If you’re launching a small business, you may want to think about using virtual phone numbers to give your business credibility, save you money, and increase your reach. Many small businesses think this is not a priority, especially if they only have a handful of employees. However, as your business grows, and your number of customers and employees increases, using a virtual phone system makes complete sense.
What Are Virtual Phone Numbers?
Traditionally, a business phone system is one which provided each employee with a phone on his or her desk. With the addition of conference calling, voicemail, and call forwarding, modern phone systems have transformed business communications. But for many business owners, particularly those just starting out, an in-house phone system is simply not within their budget.
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Nowadays, no matter how small your business, you can have a phone system which does not require dedicated hardware, expensive software, in-house management, and in-house tech support. That’s because your business can use virtual phone numbers, via a system which is maintained and operated in the cloud. Such a virtual phone system is very affordable, even for small businesses and start-ups. Additionally, when you subscribe to virtual phone numbers, you can use your existing phones, whether they are landlines or mobile phones.
Ways that Virtual Phone Numbers Can Help Your Business
Since their inception, virtual phone numbers have advanced significantly regarding the additional features they offer. Here are some of the most useful features offered by virtual phone number providers:
Different types of phone numbers: Most virtual phone number providers offer local and toll-free virtual numbers, as well as vanity numbers. You can subscribe to as many numbers as you like and use different numbers to track different marketing campaigns.
Call routing: You can use your online management console to automatically route your calls to one or more numbers so that you never miss a call. You can make the most of features such as simultaneous or synchronized ringing, and failover forwarding. You can even screen calls to make sure that each one gets to exactly the right person or if you wish, send them to voicemail.
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Virtual receptionist: Make your callers feel comfortable by creating an individualized professional greeting when they call your business telephone numbers. After the greeting, you can, if you wish, provide them with a self-serve menu which allows them to choose an extension to reach the department or person they want to speak to. You can also include your business locations and hours of operation.
Additional features: Many virtual phone number providers also offer a range of other services such as black and white lists, select country forwarding, fax and voicemail to email, call transfer, and roll-over minutes.
Account management: It’s so easy to manage your account, change your numbers, and monitor your virtual phone numbers using the online dashboard. It’s very user-friendly, so you don’t have to learn how to use a complex system and there is no additional hardware to deal with.
Live attendant: Many businesses prefer to have a live person answer their calls, but they may not be able to afford to hire a receptionist to do so. Some virtual phone number providers offer the option of a live attendant, which is more affordable.
Web and video conferencing: Some virtual number providers offer the service to host video and web conferences as and when you need them.
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Call recording: This is a great feature that can help your business in several ways. For instance, you can use it to monitor how your customer service center is operating and use the calls in staff training sessions. You can also use the recorded calls to settle any customer disputes which may arise.
Call tracking: Use call tracking to monitor your marketing campaigns. You can do this by assigning a different virtual phone number to each of your ad campaigns. This will enable you to see which ones are driving the leads and which ones need to be improved.
Why Choose Global Call Forwarding?
In today’s competitive marketplace, communications between businesses and their customers have never been more important. Global Call Forwarding is dedicated to providing local and toll-free virtual phone numbers in more than 140 countries so your business can establish a local presence anywhere in the world. They offer a high-quality network structure, 24/7 tech support, many additional service features, and an expert customer service team.
Contact Global Call Forwarding today so they can handle your virtual communications network, while you focus on growing your business. Within minutes you will have a local presence in countries all over the world.
