Reply With QuoteGet a UK VOIP number (eg Skype Number) that roams globally via the Internet and forward your other numbers to that. You can run the Skype app on your SA mobile locally.
Ok, one for the telecoms experts here.
As of next year I will be looking to spend more time in South Africa. I have business where I will be receiving phone calls from customers to my fixed office line or mobile number, both UK based, which I would want to route to my South African Mobile
The simple options (which are horrifically expensive) appear to be:
a) Pay the roaming charges
b) Forward to my South African cellphone
I am currently lost in a maze of VOIP and forwards on the internet and would welcome any ideas / experience in this area.
Get a UK VOIP number (eg Skype Number) that roams globally via the Internet and forward your other numbers to that. You can run the Skype app on your SA mobile locally.
Thanks, will look into that!
We use a service called Vonage, It's a VOIP service and its a box that we plug into our router and we then plug a cordless phone into it and it gives us a virtual UK landline no. Calls to UK landlines are included in the monthly price, and when people call us from the UK they have no idea that they're speaking to us in the Gulf. You can chose the area code you want, but I'm not sure whether you'd be able to port over an existing number.
Another really cool feature is that you can port the service to 2 mobiles as well, I set it up using my UK sim, then transferred my local sim into the same phone and it works perfectly. Whenever we get a call, the landline and my mobile ring, and if I'm out it means I never miss any more calls.
If you could get a new no from Vonage, and then give this to your clients as your office line would that work for you?
We pay just under a tenner a month IIRC and couldn't be happier with the service.
Hope that helps
Will look at Vonage as well, thanks for the recommendation!
Get a VOIP number and use it with https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....wave&hl=en_AU on your mobile. As long as you have a wifi or mobile data connection anybody ringing the VOIP number will ring on your mobile wherever you are in the world. If you can't take the call the voicemail is emailed to you. My UK number is with https://www.localphone.com/. Here's a list of VOIP providers for you to check out, https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/VOIP_DID_Providers.
When you decide on your provider port your existing number to them. As it's a business may be worth doing a trial with a provider before switching over to make sure everything works to your satisfaction. As it's a business I would build in redundancy by getting using a second provider with a new number - advertise your existing ported number with supplier A, and have another with supplier B.
You should also consider a internet cordless phone. I have a Gigaset C470IP (old model), but as well as Gigaset, Yealink and Grandstream do nice products.
Calls from you UK mobile can be forwarded to the UK VOIP number and ring on the GIgaset in S. Africa or your mobile anywhere in the world but the forwarded calls cost money. You could even look to see whether you can get a virtual mobile number that you can port your existing UK mobile to. You can checkout forwarding calls to your fixed line VOIP provider using SIP URI calling (free). Make sure the voip provider accepts SIP URI calls.
If this is new to you? Ring some of the UK suppliers and explain what you want to do. Tell them you want to get a virtual mobile VOIP and forward SIP URI calls to the fixed (geographical) VOIP number. Even if they don't do virtual mobile numbers they will know who's good.
A company we use does that sort of thing - www.pure-ip.comOriginally Posted by Chalet
we have country specific numbers for our business in various countries - they all come into our voip server and I map them to different regional sales teams - and its a local call for clients
We use Skype for business servers and with the mobile app or a polycom physical phone - anywhere there is internet your work phone travels with you and you make calls that break out in head office so calling local clients from abroad costs local calls.
Microsoft is now moving this to the cloud with microsoft teams - basically microsoft becomes your phone company - with the teams client (laptop/pc/mobile) meaning your number will travel with you teams is free to try - number porting etc would costs extra plus finding someone who knows what to do to set it up.
Last edited by Xantiagib; 16th December 2019 at 12:06.
Just to add this is fairly easy for most voip providers, we are a small 2-3 person business and use voipfone and have always found them helpful when needed (initial setup)
https://www.voipfone.co.uk/
When my parents had Gigabit ethernet installed (they live in the sticks) I put them on Vonage as the calls worked out a lot cheaper than BT. I ported over their existing phone number from BT which they'd had for decades.
Thanks to everyone for their advice, I have some research to do!
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