A virtual phone number is a number that is not tied to a physical location or a traditional office phone system. It gives you ultimate flexibility to intelligently route calls to any device, wherever you are.

How it all started

The origin of this technology dates back to the 1990s with the well-known free 0800 numbers (such as 1-800-FLOWERS in the US or 0800-HYPOTHEEK in the Netherlands). Because businesses wanted to answer incoming calls through their existing landlines or call centres, virtual numbers had to be intelligently forwarded. This was done through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, which provided flexible, automatic call handling.

Did you know? CallFactory has been one of the first specialised providers in Europe for these intelligent phone numbers since 2000.

With a virtual number, you can organise your availability exactly as your business needs:

  • Free information lines (0800): Lower the barrier for consumers to request information or place orders.
  • Local emergency lines: Perfect for medical or technical on-call services where calls are immediately forwarded to the right colleague on duty.
  • Smart national numbers: Automatically forward callers to the nearest branch based on their area code, postcode or key selection.
  • Critical fault lines: For control rooms or transplant services, 100% reliability is crucial. Number A doesn’t answer? Our system immediately forwards the call to number B (or C).

Virtual numbers vs. VoIP: Choose reliability

Nowadays, many providers offer cheap VoIP virtual numbers. These providers route calls exclusively over the internet, often to an app on your phone.

What many entrepreneurs don’t realise is that this is the least reliable method of call forwarding. On the public internet, there are no quality guarantees and voice traffic receives no priority. The result? Echoes, choppy connections, or calls you simply miss because the app in the background has gone into ‘sleep mode’.

Imagine: you pay €50 to €150 per lead through Google Ads to get a potential customer to call, and the connection drops. That’s a waste of your marketing budget.

The CallFactory solution: That’s why we always recommend delivering business calls (and especially your valuable leads) to regular landline or mobile networks. On these networks, strict Quality of Service (QoS) applies, ensuring voice traffic always receives the highest priority. This guarantees you a crystal-clear, 100% reliable connection.

Where can we deliver your calls?

Because we have developed our own independent IVR platform, we are extremely flexible. We can seamlessly connect your virtual number to virtually any endpoint:

  • Landline phones
  • Mobile phones
  • VoIP desk phones
  • VoIP softphones for mobile or desktop (e.g. Linphone)
  • AI platforms (such as OpenAI, Claude, Deepgram, Elevenlabs)
  • Voicebots

You decide how we set it up and programme it, completely tailored to your needs.

Grow without borders with international numbers

Are you translating your website to conquer new markets? Or are you already active abroad and need a local number for sales or customer service?

CallFactory is now registered as an operator in 13 countries. We provide international phone numbers across Europe, including:

  • Local professional appearance: Welcome messages and choice menus in the local language (easy to record yourself or generate via our text-to-speech assistant).
  • Smart time zone routing: Is your target audience in a different time zone? Outside your opening hours, we direct callers to a professional voicemail, or we forward them to an international call centre for 24/7 coverage.

With a virtual number and our powerful platform, you are fully prepared for the future. You might start with a simple forward to your mobile, but you can effortlessly scale up to an advanced, global call centre solution!