Phone Number Masking, The Definitive Guide: What, Why and How

Security and privacy are two major concerns of businesses and end users. The phone number is one of the most exposed items in today’s digital world. From registering for a simple app like WhatsApp to making purchases online, paying money digitally, looking for directions, or even some other tasks, consumers use their phones and in more than 80% of cases, they need to use their phone number. This exposes their phone number to many sources and often, these consumers fall victim to data breach, stealing, and misuse. Thus, using masked phone numbers has become inevitable.

If we talk about businesses, the legislation has become stiffer towards them. Companies that deal directly with consumers via telecommunication have to follow certain security measures set by the government to keep consumer data protected. Phone number masking can be a great way to do that.

We will cover all aforementioned points in this blog post to give you insight into this really important tool that any business can use to protect the interest of its customers, business, as well as, agents.

What is phone number masking?

Many companies run telemarketing and customer care campaigns, in which it exposes the complete database of client details. On the other hand, utility apps and on-demand services like cab services, food service, etc. usually connect the agent and customer with each other. This exposes the number of both parties. This often causes various issues along with data theft and misuse threats. To prevent this major challenge, phone number masking is used by businesses to add an added layer of security to protect the interest of everyone.

In simple words, phone masking is the process of hiding the real phone number of two parties that are communicating with each other using their own phone devices and numbers. The number displayed on the caller ID of the next person is called a masked or encrypted phone number.

If we look at the technicalities, then it is one of the powerful VOIP solutions that create a communication bridge between an agent and customer who are indulged in a conversation. A third party bridge gets created by the provider and a proxy number is displayed to the caller and callee. This way both parties can have a conversation without disclosing the real phone number to each other.

How does phone number masking work?

The concept of phone masking has been in the industry for many years, but now due to the increasing demand for secure communication and the inclining favor of consumers toward data privacy, this concept has become more popular. There are many companies that offer either a solution or phone numbers that are masked. Your business can choose to use either the number or solution depending on the application and utilities of these numbers.

You must be curious about the fact that how this whole concept works. Here is a stepwise guide on how it works that is simplified by our experts for you.

• There will be a pool of short lived masked phone numbers.
• Whenever there is communication needed, one of the numbers from the mentioned pool of numbers will be picked by the system automatically. To use this facility, the customer and agent have to communicate via your application that has this facility of masking the phone numbers of both parties
• This number will act as a bridge between the customer and the agent and their calls will be routed and connected with each other via this proxy number. Both can have a conversation as they would have normally
• Once the call is completed and disconnected, the proxy number will be removed from the list and discarded.

This means at the end of the conversation neither the agent nor the customer will be able to connect with each other using the same number. If they need to reconnect, they can by using your business app, which will generate another bridge for communication.

Why should a business use masked phone numbers?

There are multiple reasons to use this mechanism and the top 3 reasons to use these numbers are briefly explained hereunder:

A. Data privacy

As we have been emphasizing, the first and foremost reason to use this number is data privacy. It will protect the phone numbers of your clients as well as your agents from any mishaps. Neither a third party hacker nor your own agent or customer can misuse the contact details, which can blot your brand name. All thanks to phone number masking.

B. Protected business model

In India and many other countries, stealing clients is common for cheap benefits. The phone number maskings help in protecting your business and revenue from this kind of issue. As nobody gets the actual phone number, further discussions on making cheap deals are near to impossible. This helps in protecting your business, revenue, and business model.

C. Simplified call tracking

Many businesses need to track calls to ensure the quality of service other than other business advantages. If your agents’ direct numbers are involved, it becomes difficult to record all calls for quality checking. However, with a phone number masking solution, this is easy. You can log all call details, as well as, you can record each call to analyze them later on for quality assurance.

Common utilities of phone number maskings

There are several use cases of phone number masking in today’s digitized and mobile world. Three major utilities are briefly explained hereunder:

1. Call center

One of the major use cases of this concept is in call centers. By masking the numbers of customers and showing a proxy number to agents in the call center solution, call centers can protect the interest of clients. In inbound, outbound, or blended campaigns, the numbers of clients will not be shown to the agents.

2. Cab services

Communication between a cab driver and a customer can be made easier with the proxy numbers. Whether a cab driver is stuck in traffic or if the pinned location needs to be changed by the customer, proxy numbers can help them communicate flawlessly without any hassle.

3. Delivery services

Whether you offer food delivery, couriers, or any other type of delivery service, your team will need to communicate with your customers for directions, availability, etc. The masked numbers will make it easier for them to catch up and deliver things on time.

Wrap up

Phone number masking not only gives security to your customers, but it also gives them the confidence to use your offerings as they find them safe. Moreover, they can leverage several other advantages by keeping their identity anonymous. On the other hand, with this nominal investment, your business can build a secure business brand that only emphasizes quality of service, but also emphasizes quality of experience. You would be one of those top brands that care for their employees and customers.

We, Elision Technologies, offer the best phone number masking for several businesses. There are already several utilities, on-demand, banking, and other businesses that use phone number maskings from our business. Let our team share more details, use cases, and advantages of this concept in regard to your business. So what are you waiting for? Book a demo Now!