What Is a Virtual Phone Number and Why You Need One?

Did you ever wish you could use one phone for both work and personal calls?

Indeed, you can do that and still keep work communications professional. All you need is a virtual phone number to do that. Plus, that’s not the only benefit you get with a virtual phone number.

Let’s hit pause on getting into what else a virtual phone number can do for you for a minute. Now, you might be asking yourself, what is a virtual number?

To get a clearer understanding of virtual phone numbers, keep reading below.

1. What Is a Virtual Phone Number?

Let’s start with the question: what is a virtual phone number?

When you hear or see the term “virtual phone number”, what comes into your mind? From the name itself, it’s easy to think of numbers in a virtual space. While it’s somewhat correct, allow us to give a deeper definition of it.

A virtual mobile phone number is a number that doesn’t have a direct association with a telephone line. Often, it instead uses second phone line apps. With a virtual phone number, you can use more than one number when dialing other numbers.

With that said, you can assign a virtual number to a device. This device can be a hardware desk IP phone, a mobile phone, or a desktop softphone.

Virtual Phone Number vs. VoIP

While it has a very close similarity to VoIP, the two are not the same. Businesses use either one to cut costs on communication. Both services also don’t need expensive on-site equipment. 

VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a service that uses public internet to route telephone calls. It can use cloud-hosted internet, but VoIP services often have more limits. In many internet plans that include VoIP, you can often do only basic calls. 

Compared to VoIP, a virtual phone number provider uses private data centers for calls. This gives more security to virtual phone numbers. You can also use a virtual phone number to receive calls without giving out your private number.

Also, virtual phone numbers don’t rely on a local internet connection. You can use it even when the power goes down or you have a bad connection. A virtual phone system is also more flexible and scalable than VoIP services.

2. Benefits of Having a Virtual Phone Number

Getting a virtual phone number for your business has many key benefits. One of them is that it gains the benefits of IP connections. Often, you can also use a virtual phone number instead of getting VoIP services.

Below, we listed down some more of these benefits. 

Unite Sales From Several Departments and Support Remote Working and Business Travel

Is your business made up of more than one office branch? Getting virtual phone numbers is one of the best ways to unite staff that’s scattered around the country. This way every office can receive and make calls rather than the central office only.

It’s great for managing and disseminating notices or memos from central command. You can make the call destination a group of virtual phone numbers. These virtual numbers in the ring group or call queue are the ones your sales reps from various cities use.

Let’s also keep in mind that not all businesses get conducted in one place. Some business types also need to send out sales agents to other places for remote work. If your agent has a virtual phone number, it’s easier to speak with them while they’re away.

Create a Professional Image of Your Business

Any text or call from your phone using a virtual number shows up as your business line on your customer’s phone. It won’t come up as your private phone number. It’s great for those who want to keep their personal lives separate from their business or work.

Take Calls From Two Numbers on One Phone

Many sales representatives in the last decade have had to use at least two phones. One was for their personal use, while the other was for work. Now, they don’t have to handle two mobile phones and risk losing both. 

When it comes to work-life balance, a study says we spend 40.1% of our day multitasking with communication tools. Now, you won’t miss any personal calls because you only have to focus on one smartphone. 

Having a virtual number also helps you distinguish between work and personal calls. Note that virtual phone numbers let you create voicemails for business contacts. If clients call you out of business hours, you can let their calls go straight to voicemail.

It Makes for Easier Measurement of Sales and Marketing Campaigns

Instead of using your main business line for sales campaigns, use a virtual cell phone number. This way, it’s easier to measure the sales or advertising campaign. Better yet, assign a unique number for each campaign you’re running.

This way, you know which campaign a caller is coming from. By the end of the campaigns, you can look at your data without having to go through too much trouble. From here, you find out which campaigns were the most successful or effective.

3. Where and How to Get a Virtual Phone Number

Where do you go to set up a virtual number and how do you do it? Below, we’ll discuss Google Voice, where you can get a virtual phone number. Note that VoIP providers also offer virtual phone numbers.

You can also set up virtual numbers include iPlum, MightyCall, and GoDaddy SmartLine. 

Google Voice 

Google Voice lets US residents choose a local phone number for voice service. The number then forwards all calls to various devices the user specifies. That may include smartphones, computers, and the Google Voice web portal.

Using Google Voice to set up your virtual number is great for small businesses. It has some limitations, like functionality. If you want more features, you’ll need to get a hosted VoIP solution.

You first need a Google Account before you go to voice.google.com. Sign in and read the terms and conditions, then accept. Next, enter the local area code or use the suggested location on your computer. 

Next, choose a phone number, verify it, and then link it with your existing phone number. Finally, you must download the Google Voice app.

Make Easier Business Communications 

Now you understand what a virtual phone number is. We hope you understood why your business needs a virtual phone number. Setting one up is especially important if your business often gets calls. 

Did you find this post on virtual phone numbers helpful? Are you ready to learn more about how you can do more to improve your business? If you feel ready, check out our other guides now.