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?
Deve haver uma maneira melhor de gerenciar suas comunicações de negócios, certo? Há!
There’s a new wave of sistemas de telefone do escritório flexíveis o suficiente para atender às necessidades de uma equipe remota, mesmo trabalhando em casa.
Mas e seus números de telefone? São difíceis de usar? Por que você deveria se preocupar com eles?
We’ll explain all the ins of outs of virtual phone numbers for your company and what you should know about how they work.
O que é um número de telefone 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 trabalhar em 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.
Como funciona um número virtual?
Os números de telefone virtuais não requerem um cartão SIM ou um endereço físico. Ele usa tecnologia de internet segura para fazer chamadas telefônicas reais entre as pessoas.
Em vez disso, os números virtuais aceitam chamadas através do Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Fundamentally, it’s the same proven technology used to make calls and text messages through iMessage, WhatsApp, or Google Voice.
VoIP floresceu porque pode fornecer comunicação em tempo real usando conexões de banda larga existentes. Com um provedor de comunicações em nuvem, suas chamadas telefônicas são digitalizadas e conectadas pela Internet e pelas redes telefônicas tradicionais. Ao longo dos anos, mais codecs VoIP fornecem uma qualidade de chamada rica sem consumir muitos dados.
Phone numbers in the United States are portable, so you don’t even have to switch. The process is known as portabilidade de número, e garante que você possa levar seu número de telefone comercial com você, independentemente do seu provedor de VoIP.
As a result, you don’t need a wired Ethernet connection to take calls through a número de telefone 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.
Diferenças entre números de telefone virtuais e 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.
Isso significa que sua empresa interna ou time virtual podem atender chamadas do número virtual no escritório, em casa ou no celular. E você pode escolher quem recebe as chamadas do número de telefone virtual, dependendo da disponibilidade de sua equipe.
Benefícios de um 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.
Aqui estão alguns benefícios úteis que você deve saber sobre números de telefone virtuais.
1) Elimine complementos e taxas caros com números de telefone locais
As pessoas podem usar o seu sistema de telefone virtual de qualquer lugar do mundo sem pagar taxas de chamadas caras. Você pode oferecer um número de telefone gratuito ou um número de telefone local com desconto que os chamadores globais podem 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 Discagem direta interna (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.
Dica profissional: 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) Melhore a satisfação do chamador com atendedores 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.
Um Cloud PBX, juntamente com números de telefone virtuais, são o caminho a percorrer.
3) Liberte-se do escritório mais um correio 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.
Os números virtuais resolvem esse problema. Você pode desativar a conexão do telefone fixo e fazer com que outros agentes atendam chamadas em seus telefones celulares ou encaminhem para outro agente disponível. Esse recurso reduz as chances de os chamadores serem vítimas do correio de voz e nunca mais serem ouvidos.
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) Os funcionários podem separar os negócios do telefone pessoal
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 seu identificador de chamadas quando você faz isso.
Esse novo recurso torna os números de telefone virtuais ideais para trabalhadores remotos. Mais do 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.
Proteja-se de golpes de telefone virtual
It’s no secret that golpes de telefone estão em ascensão. A incerteza e a ansiedade financeira só aumentam sua eficácia. Mesmo como proprietário de uma empresa, você é o principal alvo de golpes por telefone.
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.
Se você receber uma ligação intimidadora do seu banco, não forneça nenhuma informação. Desligue e entre em contato diretamente com o banco ligando para o número publicado em seu site 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 de telefone virtual. Whitelist your VoIP provider’s email into your inbox, so you receive alerts immediately if there is any suspicious activity.
Como todas as chamadas passam pela Internet, a segurança da rede e a prática de bons hábitos de segurança cibernética são vitais.
- Garantir que telefones e computadores recebam atualizações do sistema operacional
- Instale um software antivírus para detectar malware e rootkits
- Uso complexo, senhas seguras to access your virtual phone system and don’t reuse them
- Se você usa Wi-Fi público, use uma VPN profissional
Como obter um número de telefone 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.
Os números de telefone virtuais vêm em alguns sabores:
- Números de telefone locais – 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 vaidade – These numbers are the catchy, memorable numbers like 1-800-FLOWERS. You would want to purchase these and port them in.
Lembre-se, você pode manter seu número de telefone existente e levá-lo para um sistema telefônico virtual. À medida que sua empresa se expande, você pode escolher novos números ou trocar outros sempre que quiser.
Uma vez que você instale seu sistema de telefonia virtual, you’ll wish you had it sooner. Your team will enjoy the freedom, flexibility, and savings a virtual phone number provides.
