What is a virual phone number?
Eeveryone knows what a normal phone number is. But what is the difference to a "virtual number" ?
The historic background:
Phone numbers were tied to physical locations. A call to such a phone number could only be delivered to this location.
But with a virtual number this limitation is not there anymore. That allows companies to use their phone numbers in a more flexible way.
How do I get a virtual phone number?
You have many possibilities. One way is to buy a virtual phone number (also known as dedicated phone number or DID). The price depends on the country of the phone number you want to buy or rent. Numbers from the United States starting by $0,50 and other countries wlll cost you about $50. If you are a developer and you want to test something then I would recommend you to buy a US phone number. It's the cheapest way.
If you only need a phone number to send & receive calls or text messages then you should try a free phone numbers app. In the Play store and Apple App Store you will find a lot of these apps. Just search for free phone number and download one of the listed apps. These apps are great if you need a temporary phone number for verification on a social media platform like twitter or facebook.
I need a free phone number to receive a SMS for free
If you need one just for text messages then I would choose this way:
1. Go to one of these websites that offer free sms phone numbers
2. Choose a number you want to use.
3. Enter this number in your app or website from where you want to receive a SMS
4. Wait a little bit until the text message arrives
5. That's it!
