I have multiple telephone services, and lines. This might not make sense to some as I am just one unemployed person, but there is reasoning to my madness. With that being said, I will try to justify all of my telephone lines whether free or not. Obviously, if you have questions beyond what this page provided, then you can always email me.
Cellular
I have 3 cellular phones. Yes, I know, this is ridiculous, but there is reason to my madness. The main reason is I have 3 cellular phones that I want some active service on it, and since I can’t use the same service and phone number on 2 devices, I have to get multiple numbers, and multiple lines.
The first line is for my iPhone. This is my annual bill from my carrier which charges me $205 per year for 5GB of data. This would come out to be about $18 per month when saving for that annual bill. The iPhone is the primary phone, and my preferred line when interacting with the telephone line.
The second is for my Razr. There is an app that is not available on iOS, and this app will benefit my life greatly. It wouldn’t have been worth it if I had to pay a lot of money for the service, but because I live below the poverty line, I qualify for LifeLine phone service. The provider I chose gives me 3,000 minutes, unlimited SMS, and 4.5GB of data. I don’t use anywhere this amount on my iPhone, so this is well into the domain of overkill. Now someone might be asking, why not just transition to the Razr? I prefer iPhones for the simplicity in interacting with my PC. This is especially important when syncing my music. And while there is a work around to send music to my Razr, this is not a perfect solution.
The third is my Nokia 2780. If someone walked up to me, and ask to use my phone, and I decide to trust them with a phone, I will hand them the Nokia. This phone has no resale value, and therefore not worth stealing. If someone runs off with my phone, I lock the phone once I get home, and order a new SIM and phone. Again, there is no resale value for basic phones, and much less of a risk than the next cheapest phone which is my $750 Razr. I get 100 minutes, disabled the SMS, and have no data beyond Wifi. I pay $8 for the line.
Forwarding Number
This is a free service. It will simul-ring my home phone, iPhone, and Razr. Which ever phone I choose to answer will get the call picked up. Very few people know this number, and it needs to ring to a telephone number which explains it being a forwarding number. I do have an app on the phone to show this number if I was to make a data call, but I would not do that as again, I don’t want everyone to be able to ring all three of my devices at one time. The Nokia is not a part of this forwarding lines.
Home
I have 2 telephone numbers associated with my home phone. You might be asking why would I even need a home phone? Well, if for some reason my cellular lines are down, and not allowing me to make phone calls, the home phone line can prove useful. And I had this service before I got the Razr. There has been times I misplaced the iPhone in the apartment. I would use the home phone to ring my iPhone. I don’t need to do that any more as I would use the Nokia to ring the iPhone, or Razr. However, I just feel comfortable with having a home phone backup.
As mentioned, there are two numbers associated with the home phone. The oldest one is my toll-free number. They share the 4th-10th digits as the iPhone. This makes it easier to remember as I just have to remember the first 3 numbers, and that is much easier to do. The second is a Pittsburgh Local number. My forwarding number rings to this local number. Also, anyone that wants to call me, but don’t want to force a charge on me will therefore call the local number. Both numbers rings to the same line.
SIP Broker
SIP Broker is a service that converts many SIP providers SIP addresses into a phone friendly telephone number. SIP Broker offers a free forwarding service which makes it nice as I do not wish to disclose the SIP address of my provider. I was able to select a number that isn’t in use, and with that, I choose my toll-free number as the number you would dial through SIP Broker. Since this is a SIP Broker number, and not my actual number, I am not charged for receiving calls to the SIP Broker number. SIP Broker does not charge for their SIP Forwarding numbers.
Voicemail
There are instances where I need to give a telephone number, but do not want the person to ring my telephone line. The most evident of examples will be bad actors that will offer “Web Design” or “SEO” services for my website. I have never asked for these calls, and therefore the company is breaking US law by calling my number that is on the Do Not Call list. Rather than giving them a number that would ring my phone, I give them a voicemail only number. This number will send people directly to my home line’s voicemail service. If it is important, they can leave a message. If it is a scam, they will not leave a message. Simply put, it is worth the $6/month.
Conclusion
So my cellular service is $26. My forwarding number is free. My home phone is $10. My SIP Broker number is free, and my voicemail is $6. This comes out to be less than $50 which is less than what most people pay for 1 line. Yes, if I got really desperate, I could port my iPhone’s phone number to the Razr, and rely exclusively on the Razr for my cellular phone, and turn off all of the other non-free lines, but I am nowhere near that point. Again, less than $50 is less than what most people pay for their phone. In that regard, I am doing better than most when it comes to telephone services, and I got so much more than what they have.