What is a Virtual Phone Number & How to Get One?

Wed, 14 Aug 2024

Adaeze Oparaugo

Home Business What is a Virtual Phone Number & How to Get One?

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Imagine having a phone number that’s as flexible as you are – one that can follow you wherever you go, whether that’s to a remote work location, a business meeting across the country, or even to the gym.

As a business owner, having a virtual phone number is essential whether your team works remotely or not. It gives your business and team convenient ways to stay in touch with customers from anywhere.

These numbers are not tied to a specific SIM card or phone and it’s suitable for businesses of all sizes. In this blog, you’ll learn more about a virtual phone number and how to get one for your business.

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What Exactly is a Virtual Phone Number?

A virtual phone number is a number you can use over the Internet. You can make and receive calls using this number from any device with a working internet connection.

Regular SIM numbers are tied to a specific device but with a virtual number, customers can reach you from anywhere and at any time. You can transfer calls to your team, record them, get analytics and even set up professional welcome greetings for your business.

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Features of A Virtual Phone Number

Here are the features of a virtual phone number that can transform your business, make you connect better with customers and sell easily to them.

Professional caller greeting
IVR (Interactive Voice Response)/ Phone Menu
Call Recording
Call Analytics
Call Tracking
Customer Relationship Management Integration (CRM)
Call Notes
Voice OTP

1. Professional Caller Greeting

Professional caller greeting is the key to a great first impression

When customers call your business, the first thing they hear is your greeting. A professional caller greeting is a feature of a virtual phone number that ensures your business sounds professional and welcoming.

Example:

Let’s say Mrs. Best owns a fashion boutique in Lagos, Nigeria called “StyleHub”. She wants to make a great impression on customers who call to inquire about her latest designs.

With a virtual phone number, she can set up a professional greeting like:

“Hello, you’ve reached StyleHub. We’re glad you called. Please hold for just a moment while we connect you with one of our fashion experts.”

This greeting:

Clearly states your business name
Sets a friendly tone
Manages customer expectations

This simple feature helps create a positive first impression, making customers more likely to trust and do business with you.

In contrast, a generic or unprofessional greeting (or no greeting at all) can give the opposite impression, potentially losing you customers.

By using a professional caller greeting with your virtual phone number, you can enhance your brand image, build trust with customers and stand out from competitors

Make a great first impression with a professional caller greeting

2. IVR (Interactive Voice Response)/ Phone Menu

IVR is a feature of virtual phone numbers that helps route calls to the right team or department, reducing wait times for customers.

Here’s how it works:

Customer calls your virtual phone number
IVR greets the customer and provides a menu (e.g., “Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support”)
Customer selects an option, and IVR routes the call to the corresponding team or department

Example:

Let’s say you own a Nigerian business, “Kwaba Foods”, a popular food delivery service in Lagos. You use IVR to route calls to different teams:

Press 1 to place an order
Press 2 for delivery
Press 3 for Customer Support

When a customer calls, IVR provides the menu. If they press 1, their call is routed directly to the Order Placement team. If they press 2, their call goes to the Delivery Issues team.

With IVR, customers don’t have to wait for a receptionist to answer and transfer their call. They’re connected to the right team quickly, reducing wait times and improving their overall experience.

In Kwaba Foods’ case, IVR helps ensure that customers get help fast, whether they’re ordering food or resolving a delivery issue. Happy customers mean more business and a great reputation

3. Call Recording

A virtual phone number comes with a call recording feature that allows you to play back conversations between customers and your team. This helps you to stay informed about customer interactions, monitor staff performance and coach team members for improvement

Example:

Let’s say you’re the founder of a Nigerian startup, “FoodGo”, a food delivery service in Lagos. You want to ensure your customer service team is providing excellent service and effectively handling customer complaints.

With call recording, you can:

Record calls between customers and your team
Playback conversations to understand customer issues
Identify areas where your team needs improvement
Coach your team on better communication skills or sales techniques

For example, you playback a call where a customer complained about a delayed delivery. You hear your team member apologetically explain the issue and offer a discount on the next order. You’re impressed with their handling of the situation!

Or, you playback a call where a team member struggled to answer a customer’s question about your service. You identify an opportunity to coach them on product knowledge and communication skills.

By using call recording, you can improve customer satisfaction, enhance team performance and efine your sales and customer service strategies

Stay in the loop with call recording and take your business to the next level

4. Call Analytics

Call analytics is another great feature of a virtual phone number that helps businesses understand their call data. It’s having a dashboard for your calls.

With call analytics, you can see how many calls you receive per day/week/month, know what type of calls you’re getting (requests, sales, complaints, etc.) and identify peak calling hours and days (when customers call you the most).

Example:

Let’s say you own a Nigerian business, “SwiftRide”, a taxi service in Abuja. You want to understand your call patterns to improve customer service and sales.

Call analytics shows you:

50 calls received yesterday
30 call requests for rides
10 sales call inquiries
5 call complaints about delayed pickups
Most calls come in between 7am-9am and 4pm-6pm

With these insights, you can adjust staffing to match peak calling hours, train team members to handle common requests and complaints, identify opportunities to upsell or cross-sell services and improve overall customer experience

By using call analytics, you can make data-driven decisions to grow your business

In SwiftRide’s case, you might decide to add more drivers during peak hours or create an FAQ section on your website to address common customer questions.

5. Call Tracking

Call tracking is a feature of a virtual phone number that helps you identify who’s calling and why.

With call tracking, you can:

Know who called
Which team member they spoke with
What day and time
What the call was about
What category the call falls into
See the caller’s phone number
Know if it’s a new or returning caller

Example:

Let’s say you own a Nigerian business, “FreshFoods”, an online grocery store in Lagos. You want to know which marketing channels are driving calls to your business.

Call tracking shows you:

A call from 08012345678 (a new caller)
The caller came from your Google ad campaign
They visited your website’s “Fresh Produce” page before calling
This is their first time calling

With this information, you can tailor your marketing efforts to effective channels (e.g., Google ads), improve your website’s user experience (e.g., make “Fresh Produce” page more prominent) and train your team to handle calls from specific sources (e.g., Google ad callers)

By using call tracking, you can optimize your marketing strategy and improve customer engagement!

In FreshFoods’ case, you might decide to increase your Google ad budget or add more product information to your website to reduce calls and improve sales.

6. Customer Relationship Management Integration

Customer relationship management (CRM) integration with a virtual phone number helps you understand your customers better.

You can easily track interactions (calls and emails) in one place, analyze customer preferences and purchase behavior and dentify patterns and trends

This information helps you make informed decisions about marketing and sales strategies and personalize customer experiences so you can improve their satisfaction and loyalty to your brand.

(Access all PressOne integrations here)

Example:

Let’s say you own a Nigerian business, “StyleHub”, a fashion boutique in Abuja. You use CRM software with a virtual number to track customer interactions.

CRM data shows you:

Customer A calls frequently to inquire about new arrivals
Customer B always texts to ask about sales and discounts
Customer C purchases mostly online, but calls to confirm orders

With this insight, you can:

Send Customer A exclusive updates on new arrivals
Offer Customer B special discounts via text message
Improve your online checkout process to reduce Customer C’s need for confirmation calls

By understanding your customers better, you can tailor your approach to meet their unique needs, increasing sales and loyalty.

7. Call Notes

Call notes help you coach your team to success with a virtual phone number

This feature lets you add comments to every call. This helps you track important details about each call. identify areas for team improvement and coach your team to success faster

With call notes, you can:

Write notes about customer preferences, issues, or requests
Share notes with team members for collaboration

Example:

Let’s say Mr. Benson owns a Nigerian business, “MedPlus”, a medical supply store in Lagos. He can use call notes to coach your team to success.

Call notes shows him:

Customer A called about a product inquiry, but the team member didn’t follow up
Customer B had an issue with delivery, but the team member resolved it promptly
Customer C requested a product demo, but the team member didn’t schedule it

With these notes, you can:

Coach the team member who didn’t follow up with Customer A
Commend the team member who resolved Customer B’s issue
Remind the team member to schedule a demo for Customer C

By using call notes, Mr. Benson can improve his team’s performance 10 times faster than the competition!

In MedPlus’ case, he might decide to create a training program to improve follow-up and demo scheduling, or recognize team members who excel in customer service.

8. Voice OTP

Voice OTP (One-Time Password) can be used with virtual phone numbers because it provides an additional layer of security for businesses. Here’s how it works:

A user requests access to a system or service
The system generates a unique OTP and sends it to the user’s virtual phone number
The user receives the OTP via an automated voice call
The user enters the OTP to authenticate and gain access

Example:

Let’s say there’s a Nigerian fintech company, “NairaPay”, offering online payment services. They use PressOne’s Voice OTP to secure user accounts and track delivery:

When a user logs in, NairaPay generates a Voice OTP and sends it to their virtual phone number
The user receives the OTP via an automated voice call and enters it to authenticate
NairaPay tracks the delivery and usage of the OTP, ensuring it’s used correctly

Voice OTP provides an extra layer of security, as it’s harder for hackers to intercept voice calls compared to SMS or email. Additionally, tracking delivery and usage helps NairaPay monitor and prevent potential security breaches.

In NairaPay’s case, Voice OTP ensures that only authorized users access sensitive financial information, protecting both the business and its customers from potential threats.

Benefits of a Virtual Phone Number

A virtual phone number is they key to taking your business to the next level. Here are the benefits you will enjoy:

Flexibility: Work from Anywhere, Anytime
Professional Image: Look Bigger and More Credible
Easy Setup: Get Started in Minutes
Easy Expansion: Grow Your Business with Ease
Better Support, Happy Customers
Increased Productivity: Easy Phone Management
Data Insights: Make Informed Decisions with Calls

1. Flexibility: Work from Anywhere, Anytime

With a virtual phone number, you can work from anywhere, at any time, and still receive calls.

This means you can work remotely or travel without missing important calls, answer calls on your mobile phone, computer, or tablet, set up calls to ring multiple devices at once and route calls to different team members based on availability

Virtual phone numbers break the tie between your physical location and your phone number, giving you the freedom to work how and where you want

For example, imagine you’re a consultant who needs to meet clients in different cities. With a virtual phone number, you can answer calls from clients or colleagues while on the go, without giving out your personal phone number, thereby easily separating your personal and work life.

2. Professional Image: Look Bigger and More Credible

A virtual phone number helps you project a professional image by providing a dedicated business phone number (not your personal number.

Also, it offers features like auto-attendants (IVR), call menus, and custom greetings, making your business appear larger and more established. With an international virtual phone number, it also gives you a local presence in any area code or city

With a virtual phone number, you can:

Appear more professional to customers and clients
Build trust and credibility with a dedicated business number
Stand out from competitors who use personal numbers

For example, imagine you’re a solo entrepreneur who wants to appear more established. A virtual phone number with a professional greeting and menu options can make your business seem like a larger company, helping you attract more customers and clients.

3. Easy Setup: Get Started in Minutes

Setting up a virtual phone number is quick and easy, with:

No hardware or equipment needed
No technical expertise required
Simple online sign-up and activation
Instant access to features and settings

You can get a virtual phone number in minutes, not days or weeks, start receiving calls right away and easily manage your settings and features online

For example, imagine you’re a small business owner who needs a professional phone presence fast. With a virtual phone number, you can sign up with PressOne, choose your number, and start receiving calls in just a few minutes! No hassle, no delay.

4. Easy Expansion: Grow Your Business with Ease

Virtual phone numbers make it easy to expand your business by allowing you to add new numbers and features instantly, scaling up to match your business needs and easily adding new team members or locations. You can manage everything online, from anywhere.

This means you can also grow your team or business without phone system limitations, quickly adapt to changing business needs, expand to new markets or areas with local numbers and manage multiple locations or teams with ease

For example, imagine your business is growing fast and you need to hire more staff or open new offices. With a virtual phone number, you can easily add new international numbers, and team members, without worrying about phone system limitations, expensive hardware upgrades or opening physical offices in other countries

5. Better Support, Happy Customers

Virtual phone numbers enhance customer experience by providing 24/7 customer support with automated greetings and allowing customers to reach the right person or team quickly

It gives customers a professional and seamless experience because teams can answer customer calls and messages promptly and efficiently as well as route customers to the right support agent or team. This provides a personalized support and service and improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.

For example, when a customer calls your business after hours with an urgent question. With a virtual phone number, you can set up an automated greeting that directs them to a support agent or provides a callback option, ensuring they get help quickly and easily.

6. Increased Productivity: Easy Phone Management

A virtual phone number boosts productivity by automating phone tasks and workflows, touting calls to the right person or team and providing features like voicemail transcription and call recording

It also allows you save time with automated tasks and features, work remotely or on-the-go without missing calls and prioritize tasks and manage your time more efficiently

For example, let’s say you’re a sales team leader who spends too much time managing phone calls and voicemails. With a virtual phone number, you can automate tasks, route calls to team members, and access calls and messages from anywhere, freeing up more time to focus on sales and growth.

7. Data Insights: Make Informed Decisions with Calls

Virtual phone numbers provide valuable data insights by

Tracking call metrics (calls received, missed, answered, etc.)
Analyzing caller behavior and demographics
Providing call recording and transcription options
Integrating with CRM and analytics tools

For example, let’s say you’re a marketing manager who wants to know which ad campaigns drive the most calls.

With a virtual phone number, you can track call data and analyze results to see which campaigns are most effective, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

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