I wonder if anyone has recommendations for virtual phone number providers? I’m looking for something similar to a Google Voice or Skype number, but with an Austrian country code, as my business is in Austria and I would like the phone number to reflect that.
When I search online for virtual phone numbers, I get results for dozens of providers but I have no way of knowing which ones are reliable. Any tips would be much appreciated!
The two big ones are Twilio and Nexmo. I’ve only used Twilio, and they were reliable but had issues with Apple multimedia messages. This was 5 years ago, so it’s possible they’ve fixed that issue, but it’s something to be aware of.
I don’t know much about Nexmo, except that they’re owned by Vonage now and are reportedly more popular in Europe.
Aren’t both of those providers API services, though? I don’t think they have a consumer product directly?
I had a look at the websites of both providers yesterday and also wondered if they would be prepared to sell my service for one number, which is what I’m looking for at this stage. Something like Google Voice would suit my needs just fine - but as far as I know, GV only provides US / Canada numbers. Any suggestions for solutions that might work for an individual / small business would be very welcome!
Didn’t used to, but there’s a mobile app called Twilio Frontline that appears to provide a UI. Some 3rd party apps, maybe including WhatsApp, may also.
You’re right that they’re APIs first, though, so ymmv.
I think you will find providers like twilio or hologram or nexmo to be far from what you are looking for. Their focus is IoT, automation, customer service platforms. Or, as mentioned, all API/dashboard driven. They aren’t going to present you something like a google-voice because it’s not what they do.
There are of course providers that do what you are looking for. I’m sure they’ve been mentioned in other threads on this board. But you have to differentiate.
I found after looking at Twilio that I couldn’t use their API to do anything more than SMS receipt: for which it would have been cost-effective for OTPs and the like since they had an online control panel to log the received SMSs. It wouldn’t have been suitable for sending SMS.
I didn’t see how Twilio numbers could be made to work as for a real phone without installing something like Asterisk, which I was prepared to do at one point but never had time for… and that time would have been substantial.
Eventually I ported my European phone number into this system which offered a passable, visually configurable online PBX; maybe their offerings today can support something to provide a full set of phone-like features and/or an app that makes it easy to set up & use:
I’ve had a similar experience when looking for virtual phone numbers for my own business! One option I found that worked well for me was using a service that allowed me to choose a specific country code, including Austrian numbers. It’s really helpful when you want your business to feel local but still maintain the flexibility of a virtual number.I’ve also used temporary phone numbers for short-term projects and it worked great for keeping my main number private. The only advice I’d give is to look for providers that have clear pricing, good customer support, and positive reviews. I found that checking online forums and real user feedback really helped me narrow it down.