VOIP Tech Chat → cheap provider for low usage & land line port

A family member died and I'd like to keep their land line number alive and get any calls/messages for maybe a year.

I expect few inbound calls and no outbound calls.
I want:
voice mail with an email alert, preferably containing the audio,
low or no startup & equipment costs,
low cost porting of the US land line number, &
no contract.

If I have voice mail e-mailed to me or via a web interface do I even need a SIP phone?? Can I just configure a free soft client and then never use it?

What providers do you recommend for this usage?

It depends on where the phone number is ("rate center" = area code plus first 3 digits of local number). If you post that here - e.g.
613-832-XXXX - people may be able to give more precise suggestions.

Voip.ms can certainly do this for many rate centers. (I have an answer-only number with them that copies the voice mail to email and deletes it from the voice mailbox).

Cost is typically between $1-$2/month, +$0.015/min for the incoming calls. Some rate centers are more expensive than others.

You do need a soft phone to set up the outgoing voicemail message, however. (Uploading a recording for this is a long-awaited feature).

Also see the posting by MartinM in this thread
»[Anveo] Free Porting Special Extended!
for a current Voip.ms porting promotion.

First of all, my condolences on your loss.

That said, the least expensive way to do this would be to do the trick of porting your landline number to a "throwaway" no-contract cell phone (such as you can get at Wally World) and then, once that port is completed, port the number from there to Google Voice. I know there are other threads in this forum that explain that process, though I don't have a link offhand. The upside is that if it works you will only have to pay about $40 to $50 for phone and the GV port (Google charges $20 IIRC) and then you can log into the account to listen to voicemail OR have it e-mailed to you, and in addition you can get a SMS notification when a call comes in, and after the initial setup costs it's all free, so you don't have to shut it off after a year if you don't want to.

The only downside is that there are some exchanges (usually ones that are in rural areas served by small phone companies) that Google can't port a number from, so you run the risk of not being able to go the Google Voice port. In that case you can either continue to use the throwaway phone's voicemail, or you can port the number to some other provider, and you are only out the cost of the throwaway phone.

But also, if the number to be ported were in certain areas there might be other, even less expensive options available. So you may want to post the area code and first three digits of the phone number.

(Before anyone pipes up about Google Voice, remember he said "no outgoing calls" so it is pretty obvious he does NOT need 911 service in this application, which is something many providers would charge him for even if he has no need of it).

First, my condolences.

Callcentric would meet your needs. For $1.95 a month you can get Pay As You Go incoming (plus 1.5 cents a minute). If you tell them you live in the United States and Canada in the sign up process, they require you to sign up for the E911 service, which is $1.50 a month (total $3.45 a month). There is a setup charge for the incoming number $3.95, plus a setup fee for E911 (if required) of $1.50 (total $5.45). There is also a $25 porting fee.

So, with E911, setup cost is a little over $30, including porting the number and setting it up with E911 service. Then there would be a $3.45 a month charge (with E911), plus 1.5 cents per minute for actual talk time. You can send email or text message alerts to your phone (or computer) for free, with MP3 attachments if you wish.

Since you're sending all calls to voice mail, you wouldn't need any special equipment. You would have a log of all calls and, in case there are SPAM calls, the ability to filter them out so you wouldn't be bothered with them.

But first you'll need to check to see if the number is portable. A form is available on Callcentric's main web page for this purpose.

»www.callcentric.com

I think most, or all, Pay-As-You-Go VoIP services can offer all of this. I'm sure some would be cheaper then Callcentric. But Callcentric is the one I know and use and I can specifically answer your questions while using them as a reference.

219-785-xxxxThat sounds like a perfect match if the number ports.

Thank you

Cute. I knew GV didn't port landlines (from landline providers?). I hadn't thought of this.That's even after the port to a cell-phone? I guess it's all about the original exchange. But GV can port some original-land-lines from mobile providers? And I can't find out in advance, I have to try it?

Thank you

As always there are lots of alternatives.

Check out Anveo ... they offer free porting for US numbers into an annual plan that provides free incoming calls.

From the Anveo web site .....

SPECIAL OFFER!
Port a phone number in US or Canada for FREE to 'Personal Unlimited' or 'Office Unlimited' rate plan with 12 month pre-payment for the phone number. (porting request must be submited before April 1st 2013)
* Free Porting Specific Terms. When the FREE porting is complete the phone number will be pre-paid for 12 month and account will be charged non-refundable $24 (12 x $2/month) for
Personal Unlimited rate plan.

So ... fund an account with about $40 ... this will cover the port and one year of service as well as the E911 fee of $.80 per month and Caller ID cost of $.09 per incoming call (if you choose to use it).

You could even set up the service so that all callers would go to voicemail ... and the transcript would be emailed to you.

Also nice. But a per-call fee for inbound caller id?!? That's a surprise and I couldn't find it on the website.

Thank you

I believe that swarner had a typo -- it's $0.009 per call, and that's for caller ID name. You get the calling number at no charge.

Also, if you don't need SIP access, I believe that you don't need to pay the 911 charge. (You can set up the voicemail greeting by upload or by calling in from another phone.)

F9 would be a great match with their number parking service, for $1/month. VM is included, which they will e-mail to you.

My $0.02.

Carl

Future-Nine charge a $20 porting fee and $3 per month unless the number happens to be in NY, CA, PA, VA, WV, DE, MD.

I suggest just go with Anveo and be done with it. Reliable service, great price.

Most of the Voip providers would work.....

CallCentric recommendation is valid.
F9 Recommendation is valid.

These two can port numbers that MANY cannot.