europe (Spain, France, Italy) | 3 to 6 p.m. | 6 to 8 p.m. |
| UAE | 5 to 8 p.m. in the US summer, 6 to 9 p.m. in the US winter | 8 to 10 p.m. in the US summer, 9 to 11 p.m. in the US winter |
| India | 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the US summer, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the US winter | 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. in the US summer, 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. in the US winter |
Write the hours on your site in US time: "We answer Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon Eastern." US clocks change on different dates from Europe's, so check the US time-zone clock in March and from late October to early November. The best time to call US clients covers more countries.
Most American calls will arrive outside your hours, so the greeting does a lot of work. Name the business, give your hours in Eastern time, say when you call back and point guests already on a trip to your local number:
"You have reached Olive Coast Tours. We answer Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon Eastern. Leave your name, number, travel dates and question, and we will call you back within one working day. If you are on a tour with us now, call our local number in your booking email."
Olive Coast Tours is a made-up example. Messages can be up to 2 minutes, up to 30 a month, kept 30 days. With notifications and the microphone allowed, TripoSIM says calls ring even when the app is closed.
The number receives texts from US and Canadian senders, but sending texts is not included. A guest who texts you will see no answer from the number. So:
Calls guests make to you do not use your minutes. Only calls you make, such as calling a guest back about a quote, use your 300 minutes to the US and Canada. Each outgoing call is rounded up to the next full minute; unanswered calls are free. Three typical seasons, each worked out as if the whole year looked like it:
| Example | Calls out to the US and Canada | Extra minutes | One year on the yearly plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low season | 4 call-backs a week, 6 minutes each: about 104 minutes a month | None: within the included minutes | $100 |
| High season | 12 call-backs a week, 5 minutes each: about 260 minutes a month | None: within the included minutes | $100 |
| High season with groups | the same, plus 2 group calls a week of 20 minutes: 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.
A real year mixes seasons. Extra minutes you buy carry over while your number is active, so three months like the last row need about 5 extra packs, or $25 in all. The monthly plan is $12.99 with the same minutes. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
Calls guests make to you are included up to a fair use of 300 minutes a month. Count them separately from your call-backs; do not add the two together.
| Month | Calls from guests | Incoming minutes | Within fair use? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low season | 25 calls of 5 minutes | 125 | Yes |
| High season | 50 calls of 5 minutes | 250 | Yes |
| Booking rush before a festival | 90 calls of 6 minutes | 540 | No: after 300 minutes, callers reach voicemail until the next month |
To keep a busy month inside the allowance, answer common questions on your site: prices, pickup points, cancellation terms, what to bring. Offer email for quotes, and return calls daily, because voicemail also has a monthly limit.
Anyone can call your US number, from any country. Calls out go to US and Canadian numbers only, so you can call a guest's US phone number but not a local or European one. While guests are with you, their own phone plan decides what a call costs them, so a local number or WhatsApp is often easier during the trip.
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.