•
Businesses – a company located in
China can have a phone number in
Los Angeles or
London without paying for a fixed
foreign exchange line. Virtual numbers are very popular among
call centers which appear to be located in one country, when they are in one or more countries in different time zone, delivering efficient
24/7 cover. Virtual numbers faced popularity due to the growing trend of remote working, as it allows for employees to make and receive calls as their businesses' phone number remotely. It is especially popular in small businesses, startups or businesses with remote workers using virtual numbers to manage their inbound and outbound calling. •
Individuals – Individual usage of virtual numbers can vary, with many using the service to have 2 separate numbers, one for business and the other for personal usage. Services like
Google Voice, TextNow and Temp Number offer virtual numbers to individuals. One popular use case of virtual numbers are travelers, migrants, and immigrants, who can enjoy often cheaper calling rates rather than making an international call via their carrier. They may also be used to protect a user's privacy by hiding their real number to callers. •
Specific businesses – calling cards or callback. Virtual numbers work like access numbers, e.g., the phone number that (calling cards) or callback's user has to dial to make the call/(use callback). •
Marketing – some companies use virtual numbers for various marketing campaigns, or different media channels; this allows them to track which campaign or medium brings what kind of traffic, as well as send different marketing materials to different audiences. •
Virtual services – various providers of virtual business services (virtual address, virtual receptionist,
virtual office) will use a virtual number to tie in their other virtual services together. This allows their customers to have a phone, address and voice presence almost anywhere in the world. •
Disposable numbers are
phone numbers that are used for a limited time. In
San Antonio fake businesses used disposable numbers printed on pizza fliers to deliver inferior quality pizzas. Most voice over IP providers offer virtual numbers; unbundled providers label these as "DIDs" (
direct inward dial). These are typically offered as local geographic numbers in various selected cities or as
toll-free numbers, with the non-geographic number carrying higher per-minute cost to receive calls. In the
North American Numbering Plan,
Area code 500 and
Area code 533 are follow-me numbers, and referred to as
Personal Communications Service (NANP). In the
United Kingdom, there are over 600 geographic area codes using 01 and 02 numbers which can also be set up as virtual numbers. Non-geographic numbers such as those starting 03, 08 or 09 can also be used in this way. ==See also==