International calling to and from the USA on a cell phone

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

VPN is offered by many companies.  Most are not free but a few are.  I pay for Express VPN.  I think it is $20 a year.

VPN lets you choose to make it look like you are in the U.S. (or any supported country).  So, your bank or business that you are calling or logging into will not know you are out of the country.

Maybe it's a US thing - the UK banks don't care in the main where you are.  

[Me2]

On 8/26/2022 at 9:46 PM, OnMyWay said:

I don't know as I have never tried.  Generally speaking, free Google Voice does not support Int'l calling.  When I want to call the U.S. on my Philippines mobile using Google Voice, I first start my Express VPN.  That way Google Voice thinks I am in the U.S.

I don't really see a need to do what you mention.  You can have your PH phone connected to the internet really cheap now, so the only time you won't have internet is in areas with poor signal.  As long as you are connected, you can get texts, calls and voicemail via Voice or Gmail.  For calling friends and family, I usually use FB Messenger.  For businesses, Google Voice.

I let all calls to my U.S. Google Voice number go to voicemail because I have given the number to various businesses that I don't want to talk to without screening.  E.g. real estate agents calling me to tell me it is a great time to buy a house!  

Thanks OMW,

Your right, calls going to voicemail is good for me too.

Now about the texts, specifically TFA texts, you receive them through the Voice app promptly enough to use?

Thanks again,

Dean

 

[OnMyWay]

59 minutes ago, Me2 said:

Now about the texts, specifically TFA texts, you receive them through the Voice app promptly enough to use?

Yes, almost instantly, both in Voice and in G-mail.  I usually look at G-mail because it is easier to read and/or copy if I want to copy the OTP.

[Me2]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Yes, almost instantly, both in Voice and in G-mail.  I usually look at G-mail because it is easier to read and/or copy if I want to copy the OTP.

Excellent news.

Thanks

[longway]

Thanks to everyone for the great ideas for work arounds to solve my phone/ text connection proplems. I had no idea it has become so complicated to get a phone call. It is obvious that todays communications companies still have a long way to go to be "keep it simple stupid".  Again, Many thanks!

[JJReyes]

On 8/24/2022 at 3:54 PM, JJReyes said:

I made a phone call recently to the Philippines without realizing it was not set on Facetime.  The AT&T charge for one hour was $200!  Pissed me off.  Time to change the phone provider.

Good news.  I called AT&T to complain.  It turned out the one call made to the Philippines was $350!  The charge was $5 per minute.  Customer service offered to back track to an international calling plan charging $15.00 a month plus $ .23 per minute to the Philippines.  My plan is to cancel the AT&T account in two months by switching to Verizon.

[Dave R]

Hi, new member from the UK just retired and moved here.  I use an app called Devyce, I think it's also available in the US, which I ported my mobile number to mainly so I could get text messages for online banking etc.  They will also supply a new mobile number if you want.  Basically I then get VoIP call's and texts to and from the UK with a UK calling plan with unlimited UK texts and calls.  Number shows up as a UK number when I make calls. The UK number sim is contained in a phone app and I use a Philippines sim for my calls here. So far it works perfectly, I get texts in seconds through the app so no problems and the times I've made calls again it works well.  Cost is less than £10 a month 

[Gator]

4 hours ago, Dave R said:

Hi, new member from the UK just retired and moved here.  I use an app called Devyce, I think it's also available in the US, which I ported my mobile number to mainly so I could get text messages for online banking etc.  They will also supply a new mobile number if you want.  Basically I then get VoIP call's and texts to and from the UK with a UK calling plan with unlimited UK texts and calls.  Number shows up as a UK number when I make calls. The UK number sim is contained in a phone app and I use a Philippines sim for my calls here. So far it works perfectly, I get texts in seconds through the app so no problems and the times I've made calls again it works well.  Cost is less than £10 a month 

The app is available in the USA, but it only assigns UK numbers. According to their website’s FAQ, international numbers will be available soon. So for now it’s not really helpful for ppl needing a US number for banking 2FA codes, etc. 

[hk blues]

13 hours ago, Dave R said:

Hi, new member from the UK just retired and moved here.  I use an app called Devyce, I think it's also available in the US, which I ported my mobile number to mainly so I could get text messages for online banking etc.  They will also supply a new mobile number if you want.  Basically I then get VoIP call's and texts to and from the UK with a UK calling plan with unlimited UK texts and calls.  Number shows up as a UK number when I make calls. The UK number sim is contained in a phone app and I use a Philippines sim for my calls here. So far it works perfectly, I get texts in seconds through the app so no problems and the times I've made calls again it works well.  Cost is less than £10 a month 

It sounds ideal but I really don't need a regular plan and would prefer a pay-as-you-go like I can do with Skype.  Downside of Skype is no SMS function in reality and no incoming calls from landline but not something I require.  My 3 UK banks have both online and phone banking and my main UK bank has a card reader system as an alternative to SMS for 2FA.  

[Jollygoodfellow]

7 hours ago, hk blues said:

It sounds ideal but I really don't need a regular plan and would prefer a pay-as-you-go like I can do with Skype.  Downside of Skype is no SMS function in reality and no incoming calls from landline but not something I require.  My 3 UK banks have both online and phone banking and my main UK bank has a card reader system as an alternative to SMS for 2FA.  

Have you tried whatsapp? International calls, SMS if in conjunction with another app. I have it but rarely make calls and just use as a message system but believe all the features you need are there.