How do virtual phone numbers work?

Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2008
Posts
6,260
Location
Deep North
Landlines traditionally have a phone number based on a local "01/02" area code. What I want to know is how do they route local numbers to VOIP services? Does a VOIP call to an 01/02 number still have to pass through the exchange that is local to that particular area code, or is it all done in a central location?
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Jul 2007
Posts
5,182
Location
Lincolnshire
I think the numbers are mapped for routing - so it knows when dialling, if a DDI belongs to an analogue line via an exchange. Or if it’s a VoIP number it’ll be digital/server based when routing calls.

Not 100% that’s just what I gauged when a telecoms engineer at work was talking about a similar subject.
 
Associate
Joined
20 Mar 2014
Posts
2,359
Pretty sure it is done on a server these days. I guess it depends where you are dialing from. If you dial from VoIP it will be your VoIP server. If you call from a landline it might be in the exchange. If you call from a mobile it will be a server on the mobile providers network. Not sure tbh. Maybe someone can clarify.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
29,509
Location
Surrey
I have a real number associated with my Skype account. I can make and receive calls from/to it just like any normal phone number. When I subscribed I could choose th geographic area I wanted the prefix to be. I was then presented with a list of numbers in that area which I could choose from. So the VOIP provider probably block buys groups of numbers. I could also buy numbers in other countries if I wanted.
 
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