Your legacy phone system no longer cuts it these days. With the surge of people working remotely, traditional landlines just can’t keep up with the needs of your business. Virtual Phone Numbers: What Are They & How Do They Work?
Debe haber una mejor manera de administrar las comunicaciones de su empresa, ¿verdad? ¡Hay!
There’s a new wave of sistemas telefónicos de oficina que son lo suficientemente flexibles para satisfacer las necesidades de un equipo remoto, incluso cuando se trabaja desde casa.
Pero, ¿qué pasa con sus números de teléfono? ¿Son difíciles de usar? ¿Por qué deberías preocuparte por ellos?
We’ll explain all the ins of outs of virtual phone numbers for your company and what you should know about how they work.
¿Qué es un número de teléfono virtual?
A virtual phone number is a telephone number that isn’t bound to a fixed location. Virtual numbers can be used to make or receive calls on any phone, such as VoIP desk phones, cell phones, or softphones. It’s perfect for employees in the office, or those who trabajar en casa.
You can select which devices receive calls from the virtual number, and change them when needed. This flexibility is why they’re sometimes called “secondary” numbers. Virtual phone numbers also provide increased anonymity over your landlines, which people can find in online directories.
Virtual phone numbers have grown in popularity. Businesses use them to accept calls from customers all over the world, regardless of where their offices are located. It gives them seamless lines of communication with their customers. They can’t distinguish between a virtual and standard telephone number.
¿Cómo funciona un número virtual?
Los números de teléfono virtuales no requieren una tarjeta SIM o una dirección física. Utiliza tecnología de Internet segura para realizar llamadas telefónicas reales entre personas.
En cambio, los números virtuales aceptan llamadas a través del protocolo de voz sobre Internet (VoIP). Fundamentally, it’s the same proven technology used to make calls and text messages through iMessage, WhatsApp, or Google Voice.
VoIP ha prosperado porque puede proporcionar comunicación en tiempo real utilizando las conexiones de banda ancha existentes. Con un proveedor de comunicaciones en la nube, sus llamadas telefónicas se digitalizan y conectan a través de Internet y redes telefónicas tradicionales. A lo largo de los años, más códecs de VoIP brindan una excelente calidad de llamadas sin consumir demasiados datos.
Phone numbers in the United States are portable, so you don’t even have to switch. The process is known as portabilidad de números, y le garantiza que puede llevar consigo el número de teléfono de su empresa independientemente de su proveedor de VoIP.
As a result, you don’t need a wired Ethernet connection to take calls through a Número de teléfono VoIP. So long as you have a fast and reliable data connection — 4G LTE or Wi-Fi — you can place calls. This is how virtual phone numbers allow you to take calls from your mobile phone.
Diferencias entre números de teléfono virtuales y regulares
There are millions of phone numbers you can select. They fall into two categories: virtual and regular phone numbers. So, what’s the difference between the two? And how do you decide which is best for your company?
Let’s start with regular phone numbers. Traditional phone numbers usually are installed and provided by the local telephone company. Most people don’t know that they own the number, not the telephone company. Telephone companies typically assign phone lines to the street address of where it’s installed.
Traditional phone lines require phone lines to run throughout the building to each desk phone. Installing telecom lines isn’t always easy nor feasible in every office.
A virtual phone number, however, can is location-agnostic, and it’s not bound to one location. It works for employees in and out of the office because they share the same cloud PBX.
Eso significa que usted es interno o equipo virtual pueden tomar llamadas desde el número virtual en la oficina, en casa o en su teléfono celular. Y puede elegir quién recibe las llamadas entrantes desde el número de teléfono virtual según la disponibilidad de su personal.
Beneficios de un número virtual
Now that you have a better idea about these types of phone numbers, it’s time to decide if your business needs one.
Aquí hay algunos beneficios útiles que debe conocer sobre los números de teléfono virtuales.
1) Elimine costosos complementos y tarifas con números de teléfono locales
La gente puede usar su sistema telefónico virtual desde cualquier parte del mundo sin pagar costosas tarifas de llamadas. Puede ofrecer un número de teléfono gratuito o un número de teléfono local con descuento que las personas que llaman en todo el mundo pueden apreciar.
Let’s put that into practice and say you’re running marketing campaigns across the United States. You can ask customers to call your número gratuito — a virtual phone number that doesn’t cost them extra for making the call.
PARA Marcación interna directa (DID) will point them to the specific person they need to speak with by calling the virtual number you’ve created for their city or country. They’ll be directed to your sales team, regardless of whether they’re in different countries. And, the best part: your leads won’t notice any difference.
Consejo profesional: If you’re calling leads in a major metro area like Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Los Angeles, or Seattle, you might want to pick up a local virtual number.
2) Mejorar la satisfacción de las personas que llaman con asistentes automáticos
Cloud phone service providers include auto attendants. An auto attendant greets callers and provides a straightforward menu to reach the right person. This feature ensures that callers don’t waste time explaining their issue to the wrong person.
For example, if someone calls your virtual number to get help with a billing question, their call will be directed to an agent on your finance team. They won’t need to pass through several people to reach the agent best-equipped to help them.
Traditional phone systems don’t include these powerful call routing features. With legacy phone systems, you might need a costly on-prem PBX, an IT manager, and a lot of legwork just to bounce customers around. It’s not fun for anyone.
Un PBX en la nube, junto con números de teléfono virtuales, son el camino a seguir.
3) Libérate de la oficina más un buzón de voz moderno
A traditional telephone number connects to one desk phone. What happens when the person at that desk is out of the office? You have no choice but to send them to voicemail. Some research suggests that customers won’t call you back if they reach your voicemail.
Los números virtuales resuelven ese problema. Puede desactivar la conexión de su teléfono de escritorio y hacer que otros agentes respondan las llamadas en sus teléfonos móviles o que las desvíen a otro agente disponible. Esta capacidad reduce las probabilidades de que las personas que llaman sean víctimas del correo de voz y nunca más se les escuche.
But if they still land on a voicemail box, there’s still hope. A virtual phone system transcribes the message and emails it to you within seconds. Is that a robocaller or your child’s school calling? With voicemail to email, you’ll know.
4) Los empleados pueden separar el negocio de su teléfono personal
It’s not just incoming calls that a virtual phone number comes in handy. You can use the same number to make outgoing calls—be that to your customers or coworkers. And, it oculta su identificador de llamadas cuando lo haces
Esta característica novedosa hace que los números de teléfono virtuales sean ideales para los trabajadores remotos. Más que 38% de empresas have team members who work remotely; there’s a steady shift away from the office working.
Remote staff don’t need to install a desk phone in their home office, nor use their cell phone to take business calls. The virtual phone number masks their caller ID, which gives them greater control and peace of mind when calling contacts.
They don’t need to be concerned that customers know your private number. You can select business hours for the virtual phone number to accept inbound calls or divert them to a voicemail.
Protégete de las estafas telefónicas virtuales
It’s no secret that estafas telefónicas están en aumento. La incertidumbre y la ansiedad financiera solo aumentan su eficacia. Incluso como dueño de un negocio, usted es un objetivo principal para las estafas telefónicas.
Virtual numbers carry with it a responsibility to not deceive others. However, not everyone plays by the rules. It’s the real world. You might get receive a phone calls with a fake caller ID claiming to be your bank or a government office.
The bottom line is that you can’t necessarily trust the numbers that call you. Robocallers have been hammering millions of Americans with “neighbor spoofing,” where calls appear to be from your same prefix. For while it worked, we answered, then we learned to screen incoming calls.
Si recibe una llamada intimidante de su banco, no les dé ninguna información. Cuelgue y comuníquese directamente con el banco llamando al número publicado en su sitio web oficial.
As far as your virtual phone numbers are concerned, you’ve got to protect them from abuse. Make sure you use secure, complex passwords for your sistema telefónico virtual. Whitelist your VoIP provider’s email into your inbox, so you receive alerts immediately if there is any suspicious activity.
Dado que todas las llamadas se realizan a través de Internet, la seguridad de la red y la práctica de buenos hábitos de ciberseguridad son vitales.
- Asegúrese de que los teléfonos y las computadoras reciban actualizaciones del sistema operativo
- Instalar software antivirus para detectar malware y rootkits
- Usar complejo, contraseñas seguras to access your virtual phone system and don’t reuse them
- Si usa Wi-Fi público, use una VPN profesional
Cómo obtener un número de teléfono virtual
There’s no doubt that virtual phone numbers are more beneficial than traditional landline numbers. They work for small businesses with remote staff as well as larger companies who need to manage communication in their call centers.
Los números de teléfono virtuales vienen en varios sabores:
- Números de teléfono locales – These numbers are based in certain geographic areas, also known as rate centers or area codes.
- Números gratuitos – These are special numbers that start with 800, 888, 866, and others that allow people to call it without any tolls or fees.
- números de vanidad – These numbers are the catchy, memorable numbers like 1-800-FLOWERS. You would want to purchase these and port them in.
Recuerde, puede conservar su número de teléfono actual y llevarlo consigo a un sistema telefónico virtual. A medida que su empresa se expande, puede elegir nuevos números o intercambiar otros cuando lo desee.
Una vez tú instale su sistema telefónico virtual, you’ll wish you had it sooner. Your team will enjoy the freedom, flexibility, and savings a virtual phone number provides.
