The virtual telephone number is a number without a directly-associated phone line. Many people would think that if they called a virtual telephone number they would be speaking with someone located in the same area as they are or probably in the same region or country. They’d probably double over if they found out that the person they were talking to was a thousand miles away in another country. That is what the virtual telephone number does-it directs callers to another phone line without any additional costs unlike long-distance calls.

Phone numbers starting with 800 are considered virtual telephone numbers. US companies found a niche in servicing customers through phone calls. Customers could call up these numbers and ask for assistance with their credit cards, cable TV and other matters. When these US companies used virtual telephone numbers extensively a new industry in customer service blossomed. The wonderful thing about this is that most American companies were able to save a lot on expenses they would otherwise have to spend on if they kept using regular phone numbers.

This sort of trend began when US companies figured that their expenses would go down substantially if they outsourced this kind of service to other English-speaking countries.

The advent of the virtual telephone number opened new doors to other English-speaking nations and they were ushered into the customer service industry. Because of the economical features of the virtual telephone number US companies were able to assist customers with their one hundred and one requests, inquiries and/or complaints by letting other people from other countries help them out.

One of the first countries to have used the virtual telephone number extensively is India. When the call center industry began to boom, India became the primary hub for customer-related concerns. Thousands of Americans and Europeans call representatives in India to ask them for any kind of assistance related to the products they have purchased or the service they have procured.

With the help of the virtual telephone number, these people never realized that instead of speaking to a customer representative based in the US or Europe they were actually talking to someone located thousands of miles away. The virtual telephone made them feel that they were speaking to someone close by.

This revolutionary concept paved new paths for US companies and gave a new meaning to the term “globalization”. When these virtual telephone numbers started to gain fame and extensive use even tasks usually delegated to administrative personnel were outsourced to countries outside the US. Calls made to travel agencies for booking flights were now directed to other countries.

Not only has virtual telephone numbers delegated tasks, such as flight/hotel booking and customer assistance to other countries it also delegated tasks such as taking pizza orders to other countries as well. Americans and Europeans will be expecting to talk to a fellow from India or the Philippines if they want to order a cheese pizza or if they want make a reservation at the Ritz. The technology of the virtual telephone number is truly remarkable and it will definitely change the way we communicate if it hasn’t yet.

Author Bio: Check out great deals on VoIP providers, and learn more about VoIP for small business and the advantages of VoIP.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: voip,isp,broadband,phone,internet,telecommunication,communication