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I'm currently travelling a lot between two countries (Denmark and Australia), and I might be adding a third country to that list (Netherlands).

I'm servicing clients in all these countries. And they keep asking me if I have a local phone-number they can call and text.

I've looked for several solutions to this problem, but it always seems to be complex and annoying.

Option 1: A SIM-card in each country

If I just get a temporary SIM-card in each country, then the my clients can reach me on that, if I'm in the given country. But if a danish client try to call me, while I'm in Australia, then it'll either be really expensive or simply not work (since not all temporary SIM-cards support international calls.

... Plus, - when I start going to the Netherlands, then it'll no longer work, since no phones can have three SIM-cards in them at the same time.

Option 2: Use WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.

I've tried this, - but it seems unprofessional and while one client has Messenger, then another has Telegram and so on and so fourth.

Option 3: Get a Skype-number for each country.

This is the closest thing I've gotten a solution. It solves the calls, however the texts are still a problem, because you can't receive text-messages using Skype. I'm looking into showing my Skype-number, when sending texts (which is a possibility). And then I have to change, which number I'm sending texts from, based on if I'm sending texts to my danish clients or my australian ones.

Is it somehow possible to have a setup, where I have one single number, that can receive texts and calls, regardless of where I am in the world?

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  • Hi OP, welcome to Travel.SE. Can you confirm if @k2moo4's edit is correct, that you need a local number for each country, or one phone number for every client is enough?
    – B.Liu
    Commented Dec 11, 2018 at 8:19
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    Also a comment on adding Netherlands as the third country: Assuming you are content with one number for EU countries, then having a Denmark number should be sufficient thanks to EU regulations on mobile roaming/call charges. Otherwise this comment can be safely ignored.
    – B.Liu
    Commented Dec 11, 2018 at 8:22
  • If it was possible to have one number, that I could give out, that services the entire world, then I'd take that option. But being realistic, then I would just aim for having one local number in each country.
    – Zeth
    Commented Dec 11, 2018 at 8:36
  • I'll just put these here as pointers, not sure if they tick all the boxes: Twilio (may require some programming), OnOff. For voice there are plenty of other options, for SMS it's a bit more tricky.
    – jcaron
    Commented Dec 11, 2018 at 10:17
  • This is not an uncommon scenario, do they really expect you to have a local number? I get asked this too but it's never been a thing. E-Mail!
    – DTRT
    Commented Dec 11, 2018 at 14:06

2 Answers 2

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You could have a dual-sim phone.

One sim serves the european countries, since with new roaming regulamentations you can use the mobile services as you are in your home country. If you are Danish, the only issue is that dutch customers will pay an extra to call and text you.

The other sim could be an Australian Sim card. Your clients will not pay any extra because they will call a local number. You will pay extra money when you are outside Australia to call them. But to be honest I don't think there would be a service which allows you to not pay an extra when you want to call another continent.

If you want to have a single number, it will not be free of charge for everybody.

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  • That's my current option (dual SIM, and a danish and an Australian SIM-card). And it confuses people. It's not intuitive, which number they should dial and when. And sometimes texts are received, - sometimes they aren't.
    – Zeth
    Commented Dec 15, 2018 at 5:36
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There are multiple companies that offer world wide coverage with unlimited (or nearly unlimited) data, text, and calling, without extra cost, for example Google Fi, or T-Mobile.
Those offers depend on the country you are buying them in, so you should search around for each of the countries where you go to find the best offer.

If your concern is mainly incoming calls/texts, you could also setup a Google voice account or similar from other providers, and forward it to you.

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  • You need to live in the US, for Google Fi to work. I haven't seen any T-mobile-shops either in Denmark or in Australia. And a couple of Googles, didn't help me. When I download Google Voice, then it just gives me the error: 'Google Voice isn't available in your country' (I'm currently in Australia). The best option I've seen so far, is to use 3 (the company). They have a 'roam-like-home'-option, where I can use it in Australia and in Denmark, on the same rates. However, - I can only sign up for it, from Denmark.
    – Zeth
    Commented Dec 15, 2018 at 5:34

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