SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Looking for input and advice – best option to ‘park’ my home phone number
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Member |
I searched but did not find where this has been discussed. (My apology if I’ve overlooked prior postings) We still have the home phone number. I don’t want to give it up because we still get an occasional call that we want and the number is tied to a number of awards accounts (grocery stores and others). Looks like there are ways to park the number. I’m looking for suggestions. Objectives - > keep the number > ability to check (recorded) messages from time to time > don’t necessarily need to get a text of every message. What options do folks suggest? Looks like there are a number of steps if I want to use google voice. I have to first port the number to a mobile carrier. I’ll certainly consider that option if it’s the best long term option. Would like suggestions on which cell carrier to use to port the number. Speak softly and carry a | ||
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Optimistic Cynic |
VoIP.ms will allow you to do this. With a softphone on your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can receive and make calls on the number. Alternatively, you can send incoming calls to voice mail which can be transcribed and e-mailed/texted to you, divert the call to another number, or about two dozen other options. For example, when somebody calls my "home phone number" they get a digital assistant who directs them to press "1" for me, "2" for my wife, and "3" to ring us both, each option rings an appropriate set of destinations, which I can easily change depending on where I might be (e.g. cell phone, desk phone, and softphone on my main machine). Cost is minimal, there are multiple billing plans from which to choose, the one I use is $0.85/mo. (per line) plus $.009/min. There is no cost to open or maintain an account. The per-minute rate is for anywhere in the US and Canada. Rates for international calling can be higher. They provide download of these rates in spreadsheet format. For the past five years or so, the yearly cost was between $50 and $75 for two lines (I maintained three lines in 2017 and 2018). You do not have to maintain a line, you can make outgoing calls without one in which case you pay only the per-minute rates. Bottom line, if you just want to "park" your number, and never get calls on it, voip.ms will cost you about $10/year. | |||
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W07VH5 |
I've been looking into this and was considering adding freePBX to a virtual machine in my home server. The costs you mention are pretty small and may be worth looking into for the business. My server is headless and it seems freePBX doesn't play well with VNC and I haven't tried to find a solution. | |||
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| Optimistic Cynic |
I haven't looked at using FreePBX with VoIP.ms, although I did evaluate a few commercial SIP boxes, and Asterisk-based systems. Having your own PBX adds little value over the services that VoIP.ms provides with their servers. For myself (personal and business) and several consulting clients, I went the SIP phones only/no local PBX route, letting VoIP.ms do all the heavy lifting. In all cases, these setups replaced a traditional business on-site proprietary PBXes, having to support tip and ring/POTS handsets was not a requirement (which I assume is what is driving your FreePBX interest). I'd be happy to talk privately about my experiences in this regard via the email in my profile. | |||
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Invest Early, Invest Often |
Might check Number Barn. | |||
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| Member |
I use google voice. Tracfones are cheap for month if you need one to point landline to. I quit forwarding to my cell as I have had a explosion of spam callers lately. ATT landline, Uverse bill was 200 a month. Now down to 25 for internet, home phone pointed at google is free, and cell is about 65 dollars yearly | |||
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| Member |
I use Magic Jack for that purpose. $39 for a year and they run specials for multiple years all the time. https://www.magicjack.com/inde...agicJack%20%7C%20EXM I just use them to forward my number to my cell phone. | |||
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| The Ice Cream Man |
I use number barn. | |||
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Nullus Anxietas |
I'm going to guess running his own phone switch (PBX) is probably just a bit >< beyond the OP's goals  SR: As architect suggested: VOiP.ms, or probably any of the VoIP providers (we use Callcentric) can do what you want. What I did was install an Obihai VoIP ATA (analog terminal adaptor), configure it for Callcentric, and ported our landline to Callcentric. Then, once the port was completed, I disconnected the TelCo's NID (network interface device) from our premises phone wiring and plugged the ATA into one of the existing wall jacks. All the LL phones in the house then worked exactly like they had when they were connected to the TelCo's ancient phone system. But I also could have instead directed the ported LL number to ring apps on our cell phones. <looks...> Wow. That was eight years ago. How time flies. Callcentric has been as reliable as Swiss clockwork. "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher | |||
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Six Days on the Road |
I have been using Number Barn as well. | |||
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His Royal Hiney |
We ported our landline phone number to a cell phone. This was back in the 90s. We still have the phone number. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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Resident Undertaker |
Rey, Do you still have to keep your actual landline? How does this work? John The key to enforcement is to punish the violator, not an inanimate object. The punishment of inanimate objects for the commission of a crime or carelessness is an affront to stupidity. | |||
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Member |
For what you want, Google Voice is likely your simplest and cheapest alternative. And if you buy a simple VOIP Box to use on your network, you can have your home phone work with it. Basically what ensigmatic noted above. ----------------------------- Guns are awesome because they shoot solid lead freedom. Every man should have several guns. And several dogs, because a man with a cat is a woman. Kurt Schlichter | |||
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| His Royal Hiney |
You don't have to keep your landline at all. The reason we ported over was we were moving and we weren't going to need a landline anymore. So we called AT&T (not that I'm recommending them; you can call any cell service provider), told them we wanted to port our landline number to a cell service and that was that. My wife has the number that she uses for her cell phone ever since. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| W07VH5 |
I was just interested in trying it out. Sounds like freePBX is way overkill for me to have a couple of different voicemail boxes. Sorry about the off-topic banter here.  | |||
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