Virtual Numbers: Key, Essence, Spheres of Application
Modern technologies provide new opportunities and tools to make communication borderless. The family of virtual phone numbers is a modern solution for all spheres of life, which allow enlarging your presence throughout the world and improve data security.
Types of Online Phones
It is clear that one phone cannot cater to all needs. Thus, they distinguish between the following options:
- for receiving SMS – this option is ideal for those users who receive or send lots of messages a day. Using a web interface for that is much more convenient;
- for faxes - for companies who receive faxed documents but don’t want to bother with fax machines;
- for calls – an online virtual number from a location that isn’t necessary the same as the user’s, and could be used for International calls;
- toll-free lines – this option is perfect for businesses that have many customers and work via call centers (often used as a hotline).
Top Spheres of Application
The application of virtual telephone numbers is common for both professional activity (business, online stores) and everyday life.
- Business. A large- and medium-scale business requires steady growth. It is reasonable that each businessman or entrepreneur thinks about exploring new regions for promoting services or goods. Buying an online virtual phone will help enter new markets and improve the loyalty of new clients by staying in touch with them. If you use such a solution, you’ll be able to call residents of other (distant) regions and states while sitting in your office. Customers won’t even understand that they connect managers working from other countries.
- Online stores. Virtual telephones are multi-channel customizable solutions. Thus, those users who have online stores and work via call centers can set the system so that it readdresses calls until a free manager is found. This option allows for improving customer loyalty and avoiding losing clients.
- Everyday life. A virtual number could be used to contact people abroad or foreign companies. For example, to check the internet shipping terms of some products a person is interested in, or to schedule a job interview, and so on.
How a virtual number works
Reasons for Buying Virtual Options
- In comparison with a landline telephone line, online solutions stay with users in the case of moving. So, they won’t lose important contacts. And it’s fairly simple to switch office space or even work remotely.
- More opportunities for business and the ability to expand presence in foreign markets without the need to open new branches, visit countries, and hire more employees. International voip phones cost less than roaming. If you want to use such solutions for communication with relatives and friends who live in distant countries, this option will be cheaper than roaming. For businesses, this case is also of great importance since they can save a lot of money. If you get a virtual phone number for internet-based calls, the rates will be cheaper than those set for a roaming connection.
- Using digital telephony is very convenient, especially if you have a large volume of calls. You don’t have to dial the number digit by digit when you can just copy and paste it with a few clicks. And when you dail from a computer, you can use a headset, so your hands will be free to make notes in CRM, or, to provide another example, look up some information when you’re giving a customer a consultation.
- Virtual telephony has more features than a mobile phone, and it’s easier to set them up. For example, you can set up an IVR to distribute calls with voice prompts and tone dialing. Call recordings won’t take up storage space of your device, and instead will be stored in a cloud where you can easily find them or download them as needed. Companies can install a voice greeting for their brand, or configure call forwarding based on a specific set of conditions to maximize the efficiency of the contact center. You can install a widget for websites to be more accessible for users, thus increasing the amount of incoming leads. There are other IP telephony features you can use in your daily work and local tasks - it depends solely on your company’s needs.
- Clear billing - often enough, cellphone billing allows you to receive calls to specific favorite destinations by discounted rates, but if you exceed the amount of minutes in your package, your next call will be billed by rates two or three times higher. Or, a package could include countries you have no interest in, and so you will be paying money in vain. And virtual telephony allows you to call any destination by fixed rates that you can easily look up anytime, so you will know them in advance.
Online numbers have lots of pros; such solutions are applied to many spheres. If you want to buy a virtual number, you just need to find a service provider (online website), register on it, make a purchase, and enjoy a borderless connection around the world.