Can I Port My Landline to a Cell Phone
Every bit of today nosotros're saving $45 per calendar month by using Google Voice and an OBi VoIP span for our home phone!
If that'south not a infomercial sounding beginning to a web log mail, I don't know what is. But we are, and information technology was actually piece of cake to setup. If you lot're like us and you lot still accept a land line, and you've been interested in how you tin can use Google Vocalism for your home phone, this post is for y'all.
Background
We're always on the lookout for ways to relieve a few dollars by altering our approach to normal things. And over the past few months we've been trying to take a critical await at our monthly spending in guild to figure out which superfluous items can exist eliminated from our monthly upkeep. When looking over our monthly expenses 1 of the first items we realized as a potentially unnecessary expense was our Comcast cable bill.
While dropping cable and joining the "cord cutter" movement is a possibility long term, we dearest TV and I don't see dropping cablevision anytime soon (though the new Dish Sling choice is pretty appealing, and we'll see what Apple tree might offer in the next few months). However, the bundled services on cable seemed similar it might be a skilful place to find some cost savings.
More specifically, I was looking at the $45 per calendar month we were spending on our landline turned VoIP domicile telephone service. Yes, that's right, $45 for the series of telemarketing, survey, political ad, occasional Microsoft Scammer, and periodic calls from our parents, grandparents, and other people from at to the lowest degree i generation older than the states. In brusque, we were getting about 2-3 useful calls per month, and we were paying a lot for it.
I started to do a flake of research into the various options to drop our landline. Many of our friends don't have a landline any longer, and really the only reason we still had it was for our onetime security system that we replaced last twelvemonth. So technically, nosotros didn't actually *need* our home phone. But our phone number has been our number since we bought our business firm 12 years ago, and we're sentimental and nostalgic and aren't fix to get rid of it.
Feeling a bit late to the party on dropping our country line, I started to research our options. Both while looking around online and while speaking with our technology informed friends, i selection kept popping up over and over. It involved transferring our landline phone number to Google Phonation then using our existing Cyberspace service for our phone, which includes free calling throughout the United States.
Perfect!
The Plan
In order to accomplish this Google Voice and Internet phone plan we'd demand to purchase a few things and follow a series of steps. But our goal was simple, spend some money (about $lxx) and fourth dimension (about 2-3 hours) up front and save ourselves $45 per month subsequently that. The process was a series of simple steps.
- Cheque Phone Number Transfer Capability
- Purchase pre-paid "burner" phone or sim bill of fare and VoIP bridge
- Transfer your number to pre-paid phone
- Transfer your number to Google Voice
- Setup the OBi VoIP device
- Configure Google Vocalization
Pace 1: Check Transfer Capability
The most important step in this whole process is the bank check to make certain your number can be ported.
Google Vocalization tin only accept number ports from jail cell phone carriers, so yous accept to actually transfer your number twice during this whole process, one time to a jail cell service and so once to Google Voice. So y'all demand to make certain your number tin be transferred to both the cell carrier and Google (since some, like Hawaii numbers, just won't work with Google Voice). So you'll want to check your number on the following two pages, one for the jail cell provider and one for Google Voice.
First let's check to be sure your number can exist handled by Google Vox.
- Google Transfer Check
If bank check your number and it says that something similar "Ooops! We currently don't back up porting from your carrier. We repent and are working on calculation support for more than carriers," that's skillful news. It means that one time your number is on a supported carrier, such every bit AT&T or Sprint, you'll be able to port your number over to Google Vox.
All the same, if the cheque says something like "Ooops! This number appears to be from an area we don't currently support," that'due south bad news. It means that fifty-fifty if you tin port your number to a supported carrier, you lot might not be able to transfer the number into Google Voice. You might still be able to do something that works for you, but Google Voice is not your answer...sorry.
If yous're nevertheless in the game from the Google cheque, let'south take a look at whether nosotros can port your number to a carrier.
- AT&T Number Transfer Check
If this tells you that your number is "Eligible for Transfer," you're skillful to get onto the next step. And if you adopt to use a different intermediate carrier, yous can check your eligibility on their websites equally well.
- Sprint Transfer Check
- T-Mobile Transfer Check
- Verizon Transfer Check
If everything looks good and you get a favorable message, from both then you're ready to motility total speed ahead.
Step 2: Purchase a pre-paid "Burner" Phone
In the vain of Scandal or The Wire, we bought a cheap pre-paid or pay-as-you-go jail cell phone and program. The purpose of this phone is to human action as a middle human being in the transfer process. Since you need a prison cell carrier to have the number you're moving able to motion to Google Voice, nosotros need to showtime get the number to this "burner" phone. We got a dandy deal on a $9.99 flip phone that I program to resell on eBay when we're all said and done, but a sim bill of fare will work just besides if you already take an unlocked telephone.
Just virtually any cell carrier will work, and really if you already have an unlocked phone laying around, I'd just purchase a SIM menu for your favorite carrier so you don't need the whole burner phone, but where's the fun in that? If you are buying a sim card, just be sure information technology's the right size and type to piece of work with your unlocked phone.
I feel absurd similar Olivia Pope
In our case, we're familiar with AT&T and they had a good bargain for a $9.99 no commitment GoPhone that would exist perfect for our needs. We bought the GoPhone and entered in the information necessary to begin the number porting procedure.
Step iii: Transfer Number to Pre-Paid Telephone
This is a fleck of footstep 2a since the porting begins during the purchase process for our phone.
To begin porting your number you'll demand to provide your telephone number to be ported, your information, as well as the PIN code associated with securing your telephone number. In our instance nosotros had to log into Comcast's website and determine where to find our PIN. Though information technology's referenced in several locations, on Comcast'southward website it'due south hidden in the equivalent to "nether a rock in the corner of the forest." If you lot're a Comcast customer, look for a link on the very right nether the My Account department, Users & Preferences tab, that says "View Phonation Security PIN."
Once the phone is purchased and number porting has begun, it will take between 1 and five business concern days to complete the port. When you receive your telephone in the mail it'south all-time to telephone call AT&T to ask for a number port status. If more than than five days laissez passer without confirmation the number is returned to your normal phone provider and the port will fail and you'll demand to beginning over. Past calling you tin can brand sure the port keeps moving forth.
Later on the port is successful your burner or unlocked telephone will be able to brand and receive calls from your ported landline number.
In our circumstance I was able to sign up for the GoPhone program that is a pay equally yous go $0.x per minute. I found conflicting data about having to fund the program ahead of time, just I ultimately found a support person in AT&T who was willing to active the account without adding whatsoever funds.
And if Tv has taught me annihilation, afterward getting the confirmation telephone call on your burner phone that the number port is successful, you lot should immediately break the phone in half and throw it in the trash so the people who are tracking you tin't find you.
Step iv: Port Your Number to Google Vocalization
Once your cell telephone has your number, you can immediately begin the porting procedure over to Google Vocalism, no need to wait.
The Google Voice process is quite simple. You just fill out all of the info in their number port form. The 1 thing that got me popped up when I needed to provide my new AT&T GoPhone'south account number. AT&T doesn't display your account number anywhere on the website or from the phone, you lot accept to call customer service to get your account number. And before you enquire, no, it'southward non the same every bit your phone number, it'due south a separate and distinct business relationship number. But a quick call to AT&T resolved this issue and I was on my fashion.
In social club to port your number over to Google Vocalization you accept to pay a one time $twenty fee to embrace the process. If y'all're counting along, so far nosotros've spent $29.99 including the burner phone. Subsequently filling out the information it volition go into a awaiting state on Google where you'll be able to check the condition on the port until it is consummate.
Stride five: Setup the OBi VoIP Bridge
Okay, at this point you've got your number transfer started and you're waiting the prerequisite business concern days for the diverse ports to finish. At present y'all'll need to buy an OBi device to support the final transition of your landline to a VoIP service that uses your net connection and Google Voice.
If you lot exercise a quick search on Amazon you'll see there are several different VoIP device options from OBi, also every bit other brands. Each has a different cost point and different ready of features, from multiple ports to back up for fax machines. Afterward looking over everything we decided we only needed the almost bones single port option, the OBi100 VoIP Bridge
In our case we're able to place it in our basement where all of our phone lines are run and can wire in as many phones as we need to through a carve up panel. But our state of affairs is unique because of how nosotros've wried upward our house. In your situation you'll likely simply install it where your main phone line comes into the house, or where your cable modem sits.
All the same, if you lot'd like to install the device somewhere other than near your phone line or cablevision line, you can buy ane of the OBi200
Regardless of what yous choose, y'all should be able to hook up the OBi into your network and phone line by simply plugging in a few items, and you're well on your manner.
Though the cost of the OBi volition vary based on the version your purchase, we spent well-nigh $40 for it so we're at $69.99, and that'southward all we'll have to spend.
Pace 6: Setup Google Voice for VoIP
The final step in the process is the setup of Google Voice to work with the OBi VoIP device. OBi has an first-class guide that walks yous through the whole setup process, but it'south all washed on their OBiTalk.com website. The cardinal component to the configuration is setting upwardly Google Vocalism as one of your OBi'southward two lines (the other being an due east-911 service I'll mention in the next section).
Other than this basic step, there are a ton of pocket-sized configuration items you tin tweak in your OBi.
And in case y'all're wondering, Officer Barbrady is the name I gave my OBi device. All of our home's diverse network devices are Southpark characters. It's been that manner since 2000. And yes, Kenny is a computer that's died many times.
Decision/Considerations
There are a few things to annotation about this whole process. While it was all pretty straight forward to accomplish, it did take a few hours of effort in figuring out some of the various oddities. But once information technology was all setup, information technology all just worked.
One affair that's really overnice virtually the whole setup is how you tin forward your Google voice calls to multiple devices. If someone calls on our home phone number, information technology rings through to my cell phone, alerts me on my calculator, rings on our dwelling phone, and leaves a notification in various places if the telephone call was missed.
While the notifications feel a fleck like WUPHF from The Office at first, Google Vocalism has a lot of great features to help you streamline the process, including number blocking forwarding options, and congenital in voicemail. Later a piddling more than tinkering we're now to a point where just the numbers that we want to get through really ring to u.s.a..
Just what about our old phone account, don't nosotros have to cancel it? In our case, afterwards porting our phone number from our Comcast account, I checked our account a 24-hour interval or two afterwards and our telephone service had been automatically cancelled. No need to telephone call and debate near why you're canceling the account or anything, it was great! Non only that, merely we got a pro-rated credit since we cancelled in the center of the billing wheel. Each individual service many exist dissimilar, so be sure to double check
I have read a few concerns about Google Voice no longer supporting XMPP, the protocol that enables VoIP call forwarding that makes the whole system piece of work, and while they were supposed to drop it in 2012, they reversed their decision and kept it in identify with official support for OBi being extended in late 2014. This is ultimately what led me to trust this arroyo as a long term home telephone solution. It'southward true they could drop it at any fourth dimension, but it seems unlikely given the adoption rate of users using this same approach. More probable would exist the possibility that Google begins charging a pocket-sized fee to keep the feature up and running on an private account. I could see an annual charge happening in the hereafter, though zero has been discussed.
While this is all pretty great, the big disadvantage to this whole approach to home phone is the need for power for your phone to function. If you were using a standard copper land line (not VoIP of whatsoever sort) and your power goes out, your corded phone still typically works. But since this requires your internet stay up, which means your cable modem, router, and any other devices remain online, yous'll demand a battery backup to brand sure everything stays up and running during ability flickers if you lot're concerned nearly that. Yet, with prison cell phones bachelor, this likely isn't as large of a bargain.
And the final major consideration with this type of number port is 911 service. Since you lot're no longer using a local telephone company or service provider, the 911 routing won't work the same, since your call'south indicate of origin is unknown. The way around this is unproblematic, at that place are multiple e-911 services for this very scenario. You sign up for the service and pay a small annual fee of $10-$20 and enter your local address information. And so you add the due east-911 service to your OBi VoIP bridge and someday yous dial 911 the service will route your call to the correct local 911 dispatch. OBi has actually partnered with a service that comes congenital into their interface. It's phone call Anveo and is $15 per year. Nosotros went ahead and employ it as a service due to the ease of setup and configuration in the device. And at this bespeak, the $15 per twelvemonth will be our merely recurring charges for telephone.
Then when all was said and done we accept unlimited calling inside the United States on our original phone number completely complimentary of accuse. International calling does require credit in Google Voice but the rates are very reasonable. However, we'll just likely apply our cell phone for any international calls. We ended upward paying about $lxx upwardly front and $15 per year for the whole service, and so after using it for merely two months we'll already be saving money. And all-time of all, with Google's integration on everything else I already employ (Gmail, Docs, Drive, etc), it feels pretty seamless across all of our stuff.
If your considering the switch to using Google Voice as your new home telephone, we promise our experience and guide volition be useful in helping you transition. And while there are lots of variables and options out there, this is what has worked well for united states of america. Best of luck and we'd dear to hear your experiences or questions if y'all make the switch.
Source: https://oldtownhome.com/2015/3/19/How-to-Transfer-Your-Telephone-Land-Line-to-Google-Voice/
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