But what about outbound calling? If the service exists in the cloud, what do you do if you want to call a business prospect back from your personal cell or home phone? You don't want the prospect to capture your personal number. To solve this, many virtual phone providers include the ability to make outbound calls through the virtual phone network which will allow you to display your virtual toll free number as the caller id number. The number of the phone used to actually make the call stays anonymous and is never revealed to the caller. This makes it very convenient when you need to make that call back and all you have access to is a personal phone.
The way outbound calling works is very similar among virtual phone providers, but the way in which you have access to make outbound calls through the virtual phone network can be very different. The virtual calling card offered by Freedom800® is unique feature and offers some key advantages over mobile apps that other service providers require that you use to simulate the outbound calling functionality.
1. Mobile Data vs. Cellular Network
Some providers require that you install a mobile app to make outbound calls through the virtual phone network. When you use the app, it utilizes the internet/data service on your mobile phone to make the outbound call, which is less reliable for phone callsa and often noticably lowers the quality of the call.With the Freedom800® virtual calling card feature you use your cellular network to make the outbound call, just like any typical cellular call, which provides better quality of service since the cellular network has already been optimized for voice calls.
2. Use Any Touch Tone Phone
Although smart phones are an awesome business tool, you don't always have access to one. Sometimes you may need to use a different phone like a business phone in a client's location or a friend's phone. Whatever the case, if you're required to use an app to make outbound calls through the virtual phone network, you won't be able to use the outbound calling feature provided.The Freedom800® virtual calling card eliminates the need for having to use a specific device in making the outbound call through the virtual phone network. Any touch tone phone will be able to access your Freedom800® toll free number admin from which you have access to make outbound calls.
3. Shortcuts for Faster Dialing
One of the advantages of using mobile apps for outbound calls is that it offers convenient access to the outbound call service. Depending on how efficiently the app is designed you can start dialing out with a few touches fater the app launches.The Freedom800® virtual calling card does require you to dial into your toll free number and enter your PIN code before the caller's number can be dialed, which can be slighly more cumbersome to use than a mobile app. But by making a virtual contact in your mobile phone's contact list, you can speed up that process tremendously. Just create a contact with your own toll free number and required digits needed to access the virtual calling card feature and when you are ready to make an outbound call, bring up your 'contact' to dial the digits needed to access the virtual calling card feature. By doing this, it also allows you to use any blue tooth or built in voice response technology designed to make calls more efficient from your mobile device, which isn't available through most mobile apps.
As you can see, outbound calling can be a common feature listed among virtual toll-free service providers, but how you utilize the feature can vary greatly. Make sure your cloud-based 800 phone service not only allows you the ability to be mobile, but also flexible in how you need interact with the service. The more tied to a specific device you are, the less flexible the service will become.
