Virtual phone number
Definition
A phone number used without a physical SIM in your own phone, reached through an app, website or online dashboard.
Virtual phone number, explained
A virtual phone number is any number you use without inserting a SIM card for it into your phone. You reach it through an app, a website or a dashboard instead. The term covers very different things: long-term VoIP lines like Google Voice, second-line apps, business phone systems, and temporary numbers rented for a single verification code. What matters for sign-ups is the line type behind it. Some virtual numbers are VoIP, which many apps reject, while others are mobile numbers from carriers that are accepted more widely. Noir SMS rents temporary virtual numbers that are mobile numbers, shown in a web dashboard, for receiving SMS codes on your own accounts.
Related terms
Temporary phone number
A number you use for a short time, often one verification, before it is returned to the provider and reassigned.
VoIP number
A phone number that runs over the internet rather than a mobile carrier's SIM, such as Google Voice or TextNow lines.
Non-VoIP number
A phone number issued by a mobile carrier for a SIM, so line type checks report it as mobile rather than VoIP.
Where you'll meet this term
What Is a Virtual Phone Number? VoIP, Rented SMS Numbers and eSIMs Explained
What a virtual phone number is, how VoIP numbers, rented SMS numbers and eSIMs differ, and what kind of numbers Noir SMS provides.
Read the guide →Safety & privacyDoes a Virtual Phone Number Reveal Your Location?
What a virtual phone number reveals about where you are, why the area code isn't your location, and what apps can still see about you.
Read the guide →Safety & privacyCan a Virtual Phone Number Be Traced?
An honest look at whether virtual and temporary numbers can be traced, what records providers and apps keep, and what privacy they really give.
Read the guide →Getting startedHow Long Does a Virtual Phone Number Last?
How long different virtual numbers last: rented SMS numbers, Google Voice, TextNow, eSIMs and prepaid SIMs, plus what happens when they end.
Read the guide →