As you may have observed or even experienced, business communication is evolving day by day. Have you ever thought of the reasons behind this evolution? Several elements, such as digital transformations, technological innovations, and a divergent workforce, influence the direction in which the business-customer interactions are headed. Businesses are restructuring their customer experience strategies to deliver a frictionless customer experience, and here, cloud-based communication comes to the forefront. With numerous features, cloud telephony puts forward virtual phone systems- a new wave in business communications.
If you run a business in India, do you know how to get a virtual mobile number for your organization? How does it work in India? Let’s examine Virtual Phone Numbers in detail.
What are Virtual Phone Number?
A virtual business mobile number functions over the cloud and can route calls to any device, such as smartphones, landlines or VoIP systems, without being bound to any particular geographical location. Businesses can make and receive calls from any device without any SIM card. Virtual numbers work like traditional phone numbers but come with a plethora of advanced features like call forwarding, IVR systems, call recording, voice mail, etc, making them an ideal tool for modern business communication. Bringing mobility and flexibility, virtual numbers are now essential for managing medium to large-scale operations. The capability to scale, manage high-volume calls and maintain professional communication even when remote makes this technology vital for startups and SMEs.
Types of Virtual Phone Numbers
Virtual mobile numbers mainly come in three different types: local numbers, toll-free numbers, and international numbers.
- Local numbers: These numbers are mainly used for businesses that wish to maintain a local presence in a particular area or city. Local numbers can be forwarded to any landline or mobile phone in the same country.
- Toll-free numbers: Toll-free numbers are most appropriate for businesses who want to offer a free reach. These numbers can be forwarded to any landline or mobile phone of the organization. No money will be charged for dialing toll-free and businesses can handle it by paying a service provider.
- International numbers: Dedicated to business with abroad clients and offices, international virtual numbers ensure that you have a presence in multiple countries. These numbers can be forwarded to landlines and mobile phones in more than 100 countries globally.
Features of Virtual Phone Numbers
Imagine a growing startup expanding to new regions. They want to establish a local presence in different cities but don’t have physical offices everywhere. Rather than setting up expensive infrastructure, they use a virtual phone system allowing their customers to connect with their local team members irrespective of their location.
Even when your team is working in different time zones, the call will be routed to an available representative. But how do virtual phone numbers make this possible? Let’s explore the features.
- Call Forwarding: One of the most notable functions offered by virtual phone systems is call forwarding. It reroutes incoming calls to agents’ mobile numbers or other phone lines. Call forwarding can also divert incoming calls to contact centre agents’ numbers when they are away from the office. Consequently, you can avoid missed calls and provide uninterrupted customer assistance.
- Voice Mail: When you cannot answer calls, you can use voicemail to collect audio messages from your clients. The cloud phone system allows you to view your voicemails, and reps can schedule a callback for callers. With virtual phone systems like MCUBE, setting up voicemails is simple and takes only a few minutes. Go to voicemail settings, pick the voicemail number, and add music that will play when clients contact the business line that has voicemail enabled.
- Interactive Voice Responses (IVR): Incoming calls are handled and routed to the appropriate agents using an interactive voice response system that functions as a virtual receptionist without human intervention. An IVR number is a time-saving tool that can be used to automatically answer all calls and route them to the support agents if your company receives hundreds of support calls every day. As a result, fewer employees are required to handle commercial calls.
- Call Routing: When calls arrive at your centralized company number, call routing features, including skill-based routing, time-based routing, and sticky agent, assist in rerouting your incoming calls. These features guarantee that business calls are routed to the proper agent in the right time zone with the necessary skill sets.
- Call Monitoring: For call centres to monitor real-time call data, such as queued calls, ongoing calls, and call history, call monitoring is an essential tool. With features like call whisper and call barge, you can also keep an eye on agents.
- SMS: In order to save time, users can use pre-defined SMS templates to deliver SMS to callers or clients. You can send SMS after a call, collect feedback, and do surveys.
- Call Conferencing: With 3-way calling and HD call conferencing facilities, you can have virtual meetings with distant workers and coworkers. Call echoes and disconnections won’t occur even if multiple participants attend the conference call.
How to get a Virtual Mobile Number for your business
If you are running a business, you should definitely consider cloud phone numbers to create a professional touch to your services. It can be used in various industries, namely real estate, education, healthcare service, automobile, finance and many more. While building a more professional appearance, virtual phone numbers and cloud telephony can help you provide excellent customer service, which remains the foundation of sales all the time. If you want to discover more about why big brands in India are shifting towards virtual numbers, read here.
Let’s see the 5 steps to get a virtual number in India:
- Choose a vendor: Compare the virtual number of vendors.
- Select a plan: Opt for a strategy based on the amount of money and the volume of conversations.
- Number choice: Choose a local, toll-free or international number as per your requirements.
- Enable and configure: According to your needs, define the call, IVR, and voicemail conversion.
- Start Calling: Use your new business number right away.
With virtual phone numbers, businesses and consumers can communicate easily and without geographical limitations. Since every conversation matters in business, staying ahead of the curve requires businesses to adopt better, more efficient ways to connect as more adopt cloud telephony.
If you are looking for a virtual phone number and want to know the benefits of virtual numbers in detail, contact MCUBE for the best cloud phone solutions.
