Cheap solution to receive calls directed to a landline on my mobile

glenb83 on 22/05/2012 - 14:02

Hi all,

Im looking for a cheap way to receive calls directed to a landline number sent to my mobile whilst on the road. My business is 90% onsite so I rely on my mobile for making and receiving calls. I want to be able to advertise a 'local' number rather than just my mobile number as I think it looks more professional. What I need though is for the calls to be sent to my mobile. I looked into the various options for getting calls diverted to my mobile from a standard landline and also using a 1300 number that diverts but they all seemed like they would be too expensive over the course of a month with the various charges involved.

As an alternative I was thinking of getting a voip number from one of the various providers that I could setup on my android based Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 to receive all the calls that way (provided I was within a 3G coverage area) and even make calls that way occasionally. What are your opinions about this option?

If I do go this way,

  1. Who do you suggest as a good provider (I have used Exetel based Voip before aswell as MyNetFone)
  2. What is a good codec to use to keep the calls at a lower data usage (for areas where reception may not be 100% signal strength) but the quality acceptable
  3. Is there a particular android client that is recommended for this setup?
  4. What is the 'average' data usage of a phone call (a rough approximation per minute perhaps?)

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • Succulent Synth on 22/05/2012 - 15:21
    +1

    I set up a Skype number which costs me around $80/yr. I am based in Melbourne but travel overseas several times a year but my skype number is a local Perth number. This way my family (who are in Perth) can call me for the cost of a local call no matter where I am.

    I use 3G when in Australia and wifi when travelling overseas. I have not experienced any issues with delay or connection even when I was in the mountainous areas of Colombia late last year.

    I haven't really paid any attention to how much data it uses but I do not imagine it would be much.

  • randomthought on 23/05/2012 - 09:54

    many trademen type people just advertise a mobile number these days, and most people probably aren't bothered about calling a mobile, but another option potentially is get yourself a message answering service (usually linked to a paging service but not always). You get a standard landline number assigned to you, which it's intended you divert your phone to but instead you could advertise that number. They take a message and send it to you, you call the person back. It's convoluted and by advertising the landline number you are "locked in" to staying with that message service provider as they own the number not you. Personally I'd rather get my own landline number (VOIP) and divert or "host" that as you've already suggested but thought I'd mention the message service option anyway.

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