Until recently, separating your professional and personal life was almost impossible. Fortunately, in 2018, thanks to the arrival of WhatsApp Business and its integration with virtual numbers, this problem is gradually disappearing. Let's find out why.

First of all, how do WhatsApp Business and virtual numbers work?

The issue here is simple: to sign up for WhatsApp Business, you need a phone number to use. Preferably, a completely different number (from your personal one) in order to separate your private and professional life. Hence the need to use a virtual number for the bulk scheduling of WhatsApp messages.

By definition, a virtual number is a phone number that is not associated with any physical device or landline. It is therefore perfectly possible to use it on various devices such as a smartphone, computer, or tablet, provided you have an internet connection.

In short, with the help of a virtual number, you can create a line parallel to your usual phone number. This way, you can use this line to sign up for WhatsApp without having to disclose your personal number. In essence, thanks to a virtual number, you can have both a personal line and a professional line. You can therefore enjoy the benefits of WhatsApp in your daily life as well as at work. This logic can also be applied to create WhatsApp accounts for an entire team, which greatly facilitates the creation of professional WhatsApp accounts for everyone within a company.

And where does WhatsApp Business fit into all this?

Launched in 2018, WhatsApp Business is an application designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It was primarily created to allow companies to take full advantage of the communication benefits of the WhatsApp API. All this while maintaining a much more professional image in the eyes of customers and partners. Indeed, this application works the same way as traditional WhatsApp, but with one key difference: it provides information about the company to build trust with the third parties communicating with it.

Using WhatsApp Business offers numerous advantages for companies. It particularly stands out in how it facilitates communication with customers, especially for answering their questions and resolving their concerns. It should also be noted that WhatsApp Business allows companies to respond automatically, even outside of business hours, ensuring they are always available to customers. Finally, thanks to this professional application, you can personalize your chats with your company logo.

What are the other benefits of WhatsApp Business?

By combining WhatsApp Business with a virtual number from Octopush, you can:

• Protect your personal number. When you communicate with clients or other partners, your virtual number will be the one displayed to them.
• Use WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business on the same deviceYou can communicate separately with your family and friends, as well as with your third parties (clients, partners, suppliers, etc.). This creates a clear separation between your private and professional life.
• Have a phone number for WhatsApp in any city or country. At Octopush, you have over 33 number locations at your disposal to choose from.

What are the benefits of this combination?

Here are the reasons why you should use a virtual number with WhatsApp Business:

• To have a much more professional image

By using a WhatsApp Business account with a virtual number, you show your customers that you know how to remain professional. Within your application, you can specify essential information for your third parties to confirm that this is indeed the number to contact your business. With a standard personal WhatsApp account, this professional image is absent.

• To continuously respond to your third parties

It is perfectly normal for a business not to respond outside of business hours. However, customers do not see it that way; to them, not receiving a response shows a lack of interest. Fortunately, thanks to WhatsApp Business and a virtual number, you can send automated welcome messages and messages to indicate that you are currently unavailable. This way, your customers and third parties will not be left on "delivered" for too long and will feel valued.