Reply to: Want a boring phone

[expat]

Right yes, I see what you mean.

But it's 5.2p per minute not £5.20 !

[Contreras]

No, I only want it for incoming calls, but I have to forward the incoming calls to my real phone. At the moment that is a French mobile, and TTNC will charge £5.20 per minute to forward my incoming calls to that. Looks good if you are in the UK but in the UK I just use my UK mobile number, I am looking to cover the case when my everyday phone is not UK.

Right yes, I see what you mean.

But it's 5.2p per minute not £5.20 !

[expat]

Interesting, I paid a tenner for setup with no ongoing costs since. That's for an incoming service though (voicemail + forwarding only).


Skype-to-skype works well as both parties know what to expect. I just no longer use it with a virtual phone no.


I'm not sure why (or how) you'd use an 0845 for outgoing calls? I have VoIP for that, configured to present Caller ID of either the 0845 or my mobile no. Also with no ongoing subscription costs.

No, I only want it for incoming calls, but I have to forward the incoming calls to my real phone. At the moment that is a French mobile, and TTNC will charge £5.20 per minute to forward my incoming calls to that. Looks good if you are in the UK but in the UK I just use my UK mobile number, I am looking to cover the case when my everyday phone is not UK.

SimonMac, I currently use a Skype Number which I forward to my mobile, but that has a 35 second delay on the forwarding. Getting rid of that is my quest right now, too many people will hang up before they get through.


To describe in detail:
I currently have a UK mobile, and a UK Skype Number.
I spend a lot of time outside the UK, in a varying set of places.
I usually have a local SIM card wherever I am, and would like only to carry that.
My current solution is to forward the UK mobile to the Skype number, and forward the Skype number to my current local number.

That is not working in practice, because the Skype number takes about 35 seconds of "ringing" before it forwards to my local mobile. Some callers hang up before it gets through. I don't want that so I am looking for another solution.

BTW you can change the Skype forwarding delay but the change only applies if you are logged in to Skype at the time of the incoming call! If you are not, then it goes back to the default.

[SimonMac]

https://www.just0845numbers.co.uk/

Free to set up and free to forward calls to a geographic number, I use a Skype number which I then forward to my mobile which I think is about £4 a month all in

[Contreras]

£0? Virtual Telephone Numbers | Get a Virtual Phone Number says £20 pa for an 0845 number: still cheaper than Skype though.

Interesting, I paid a tenner for setup with no ongoing costs since. That's for an incoming service though (voicemail + forwarding only).

Just because I do use Skype for voice and video calls (I got my current contract on a Skype video call while I was on holiday in Vietnam) does not mean that I have to use them for everything. The big advantage of a Skype Number is that I can answer a call in to it free with Skype, but since I am only on Skype by appointment that is hardly a factor (the Skype app on the iphone will not stay connected in the background).

Skype-to-skype works well as both parties know what to expect. I just no longer use it with a virtual phone no.

Oh dear:
Skype out to French mobile: 7.2 cents per minute.
TTNC 0845 number, forwarding to a French mobile: £5.20 per minute. Ah, I think not.

I'm not sure why (or how) you'd use an 0845 for outgoing calls? I have VoIP for that, configured to present Caller ID of either the 0845 or my mobile no. Also with no ongoing subscription costs.

[expat]

I meant the ongoing subscription cost ~£40 pa. for skype number vs £0 for the 0845/VoIP. It would be OK if the service performed but so often it didn't.

£0? Virtual Telephone Numbers | Get a Virtual Phone Number says £20 pa for an 0845 number: still cheaper than Skype though.

Just because I do use Skype for voice and video calls (I got my current contract on a Skype video call while I was on holiday in Vietnam) does not mean that I have to use them for everything. The big advantage of a Skype Number is that I can answer a call in to it free with Skype, but since I am only on Skype by appointment that is hardly a factor (the Skype app on the iphone will not stay connected in the background).

Oh dear:
Skype out to French mobile: 7.2 cents per minute.
TTNC 0845 number, forwarding to a French mobile: £5.20 per minute. Ah, I think not.

[Contreras]

Yes, a basic VOIP service is actually cheaper than a Skype Number. I get few calls so the forwarding cost is not a big deal.

I meant the ongoing subscription cost ~£40 pa. for skype number vs £0 for the 0845/VoIP. It would be OK if the service performed but so often it didn't.

[expat]

Yep, 'proper' VoIP is way better than Skype in my experience. I ditched skype for anything other than basic skype-to-skype due to unreliable Caller ID (incoming & outgoing), call routing, and general call quality, not to mention it is relatively expensive. Been a happy customer of Voipfone since.

But I think what you are asking for above (1) could be done with an 0845 number. For that I use TTNC. I see that they, and others, also do geographical numbers. From August it's free to forward to any UK mobile.

Yes, a basic VOIP service is actually cheaper than a Skype Number. I get few calls so the forwarding cost is not a big deal.

[Contreras]

Good point about the dual-sim phone.

The main phone will remain an iphone and somehow I don't see dual-SIM iphones soon.

I might have to step back and do social engineering instead:
1. Get a VOIP service and redirect it to my main phone wherever I am. I already do that with a Skype Number but Skype's 35 second delay in call divert is just too much.
2. Tell everybody I know not to text me any more except by arrangement or in reply to a text from me.
3. If my bank declines a transaction, I call them to check it.

Yep, 'proper' VoIP is way better than Skype in my experience. I ditched skype for anything other than basic skype-to-skype due to unreliable Caller ID (incoming & outgoing), call routing, and general call quality, not to mention it is relatively expensive. Been a happy customer of Voipfone since.

But I think what you are asking for above (1) could be done with an 0845 number. For that I use TTNC. I see that they, and others, also do geographical numbers. From August it's free to forward to any UK mobile.

[expat]

Maybe you really want a dual-SIM smart phone?

If you still want a non-smart phone then look at dual-SIM anyway because they tend to have a higher battery capacity. Beware the quoted standby times are fanciful. Nokia 112 works for me, single charge per week for light to moderate use.

Good point about the dual-sim phone.

The main phone will remain an iphone and somehow I don't see dual-SIM iphones soon.

I might have to step back and do social engineering instead:
1. Get a VOIP service and redirect it to my main phone wherever I am. I already do that with a Skype Number but Skype's 35 second delay in call divert is just too much.
2. Tell everybody I know not to text me any more except by arrangement or in reply to a text from me.
3. If my bank declines a transaction, I call them to check it.

[Contreras]

Examples of need:
1. An agent calls. I can't tell them all in advance to hang on 45 seconds. Maybe I could just set a message saying please call my Skype Number.
2. The bank wants to confirm a transaction before allowing it, so they send an SMS.

I can forward calls to a Skype Number and on from there to my main phone, but that takes 35 seconds or more to transfer and some callers hang up before then.
I don't know a way of forwarding SMS to another phone, without having a device + app running back home.

Maybe you really want a dual-SIM smart phone?

If you still want a non-smart phone then look at dual-SIM anyway because they tend to have a higher battery capacity. Beware the quoted standby times are fanciful. Nokia 112 works for me, single charge per week for light to moderate use.

[expat]

Nokia 6310i, from many moons ago, had a 14 day stand by.

Ignore that no USB. Sorry

Thanks for the thought anyway. Yeah it seems to be common still, that the simplest/cheapest phones have a proprietary charger connection. A Nokia wouldn't be a bad idea, you can probably get a replacement charger cable anywhere in the world if need be, and it is only 1 little extra cable to carry around. But the "if I get my druthers" wish is for no extra cable. Or an iphone that takes 2 SIMs with both active!

[Scrag Meister]

Nokia 6310i, from many moons ago, had a 14 day stand by.

Ignore that no USB. Sorry

[expat]

I have a Nokia Lumia 435, ticks all the boxes you say, and I have one for the exact same reason you want, main use is PAYG sim card that I give to pimps and throw away when I get a contract.

Thanks, I'll have a look at that. I confess that I assumed I was NOT looking at a smartphone because I didn't think that it would get the 5-day+ standby that I am looking for.

[SimonMac]

I have a Nokia Lumia 435, ticks all the boxes you say, and I have one for the exact same reason you want, main use is PAYG sim card that I give to pimps and throw away when I get a contract.