It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is; if you are still managing your contacts with your phone number, you are inviting yourself into trouble. It’s almost impossible for an individual to scale a business by using a private phone number, and neither does it look professional.
Over time, as your team and business expand, the need for a business phone number becomes more important than ever. This is where virtual phone number services come into play.
What is Virtual Phone Number Services?
These are the services that provide you with a secondary phone number that can be operated without having a real smartphone.
Unlike traditional phone numbers, which depend on towers to provide networks, virtual phone numbers rely on the Internet.
They are more affordable than real phone numbers and are most preferred for business needs.
Best Virtual Phone Number Providers
You will find hundreds of virtual phone number providers on the internet, some providing numbers for free, whereas others require a paid subscription. Below, we have compiled a list of the best available options for getting a secondary phone number.
If you are looking for an affordable yet feature-rich virtual phone number solution for your business, you should try Phone.com.
The virtual phone number service has three different plans: Basic, Plus, and Pro. The basic plan is designed for small businesses and includes 300 minutes of calls.
After creating an account with Phone.com, you get a free local number that you can use to make or receive calls. However, if you want a premium or a separate number, you need to pay for it.
The Phone.com premium account offers you 50 different features that could help you manage your clients. You get features like address book, call forwarding, call analytics, call recording, call transfer, etc.
If you are looking for a virtual phone number system to empower your business calls, look no other than MightyCall.
MightyCall offers a full-fledged virtual phone system for your business at affordable prices. It has three different plans: Small Team, Business, and Enterprise.
The Small Team plan, designed for small businesses, starts at $9 per month/user and includes 1000 minutes of call time. Compared to other virtual phone number service providers, MightyCall’s plans were affordable and effective.
Every MightyCall plan offers several phone numbers—toll-free and local numbers, or multiples at no extra charge. In addition, you get useful features such as Call Recording, voice-to-text, Browser phone, etc.
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system designed to keep your personal and business calls separate. Compared to other virtual phone systems, Grasshopper is pretty easy to set up & use.
On Grasshopper, you just need to select your number, choose your plan, download the app on your device, and start making calls or sending SMS. Whenever your Toll-Free, Vanity, or Local numbers generated via Grasshopper receives a call, it will be immediately forwarded to your primary phone number.
While Grasshopper uses your cellular network for incoming/outgoing calls, you can still enable WiFi and VoIP calls. Grasshopper’s plans are pretty expensive, but they offer unlimited minutes.
RingCentral is another best virtual phone system on the list that you can consider. This one offers you more useful and better features than other virtual phone number providers. It has tools for video conferencing, cloud phones, team messaging, and more.
The good thing about RingCentral is that its app is available on almost all platforms. With RingCentral, you can take business calls from your desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, or desk phone.
RingCentral’s standard plan, priced at $27.99 per user/month, allows you to choose business phone numbers from over 100 countries and host video conferencing with up to 100 participants.
Google Voice is an intelligent voice calling service offered by Google. While It may not be as feature-rich as the others on the list, it can still satisfy your needs for placing and receiving calls from anywhere.
Google Voice service is only available in the US and provides a secondary phone number for business calls. On the Google Voice app or the web version, you can forward calls to any device and block spam calls automatically.
Nextiva is a top-rated service on the list that helps small businesses grow faster. It’s mainly known for providing VoIP phones, video conferencing, and text messaging services.
Every Nextiva plan offers a virtual phone number that you can use to make or receive calls on any phone, such as VoIP desk phones, cell phones, or softphones.
Other than that, Nextiva is mainly known for its call-related features, such as the ability to automatically collect feedback from clients and track customer interactions and conference calls.
If you are looking for a no-fuss web service that can provide you with a virtual online phone number, then give eVoice a try. eVoice gives you a free phone number – Local or Toll-free to get started.
After getting a free phone number, you can set up call forwarding to the number you want to receive calls. eVoice provides other useful features, such as voicemail to text, conference calling, custom greetings, etc.
CallHippo is yet another simple and easy-to-use virtual phone system that provides a wide range of valuable features to satisfy your business communication needs.
On CallHippo, you need to purchase numbers from around the world, assign your team-specific numbers, and start making and receiving calls worldwide.
You can make and receive calls from anywhere using your laptop or mobile device. It also has an intelligent call forwarding feature that forwards all incoming calls to an alternate number.
Other features of CallHippo include call analytics, call transfer, call recording, and more. The plans of CallHippo are pretty available, and you can choose projects based on your business size.
Founded in 1994, Sonetel has become one of the world’s leading virtual phone number service providers. This one is a bit different from all the other phone number services we have listed.
Instead of offering a full-fledged virtual phone number system, it allows you to purchase a local phone number from any country.
The price of numbers at Sonetel starts at $1.79/month, and you can forward incoming calls to any other number for the cost of a local call.
Besides that, Sonetel also allows you to set up voice responses on your virtual numbers. Overall, Sonetel is an excellent virtual phone number service that you can consider.
The popular video calling service Skype also has an add-on called Skype number. A Skype number is a second phone number that you need to purchase. Once you buy a number, it becomes attached to your Skype account.
You can use the Skype number to make and receive calls. You also have the option to forward your calls or easily send them to voicemail. As of now, Skype numbers are available in 25 countries/regions.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Are virtual phone numbers safe to use?
Yes, a premium phone number is safe to use. However, avoid using any free service that claims to provide a private inbox.
What is the best virtual number provider?
The answer to this question depends on your needs. Every virtual phone number provider has unique numbers with different country codes. So, make sure to review the list of all supported countries before making a purchase.
Is there a free virtual phone number?
Yes, there are a few free virtual phone number providers like Google Voice and TextNow. But these free services are available in limited countries. For example, with Google Voice, you can only make calls and exchange SMS to citizens of the US.
Is virtual number legal?
Yes, the use of a Virtual phone number is legal in most countries. You can use a virtual phone number for business purposes without worrying about any legal issues.
How to get a US number in India for free?
To get a US number in India for free, you need to use virtual phone number services. Google Voice is a free service offering US phone numbers; you can also consider that.
These are some of the best virtual phone number service providers you can use today. You can use these virtual phone systems to make and receive calls from anywhere using your desktop/laptop or smartphone. Let us know if you want to add your favorite virtual phone system to the list.