International calling to and from the USA on a cell phone

[OnMyWay]

I'm still using free Google voice for my U.S. calls.  I have not had any issues calling banks or getting OTP texts on it.  No problems using it on my phone as long as I have a decent internet connection.

Edit:  Forgot to mention.  I connect Express VPN with U.S. server before connecting with Google Voice to make calls.  Google Voice does not allow international usage so you need to make it look like domestic.

For incoming text, no need.

Edited August 25, 2022 by OnMyWay

[Sailor Jerry]

14 hours ago, longway said:

My Cell phone carrier offers an international calling plan but it does not include the Philippines. I use a separate phone with a Phil sim card when in country but I want to receive and send texts using my USA phone back to and from the states while there.  I would like to know what others are doing to enable this.

Hi @longway I’ve been using YourDialer for over 4 yrs & have used it in many countries. yourdialer.org It’s been of Great use to me for those important phone calls anywhere in the world where you cannot use Messenger, Whatsapp & Viber or the like.

Theres a nice fella here in Angeles City, his names Ted & is from the US, his place is called CPI Call Shop & Craft Beer and it was he who set it up for me 4 yrs ago now & I think I’ve been back to reload no more than 3 times with total cost around 2000 pesos. Just so we’re clear here, I do not have any affiliation with this business at all & am only recommending looking into it. I Just checked my balance which they put in Euros and I still have €13.78 amazing. I cannot tell you if you can get it in the States, but it does give me an excuse to pop in & have a craft beer, so will find out next time I go past if your interested?

i remember a couple of years ago when selling some property away from my home state in Australia from here in Angeles City & I was on the phone for hours calling different people and remember that it used hardly any of the load. Couldn’t work it out. I only use it when those other apps are no good. Good luck to you.

[hk blues]

18 hours ago, Sailor Jerry said:

Hi @longway I’ve been using YourDialer for over 4 yrs & have used it in many countries. yourdialer.org It’s been of Great use to me for those important phone calls anywhere in the world where you cannot use Messenger, Whatsapp & Viber or the like.

Theres a nice fella here in Angeles City, his names Ted & is from the US, his place is called CPI Call Shop & Craft Beer and it was he who set it up for me 4 yrs ago now & I think I’ve been back to reload no more than 3 times with total cost around 2000 pesos. Just so we’re clear here, I do not have any affiliation with this business at all & am only recommending looking into it. I Just checked my balance which they put in Euros and I still have €13.78 amazing. I cannot tell you if you can get it in the States, but it does give me an excuse to pop in & have a craft beer, so will find out next time I go past if your interested?

i remember a couple of years ago when selling some property away from my home state in Australia from here in Angeles City & I was on the phone for hours calling different people and remember that it used hardly any of the load. Couldn’t work it out. I only use it when those other apps are no good. Good luck to you.

Can you call landlines from it as well as mobile numbers?

[Sailor Jerry]

4 hours ago, hk blues said:

Can you call landlines from it as well as mobile numbers?

Yes you can, it’s the main reason I needed it. Especially when you need to go thru their directories. 

[baronapart]

We have Mint mobile. It uses T-Mobile systems. When my wife was in the Philippines in March and April we found out by accident that she could text and call me for free using wifi calling. We have wifi calling set up automatically on both of our phones. It worked seamlessly as long as she had a wifi connection. Bonus.

[longway]

All good suggestions but not going to work for my financial sites that send  me a  text message numerical code to my phone number of record to open my account. They send a 6 digit code to my stateside number on file. My stateside phone doesn't receive it in the Philippines. I don't mind paying extra for the service but $200 is of course not practical.  Perhaps I need to drop my carrier and change to Goggle FI. Do you know if they offer standard cell phone plans?

[Dave Hounddriver]

51 minutes ago, longway said:

All good suggestions but not going to work for my financial sites that send  me a  text message numerical code to my phone number of record to open my account. They send a 6 digit code to my stateside number on file. My stateside phone doesn't receive it in the Philippines.

If your stateside phone does not receive texts in the Philippines then you could leave it turned on and plugged in back in the US and set it up to automatically forward all texts to email.  Not gonna be practical for a long term solution but short term would work.

[OnMyWay]

7 hours ago, longway said:

All good suggestions but not going to work for my financial sites that send  me a  text message numerical code to my phone number of record to open my account. They send a 6 digit code to my stateside number on file. My stateside phone doesn't receive it in the Philippines. I don't mind paying extra for the service but $200 is of course not practical.  Perhaps I need to drop my carrier and change to Goggle FI. Do you know if they offer standard cell phone plans?

Try a free Google voice account.  Works for me.  I have the Google Voice number as my U.S. number in my credit card, IRS, Fidelity, etc.  I set up the Google Voice to forward everything to my Gmail account, so I can get OTP on Gmail or Voice.  The forwarding is instant.

I always have full time internet on my mobile and it is dirt cheap now.  So I use FB messenger for most calls, or Voice if I call the U.S.  For calls on voice, I turn on VPN first as Google Voice does not support Int'l calls.

[OnMyWay]

6 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If your stateside phone does not receive texts in the Philippines then you could leave it turned on and plugged in back in the US and set it up to automatically forward all texts to email.  Not gonna be practical for a long term solution but short term would work.

I tried that.  Bought a cheap phone and left it at my sister's house.  You need someone very reliable to stay on top of it.  My sister was not.

[Me2]

10 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Try a free Google voice account.  Works for me.  I have the Google Voice number as my U.S. number in my credit card, IRS, Fidelity, etc.  I set up the Google Voice to forward everything to my Gmail account, so I can get OTP on Gmail or Voice.  The forwarding is instant.

I always have full time internet on my mobile and it is dirt cheap now.  So I use FB messenger for most calls, or Voice if I call the U.S.  For calls on voice, I turn on VPN first as Google Voice does not support Int'l calls.

Hello OMW,

I've been a member here for quite a while. I love this site. I have learned sooo much. I think this is my first post. 

Hi to all!!

In preparing for coming to the Philippines, I created a Google Voice account with one of their numbers. I then had my old land line number (via a prepaid cell #) ported over to Google Voice. Everything works well. I can receive and make calls. And can receive texts in Voice App. Incoming calls ring on the POTS phone attached at to the OBi 200, and to my cell which is setup on ObiTalk as a forwarding number.

I plan on porting over my cell number also before we leave. I am thinking I will add the ported cell number to the same account. Instead of adding it as a second account. I don't need to keep the two numbers separate. 

The question I have is, when we arrive in the Philippines we will get local SIM cards and local numbers. Can we use this local number as a forwarding number. So calls coming in to either number will ring the phone with the local Philippine number?

Thanks,

Dean