A landline phone number routes directly to a specific receiver at a specific location. A mobile phone number routes directly to a specific device, regardless of location. A virtual phone number, on the other hand, is routed to a user account and can be answered from any device from any location by the account owner or an authorized user.
If that made sense, and that’s all you need, thanks for reading, and have a nice day. If not, we have some clarifying details that might prove valuable.
Read more:VoIP vs. Landline: The Pros & Cons for Business
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How do virtual numbers work?
If that previous example still leaves you a tad bit confused, then let’s try an analogy using a different medium of communication.
A simple metaphone
When you send a letter in the mail, it’s shipped to a specific physical location, determined by the address you used. If it can’t be delivered there, or if no one is there to receive it, it will eventually be returned to the sender.
Now, if you know the person you want to reach is out-and-about quite a lot, or maybe they don’t currently have a home address, you might be able to reach them on their cell phone via text. When you send a text, the “address” is their cell number. That means that, as long as their phone is connected to a cell tower, is on, and they have it with them, you can trust that they will receive your message.
But what if you don’t have their phone number? What if you’re trying to reach a group of people, who might be in different places or have different phones, etc.? What if you’re trying to reach an organization instead of a person?
Well, then you have email and instant messaging. Email addresses and IM profiles are connected to accounts, and anyone with the proper login credentials can access them, from just about anywhere with an internet connection.
In this analogy, physical mail is synonymous with landlines. Text messaging is identical in function to calling a cell number (at least as far as this metaphor is concerned). And the email/IM example maps very well onto virtual numbers.
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What’s it like to use a virtual phone number?
A virtual number functions as coordinates, the same way that web domains and email addresses do. The difference here is that it’s designed primarily to facilitate real-time voice communication (like a normal phone line is). In practice, there’s a lot of similarity between the way they’re used and, say, a teleconference account (especially if everyone has their camera off).
We discuss this more below, but getting a virtual number is also very similar to signing up for things like email, messaging apps, and all of these other things. The key difference is this: you’re tying the account to a legitimate phone number that can be called by anything that can make a normal phone call (including landlines).
Ok, that’s cool and all, but, uh…why?
Fair question. These days, our society has very different attitudes and relationships with telecommunication than it used to. 30-ish years ago, most everyone in the US had cable TV, a landline, and probably a typewriter. These days, all three of those things are rare except for sports fans, brick-and-mortar businesses, and crazy agoraphobic writers, respectively.
So you might be wondering why you even need something that is internet-enabled tech masquerading as the kind of phone that has to take turns with the dial-up modem to use the line.
A few key benefits stand out here.
Read more: How to Get a Free Business Phone Number
Less complex functionality
Forwarding numbers and making sure you can receive calls when you’re away from the office is typically a maddening process when landlines or cell phones are involved. Things have improved significantly, but there are whole businesses who only hired IT staff once they had to set up the internal phone systems.
Similarly, connecting multiple phones to the same system, allowing multiple people to answer the same line, adding “hold” functions, routing functions, etc.—there are a lot of common features that businesses want from their phone systems, and they’re not very user friendly to set up. IT staff already have enough to stress about without Steve the marketing intern complaining about how his phone won’t do a thing…again.
Virtual phone systems simplify a lot of this, and make it easier for even the least experienced users to make the most of it. In most cases, it’s no more complex than setting up, say, an out-of-office message for your emails when you’re on vacation.
Improved privacy
Second, a virtual number can provide a layer of privacy between a professional and the people trying to contact them. It can be notoriously fraught to use your personal cell number for business contact information, because once that number is out there, every prince with a hidden fortune or car warranty provider (both obviously scams, in case you hadn’t heard) will be dogging you day and night.
A virtual number, like an email account, gives you options for screening, automatically sending to voicemail, setting no-contact hours, forwarding to other team members, and a whole lot else.
Better access management
Sometimes the phone is just for you. Sometimes, you need a whole team to have access, and sometimes you need a whole rolodex (they were real once, I promise) full of numbers for the organization. Whatever the case, controlling who can access, use, and modify the phone system for a physical setup is a major challenge.
With a virtual phone system, it’s much more straightforward. You can make it easy for people who should have access be able to use their phone line whenr they need to. You can limit access, remove privileges when employees leave the team, lock up admin privileges for all but those who strictly need them, and transfer access when numbers, accounts, or features need to switch between staff.
Read more: 6 Best Vanity Phone Number Providers
Crossplay for professionals
Those gamers—with their newfangled Playboxes and Xstations—are always going on and on about “crossplay” these days.
In their defense, we’ve all come to expect all of our apps and systems to work on all of our devices by this point. Whenever we jump to a different screen and it doesn’t, we start throwing around phrases like “They can put a man on the moon…”
Old school phones don’t do the best job of interfacing with digital systems. And when they do, you’re usually paying quite a bit for it.
With virtual phone numbers, you can often link multiple devices to the system—desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. Then, you can switch seamlessly between them, as can your team, without any major issues making the connection difficult or unreliable.
What’s more, you may not even need physical phones in the first place. Many implementations exclusively use computers (be they desktops, laptops, or tablets) and you can just plug in a headset to complete the setup.
Lower costs
Remember how we just said you often don’t need physical phones at all? Well, most organizations already have computers (cause it’s hard to do work these days without them). And a headset is a lot cheaper than a fancy business phone with all the bells and whistles.
Now, multiply that by the number of staff members in the organization who use phones.
Physical landlines require specific hardware, dedicated installation, a separate telecom service, and a host of other costs.
Virtual phones, on the other hand, operate via a lot of infrastructure youlikely already have in place. The bulk of the cost is already sunk, and you’re only paying (if you pay at all) for the phone account.
Add-ons and integrations
Finally, if it’s all through the computer system, uses the internet, and plays well across lots of devices and platforms, you can rest assured that you’ll likely benefit from useful add-ons and convenient integrations. In many cases, you can link the phone system into the rest of your tech stack and sometimes even use 3rd-party options for functions the phones usually include if it’s a better fit for your use case.
Read more: 6 Best Cloud Phone Systems for 2024
Is there any reason I shouldn’t get a virtual phone?
There are a few potential pitfalls to virtual phones, since no system is perfect. And, even though they’re largely situational, it’s important to be aware of what they are.
For a virtual phone number to be of any use, you’ll need at least three things: a device capable of receiving the call through the internet, an internet connection, and power for any of the things you’re using to meet the previous two requirements.
What this means is, unlike landlines which can often continue to function even when the power is out, losing power, internet connection, or device functionality can leave you without a phone line. These problems tend to be situational, and there are some steps you can take to mitigate the risk of disruption. But it can still be a major concern.
If you live somewhere that experiences frequent power outages, or if you can’t get reliable internet at a high enough bandwidth, and can’t use smartphones as your go-to device for any reason, that may leave you in a position where a physical landline may actually be the smarter option for the time being.
So, how do I get one?
The same way you get an email address or start using Teams or Slack: you sign up for an account with a provider.
Google Voice, WhatsApp, and plenty of other tools offer this as a service (usually with other options, add-ons, and tools). The most common method of running a virtual phone system is through VoIP (voice over internet protocol), and a quick search with Google will bring up a very long list of market options there.
Be aware that there are free options on the market, even for business users. There are even free options for multi-number accounts. That said, paid accounts often come with extra perks, and depending on who you go through, it may be a simple add-on for a service you’re already using (such as adding voice to Google Workspace).
And you can get all of the same fun toys that are normally associated with traditional phones—answering machines, vanity numbers, and so on—all with the benefits of cloud-hosted telecom solutions.
So what are you waiting for? Pick a provider that looks like a match, and give them a ring (pun intended, obviously).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
