One phone two numbers?

[Guest]

So I'm hoping that some tec savvy gents or ladies can help me out here. I'm looking to get a new smart phone. So here's the interesting part. I was hoping to get two separate numbers on this phone. One for work and one for personal. I was hoping to have all the features of a regular cell phone voice and text but I also wanted to be able to turn this extra phone line off when I want to. I know there's a rogers phone out there that has two sim cards but it's not a smart phone.

 

It looks like you need a phone that holds two separate sim cards.

 

I am willing to pay my phone company extra for the extra line on the cell phone, for phoning/texting. It is just easier to have everything on my one bill rather than loading up a pay as you go phone all the time and it's easier to carry one phone with two numbers rather than having two phones all the time and more discreet too.

 

I will continue my research but if anyone could point me in the right direction, I would be so grateful.

 

OMG, this seems to be banned now or illegal, sorry mod. Does anyone know the reason behind this? I would imagine this kind of feature would be good for businesses.

[EmilyRushton 253372]

I used to have this feature on my blackberry, then rogers stopped offering the service. Best to contact your company directly and ask them if this option is still offered.

[piano8950 32577]

From what I know, this sort of phone is fairly common in Asia and less so in Europe. But the last time I heard of any dual sim phone in Canada was 5 years ago, and it wasn't entirely dual sim (just confirming that right now)

 

I believe this is what you're looking for - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-206-Free-Mobile-Phone/dp/B00BFPUYRI

 

But I'm not sure how you can get that one shipped here.

 

 

Also, here is Newegg that will ship to Canada, but I'm not familiar with these brands

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=dual+sim&x=-846&y=-112

 

 

An alternative is having a smart phone and using an app to make/receive calls.

 

Dell Voice allows you to have a separate number that you can make/receive calls. It runs of the data services and is completely free (when I used it last year), you can get a 613 area code

 

Skype - You can get the Skype app, and pay a monthly fee for a Skype number (613 as well, but check if it's an Ottawa number). Big name, and supposedly reliable.

[IsaMassage 54318]

There is a few phones, mostly chinesse phone that have the dual sim card capability.. years ago i almost got one they are like immitations of the smart phones available.., in terms of the quality back then I heard that their signal was not the best.., maybe now they are better... Not sure if the celphone providers carry them or if you would have to find it online at ebay or something like that...

What I usually do Is i forward all the calls from one phone to the other.., if i dont want to carry with both phones, but when this becomes an inconvenient is with the txts as you would only be receiving the txts of the SIM card that you have on the phone...

[Guest]

Thanks, Vitto. That was my second question. When you forward your phone do you still get texts? That answers that. I guess I can always put on my adds no texts, phone calls only.

[jessirayne 210]

Hi Peachy, not sure if this would be quite what you're looking for but have you thought about downloading a calling/texting app on your smart phone? Then you could have the phone number from the company, and then a text/call app number on the same phone (most of them i believe text is free and then you pay for minutes if you want to).

[nerdnerd 449]

If all you want is to receive calls on a second number, then there are no end of ways to get calls forwarded to you. The issue is SMS and outgoing calls.

 

One option to consider is that you could use Skype, GoogleTalk or any number of SIP phones as your second line. If you do that, get an unlimited data plan... unless you live in a rural township, or travel to Montreal a lot, Wind is a good deal. If you do Montreal a lot, then Videotron works in Ottawa.

 

The dual SIM card phones were really good ideas, but the carriers hated them.

(oh yeah... Buy your phone. you don't want a contract. Nobody wants a contract)

[Meg O'Ryan 266444]

Isn't there an app iPhone that allows a second number? I remember starting a thread asking about this and had some great responses but never followed thru.

[HarveySpecter 1908]

A Skype account for that 2nd line would be the best way to go preferably on an android or windows 8 phone (just better compatibility on the phone, especially the newer android phones running (4.0 or higher)

 

There are others like vonage and google talk but im not sure they give you local numbers.

 

This would indeed need some kind of data (either wifi or carrier)

 

Edit: Correction from Isabella.

[Isabella Gia (Banned) 53881]

Skype does not offer numbers for Canada. Here's the link where you can see the list of countries where that feature is available. I think with google voice you can make calls but not receive them.

 

IMO the best for you would be to use a phone application for work on your smart phone.

[Guest S****r]

I know exactly what you want, because I want it, too. Before buying my new iphone5 in December, I spent quite some time researching this, and could not find what I wanted. In the end, I have kept a second line on another phone, and have all calls forwarded to my iphone, which is helpful. But I can find no way to have the texts forwarded. So I still have to carry a second phone justo to check texts. Very annoying.

 

I can't believe no one offers it.

 

If you find anything, please let me know. I know things change all the time.

 

Summer

[Guest]

Hello, Summer

 

It looks like the new Samsung Galaxy s4 phone has dual sim cards in it. Which would be great because this is a wonderful little smart phone. The kicker is like Emily stated some companies will not activate the dual sim card feature.(I don't know why) The Galaxy s4 phone is not out until the end of the month. So I'm going to go to bell to ask a bunch of questions For example does the 4s really have the dual sim card feature(sometimes the phones are made differently for China or India, ect, ect) and I will ask bell if the will activate the second sim card. So I will update you with the information I get from them. Until then it's great to look into other options.

 

It is confusing because I read a bunch of stuff. Some people say you can get two separate companies for the sim cards. But when your phone is locked for one specific company, so you continue using them, you get into hacking your phone and that is a big no no, your warrantee gets void and that is illegal. So it's just better to see if a company like Bell will allow the dual sim cards to be activated ??IF?? the Canadian model has the dual sim card feature. I know you can buy attachments for the Apple 5s phone but you can only use one phone line at a time because the phone is made for the activation of one sim card(again confusing to me and hard to explain) Again I don't know if the Apple Dual SIM Case is available for Canada.

 

I don't know much about this stuff. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong or if I missed something.

 

Anyways, here is the phone I'm interested in. If Canada has the same features.

 

http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Products/Samsung-Galaxy-S4

 

http://samsungs4galaxy.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-dual-sim/

 

Apple Dual SIM Case for 4s phone and 5s phone. You can use only one phone line at a time using this.

 

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2011/07/22/iphone-4-accessories-dual-sim-case-iphone-5-built-in-option/

 

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/iphone-4-dual-sim-adapter-case-30-08-2010/

 

Also looking into the Apple 5s phone. I'm confused about it having or not having an extra slot for a sim card. Peachy scratches head, too much tech talk, lol.

[EmilyOsgoode 1534]

Hello Peachy, If you're looking to obtain a google voice number OR a skype number (or want to use a US based internet service ie. hulu, better netflix) you can shield your Canadian IP address.

 

Begginers Google Voice App for your smart phone :)

 

1. Go to a free hotspot shielding service such as:

 

http://www.hotspotshield.com/

 

-This assigns you're computer a "virtual" location in the US, UK or Australia (depending on where you need it)

 

2. Sign up for a temporary US incoming phone number (this is not a free service, its 9 dollars) make sure you pick a number from the states: Toll free forwarding

this number forwards to your phone.

 

3. Make a google account if you don't have one. If you do, make sure the hotspot shield is set to the US location. Follow this link https://www.google.com/voice/

-use your toll free number for verification, follow the instructions

 

4. Download Google voice app on your phone and now you can text and receive and make phone calls with your google voice app. (as long as you have data or wireless)

 

FINALLY: cancel your toll-free forwarding number and ad-shield so your credit card does not get charged and you don't get annoying ads thrown at you.

 

done :)

 

Additional Comments:

I should add, once you have it set up and if you cancel the tollfreeforwarding account before 30 days, this will make your second phone number and texting line free.

[HarveySpecter 1908]

Hello, Summer

 

It looks like the new Samsung Galaxy s4 phone has dual sim cards in it. Which would be great because this is a wonderful little smart phone. The kicker is like Emily stated some companies will not activate the dual sim card feature.(I don't know why) The Galaxy s4 phone is not out until the end of the month. So I'm going to go to bell to ask a bunch of questions For example does the 4s really have the dual sim card feature(sometimes the phones are made differently for China or India, ect, ect) and I will ask bell if the will activate the second sim card. So I will update you with the information I get from them. Until then it's great to look into other options.

 

It is confusing because I read a bunch of stuff. Some people say you can get two separate companies for the sim cards. But when your phone is locked for one specific company, so you continue using them, you get into hacking your phone and that is a big no no, your warrantee gets void and that is illegal. So it's just better to see if a company like Bell will allow the dual sim cards to be activated ??IF?? the Canadian model has the dual sim card feature. I know you can buy attachments for the Apple 5s phone but you can only use one phone line at a time because the phone is made for the activation of one sim card(again confusing to me and hard to explain) Again I don't know if the Apple Dual SIM Case is available for Canada.

 

I don't know much about this stuff. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong or if I missed something.

 

Anyways, here is the phone I'm interested in. If Canada has the same features.

 

http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Products/Samsung-Galaxy-S4

 

http://samsungs4galaxy.com/samsung-galaxy-s3-dual-sim/

 

Apple Dual SIM Case for 4s phone and 5s phone. You can use only one phone line at a time using this.

 

http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2011/07/22/iphone-4-accessories-dual-sim-case-iphone-5-built-in-option/

 

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/iphone-4-dual-sim-adapter-case-30-08-2010/

 

Also looking into the Apple 5s phone. I'm confused about it having or not having an extra slot for a sim card. Peachy scratches head, too much tech talk, lol.

 

The phone you linked (Samsung Galaxy S3 dual sim) is only specific to the chinese market plus its a GSM + CDMA phone and no canadian network offers CDMA sim card (used to be Bell and Telus).

 

I dont believe the Galaxy S4 is dual sim or atleast the ones being sold by the Rogers, Bell etc will be and they wont be locked either.

 

There is the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duo that was released in December. Seen a few reviews and is a fairly decent phone but mostly likely have to be bought from ebay or online retailer as with other dual phones because they are mostly marketed towards asian and african markets.

[backrubman 64800]

A second line was actually part of the original cell phone standards NAM1/NAM2 (designed in) but was only offered for a short time and has been discontinued everywhere by all the carriers.

 

Even if you buy a dual SIM phone, with the ones I've seen they don't both get to be active at the same time (you get to switch back and forth) but only one is in use at a time, so no joy there.

 

So the only solution is an app that does it a different way, etc. and then comes the problem of responding to text messages which are going to appear to come from the number in the SIM card (because they did).

 

Many ladies I know are packing two phones, except the ones that don't usually carry there "personal life" phone all the time.

[Guest]

I think the option that EmilyOsgood gave was brilliant. It is exactly what I need. I can have the Google number I can give to clients and keep my cell number private or I can link all my numbers to my cell phone. It is like a brilliant call forwarding system. I could just kiss you Emily!!! Did I also add that you can get text messages, yes text messages.

 

It looks like my work here is done. Here is some videos about Google voice, btw, it's awesome. Take a look at all the video's they are simple and easy to understand.

 

http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html#

 

Plus Emily is right about protecting yourself. The firewall is a great idea. If I get a smart phone these are the things I will be looking into.

[IsaMassage 54318]

If all you want is to receive calls on a second number, then there are no end of ways to get calls forwarded to you. The issue is SMS and outgoing calls.

 

One option to consider is that you could use Skype, GoogleTalk or any number of SIP phones as your second line. If you do that, get an unlimited data plan... unless you live in a rural township, or travel to Montreal a lot, Wind is a good deal. If you do Montreal a lot, then Videotron works in Ottawa.

 

The dual SIM card phones were really good ideas, but the carriers hated them.

(oh yeah... Buy your phone. you don't want a contract. Nobody wants a contract)

 

 

For the outgoing calls you can always just called private when you call back.. That's how I do it...

[backrubman 64800]

I think the option that EmilyOsgood gave was brilliant. It is exactly what I need. I can have the Google number I can give to clients and keep my cell number private or I can link all my numbers to my cell phone. It is like a brilliant call forwarding system. I could just kiss you Emily!!! Did I also add that you can get text messages, yes text messages.

 

Awesome Peachy, I've been waiting for Google Voice to become available in Canada as it wasn't for a long time... Some people have been using it in Canada for a while now but they had to jump through hoops to set it up and bind it to a US number. Does anyone know if it is now officially available (and therefore easily set up) in Canada?

[Isabella Gia (Banned) 53881]

It kind of is info here

 

Does anyone know if it is now officially available (and therefore easily set up) in Canada?

[Guest S****r]

Are you sure you can receive text messages, though? That is the part that I have not been able to make happen. Calls forwarded, yes, but not text messages.

[Guest]

Awesome Peachy, I've been waiting for Google Voice to become available in Canada as it wasn't for a long time... Some people have been using it in Canada for a while now but they had to jump through hoops to set it up and bind it to a US number. Does anyone know if it is now officially available (and therefore easily set up) in Canada?

 

It says this right on the Google voice home page. I don't know if Canada is different than the U.S.? Maybe they fixed that?

 

Cheap calls

Free calls & text messages to the U.S. & Canada.

Super low rates everywhere else.

 

https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=grandcentral&passive=1209600&continue=https://www.google.com/voice&followup=https://www.google.com/voice&ltmpl=open

 

Also here is one of the videos about Google voice.

 

 

But I don't know how well it works as I never used it before.

 

Are you sure you can receive text messages, though? That is the part that I have not been able to make happen. Calls forwarded, yes, but not text messages.

 

One of the videos says this. But I have never used Google voice before, so I'm not sure how well it works.

 

[EmilyOsgoode 1534]

Hello ! The instructions I posted were to mask the canadian IP address to use the US google "voice" service. Unfortunately Canada only has Google "talk" which as summer said does not receive text messages. If you guys already have a smartphone its actually a real simple process to set up a google "voice" account. If you need anyhelp, feel free to PM me and i'll try my best to simplify the whole process. :)

[Guest]

Hello Peachy, If you're looking to obtain a google voice number OR a skype number (or want to use a US based internet service ie. hulu, better netflix) you can shield your Canadian IP address.

 

Begginers Google Voice App for your smart phone :)

 

1. Go to a free hotspot shielding service such as:

 

http://www.hotspotshield.com/

 

-This assigns you're computer a "virtual" location in the US, UK or Australia (depending on where you need it)

 

2. Sign up for a temporary US incoming phone number (this is not a free service, its 9 dollars) make sure you pick a number from the states: Toll free forwarding

this number forwards to your phone.

 

3. Make a google account if you don't have one. If you do, make sure the hotspot shield is set to the US location. Follow this link https://www.google.com/voice/

-use your toll free number for verification, follow the instructions

 

4. Download Google voice app on your phone and now you can text and receive and make phone calls with your google voice app. (as long as you have data or wireless)

 

FINALLY: cancel your toll-free forwarding number and ad-shield so your credit card does not get charged and you don't get annoying ads thrown at you.

 

done :)

 

Additional Comments:

I should add, once you have it set up and if you cancel the tollfreeforwarding account before 30 days, this will make your second phone number and texting line free.

 

Hello ! The instructions I posted were to mask the canadian IP address to use the US google "voice" service. Unfortunately Canada only has Google "talk" which as summer said does not receive text messages. If you guys already have a smartphone its actually a real simple process to set up a google "voice" account. If you need anyhelp, feel free to PM me and i'll try my best to simplify the whole process. :)

 

Thank you Emily!!! Everything makes sense now, to why you need the hotspot and the temporary U.S. phone number. It is so you can have access to the Google voice. I didn't know that Google voice was for the U.S. only. I saw everything Google voice could do and forgot about the rest of the instructions, lol. Google voice is everything I'm looking for!!! The instructions you gave are fairly simple but it is so sweet of you to offer out your help.

 

I guess if you use Google voice in Canada for a client line, your clients get charged long distance fees when they call or text. I don't want my clients to be charged extra for calling or texting me so I'm back at looking at other options.

 

It's really too bad that Canada does not have the Google voice or Skype feature because they are really great tools that everyone can benefit from.

[Guest ***nsut***jr]

http://www.line2.com/home/

 

 

I have used this for a while and it works fairly well.

It sometimes needs to be restarted because it freezes for unknown reasons.

For the paid version at $10 a month you can't really go wrong with it at least to start.

 

It was a better option than anything else I could find.

 

J