A Proxy Phone Number — It’s Now or Never

|With a proxy phone number

Proxy Phone Number

A proxy phone number is a to protect your privacy. Did you know that you can get an app which will make it possible to create a temporary and disposable phone number?

Proxy Phone Numbers and Services – an overview

With a proxy phone number, you can post or give your contact number to anyone, online or off, without ever having to worry about the privacy issues associated with sharing your own personal number, and without the hassle of using a second phone.

With most proxy phone apps you will receive a second (and sometimes temporary) phone number. Some apps provide you with the option of adding different numbers to manage multiple lines from within the same app. Most proxy phone services come with the ability to talk text and send picture messages, much in the same way your regular phone works.

In most cases, you can choose a phone number in the area code of your choice within the United States, with some apps allowing you to select phone numbers in different countries. Features like Custom Voicemail Greetings, Auto Reply Messages, Call Forwarding, and Call Routing are also often included with a proxy phone number app.

Proxy phone services are available in both prepaid and pay as you go plans, with most having the capacity to delete extend and switch phone numbers as needed.

Proxy phone numbers are quite often temporary, and after a specified period of time or usage, they may expire. They can also be deactivated by yourself at any time if you wish to make the switch to another proxy number or service.

You can get a proxy phone number and forward incoming calls to your real number or set the service up to just take a message; when you’re done just toss it and the number instantly goes out of service.

How do proxy phone numbers work?

someone standing outside holding a phone

Proxy phone services mask the original phone number typically made available on the caller ID of the recipient’s device when you call or text them with your phone. Calls and messages can be exchanged using the proxy number as the intermediary layer or protection and privacy.

Developers sometimes use Voice APIs where they can set up phone number proxies to keep parties from knowing each other’s true phone numbers. The basic technique involves using an intermediate number provided by apps like Hushed.com to forward the call to the user’s real number after being rerouted through the cloud.  A real-time switching API helps to switch calls from the real number to proxy number and vice versa any time quite easily.

Once assigned a proxy number you can immediately place a call using it. The cloud server will then dial the number and the call recipient will receive the call, from the proxy number. The proxy number acts as a bridge between both parties.

The same technique can also allow the parties to send SMS to each other without revealing their personal phone numbers.

Why Should You Use a Proxy Number

image of an Iphone with the whatsapp logo standing out

A proxy phone can be a useful tool to anyone who wishes to keep their phone number private, but still have the capacity to use their phone for any calls they may need to make.

Proxy phone numbers offer privacy

You can make private calls and send anonymous texts by hiding your caller id with a proxy phone number. People choose to disguise their personal phone number and use a proxy phone service for many reasons.

You can use a proxy when you want to give out a temporary number to someone you would rather not have your permanent number. There are many reasons why people choose to keep their personal number private. But often recipients of anonymous and blocked calls will choose not to answer calls from an unknown number. Having an actual number show up on the caller ID will increase the caller’s chances of having the phone call answered.

You can also use your proxy number to call from, so you can make a call without revealing your permanent number. Your proxy number will act as the veil which hides the original Caller ID. This ensures all calls are connected between both the parties via an anonymous number.

Call your own number proxy from your private phone and you can make an outgoing call to anywhere in the US or Canada and have the Caller ID set as your disposable number. Your phone number is secure and kept private.

Use a Proxy phone when you need the number to be temporary

Need to have a local number to use temporarily or from time to time? Maybe your clients will likely feel more comfortable calling a local number, or maybe it’s simply cheaper for the client to place a local call, which then is of course rerouted through the cloud to your real number.

You can deactivate your Proxy number at any time and avoid the trouble of answering or ignoring annoying calls from people you no longer wish to communicate with

Use a proxy phone for buying and selling online

Say you are selling an item online. For any number of reasons you may not wish to give out your permanent/primary phone number. For one thing, it is generally unwise to post your personal phone number online for everyone to see. Also, you likely would prefer not to be getting calls about the item after you have sold it.

Don’t want to put up with annoying follow up calls after selling an item? Set up a disposable number it is easy to avoid the hassle of such issues. For this reason, many individuals involved in e-commerce choose to use masked numbers in order to protect buyers’ and sellers’ personal phone numbers and keep them private.

Proxy phones as an option for online dating

Individuals in the online dating scene can also use a proxy number to give out to potential dates. Who wants their personal phone number listed on a dating app? Not us, and likely not you either.

If users find that they want to cease contact with an online prospect who’s not a good match, that user can easily burn the proxy number and not have to worry about dealing with an awkward situation or calls and texts from a guy/girl that just won’t take the hint.

Use of a proxy number for dating is also a safe choice. After all, you likely know little about the person on the other end of the line, especially early on in the relationship. Giving out your personal number may be dangerous and could lead to potential problems down the road if the relationship ends badly.

Use a Proxy phone as a second phone number to organize calls

Sometimes home-based and privately owned businesses don’t want to use their own personal numbers to conduct business, but have not yet reached the point of needing a dedicated business phone. In these cases, a second proxy line might make perfect sense as a cost-effective alternative to buying an expensive business line.

You can even use your proxy phone to manage multiple lines and keep your personal and business calls separate. Give your proxy number out to clients, or even keep your personal number private from colleagues by strictly using your proxy number for business calls.

You can let your proxy number calls all go to voicemail if you don’t want to be bothered with work calls on the weekends, affording you the opportunity to have a professional voicemail box set up for your proxy line while still being able to use your primary phone during your non-business hours.

Proxy phone numbers can make it cheap for your international callers

Proxy phone numbers make international calling and receiving of phone calls from international numbers more affordable for overseas friends and family who call the line. They can reach you on a local number without ever having to pay long distance or roaming charges. Most proxy phone line services have numbers available in over 300 area codes in the US and Canada. Pretty neat huh?

Use a Proxy phone to protect the privacy of clients

Masked numbers can be a beneficial asset to workers of multiple trades. For example, proxy numbers are known to be popular with Cab services, especially with the explosion in popularity of Uber and Lyft drivers. Instead of giving your personal number out to riders multiple times a day, you can use a proxy.

The incoming call from your proxy phone is also masked on the caller id, which protects the rider’s privacy and adds an extra measure of safety too. Using a proxy number can help drivers to communicate with customers without revealing each other’s real phone number.

A proxy phone line can be used if clients or customers wish to remain anonymous for any other reason as well. You can disclose to your clients that their number will be disguised to ensure that they are confident they have sufficient privacy with regards to the transaction or services you are rendering.

Use a Proxy number to disguise your location

Because you can pick the location of a proxy number, it is possible to choose an Arkansas area code while you are living in New Mexico (for example), or any other combination of places.  Perhaps you want your help your clients or customers to feel at ease and comfortable by calling a locally based phone number, or so as to appear as if you have a local presence in the area.

Closing Thoughts

From the protection of privacy to cheaper international calling and dedicated business lines, proxy phone numbers provide a myriad of benefits to those that wish to utilize them.

Proxy phones numbers are an interesting technology, and with their popularity growing, apps are both easy to find, use and setup within minutes

Most apps are available for both iOS and Android, meaning they can be used on just about any smartphone or mobile carrier.

If you’re in the market for a proxy line or hidden phone number, give Hushed.com a try. Their dedicated privacy app is a stellar choice for setting up a burner or proxy line for business or personal use, and comes loaded with useful and intuitive features you can’t get elsewhere.

.