Answer mobile calls from house phones (without landline)?

(Moved from General Broadband Chatter forum)

I miss many mobile phone calls when I'm home because I inevitably leave the cursed device at the opposite end of the house. It's especially stressful now that so many virtual appointments are (for example) "we will call you between 9am and 1pm".

So I have wired & DECT land-line phones throughout the house & garden - important parties know to call the land-line if I don't answer mobile.

With the digital switch-over coming, I figure it's time for a more elegant solution that would let me do away with the land-line number, but still be able to answer calls via wired or cordless handsets.

I thought this would be a common requirement - but my google-fu has failed and I've not found anything suitable yet.

Ideally I would like something like WiFi calling so that when I'm home, voice calls to my mobile number would also automatically ring some WiFi handsets.
Even better if there was some magic to connect my router to my current wired &/or DECT handsets so I don't have to fork out for WiFi handsets.

I've seen some "bluetooth to home phone" bridge devices, but this means the mobile phone is trapped near the device (so I couldn't use the mobile phone in other rooms). Bluetooth also generally sucks (random disconnect, pairing issues, forget to turn it on etc.).

Someone suggested a virtual phone number, but these still seem to require a separate mobile phone number for the SIM/carrier and don't appear to integrate well with other messaging apps, banking apps etc. on the smart phone.

Any thoughts?

Cheers.

@moon69a,

I use apps on my desktop like Airdroid (www.airdoid.com) and MySMS (for texting only)(www.mysms.com). I have always used Android phones and so use the 'Droid apps on my phones and then the webpages on my other devices (whether Windows, Linux or Android tablets). This allows me to not always need to have access to my actual mobile to send texts or be notified of incoming calls. Fortunately for me I live in a small 1 bedroom flat and this means I would never be too far from my mobile but it's nice knowing that if I were to be in your situation I could handle being a distance away from my mobile if I had to.

HTH,

On your mobile, you should be able to set up "call forward on no reply" to your landline number.
by default, this is set up to go to voicemal but can be changed, see here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_forwarding

your landline could be implemented as POTS or VoIP, makes no difference to the call forwarding

In reply to a post by mking90031:

@moon69a,
This allows me to not always need to have access to my actual mobile to send texts or be notified of incoming calls

Thanks - I've had a look at https://www.airdroid.com - the website is surprisingly vauge on it's capabilities...

It seems like you are notified of a call on the PC (and possibly pick up the call), but you have to speak via the mobile phone itself (or headset connected to the phone).
So even if I had a PCs all over the house (and assuming they were awake, unlocked etc.) I could answer the call, but I would still need to run and try and find my phone before the other party hangs up (since they can't hear me until I get to the phone)?
Am I misunderstanding how AirDroid works?

In reply to a post by essex_man:

On your mobile, you should be able to set up "call forward on no reply" to your landline number.
by default, this is set up to go to voicemal but can be changed, see here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_forwarding

your landline could be implemented as POTS or VoIP, makes no difference to the call forwarding

That's likely to be an expensive way of doing it as the forwarded calls aren't usually included in call bundles with the mobile. Unless things have changed recently?

In reply to a post by essex_man:

On your mobile, you should be able to set up "call forward on no reply" to your landline number.
by default, this is set up to go to voicemal but can be changed

Thanks but my shoddy memory won't remember to change the call forwarding everytime I leave/arrive home. I'm also keen to make things simpler - ideally without a landline.

I've just found out Amazon Echo/Alexa can answer mobile phone calls - but currently only Vodafone and EE subscriptions are supported.

This would be perfect, but so expensive compared to virtual networks (I only spend £30/year currently).

This is a different use case to the usual 'migrate PSTN to VoIP and terminate calls on a VoIP client on the mobile phone'.

As the mobile phone terminates the mobile voice calls the only solution is to extend these with something which connects to the mobile as a bluetooth headset and emulates a landline or DECT device.

I use an Iigo Bluewave Hub, which I believe is a variant of the XLINK BTTN, connected to the house phone system. As the majority of my online access is via laptop rather than mobile the phone mostly lives in one spot near the interface and I can answer mobile calls on any of the house phones.

IIRC Gigaset made a unit which connected to a mobile as a headset and appeared as a DECT handset which could be paired with a DECT base allowing mobile calls to be made and received from the other DECT handsets, but I don't know if this is still available.

Edit: It is the Gigaset LM550 / LM550i

Edited by tdw42 (Fri 01-Sep-23 14:27:42)

Interesting thanks!

The closest I have seen to this is the use of eSIMs on mobile devices with a plan that allows the use of the same number across multiple devices.

I am currently using Vodafone One Number in addition to my main Vodafone airtime and data plan. I have the main eSIM in my phone on the main airtime and data plan. I've then added Vodafone's One Number service (this has additional charges on top of the main plan) which allows for an eSIM in my watch (although I think it could be any device that has eSIM support) and both devices ring when the main number is called (the additional eSIMs have their own number but I don't think these additional numbers are used to call in or out). So, in effect, I can answer an incoming call from either one of the devices. I can call out from either one of the devices and the person I am calling will see my main number on their caller ID display. Both eSIMs share the airtime and data allowances from my main eSIM plan.

I think that other networks have similar plans. Each network will have its own brand name for it (for example Vodafone has OneNumber), and the costs, features, and supported devices depend on the network and plan. A quick Internet search suggests the following:

EE Smart Number
Three Smartwatch Pairing

I have not been able to find anything for O2, however, they should be able to provide more information.

The various mobile virtual network operators may or may not have similar plans so you'd need to check with the individual operators.

Edited by teshy (Sat 02-Sep-23 19:48:26)

My mobile phone, with EE, rings for a certain amount of time before forwarding the call to my landline. Hence you ring my mobile, and seamlessly whilst ringing, after some time my landline rings. The only downside is, EE then charge for my personal mobile, ringing my landline, which for me isn't an issue given I have unlimited calls. However, if you have limited minutes / pay per minute, this would become expensive.

I am not 100% how this was setup as I recall doing it many years back during renewal of contract. I believe it's done at the network side, but could be wrong. There's no monthly specific charge for it etc.

EDIT: Another downside is if they leave a voicemail it's left on my landline NOT my EE voicemail.
OK it's configured in Phone - Call Forwarding. Noted on EE, the forwarding comes out of my standard unlimited minutes and shows up in itemised bills as my mobile, ringing my landline, which is sort of random to look at. It works nonetheless.
+ Apologies if already covered, not had time to read the full thread but wanted to assist if not covered.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 03-Sep-23 01:36:40)

In reply to a post by moon69a:

I've just found out Amazon Echo/Alexa can answer mobile phone calls - but currently only Vodafone and EE subscriptions are supported.

This would be perfect, but so expensive compared to virtual networks (I only spend £30/year currently).

Whilst I have this feature setup I usually set it to do not disturb as the Alexa has questionable call quality, and often the volume is temperamental. I would not switch network with any expectation of this facility being a workable solution 247. It's more "works about half the time."

Other niggles occur such as answering in one room, and all other Alexa's keep ringing on full volume in every other room.

In reply to a post by moon69a:

In reply to a post by essex_man:

On your mobile, you should be able to set up "call forward on no reply" to your landline number.
by default, this is set up to go to voicemal but can be changed

Thanks but my shoddy memory won't remember to change the call forwarding everytime I leave/arrive home. I'm also keen to make things simpler - ideally without a landline.

To add, the way mine is configured (and I definitely did speak to EE whilst setting up), it rings my mobile first. This rings for the normal length (prior to EE voicemail activating), but instead of going to EE voicemail, the call continues to ring, and in the background rings my landline after I fail to pickup on the mobile.

Hence, I leave it on 247, and when out of my home, I answer the mobile. At home, if the mobiles not nearby, the call eventually hits the landline.

That's likely to be an expensive way of doing it as the forwarded calls aren't usually included in call bundles with the mobile. Unless things have changed recently?

Unsure specifically as I was renewing my plan whilst I set this all up with EE but I don't get charged outside of the bundle. It shows as my mobile calling my landline, which is included. It is possible that EE applied some sort of discount / adjustment given we were negotiating on upgrading + adding a new line.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 03-Sep-23 01:42:06)

Thanks for info.

Not so useful for me though - trying to work around requirement for land-line.

In this context, "land line" could be any 01/02/03 number, which could be a SIP (VOIP) number. It doesn't have to be an analogue PSTN line.

Your requirement seems to summarise as: "if I leave my mobile at the other end of my house, but someone phones my mobile number, I want to be able to pick up the call using a different (wired) handset"

Divert-on-no-answer is a simple way to do that, where the other phones you have lying around the house are registered to a SIP provider. You could plug your existing DECT base station into an ATA - or even better, get a SIP-enabled DECT base station like the Gigaset N300, and register your handsets to that.

The second way would be to do it the other way round: get a SIP/VOIP number, and ask people to ring you on that. It can *simultaneously* ring a SIP client on your phone (e.g. Acrobits Softphone) plus any number of handsets at home, or indeed anywhere else you choose. This will use mobile data while you're talking away from home, and the call quality might not be as good as a "proper" voice call over the mobile network (especially in poor coverage areas, where maybe the phone falls back to 2G).

The only thing to be careful of is that some SIP services may only let you register *one* handset at a time, unless you pay extra. SIPGate Basic definitely lets you register two, but it's no longer available to new customers. If you're going with AAISP, you should check how many registrations they allow. One for your softphone and one for your home base station should be all you need.

The third option is to move your mobile number to an operator which does SIP, like again AAISP. It *may* be possible to have the call delivered to the AAISP SIM as a regular phone call *and* to SIP extensions - check with them if this is what you want to do.

Unfortunately this is an expensive way to do outbound mobile calls, but if you have a handset that supports dual SIMs simultaneously active, it could make sense. The SIM for outgoing calls can be from a regular budget provider. Of course, that number will be seen as the CLI when you make an outgoing call, and if people call you back on this, it won't ring on your SIP handsets - bringing you back to square one.

You could get a Polycom OBi302 gateway, which with a Bluetooth adaptor can gateway your mobile phone onto the your home phones