THSCC Forums

Hey gang - I'm hoping maybe someone has done something similar to what I'm hatching here.

I'd like to have a second phone number for my detailing business. Somehow, the idea of giving my current (and only) number out to everybody in the world seems like something I'd like to avoid.

I guess what would be ideal would be to have the single handset (my iPhone), so I could keep all of my contacts and stuff in one spot. Then have two numbers somehow ring the same phone. The more I look into it, the more I think this is impossible.

So...AT&T has a "Family Plan" where, for another $20/month, I could add a second handset and number to my existing plan. The nice lady at the AT&T store told me nothing would change - the same 700 minutes, plus rollover, that I have today, would simply be split between two phones. Different voicemail accounts per phone number as well, which I guess is fine. At least that way I get a different greeting on the business phone, apart from "This is Karl, leave a message," or whatever mine says right now. I'm not in love with the idea of having to carry around two phones, and two separate databases of contact info, but there are worse things, I guess.

The other option I've found (er...Spratte found) was Vonage, at $15/month. Near as I can tell, all I'd end up doing is forwarding those calls to my existing iPhone.

Folks on roadraceautox.com suggested Ringcentral.com. Which sounded promising. But, I can't get their website to work reliably at the moment, so that seems somehow less than confidence inspiring.

Scott Johnson suggested a route that sounds pretty simple - a pre-paid phone. No contracts this way, and they don't futz around with my iPhone plan - which I like.

So...is anyone doing anything like this? Anyone got any better ideas?

Thanks!

_________________
Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Karl, back when I was at IBM, I negotiated a contract with a company named Accessline (based in Bellevue, WA) that provided a service that would fit your bill. This was a cash rich company that was very stable at the time. They have since increased their offerings, but the service I was thinking of they still provide. Check out this link:

http://www.findmephone.com/

For $18.95, it is a good option with no contracts, no extra phones, etc.

You can thank me later with a free detailing - AB

_________________
'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Gary is doing what you state with his Vonage line. He has it set to double-ring his house (Vonage) phone and cell phone at the same time.

Vonage's messaging service is also very flexible, so you can have it go to voicemail after x number of seconds, ring the home phone before rolling over the mobile... ring both at the same time... whatever. And with their emailed voicemail file attachments, you could probably listen to your vm's via your email inbox on your phone.

The Vonage 500 minute plan runs just over $20/mo after taxes.

_________________
Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

GrandCentral does just that. The service, which is owned by Google, gives you a local phone number and, essentially, forwards your calls to your other number(s). It's all configurable, allowing you to specify which phones to ring at what time of the day, which callers to forward directly to voice mail, etc. It gives you a web-based inbox where you can manage your voice mail and address book.

I've been using it for a couple of years now and highly recommend it. The only thing I don't like about it is that, for some strange reason, there is no way to import an address book -- you have to enter each contact manually.

Google bought GrandCentral in July 2007 and from what I can tell, they haven't made any changes to it at all. Hopefully this doesn't mean they will abandon the service.

Read a good description here: http://lifehacker.com/317475/consolidate-your-phones-with-grandcentral

Edit: Looks like they've run out of numbers in the 919 area code since I signed up. If you don't mind getting a BFVille number it should still meet your needs.

_________________
Marek Rozanski

mdroz@me.com
919-648-2433

How does one get this $15/month Vonage deal? I'm seeing the usual $24.99/mo on their website, along with an $18/mo option for <500 minutes/month plan.

_________________
Keith Q.
2008 Top Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmX8XuZ_DCo&NR=1

They've evidently just increased prices. I just backed down my plan from the unlimited to the 500 minute plan in Dec, and it was $15 at that time.

_________________
Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

I'm not sure Skype has an iPhone client, but they have an unlimited USA/Canada calls plan for 2.95 a month. Plus, they offer Skype-In: which is basically a phone number that others can call from their phones that gets routed to Skype.

I have not used SkypeIn for a while, but it was a good replacement for a landline when I did back in 2005.

Fring is a great free IM client for the iPhone that supports Skype over WiFi. I don't know of a Skype client that works over 3G/EDGE -- that would compete with AT&T's service, so I'd be surprised if one was allowed in the app store.

_________________
Marek Rozanski

mdroz@me.com
919-648-2433

Exactly...it's not allowed and not going to be allowed for a LONG time, if ever.

My problem with just getting another number through a service that would just let you forward to the other line is that you still won't have any idea which line the calls are coming in on. It's much less professional to answer you business phone "hello", but I guess you could get around that by answering every call (that doesn't show up in your address book as someone you know, anyway) with "hello, this is Karl Shultz" if you wanted, which won't put off your friends, but also seems more professional to a (potential) client.

I'm really surprised none of the wireless carriers are offering a second line for just this purpose (with a phone configured properly so you can tell which line the incoming call is coming in on). *sigh*


--Donnie

This is where GrandCentral is helpful in a number of ways:

- It can display "GrandCentral" on the caller ID, or it can display the original caller's ID, depending on the preferences you set.

- When you answer a GC-forwarded call you hear a message along the lines of "This is a GrandCentral call. Press 1 to answer; press 2 to listen to the voicemail as it's being recorded..." (paraphrasing).

- GC voicemail is separate from your existing voicemail, so any calls to your GC number will be greeted by your customized message ("This is Acme, Inc...blah blah blah).

_________________
Marek Rozanski

mdroz@me.com
919-648-2433

Ah, cool. I could do that with my Asterisk setup, too, now that I think about it. While I still have a few spare DIDs, I'm not interested in giving up any, either.


--Donnie

_________________
My Blog