What is VoIP?

VoIP can be described as making phone calls over an internet connection. More and more entrepreneurs are switching from an on-site phone system to a so-called ‘hosted VoIP’ solution.

The main reasons for this are that it is cheaper and significantly more flexible. In recent years, remote working has become increasingly common. With an old-fashioned phone system, this is challenging in terms of phone accessibility. But with VoIP, it is possible to forward calls to a mobile device. The phone system is accessible anywhere there is internet, even abroad, for example, when you are on a business trip. Technical maintenance is handled by the VoIP provider, so you don’t have to worry about it. And did we mention it’s more cost-effective? Plenty of reasons to switch. When you choose business calling via VoIP, you have a choice of different VoIP phone numbers. Which number you choose depends on how you prefer customers to reach you. There are several important choices to determine which type of phone number best suits you. Later in this article, we explain the differences between the various types of VoIP phone numbers.

It’s also good to know that you can easily move to a VoIP telecom solution with your existing phone number. Number retention is not a problem. In industry jargon, this is also called number porting. Customers and other contacts won’t notice the switch. The only thing they might notice is that you are more accessible by phone, the line quality is better, and the phone contact they have with your company leaves a more professional impression.

Advantages of VoIP Telecom at a Glance

  • In principle, you can conduct an almost unlimited number of phone calls simultaneously. Your organization will never be “busy” again if you have enough phone staff.
  • Always reachable even during internet and power outages. You might think that with VoIP, telephony isn’t possible during such outages. Nothing could be further from the truth. In such cases, incoming calls can be forwarded to a mobile phone with the push of a button.
  • Fewer cables. No one likes a tangle of cables in the office. By moving telephony to the cloud, you also create “peace” in this area.
  • Remote working. The new way of working had already been steadily on the rise but accelerated in early 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many organizations had to let employees work from home out of necessity. This brought significant challenges for companies still using a physical phone system in the office. Not so for businesses that had already embraced VoIP telecom. With the push of a button, they could enable employees to make business calls from home. But how do you know if an incoming call is business or personal in this scenario? Very simple: a pre-announcement tone can be set up at no extra cost via Belfabriek’s modern VoIP solution. This way, all colleagues know exactly whether an incoming call is business-related or perhaps a personal call from a spouse asking about groceries. Tip: check out our remote working series.

What Are the Different Types of VoIP Phone Numbers?

There is quite a bit of freedom of choice when it comes to the available types of VoIP phone numbers. We can distinguish between:

  • Regional phone numbers
  • International phone numbers
  • 0800 and 0900 numbers
  • 088 and 085 numbers

Local or Even International

If your business has a strong local character or if you want to maintain a clear connection with a specific region, you can choose a local number such as a 010 or 020 number. Customers who call will recognize that the phone number is local. Keeping a local number can also be useful if you move. Perhaps many customers have known your phone number for years, and when you switch to VoIP, you want to keep that number. Since choosing a local phone number is possible with VoIP, this can be done.

If you are not locally but internationally oriented, you might want to refer customers in certain countries or foreign regions to a foreign phone number. This is possible for many countries, including Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Check with our international number desk to see which numbers are available!

Pay Per Minute

If you want calling customers to pay per call or per minute, a 0900 number is the logical choice. With a 0900 number, the caller pays a fee. Charging customers for a call can be a good choice if you want to set up a paid helpdesk.

Free Calling

It may also be that you don’t want customers to pay for a phone call at all. If you want to offer customers a free phone number via VoIP, a 0800 number is the logical choice. Here, the situation is exactly the opposite of a 0900 number. With a 0800 number, the recipient pays the costs, and there are no costs for the caller.

100 Phone Numbers or Just a Few?

If you need a lot of phone numbers at once (up to hundreds), an 088 number range is perfectly suitable. Large quantities of phone numbers are delivered in bulk. With an 085 phone number, it’s not possible to purchase hundreds at once. This type of phone number is therefore mainly suitable if you only need one or a few phone numbers. Both numbers are charged at local rates. Neither 085 nor 088 is linked to a specific Dutch city or region. These are considered national phone numbers and are widely recognized by potential customers from Maastricht to Groningen.

The above considerations can help in choosing between the different VoIP phone numbers. Not sure? We’re happy to help!

All Features Now Also Accessible for SMEs

When you call a large organization, such as a bank, certain things stand out. There may be a welcome message, a menu selection, and often you’ll hear something like “this call may be recorded for training purposes.” There may also be a queue if it’s busy. Until recently, these kinds of features seemed inaccessible to freelancers and SMEs. But with the advent of VoIP telecom services, these are now also accessible to smaller organizations in an affordable and accessible way. At Belfabriek, all these useful features are even fully included without limits!