If you are a business professional, than you use your iPhone for more than simply keeping in touch with your friends and family, in many cases your iPhone is your link to the business world. Whether you are keeping track of your stocks, checking your e-mail or conducting conference calls while on your way to a business meeting, your iPhone is literally your key to keeping connected with your professional life. However, if you are like most business professionals, then you travel the globe in order to keep your business active and profitable. There are many concerns that people have with cell phones are whether or not you will be able to use your phone when you are in a different country, especially if you are visiting for an extended period of time.

The cell phone provider for the Apple iPhone is AT&T/Cingular. This is good news for you as a business professional since it means that that the iPhone uses the GSM system. GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications and is an internationally recognised standard that is available in over 100 countries around the world. This means that you can happily take your iPhone away with you when you travel and be confident that you won't suffer any interruption to your service.

Many business travelers go to Europe and Asia, and since their iPhone uses GSM, they are able to have excellent service throughout both of these locations. However, there are some precautions that you will want to take before you leave the country with your iPhone. If you have ever traveled throughout the world and used your cell phone, you were probably surprised by extremely high charges for phone and data use.

Whenever you are in another country your phone will still use your American number. This means that any call you make in the foreign country will still be seen as an international call. If you spend quite a bit of time overseas you may end up running up a bill of hundreds of dollars from fees and roaming charges. You may want to alter your calling plan, especially if travelling overseas is something you do regularly.

One good thing about your carrier being AT&T/Cingular is that they offer some great international calling plans that will greatly reduce your roaming and international call fees. You may also want to look into their international data plans if you want to use the iPhone's web browser while you are away. By planning ahead before you travel you can save yourself a very nasty surprise on your return and open your cell phone bill.