Ultimate Guide to Virtual Phone Numbers for Businesses

With digital communication and cloud computing on the rise, users do not have to save data on their devices or download programs and documents to communicate and exchange information. One of the ways to manage that for businesses is to have a hosted phone system instead of a traditional one.

Aside from compromising your security, receiving business calls on a personal number can be a great inconvenience. Furthermore, it only makes sense when more people are part of the team.

As a result, most entrepreneurs, affiliate marketers, lead generators, and brands use performance marketing software to streamline manual tasks and get dedicated business phone numbers.

While there are multiple ways to get virtual phone numbers for marketers and brands, choosing the most suitable ones may be challenging. The best VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solutions, however, will be competitively priced, easy to use, and supported by a team of experts.

What Are Virtual Phone Numbers?

A virtual phone number is a number not associated with a physical telephone line. It is connected to a VoIP service, which allows users to use the phone over the internet to make and receive calls.

Virtual phone numbers are gaining popularity as they offer numerous benefits over traditional landline numbers. They are less expensive, more versatile, and can be used to receive and make calls from anywhere globally. They are also safer since calls are routed online instead of a physical phone line.

Virtual numbers are typically used by organisations and businesses that need to communicate with local and foreign clients and customers. The virtual numbers are also used by individuals looking to keep their individual numbers private. This way, they can receive and make calls without revealing the actual number they possess.

So, how do virtual numbers work? When an individual dials a virtual number, the provider of the VoIP service routes the call to the caller’s device. The user can then receive and answer the call as if it were a standard phone call.

A virtual telephone number does not belong to any specific network; calls to this direct inward dialling (DID) number are routed to a specified phone number. Brands often use virtual phone numbers to provide their customers with a local or toll-free number to reach them.

A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service company is a business that hosts virtual phone numbers. The VoIP service company will provide a new number to the customer and route all the calls to that number. Calls received to this virtual number can be routed to any number they wish, whether landline, mobile, or another virtual number.

When Using Virtual Numbers Makes Sense for Businesses

It is often mistakenly believed that only enterprises can benefit from using virtual numbers. But virtual numbers can be useful for businesses of any size in a variety of contexts, including companies running international operations, agencies with toll-free service phone lines, and established firms with outdated infrastructure.

Virtual numbers are desirable for startups, small companies, and solopreneurs for low initial and ongoing expenses, simplicity of use, and on-demand scalability.

Build your plan now, or book a demo to learn how Phonexa can help you grow your business and get virtual phone numbers with local area codes.

How to Obtain a Virtual Phone Number

A few options are available to buy virtual telephone numbers. Virtual phone numbers can be included in an ongoing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) package by your supplier. The cost ranges between £10 and £15 a month.

With an investment in a virtual PBX, a single virtual phone number and a specified number of extensions and talk time can be yours. The duration of a call on the “business line” will dictate the number of minutes consumed. One or two virtual numbers with 200 to 500 minutes run £12 to £15 a month, and two with 1,500 to 4,000 minutes run £20 to £50 a month.

Phonexa’s Call Logic Features & Phone Number Management Price

	Lite Suite	Premium Suite	Enterprise Suite
Phone No. Porting Fee (In/Out)	£10	£10	£10
Phone Number Management Fee: 800 TOLL FREE (Imported)	£2.50	£2.50	£2.50
Phone Number Management Fee: 800 TOLL FREE (Leased)	£2.50	£2.50	£2.50
Phone Number Management Fee: 845 TOLL FREE (Leased)	£1.25	£1.25	£1.25
Phone Number Management Fee: 872 TOLL FREE (Leased)	£1.25	£1.25	£1.25
Call price (per minute)	£0.045	£0.04	£0.035
Publisher User Limit	10	50	∞
Buyer Count Limit	10	30	∞
Campaign Count Limit	40	120	∞

Learn more about the features and pricing here.

Phonexa’s Call Logic and Cloud PBX offer the best of both worlds — combining the important aspects of on-site PBX systems with a comprehensive call tracking and routing solution designed to fine-tune your pay-per-call and inbound call operations.

“What Phonexa does best is giving you the robust capabilities not only to do call tracking in a silo or lead tracking and distribution in a silo but everything from every customer interaction while also doing the payouts for those publishers. You can handle payments on our platform and manage all of your affiliate marketing programs with Phonexa’s all-in-one performance marketing software suite.” — Talar Malakian

Build your plan now, or book a demo to learn more about Phonexa.

Having a cloud-hosted virtual PBX phone system means businesses can leave hardware damage, repairs, and security compromises in the past because the vendor bears complete responsibility for every element of the system.

Here’s how Phonexa’s Cloud PBX can help brands and marketers:

• Outbound call control: Calling the potential clients who provide their information online can increase the odds that they will buy from you.
• Reliable service without downtime: An employee’s ability to make calls from any location using a cloud-based telephone system is just one method for ensuring business resilience during unexpected disruptions.
• Call scoring system: Keep agents’ productivity at a high level by tracking and measuring calls and keywords used during telephone conversations.
• Simple and low-cost setup: Reduced initial investment and upkeep costs are only a few of the many benefits of making the transition to Phonexa’s Cloud PBX.

 

Phonexa’s Cloud PBX works hand-in-hand with lead distribution through LMS Sync, call tracking via Call Logic, and click tracking through Lynx.

Using Phonexa’s performance marketing software suite, brands, affiliate marketers, and lead generators can optimise the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and properly track and attribute their calls to their respective marketing channels.

 

Take a product tour and see how Phonexa marries call and web lead buy campaigns.

Alternatively, a robust virtual business telephone number from a well-known operator that supports that bandwidth is your best bet if you require international calling (without the high call prices), more sophisticated call routing, and other advanced features and services.

That a virtual phone number lacks a relation to any physical location is a main distinction from a regular phone number. Let’s examine other distinctions more closely.

	Traditional Phone Number	Virtual Phone Number
Placement	Placed on premises	Placed on cloud or virtual servers
Call Handling	Handles 1 call at a time	Handles concurrent calls
Maintenance	High maintenance	Low maintenance
Installation/Updates	Requires manual installation or update	No physical phone lines, easy management
Additional Features	No additional features	Multiple features like routing, tracking, etc.
Flexibility	No flexibility	Customisable, flexible, and scalable
Integration Options	No integration options	Multiple integration options

Virtual phone numbers enable the caller and receiver to be anywhere in the world at the same time. That’s extremely useful for businesses with global customers or target markets.

Google Voice is just one of numerous virtual personal number services available on the Internet for free. You can immediately use your virtual telephone number when you sign up for an account using your service provider of choice and select an area code. Virtual phone companies commonly offer free virtual phone numbers to individuals but charge for their business offerings.

Is It Possible to Change a Physical Phone Number to a Virtual One?

Your existing physical phone number can be converted to a virtual one. Most virtual phone number providers allow the transfer between users, which is also known as porting.

In Which Countries Can One Get a Virtual Phone Number?

Virtual numbers are available everywhere. Some providers even claim their service is available in over fifty countries.

When Dialing a Phone Number, How Long Do You Have to Press the Number?

A virtual number is just like a normal landline number in 10 digits and has the same initial 3-digit area code. You do not need to have a physical presence in the same general vicinity as the area code to buy a virtual phone number. That means that companies everywhere in the world can use it to make it appear that they are locally based in some area.

What Is the Purpose of a Virtual Number?

A significant benefit of virtual UK telephone numbers is that they make you accessible around the clock, irrespective of where you are in the world. Google Voice and other virtual services appreciate the ease of communication with friends, relatives, colleagues, and customers. Smartphones, tablets, PCs, and other Internet-connected devices grant unlimited access to instant messaging on the same floor or different continents.

Despite the fact that more individuals work remotely than ever, companies do not need to be concerned about a decline in the stability of their communication. With virtual phone numbers, you won’t miss a call again because they provide network-wide notifications. Your laptop will be nearby, and you’ll still be reachable, even if you have misplaced your phone.

Take a product tour to discover how Phonexa can help you handle call and web lead campaigns and take your performance marketing efforts to the next level.

Cost-Effective Solution for Businesses of Any Size

With the proper provider, a small business that uses only a few lines a month might pay only a few hundred dollars a month. Yet, communications expenses have a habit of skyrocketing once companies expand to employ hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. Throw in a spread of sites across international borders, and monthly telephone bills can abruptly enter the thousands.

Regardless of the size of a business, switching to a virtual phone number can reduce monthly telephone bills significantly. Getting an Internet number also means you don’t need to spend money on costly, multiline corded hardware. You can even get one or more free virtual phone numbers depending on the subscription package you settle on. To put the icing on the cake, receiving calls within the UK is generally free, and international calls are low-cost.

A virtual phone number offers a cost-effective option for businesses of any size.

Keep Some Space Apart

Some individuals are uncomfortable providing personal contact details to potential customers or business partners. It’s easy since virtual phone numbers can be linked to a single telephone number without compromising anonymity. This option is perfect for sole owners who consider privacy important but require a business phone line.

What Makes a Virtual Number Different From a Regular One?

Irrespective of location or the necessity of a SIM card, anyone can utilise virtual phone numbers. Virtual number calls are directed via VoIP instead. In simple words, it is the same old reliable technology powering services like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Google Voice.

All your calls are digitised and passed over the Internet and traditional phone companies. Number porting is how you make your business phone number portable among various VoIP service providers.

Therefore, placing calls needs a reliable data connection, like 4G LTE or WiFi. With a virtual phone number, you can receive calls on your cell phone.

Top 5 Benefits of a Virtual Phone Number

Fitted with an internet connection rather than a working phone jack, businesses should consider the following five reasons for investing in virtual number solutions.

Benefit	Description
No Wires Required	VoIP is a completely digital method and doesn’t require any physical infrastructure, which makes it easy to use and manage. Virtual numbers for multiple lines do not require physical infrastructure changes and have the advantage of easy online control over number assignment and reassignment.
Easily Transferred	Virtual numbers are mobile, making them available to customers. Representatives of a firm can stay connected with customers even when away from the office.
Accessible at All Times	Virtual numbers provide a robust call routing mechanism whereby businesses don’t miss any of the incoming calls from potential customers. This also includes business flexibility for agents as they can perform their jobs from anywhere remotely.
Great Local Presence	Virtual numbers allow multinational companies to pretend to be local, which helps in building trust with the locals. Assigning a different number to each location will enable companies to analyse regional call data so that they can better train their representatives to respond to local needs and provide more relevant service.This technique keeps the customer remembering your brand and adds more credibility to your business. People are more likely to pick up the phone and speak with a caller who is calling their area code than with someone from another nation.
Saves On Costs	Virtual numbers eliminate the need for costly infrastructures like telephone lines, periodic maintenance, more employees, and after-hours maintenance. Instead, businesses pay a service provider a subscription fee to access these features. The “pay as you use” concept lets companies control their expenditures as they grow.

Which Three Types of Virtual Phone Numbers Are There?

Virtual Private Branch Exchange (Non-Voip)

Currently, this virtual phone system is the most exceptional of its kind. There are numerous advantages to employing this format. Initially, it is crucial to emphasise that this is not a VoIP service. Nevertheless, certain companies integrate cloud-based PBX with conventional VoIP technology. We will discuss them shortly.

Thus, cloud-hosted PBX solutions do not demand an always-on Internet connection as in VoIP. After you have set it all up to your specifications, you will not need Internet (cellular or WiFi) much unless you go into your online control panel to modify configurations.

Note that “cloud-hosted” is a fairly generic term at this time.

Depending on the phone type in use, the calls will be routed via either the cellular network or the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

No special phones are required to use this service. Any phone that is assigned a single phone number and has a valid service plan will do. One of the best things about this kind of system is that no special equipment is required.

It’s inexpensive and simple to install and provides everything that a conventional business phone system offers.

Virtual System Based on Voice Over IP

This is among the most popular virtual phone systems, and also some of the most commonly criticised. VoIP has been in existence and has been utilised by the majority of organisations since it has been the optimal solution for the majority of companies.

The only problem is that too many companies still use them, which is incorrect, owing to the assumption that virtual systems are not available as an alternative to the cloud-hosted PBX we already talked about.

VoIP systems are great with organisations because they are dependable. This advantage, however, has an exception. Their functionality occurs online, and reliability is subject to your office’s Internet connectivity.

There are currently services that virtualise next-generation systems, but employ VoIP. Though the above-mentioned virtual PBX did not need Internet access, virtual systems based on VoIP do. There are several ways that this needs to be addressed.

Most importantly, the quality of your connection and calls may suffer due to inadequate bandwidth or a subpar Internet connection supplied by your Internet service provider. In light of this, it will be necessary to establish a separate Internet connection for your handsets and any additional equipment.

The provider may even demand that you employ particular handsets. A virtual VoIP service is possible if you meet all these criteria, but the expense involved can add up very rapidly.  A complete cloud-based virtual PBX solution is your ideal choice for a highly featured virtual phone system.

Caregiver Replacement Apps

These services are pervasive, are the lowest level of virtual infrastructure, and are inexpensive. People are drawn in numbers by app-based services because they are low-cost, so there is stiff competition.

That might be okay for a short time if your new company just requires a basic phone line to take incoming calls. But it won’t scale with you. Such applications are specifically designed for smartphones and would not operate smoothly on any other phone.

Most of these services also demand more fundamental features like call waiting, call forwarding, and voicemail. Another thing that must be remembered is that there are generally issues with customer service and support. Numerous customers have complained about the poor quality of customer service and a lack of access to a live operator through these cellular phone applications.

Since your business will ultimately need to invest in a suitable phone system as it grows, there could be better options available.

Synergise Your Web Lead Campaigns and Phone Calls With Phonexa

A virtual phone number is an excellent way to stay in touch with your colleagues and clients. You can call and receive calls anywhere and make sure that communication is smooth with your business associates and leads. 

“An important aspect to closing more B2B sales is having a shared definition of all the players that influence the purchase decision. Chances are, there are conversations where the decision-maker is bringing in three other people into the next demo, and they’re all talking about what they need. If you’ve got those recordings, you can watch those sales calls to review what those other people are asking and how marketing influences people coming into the room at a later stage or an earlier stage.Use those sales calls to define who the influencers are in the decision, document it, and review it with sales. Make sure that the shared pool of meaning is there. Then sales are going to have the bank of stuff to use. It might as well be that the sales only feel confident talking to that guy because they don’t have enough guidance on how to talk to all the other people, because it’s just not documented right, or maybe not actioned in a way that they feel can help them close the deal. At the end of the day, the sales need to see value in going after the other ICPs, and marketing can help them do that.” – Talar Malakian

With the virtual phone number and the right martech stack, you can close your sales goals while capturing all the data required to convert callers.

 

Get your all-in-one performance marketing software suite at a single price (online price calculator):

Build your plan now, or book a demo to find out more about Phonexa.

Frequently Asked Questions

How secure are virtual telephone numbers?

A virtual telephone number can be useful for your job, but you have to know about the security threats of using any digital product.

Virtual phone numbers are generally more secure than their regular counterparts because they do not rely on a traditional telephone connection that someone can access or hack. Messages and calls in and out of virtual phone numbers are often encrypted over the internet so that they cannot be eavesdropped on.

Can toll-free virtual phone numbers be bought?

The virtual number operates exactly like the toll-free one.

The toll-free numbers are the numbers for which the recipient, as opposed to the caller, has to pay applicable fees. It bears an area code indicating that it is a local number.

However, a virtual number is a kind of DID number that involves no changes to your current phone plan. It achieves this without demanding any call-forward fee or foreign IP telephony, and can send calls to one of the numbers you prefer. It assists in making the company have an international online presence. These numbers are country-specific.

Vanity phone numbers are the solution. Toll-free vanity numbers are common. Business companies prefer phone numbers beginning with toll-free numbers 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, or 888. Dialing these phone numbers is free for the caller, and therefore they are known as “toll-free.” The caller won’t be charged because the company possesses the telephone number. That’s a great advantage to provide customers, clients, and anyone else who may wish to do business with your business over the phone.

Is it possible to purchase multiple virtual numbers from a single vendor?

There typically is not a restriction on the number of virtual phone numbers that can be purchased from a single virtual number provider.

Does a virtual number reroute incoming calls?

You are able to direct calls anywhere at any time based on the hour and other factors from one convenient location. Calls to virtual numbers can be redirected to landlines, VoIP, cell phones, and other cloud-based telephony. You’ll have full control over managing your communications any way you’d like, and the option of redirecting your calls anywhere and anytime. You are able to make a lot of choices available that make call forwarding simple through a virtual phone number.

How to route calls via a virtual phone number in the best possible manner?

Location-based routing is an advanced IVR feature. An interactive voice response (IVR) system receives incoming calls, analyses the nature of the call, and directs the caller to the destination.

Based on location, a call forwarding and routing IVR system can route calls. You can, for instance, route incoming calls from specific locations to specific numbers. This helps ensure that callers get customer care that is linguistically and culturally appropriate.

How do I choose a company offering virtual phone numbers?

Choosing a virtual phone number provider has some prerequisites. Knowing their significance will make the selection straightforward. If any of the following apply, consider them prior to purchase:

• Setup time: Well-established organisations need rapid onboarding. To make this change seamless, virtual phone number businesses must provide team onboarding. Call interruption by most companies is costly. It will be lost revenue, opportunities, and customer relationships.

Avoid virtual phone number providers that have lengthy onboarding. Solopreneurs establishing a business line have minimal setup time. They can receive mobile calls while setting up.

• Hardware obligations: Virtual phone number businesses provide customers with hardware, software, or both. Startups prefer software services alone. New entrepreneurs require only some of the equipment, so onboarding is less complex.

Large companies that have a physical office are likely to use hardware or hybrid services. It could be more practical for staff members to hold conference calls via mobile phone only. Virtual phone number equipment at offices makes them appear more professional.

• Team size: It does matter. Virtual phone number providers tend to charge per user and are differentiated by size. Choose one that supports huge teams. Choose one with user-based pricing. User-based pricing schemes are ideal for teams of dozens of users. Small businesses can choose virtual phone number providers for their audiences. Such teams prefer usage-based pricing. Low call volumes save your team money.

Can I set up more than one phone number for my business?

You can purchase quite a few phone numbers and install them with not a lot of hassle if you are willing to pay for them. Benefits are:

• Good first impression: Potential customers may see that your company has the potential to offer a variety of features that your business needs. Solutions adopted to offer great customer service reflect the stability, reliability, and professionalism of your company. Including a few lines in other than local locations where you also operate, even though the calls find their way to your hub or mobile phone, is good for your business.
• Effective marketing of local businesses: Non-local calls are rare. Numbers within regions you are calling make you seem more credible. You can target a group you’d likely lose if your customers can confidently call you.
• Increased call volume: Customers can feel frustrated if, while calling a business, they have to endure persistent busy tones. With multiple phone numbers, rerouting incoming calls is easy when lines are in use, and using your cloud phone system to manage vast volumes of calls without compromising client trust.