voip number porting to ring.to

[dilinger]

I recently switched away from TMobile to Ting, which is great ($15 bill the first month, woohoo).  However, service on both Tmo and Sprint are not great at my new house, *and* I can probably save even more money by using voip stuff, so I've been playing around with that.

The number porting stuff confuses me.  Right now I have my old ancient number on my Ting cell phone, and the various free voip apps/services all have different (random) temporary numbers while I try them out.  When and if I decide to switch to using a free voip service, how does the number porting work?  Does my Ting (cell) phone get a random number, while ring.to gets my ancient number?  If someone calls my ancient number and I'm not on wifi, does it automatically forward to my random Ting number?

I've currently tried Mo+ (which hassled me about credits after like 10 mins and stopped working), talkatone (which also apparently only allows 10 free mins/month, and likes to disconnect).  Next up, I plan to try GrooveIP/ring.to, which looks more promising.  Anyone have suggestions for what I should be trying?  Most info I search for online in this regard is out of date, as Google Voice changed their API back in May to not allow third party apps to use it.  I have no interest in using Google Hangouts, as I like to keep my life separate from the Googleverse.

[Daley]

When and if I decide to switch to using a free voip service, how does the number porting work?  Does my Ting (cell) phone get a random number, while ring.to gets my ancient number?  If someone calls my ancient number and I'm not on wifi, does it automatically forward to my random Ting number?

You have to go through the number porting process with whomever you're choosing to use.

If you port your number out of Ting to say ring.to (same outfit that owns Republic, by the way), it will terminate your Ting account. It will also cost you $5 if you want to port it back out of ring.to to another provider. They don't tell you that up front.

You would have to set up new service with Ting first.

Additional points to consider:

You get what you pay for with service, so it's best not to rely on free services if you want quality calls.

Ting can actually do conditional call forwarding to another number. You don't have to port your number out of Ting to keep getting calls in over a VoIP account.

Most VoIP services allow you to set the outbound caller ID number to any number you own.

This post of mine just a couple weeks ago is incredibly relevant.

[dilinger]

It sounds like Localphone might be what I'm looking for, assuming I'm happy with the call quality.  For my average 200 minutes/mo, $1 plus the monthly $1 line fee?  When I add my wife to that and bump up to 700 mins/mo, that's still only $5.5, less than one of the Ting voice tiers.

It looks like when it comes to SMS, sticking w/ Ting is the way to go ($3 for 100 msgs, $5 for 1000 msgs vs Localphone's $0.088 per msg).

Thanks!

[Daley]

It sounds like Localphone might be what I'm looking for, assuming I'm happy with the call quality.

I'll put it to you this way, the call quality isn't the reason why Localphone isn't a part of the guide. The privacy policy is... but it's no worse than the privacy policies of the VoIP companies you were already willing to deal with.

Glad to help!

[dilinger]

Looking over their privacy policy:

"Localphone collects and uses personally identifiable information—such as name, email address, and credit card information—for billing and provisioning of service, to solve problems associated with service, and to inform customers and prospective customers of new Localphone products or services that will better meet their needs. Localphone may also collect such information from prospective customers through promotional campaigns it may occasionally conduct. Localphone may share such information with business partners to ensure the successful provisioning and operation of its services and to facilitate the marketing of Localphone products and services. However, Localphone does not sell, trade, or disclose personally identifiable information to third parties for unrelated marketing purposes. In addition, any customer who wishes not to receive information about new or different Localphone products or services may decline to receive such offers"

It sounds like Localphone will spam you and your friends with promotional offers (which you can maybe opt out of) for their services.  But they don't sell information to unrelated 3rd parties.  What in particular is your concern w/ Localphone?

I have to admit, when it comes to phones, I have a pretty low expectation about privacy.  I run my own email and xmpp server, but I've just about given up on being able to control my information when it comes to the buggy, insecure, and opaque phone networks..

[Daley]

It sounds like Localphone will spam you and your friends with promotional offers (which you can maybe opt out of) for their services.  But they don't sell information to unrelated 3rd parties.  What in particular is your concern w/ Localphone?

I have to admit, when it comes to phones, I have a pretty low expectation about privacy.  I run my own email and xmpp server, but I've just about given up on being able to control my information when it comes to the buggy, insecure, and opaque phone networks..

That's the worst part with their privacy policy in a nutshell... but it's no worse than the companies you've already dealt with or what Bandwidth.com does with either their ring.to or Republic Wireless service.

That said, not all providers do this. Those that don't, get put in the guide.