Let’s begin with a very simple question.
What according to you, is the most efficient mode of communication in converting your big potential clients? A written communication or verbal communication?
Did you just say ‘verbal’? Yes, you’re right.
To communicate verbally with your potential clients or even paying customers, I’d say, calls are the most instant and easy way to connect.
But are you even managing your business calls efficiently? Are you ensuring that none of your calls get missed?
Are you optimizing your calls to the fullest?
10-digit solution to manage your business calls
Maybe, you’re just managing your calls the best way you can. Or maybe, you are missing a significant number of business calls everyday.
But what’s important, ‘Is your ROI justified in terms of money, time and resources you are putting in managing your business calls everyday?’ Well, I’ll leave the answer to you.
I’ll just tell you three major strengths of this ‘10-digit solution’.
- It helps you shift from manual call management to automated call management, thereby saving your resources.
- It lets you ensure zero missed calls, which, in turn results in more call leads and better customer experience.
- The installation does not require any capital expenditure and it can be set up within seconds.
Cutting to the chase, the 10-digit solution that I’m talking about is a ‘virtual phone number’.
Not sure if you have heard about it before, but a virtual phone number is no more an alien concept in India
Many big enterprises, small businesses and even government bodies are using it to make their call management efficient and easy.
What is a virtual phone number?
A virtual phone number, also known as direct inward dialing (DID) or access numbers is a telephone number without a directly associated telephone line. It is used to forward incoming calls to different local numbers. These local numbers are mapped at the back end of the centralized virtual number. And the best part is, there is no location or time constraints. For example, a person in India can map his US virtual number to a US local number.
Technically speaking, virtual numbers work on an internet protocol. Hence, there is no requirement of phone number registration by a local telecom operator. A virtual phone number in India can work like a gateway between traditional calls (PSTN) and VoIP. To obtain virtual number, you may contact cloud telephony providers like MyOperator.
Ok. Enough of theoretical knowledge. Let’s dive into some real business problems.
Mr. Sharma is an owner of a company ‘Sharma’s Collection’ which sells high-quality branded clothes in Delhi. He is a wholesaler and mostly takes bulk orders.
He gets almost 150+ business enquiries on call everyday. Most of the enquiries are related to availability of product or placing advance orders. But, he has only 3 executives and all of them have 3 different contact numbers to handle calls.
But, due to enormous call volume, many calls are being missed everyday by the agents. This means that Sharmaji is losing a good amount of his business revenue. Indirectly, he is giving his business orders to his competitors.
Worst thing is, he is not even aware about the number of calls that are being missed. How would he! He can’t pop into someone else’s phone and look for the call logs.
Problems that are arising due to the whole scenario are:
- He’s not able to monitor his executive’s performance. And hence, isn’t aware of the number of calls missed and received.
- Many a times, calls are being missed because the executive is already on some other call.
- Three different contact numbers are floated among the customers which makes it even more difficult to track the business calls.
Sharma ji is also planning to launch an advertisement about his company, and he isn’t sure about the contact number that should be placed in the advertisement.
What do you think would be the best possible way to solve all the above problems?
Can a virtual phone number be an apt solution to this?
Let’s figure it out.
Features of a virtual phone number in India
There are many reasons why virtual number in India is a must for every business. But, before diving into ‘why it’s a best fit for your industry’, let’s know the features and benefits of a virtual number.
1. A centralized contact number for businesses
Unlike a traditional contact number, you can map several local phone numbers behind a virtual number. This helps your business receive multiple calls at the same time, thereby, making virtual number, a single centralized number for your business.
2. Detailed report of your business calls
Virtual number in India allows you to keep a tab on all your business calls via a single dashboard. This helps you monitor your business’s call traffic on a daily basis, and analyze call performance of the agents and departments in your organization.
3. Easy tracking of marketing RoI
You can advertise different virtual numbers via different marketing campaigns, and hence analyze the performance of each campaign. You can analyze which marketing campaign is fetching you more number of call leads, and hence analyze the RoI of each campaign.
4. Remarketing to your callers
Remarketing is top-notch feature of a virtual number where you can remarket your products to your callers via Facebook advertisement and SMS marketing. It just needs a simple API integration and it’s done.
5. Live call transfer
With a virtual number, your executives can transfer ongoing calls to their counterparts irrespective of time or geographical constraints. This is not possible with simple local number or a mobile number.
6. Better call quality
As virtual number in India is based on cloud, there are less network connectivity issues due to preclusion of traditional telephone operator lines. Hence, it ensures better call quality.
7. Ensures executives’ privacy
You and your executives need not share the personal contact numbers when there’s a virtual number in place. Customers can simply call on the virtual number, which in turn, will get routed to the right executive with the help of IVR.
8. OTP verification
A virtual number lets you receive OTP for any services without disclosing your actual number. The OTP, along with any other SMS can be seen at one place in your online panel.
Virtual phone number: Helping businesses in India to grow exponentially
Now, that you’re aware about the generic features of a virtual number, let me tell you why it’s the best fit for your industry.
Virtual number in India for healthcare sector
Healthcare sector works a lot on phone calls. From appointments and consultation to queries, everything is done via call. Even in case of emergencies, phone call is the most preferred mode of communication.
In such a scenario, call management is a lot more than just managing appointments and not losing business. It means saving lives and reaching out to patients at the right time whenever they need you.
A virtual mobile number helps you ensure that your healthcare business do not miss any important calls. It helps in easy routing of calls to the right department via IVR. Also, it ensures minimal missed calls as multiple executives are mapped at the backend of one virtual phone number.
Virtual number in India for education sector
Do you remember the hustle and bustle during the admission process in India? Be it a school, college or even a coaching institute, the queries just overflow during the peak season. Many times, students get disappointed when their calls go unanswered even after multiple attempts.
Do you know the reason for calls being missed? All the contact numbers available with the organization remains continuously busy due to the huge call volume. And only the lucky ones get to speak to the admission office. You, as an owner of any such institute must be aware that not this is not just frustrating for the students, but it can even cost them their career.
A virtual number helps you deal with high call volume during peak seasons. The IVR attached to virtual number assists the students get connected to the right departments, such as admissions, payment, class schedule, etc. This not only reduces the resolution time, but can also helps in resolving the query without any human interference through self-service IVR.
Virtual number in India for tours & travels industry
This industry is growing rapidly in India and so is the competition. In this sector, the first interaction might happen over email or a website form but human touch is important to gain the trust of new tourists (customers). A phone call acts as the best way to keep human touch intact while earning the trust of new customers.
Apart from this, creating a brand image is equally important. You won’t flourish or get call leads if people don’t know you. Another important aspect is response time of the executive. If your company always answers calls on time, it simply means that they are more reliable when going to a completely unknown place to visit.
Toll-free (1800) number, a type of virtual number is sufficient to actually satisfy all the above scenarios. It not only creates brand image of your company but also helps your customers call you at zero cost. IVR attached to the toll-free number helps in routing calls directly on the executives’ mobile phone irrespective of the time and their location. This results in quick response time.
Virtual number in India for IT sector
India’s $167 billion IT services industry is growing at an average rate of 7-9 % every year. With so much contribution to India’s GDP, IT companies need to tackle some major challenges to maintain their growth.
One such major challenge is to remain available 24*7 as most of the clients they are dealing with are based at foreign locations. IT businesses need to tackle the problem of different time zones.
A virtual number in India associated with an IVR helps your IT company remain awake 24*7 and cater to the needs of their customers irrespective of the countries they are based in. A voicemail facility helps your customers drop the queries even if none of the agents are available. This increases customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Virtual number in India for social sector
Social sector organizations mostly deal with people from rural areas and or victims of any natural disaster. In both of the cases, it’s hard to maintain a good call quality due to network and connectivity issues.
A virtual mobile number is based on cloud and hence ensures zero network congestion even at the time of natural disaster. Moreover, a toll-free number makes these social organizations more accessible as it does not require any calling charges. This helps the victims get the proper resources on time.
Hopefully, I’ve given enough knowledge to get you started with a virtual number smoothly.
But, what are your thoughts? Are you using a virtual mobile number in India or planning to buy one?
I’d just say “It’s now or never”.
