Call masking is a communication feature that conceals your actual phone number by displaying a different number during calls.
For instance, a food delivery app uses call masking to allow customers and delivery drivers to communicate without revealing their personal numbers, ensuring privacy for both parties. This enhances both trust and safety and makes everything more secure on both sides of the call.
Who Should Use Call Masking and Who Shouldn’t
If your business doesn’t operate with a direct landline and has a number that isn’t hardwired to a specific location (such as VoIP call systems), call masking is necessary to ensure that recipients see the correct business number displayed. This becomes especially pertinent for remote teams or individuals who need to conduct business communications without revealing personal numbers.
For businesses with traditional landlines and fixed business numbers, the need for call masking is less pressing as their contact information is already stable and secure. However, call masking extends its benefits across various sectors, and overall, it makes for a more professional call experience.
Here are a few industries where call masking is especially useful:
- Healthcare: Healthcare providers can use call masking to contact patients while keeping personal contact information confidential, adhering to privacy regulations like HIPAA.
- Ride-Sharing Services: Ride-share drivers and riders communicate via masked numbers to protect personal information.
- Customer Support Services: Support agents work with call masking to solve customer issues without revealing their direct lines.
- Telemarketing: Telemarketers mask their numbers to align with the local area codes of prospects, which can increase call pick-up rates.
Mask so Customers Call Back on the Right Number
In situations where an agent or employee reaches out using their individual number, it’s important for customer callbacks to be directed to a centralized or department-specific phone number. Call masking provides a solution by displaying the desired callback number during the initial contact.
This ensures that customers are connected to the correct catch-all or departmental line when they respond.
Masking avoids any confusion or misdirection, allowing for more efficient and effective communication between your business and your clients.
Spoof the Local Area Code to Get More Responses
The general aversion to sales calls is a well-known sentiment among consumers. However, these calls can be effective if approached correctly. A strategic method to increase call response rates is to display the local area code of the call recipient.
This tactic gives the impression that your business is local, which means the recipient is more likely to pick up.
By utilizing call masking to alter the caller ID to match the local area code of the recipient, you can enhance the likelihood of your calls being received. This fosters better engagement and can increase customer conversion.
Mask Your Individual Devices
With many businesses adopting Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, employees often use their own cell phones to make work calls. Call masking is critical here, as it keeps personal phone numbers private.
This means employees can call clients or colleagues without worrying that their personal numbers will be exposed and attract spam calls.
When call masking is in place, it shields the caller’s identity, and only the business’s official phone number is displayed. This keeps individual contact information secure while ensuring customer callbacks are routed to your business’s main line.
Transition Between Employees Immediately
Businesses need to be nimble and ready to adapt at a moment’s notice. Call masking fits this need by making it easy to switch calls from one employee to another. If someone is out sick or there’s an emergency, call masking allows their calls to be sent to someone else so that work goes on without a hitch.
And if someone leaves the job, their calls can quickly start going to whoever takes their place. This kind of adaptability is essential, and using a consistent call mask for a team or role means that no matter who’s on the other end, your business keeps running smoothly.
Protect Your Employees from Stalking
It might seem far-fetched, but the risk of employees being singled out by persistent callers can increase as your company gains visibility. Call masking steps up as a defense, putting a firm boundary between work calls and private numbers.
It’s all about switching up numbers and shuffling roles without giving away personal details. That way, your team is shielded from any unwelcome calls. It’s a straightforward but powerful way to keep private lives private while your brand shines in the public eye.
Give Employees More Flexibility in How They Work
Call masking gives employees the freedom to choose how they want to connect, whether it’s through their personal phone, a work cell, the office landline, or even their laptop. This flexibility means they can handle their work tasks from home, on the road, or in the office.
It’s a real game-changer, especially during unexpected situations or while traveling. And for fully remote teams, this adaptability is essential, keeping everyone in touch easily and effectively.
Integrate Call Masking with CRMs
Integrating call masking with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system unlocks a host of powerful benefits. First, every call made using a masked number can be logged and tracked in the CRM. This means you get a complete view of customer interactions, helping you personalize future communications.
This integration also shines when it comes to analytics. You can see patterns in call volumes, understand peak times, and even gauge the success of campaigns by tracking the response rates to different masked numbers.
Plus, with client details tied to each call, your team can provide service that feels thoughtful and well-informed, leading to better customer experiences.