What is a virtual phone number?
A virtual phone number is a real phone number with no SIM card or phone line behind it. Calls to it arrive over the internet and ring wherever you point them: an app, a desk phone or a whole phone system, in any country.
- A callerdials an ordinary number in their country
- SIPThe number's carrierpasses the call on over the internet
- Wherever you answeran app, a desk phone or your phone system
Updated 10 November 2026.
How a virtual phone number works
Four hops from the caller's phone to yours.
The first two hops are the ordinary phone network. Only the last stretch runs over the internet, which is why the number can ring anywhere.
- 1
Someone dials the number
From any landline or mobile, exactly as they would dial any other number in that country.
- 2
The phone network finds its carrier
Every number belongs to a carrier. The network hands the call to the one that holds yours.
- 3
The carrier sends it over the internet
Instead of a copper line or a mast, the call leaves as SIP to the login the number is pointed at.
- ON
Whatever is signed in rings
A phone system, a desk phone or an app. If nothing is signed in, the call has nowhere to go.
Virtual number vs SIM number
A SIM number lives in a phone. A virtual number lives in an account.
- Tied to
- SIM numberA SIM card in one handset
- Virtual numberAn account with a provider
- Rings on
- SIM numberThat one phone
- Virtual numberAny phone, app or phone system you sign in
- Needs
- SIM numberMobile signal
- Virtual numberAn internet connection
- Abroad
- SIM numberRoaming, if the plan allows it
- Virtual numberWorks the same anywhere online
- More numbers
- SIM numberOne per SIM
- Virtual numberAs many as you order, on one login
DID numbers
On a phone system, a virtual number is called a DID.
DID means direct inward dialling: the number rings straight through to one person, team or menu, with no operator in between. In the UK the same thing is called a DDI. One trunk can carry dozens of them. Our entry explains what a DID number is and how the phone system picks the extension.
Local, mobile and toll-free numbers
The type decides who pays for the call.
Local numbers
Callers pay a normal local call.
The number carries a city or area code, so it reads as a local business to people there. In the UK an 020 number reads as London.
Mobile numbers
Callers pay what they pay to call a mobile.
Some countries let providers issue mobile-range numbers that ring over the internet. They look like any mobile number.
Toll-free numbers
Callers in that country pay nothing.
The owner usually pays for the incoming calls instead. In the USA and Canada they start 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 or 833.
Which kind of virtual number you need
Three kinds of number. One question picks yours.
When someone calls the number, where should it ring?
A DID number, priced per number. The number is delivered over SIP to your login, so 3CX, FreePBX, Asterisk, Yeastar or any SIP app answers it and sends the call where you choose.
Free virtual phone numbers
Free numbers exist. They stay inside their own app.
Apps such as Google Voice and TextNow give out free numbers, mostly in the USA, mostly for personal use. The app is the only place the number rings, so it cannot be pointed at a desk phone or a business phone system. A number that rings your own system is always a paid one.
What a virtual number cannot do
Four things to know before you rely on one.
Verification codes
Some numbers take texts and many do not. Some banks and apps refuse virtual numbers for sign-up codes anyway.
Anonymity
Every number is assigned to an account through a carrier, and networks keep records of the calls they carry.
Emergency calls
Not every provider carries them, and those that do need your address first. Keep another way to call for help.
Ringing with no internet
If the phone or app is offline, the number cannot ring it. Most phone systems can send those calls to voicemail.
How virtual numbers are priced
You pay per user or per number.
Which one is cheaper depends on how many people answer and how many numbers you need. To see every line of a year's bill for one number, go to buy a virtual phone number.
Per user
Hosted phone systems include a number with each person's monthly seat. The number comes with the software, and you pay for every seat.
Per number
SIP number sellers charge a monthly fee for each number. Some add a setup fee and a price for every minute people call you.
How to get a virtual phone number
Four decisions, then the number rings.
The last step is the only technical one. For a phone system you also need the trunk itself: SIP trunk configuration.
- ?
Decide where it rings
An app, your own phone system or a hosted seat. The answer picks the kind of provider.
- +
Choose country and type
Local, mobile or toll-free, in the country your callers are in. Not every type exists everywhere.
- ID
Check the paperwork
Some regulators require an address or ID in the country before a number is issued. Others ask for nothing.
- IN
Point it at a login
The number rings on a SIP login. On a phone system, an inbound rule then sends it to a person, a queue or a menu.
Virtual number questions
How do virtual phone numbers work?
Can I get a virtual cell phone number?
What is a virtual phone call?
How can you tell if a number is virtual?
Can a virtual number be traced?
Should you answer a call from a VoIP number?
Does a virtual number work when I travel?
Already run a phone system? Give it a number in another country.
LinkedSIP numbers cost $0.99 a month each, ring on your SIP login and charge nothing for the calls you receive.