Virtual Numbers and Their Applications

call tracking, virtual numbers, marketing, call recording, marketplaces, restaurants, directories, real estate, 

Want to learn about virtual numbers and how they can help your business? In this article, we explain what virtual numbers are and the different ways they can increase your revenue and help your company grow. We’ll also highlight a great virtual phone number solution to help you get started.

Here’s what we’ll talk about in this article:

• What is a virtual phone number?
• What does a virtual number do?
• What is the best virtual number solution?
• Applications of virtual numbers in different industries

Let’s get started.

What is a Virtual Phone Number?

A virtual phone number is a business number or personal number that isn’t attached to a telephone number line like a regular desk phone or mobile. Instead, virtual numbers run via an internet connection to help you route phone calls to a regular phone number.

Here’s how virtual numbers work:

If you’re a business based in New Zealand, a customer from the United States can call your USA virtual number and be routed to your customer service line and be answered by staff in New Zealand. The person calling your international virtual number, won’t incur any additional costs associated with the international call to New Zealand.

This virtual number acts as a local phone number for the caller – making the process easier and cheaper for them!

What Do Virtual Numbers Do?

While virtual numbers can be a low cost calling alternative for enterprises as well as small businesses, that’s not all they are.

They address tons of different business needs. Here’s a breakdown of how a virtual telephone number can help you:

1. Can Help You Measure the Performance of Your Marketing Campaigns

   Most businesses spend a high percentage of their budget on marketing campaigns for different platforms.

   But how do you verify if that’s money well spent?

   Here’s how it works:

   1. Assign a virtual toll-free number or local number to each marketing channel like Facebook ads, Google Adwords or even a physical banner ad on the subway. You can even assign a unique toll-free number or local number for each Google Adword variant!

       

      (The best thing about virtual numbers is that you can create an unlimited amount of them!)

   2. These unique toll-free or local virtual numbers help you credit the number of phone calls that come in from each of your marketing campaigns.
   3. Therefore, you can use each platform’s virtual number to identify the best performers and invest further. For example, if you find that your Facebook Ad listings are receiving calls that generate far more engagement than your other marketing platforms, consider increasing your spend on your Facebook Ads.
   4. Moreover, you can use this data to improve your copy and apply it to other mediums, such as your text messaging strategy.

2. Helps You Go International While Establishing a Local Presence

   One of the best things about virtual numbers is that they’re location independent. This can be incredibly useful when you’re going international and want to establish a local presence with just a virtual local number.

   By setting up a local phone number for a country, you’re letting customers make local calls instead of ringing a costly international number!

   For example, if you’re a business based in a United Kingdom area code and want to expand to Canada, you can buy a Canada based virtual local number for your company. This way, you’re not forcing your Canadian customers to use their cell phone to make expensive international calls!

   But why do you need local numbers to establish a local presence?

   Providing customers with a local phone number helps them appreciate that you are invested in that area – even if you’re thousands of miles away! Even if they know that you don’t have an office in their local area, they’ll still be more willing to trust and engage with you.

3. Lets You Route Calls from Anywhere

   International calling is one of the biggest benefits of virtual numbers.

   As they’re internet-based, you have an unlimited selection of location choices for call handling. Anyone – from anywhere in the world – can call your virtual local numbers and be routed to the right department.

   For example, you can have a 24-hour virtual vanity number for your Argentinian location and your customer service call center from the Philippines can attend to calls when it’s midnight in Argentina. Your customers won’t have to incur any additional fees and their concerns will be dealt with promptly.

   International communication has never been easier!

4. Virtual Numbers Can Automate Your Workflows

   You can integrate virtual toll-free or local numbers with booking systems and call forwarding systems to create a streamlined customer service workflow.

   For example, you can set up a virtual business number for your clinic and the moment someone rings, call forwarding routes them to a booking system where they can plan and schedule an appointment.

   You can even change your forwarding destinations based on the time of day or location of the caller to ensure that calls are always addressed efficiently.

Why iovox Enterprise is the Best Virtual Number System

Iovox Enterprise is the world’s leading call tracking and virtual number service. Used by leading companies like British Telecom, Auto Trader UK and Zoopla, iovox has all the features you need to make the most of your inbound and outbound calls. They have a powerful desktop app as well as a mobile phone app for iPhone and Android to help you manage calls 24×7!

Here’s a closer look at why iovox Enterprise is one of the best virtual phone systems on the market today:

1. Go Global With Virtual Numbers For Over 60 Countries

   Iovox Enterprise has one the most expansive call tracking systems currently available.

   With iovox’s virtual international numbers, you can access numbers from over 60 countries! This lets you engage with the customers you want – irrespective of their local area code. You can use iovox’s international numbers to truly take your business to the next level!

2. Give Each Number The Attention It Deserves

   Unlike other tools that limit you to only managing your virtual numbers collectively, iovox Enterprise lets you manage each account number separately.

   This facilitates call routing on a number-by-number basis – giving you the customizability you need to effectively manage your business calls. For example, you can create customized routing options for an account number that vary based on:

   • Time of day
   • Country of origin
   • Priority of caller

   It’s the perfect way to optimize your call handling as each account number is fully customized to your preferences!

3. Always Know Where Your Calls Are Coming From

   Iovox Enterprise automatically identifies where incoming calls originated to help you attribute your call sources. The system even supports call whispers to help you receive calls more effectively.

   What are call whispers for incoming calls?

   Call whispers are short voice messages that are played when you receive calls from customers. They play right as the call connects, but before you hear each other and inform you of where the call is coming from.

   For example, if you’re a business that placed ads on various marketplaces, iovox’s call whispers will tell you which marketplace your caller is calling from. This will help you identify your best performing platforms for incoming calls before you pick up, as well as inform you to your customers inquiry as you already know exactly which ad they saw.

4. Use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) To Help Your Customers Help Themselves

   Iovox Enterprise supports IVR (Interactive Voice Response) for simpler lead management. With IVR, the customer can choose a few options and call routing will direct them to the right department.

   You can even integrate iovox with your booking systems to create unlimited calling routes that help customers make bookings themselves.

   For example, after dialing your toll-free or local phone numbers, a customer is presented with two options:

   • Press “1” to schedule an appointment
   • Press “2” to modify an appointment

   They’ll then be routed to the right customer support team that’s prepared to deal with their request.

   You can combine this feature with an SMS service to send follow-up text messages.

   For example, after a customer chooses an option, they’ll receive relevant text messages relating to their selection.

5. Call Recording To Keep Track Of Your Call Information

   Iovox also gives you the option to record your calls to make them as easy to log as emails and SMS messages.

   As you can record every call you receive, you don’t have to rely on notes and memory to consolidate the information. Just play the recording, and you have all the information you need.

   However, playing an entire recording every time might be inconvenient, right?

   That’s why with iovox you can easily transcribe these recordings into saveable, shareable text documents. This way, you won’t have replay an entire recording – just look at the transcript to find what you were searching for with option to share it in whole or in part!

Industry Applications of iovox

Many industries and small business owners can use a virtual telephone number to streamline work activities. Here’s how:

1. Restaurants

   Most restaurants have a hard time managing their bookings. As there’s only one dedicated booking number, you can only handle one call at a time – reducing the number of inbound calls you can attend to. Even worse, calls may come in at peak times when staff is not as available to answer the phone and take the reservation.

   Thankfully, iovox’s free phone numbers can help you out.

   Use iovox to set up free virtual numbers with automatic call transfers to an automated booking system if you are using this for web bookings. After the customers call, you can set up an automated system to send texts to confirm their booking. This way, the customer can quickly book a table themselves – increasing the number of customers you can attend to with limited hands on deck.

2. Online Marketplaces

   Most online marketplaces such as real estate and automotive sites face two main challenges. Iovox Enterprise’s virtual business phone numbers help you address both.

   Challenge 1: Easily directing visitors to the right companies and small business owners.

   Solution
   With iovox, you can set up unique numbers that forward calls to the existing mobile or landline numbers of the businesses on your site. This way, whenever a visitor is interested in an offering, they can call your virtual business number that’ll route calls to the right business.

   Challenge 2: Showing businesses on your portal that their investment is worthwhile.

   Solution

   As you’ve set up free virtual phone numbers for each business, you can track call data to measure the volume of calls you’ve generated for that business. You can use this information when negotiating with clients to show them that they’re getting a good ROI from your marketplace.

3. Directories

   Just like Marketplaces, the iovox phone service can also help Directories show their clients that they’re getting a good ROI.

   As each customer has a unique virtual toll-free or local number, you can easily track the volume of inbound calls they’re receiving through your site. This will show small business owners how beneficial your directory is to them.

   You can even add call whispers to these virtual numbers that inform your clients of where their phone calls are coming from. Whispers help your customers instantly recognize how helpful your directory is in bringing them business.

4. Real Estate

   The iovox virtual number service is the perfect solution for real estate businesses looking to optimize their listings and processes.

   You can set up unique virtual numbers for individual listings or for a specific area. This way, whenever you receive calls from a specific number, you’ll already know what listing or area they’re interested in! Setting up unique virtual numbers for each listing is very useful in luxury real estate deals.

   You can even implement IVR to help your customers route calls to the right department.

   For example, when a customer calls your real estate business, they can:

   • Press “1” if they’re interested in purchasing a property
   • Press “2” if they’re interested in leasing a property

   Additionally, in case you miss a call, customers can be asked to leave a voicemail or will receive text messages letting them know when you’re available. This way, you’ll never miss the opportunity to attend to a potential client!

5. Marketers

   There are an unlimited number of marketing tactics out there.

   Most marketers are always on the lookout for the ones with the best ROI.

   There’s no point investing heavily in something that isn’t bringing you the results you want, right?

   But how do you do this?

   With iovox Enterprise, you can assign a unique business phone number to each of your marketing platforms to measure how well they’re doing. For example, if you’re a software solutions company, you can have separate virtual numbers attached to your Google and LinkedIn ads.

   As each platform has a different number, you can instantly determine which platform a customer is calling from. This data can help you determine your most profitable platforms and reduce your spend on a marketing plan that’s underperforming.

Virtual numbers provide businesses with tremendous flexibility and are the go-to solution for most modern businesses. They can help you increase your revenue and streamline your work activities!

If you’re interested in learning more about virtual numbers or seeing a demonstration of the iovox software, contact us today.

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