When too many callers are directed to voicemail or your staff is stuck at their desks, it’s not doing your business and customer experience justice. Older phone systems cause missed calls, delayed responses, and diminish customer experience.
Virtual phone numbers provide businesses with greater flexibility with regard to how calls are handled. They facilitate remote teams, direct callers to the appropriate person, divide work calls from personal calls, and create a local presence in various areas.
You can select from a new local or toll-free telephone number or transfer one you’re already using that meets eligibility requirements.
The following blog will discuss what a virtual phone number is, how it works, and its types.
What Is A Virtual Phone Number?
Virtual phone number is a number available in software instead of hard-wiring it to one phone line or SIM. It is recognized by calls and text messages, which pass through the Internet via VoIP and are forwarded by a cloud provider to where you set up.
A virtual number is a normal E.164-formatted number, that your customers dial just like any other, but unlike a conventional number, it is only bound to a routing rule that you control.
The one not-so-obvious point: Virtual phone number is a product/marketing term and not a strict technical term, as Bandwidth describes in its own glossary. The numbers behind it are just as “real” as any other, a “cloud” server is still a real server.
The separation of the number from the hardware makes them virtual. From a technical perspective, a virtual number is virtually always a direct inward dialing (DID) number provided by a VoIP trunk, more on that below.
How Do Virtual Phone Numbers Work?
The traditional uses of the line are made along a special circuit from the exchange to a fixed copper pair at a fixed address. A virtual number puts that model aside.
The path of a call is like this:
i. Number Is Allocated in Software
Your provider reserves a block of numbers from your carrier (or they assign to you a block of numbers) and allots one number to your account, no truck roll, no SIM, no line install.
ii. A Caller Dials it
The call goes into public telephone network (PSTN) and is directed to the carrier that has the number range “owned”.
iii. Your Provider Takes Over the Call from the Carrier
This step in an inbound delivery path is the DID function; the carrier is responsible for mapping the dialed number to a digital trunk that is connected to your carrier.
iv. Provider Enforces the Routing Rule that you Specified
The call is not connected by a switchboard; it’s determined by software – ring a mobile, fan out to a team, drop into an IVR, connect a SIP endpoint, or hit a webhook that returns instructions.
v. Call is Directed to Your Endpoint
The leg from provider to endpoint is over IP so the endpoint can be anywhere on earth, a phone in Bengaluru, a softphone in a browser, a contact-centre queue, or a voice AI model.
Types of Virtual Phone Numbers
Not all virtual numbers are the same. The 5 most used provision:
i. Local / Geographic Numbers
Have a special area code or city code (for example a Mumbai +91 22 number, New York +1 212 number). They personalize your survey and increase response rates, as people feel more confident in familiar codes, even if your team is not in the same location.
ii. Toll-free Numbers
The called party will cover the cost of the call (1800 in India, 800/888/877 in North America). Representative for lines and national brands. The toll-free numbers are usually subject to additional verification before they can send traffic.
iii. Mobile/Virtual Mobile Numbers (VMNs)
Mobile range numbers are used often for A2P messaging and OTP delivery, and are important in the places where customers are expecting to see them, or will only enter them, in a mobile format number.
iv. Vanity Numbers
Patterns or words that can be remembered that are spelled on the keypad (1-800-FLOWERS). A toll-free or local telephone number is combined with branding and recall.
v. International Numbers
Local numbers in countries without a physical office, so when a customer calls from another market, it’s a local number and you answer from anywhere. The “global presence without global offices” use case.
Benefits And Use Cases
Virtual numbers are given their status because they bring down the price, location and inflexibility.
Instant, software-defined setup. No hardware needed to provide provision for hundreds of numbers, instead of just minutes.
Geographic flexibility. Use a local phone number in every market you operate in, increase answer rates and give the impression of having a local office when you don’t.
Call Forwarding and Call Routing to any Endpoint. Send a single number to a mobile, a team through Dial, an IVR menu, or SIP trunk and modify it at any time.
Consistent and recognizable caller ID. Share one number as a whole team or campaign – customers will always know you.
Programmability. The number is software and can be connected to recording, IVR, transfers, analytics and real-time audio streaming using a Voice API.
Resilience. Reroute instantly in an outage or office relocation (NO carrier truck waiting).
FAQs For Virtual Phone Number
Q1. What is the difference between a VoIP number and a virtual phone number?
They overlap heavily. The call is carried via the internet technology known as VoIP, and a number that routes calls via VoIP without a physical line is a “virtual phone number” and the product label for such number. Nearly all virtual numbers are actually VoIP numbers and both types of numbers are taken into account as “real” as any other phone number.
Q2. Are multiple virtual phone numbers a possibility for a business?
Yes. Businesses can have hundreds or thousands of virtual numbers assigned to a single account, each connected to a different device, team, region or campaign. They are a fundamental component why businesses use them; local presence anywhere without any separate phone system.
Q3. How to route or forward calls on a virtual number?
Using your provider’s software. You configure rules to forward calls to a mobile, landline, app, IVR, SIP trunk or AI agent and can switch the destination at a moment’s notice. Vobiz does it by assigning the number to an application and elements such as Dial.
Q4. Is it possible to use a virtual phone number to call the emergency services or 911?
Yes, but that depends on the provider and country, and precise location isn’t guaranteed. Interconnected VoIP providers often have to provide the capability for emergency calling, but usually you’ll need to register a service address for responders to find the correct location.
Q5. Does a virtual phone number equal a DID number?
Not exactly. The virtual number is the number you purchase and the DID (Direct Inward Dialing) is the carrier that routes inbound calls to your endpoint. The vast majority of virtual numbers are DIDs, but they refer to different layers – the service, not the routing plumbing.
In Conclusion
Virtual phone numbers provide businesses with the flexibility, professionalism and cost-efficiencies required to grow and differentiate themselves. A virtual number makes communication easier, boosts customer experience, and is useful for all types of scenarios, from remote teams to entering new markets or simply upgrading your brand’s image. But choosing the right provider is key.
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