VoiceMail, SMS receive, inbound call log - questions

Pre-Sales
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My number is still pending, just purchased it now so I can’t see what I can do yet … so I have a few questions.

Voice mail and inbound call log:

  1. To receive call going to voicemail I have to setup a 3rd pty VOIP services. I understand that. Bur if I don’t have setup VOIP service, is there a way to receive voicemail to email + see the inbound call log of who call (inbound) in Flynymber without having sign up for the flynumber pbox service for $14.95… Right?

  2. I do not care for handling calls, just want receive them into voice mail. I’m looking for a free voice mail to email service. So far I looked at Call Centric and the fee PBxes so far. PBoxes does not allow upload my own recording for greeting unless I pay premium plan (only allow recoding greeting via call to their number). Anybody knows other service that just allows me to receive call into voice mail for free?

SMS

  1. If I purchase the number, I can receive the SMS into email, correct ?

  2. Once I setup the 3rd party VOIP, will my receiving of SMS to email be affected in any way, in other words, will I continue receiving the SMS to email as per setting in Flynumber?

  3. In case SMS forwarding is available already (I’m not clear), can I forward my messages received from international number purchased here in Flynumber into a Canadian mobile number?

Thanks.

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Hi @itoldusoandso , thanks for posting.

Thank you for your order, we appreciate your business here. The number you ordered needs an address in that city for us to register it under. Your account was updated with a ticket (email notification should have been sent as well).

Yes you can, a free provider that has logs and voicemail as well is sip2sip.info

If you need help setting this up we can from here.

sip2sip should work , there other other free SIP providers, a quick google search gives you options.

Correct, Czech Republic numbers have incoming SMS capabilities, forwarded to your email.

No, the SMS functionality is completely separate. There is also no charge for this.

At the moment it’s just “forward to email” - outgoing SMS in general is something we’d like to implement in the near future.

Our pleasure and standing by if you need anything (also waiting on you for the registration info)

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Nce service this sip2sip. Clean interface and easy to understand. Unlike that jungle greeted with when first signed up for Pbxes or Twilio.

And yes looks like sip2sip has it all, email missed calls and send voice mail to email.
This can’t be something right, me thinking, too good to be true. So hope that works fine. That’s all I need. :grinning:

But looking a their outbound calling rates, they are quite high, calling mobiles is 3x what costs with Voipcheap/VoipBuster and even with LocalPhone service

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Exactly our thought process, they’ve also been around for well over a decade.

I see, you’ll need to factor that in but also keep in mind the outgoing caller ID would be controlled by them - perhaps you can contact them directly in regards to that matter.

Appreciate your feedback here. :pray:

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Great.
Are you able to activate the number or is it going to take some time? I have submitted the other few days ago, please check. I submitted ticket there and waiting response… Don’t want to mention my username here for privacy reasons, so you need to find out there.

I can use Flynumber for outgoing calls too :heart_eyes:. Do you think?

Bit worries I will spend a lot of time with setting up Bria, Acrobits, Zoiper, Mizudroid etc because I spent quite amount of time with these about 10-20 years ago or so when I was first using VOIP because standard international rates were so high. At that time it wasn’t walk in the park, the application would drain battery like madness, miss calls, stay asleep and gazillion configuration options. And it can be quite dazzling setup with gazillion of options but I am sure things improved since and you seem like a helpful and knowledgeable staff reading the forum.

Betamax and Localphone have pre-configured apps but the call-Id doesn’t work well seems (still, and never did). Betamax is not consistent with Caller ID and seems only working from their own mobile app. Localphone doesn’t allow bring-your-number situation, for outgoing Call-ID must be purchased their DID.

But I would still need either Betamax (VoipCheap, VoipBuster etc) or LocalPhone is because of their outgoing SMS. You don’t offer that right now.

LocalPhone seems allows sending SMS and will receive reply on the number and maybe register Flynumber as reply number??

https://www.localphone.com/services/global_sms

Betamax seems offers that too but not sure how reliable:

image

All Betamax services have same SMS costs but one, VoipJumper is lowest, that was always the case and had also lowest rates of all Betamax services to some regions notably European destinations.

What would be interesting to know how will Betamax treat Flynumber. Does it consider to be a EU number? Or is it a call still from outside EU?

The reason I ask is because Betamax as 2 rates and for some EU countries the difference is significant!! It’s either a 10 cents per call or almost a free call, like in this case:

image
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So I wonder if Flynumber will be automatic a caller ID from EU member state…

Betamax has also a very nice feature - ability to make calls by HTML URL, which I find really useful and interesting. So basically I can create a link in Airtable and send text message. That is so cool. If it works, that allows me to skip the whole Twilio or Zapier schemozzle.

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Continuing my previous post. I was limited to 1 URL in my most.

You can send text messages through our client, the website or using a HTML link. It’s also possible to schedule your text messages or send an SMS to multiple recipients.

One thing to consider with sending SMS is the non GSM-7 characters. Are they splitting the 70chars messages with non GSM-7 characters into 2 messages? That can be quite more costly. Many regular phone Texting apps allow replacing non GSM-7 characters with standard latin characters.

Let’s see.

I am testing out what works for me. But for sure I need Flynumber at least at minimum for inbound SMS receiving. That is awesome Flynumber offers that. Can’t wait to start using it.

SMS:

Option 1:
Betamax (VoipJumper) mobile app/website/URL >… (Call ID Flynumber) >… Recipient (will see Flynumber) > … Recipient will reply to my Flynumber >… Receive the text message by email

Option 2:
Same seems possible with LocalPhone (but rates are a bit higher for SMS)

Call:

Option 1:
Flynumber ( on Voip app) >… (Call ID Flynumber) >… Recipient (will see Flynumner) >… Recipient will call back my Flynumber >… either leaves message (will receive by email) in sip2sip.info or will receive call call on Voip app

Option 2:
Betamax mobile app / VOIP mobile app >… (call ID Flynumber, seems only works with the Betamax mobile app) >… Recipient will call back my Flynumber >… either leaves message (will receive by email) in sip2sip.info or will receive call call on Voip app

The issue with Betamax is the Call ID feature which doesn’t seem work reliably.

LocalPhone is not a good option for making calls, their rates are not too much higher, but they do not allow use Flynumber as Call ID, must be their own DID. So that is not an option for calling.

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Apologies on the delay and the number was assigned, should have it active very shortly.

For that you’ll need to use our phone system - I can set you up for a month free to test it out if that works for you.

The good ole’ days, we remember them well. Things have changed significantly and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Many tools to “protect” the VOIP traffic as well and things getting more reliable in general, the code, tools etc.

Unfortunately thats correct, something we’re looking to change quickly though.

Very interesting and they were ahead of their time. Getting our system to play well with the likes of zaiper and make.com is also on the roadmap.

Interesting, thank you for that.

This is where you’ll want clarification with the betamax provider, over the years I found them responsive and accommodating to a users’ needs. I would get in touch with voipdiscount for example and ask for clarification on the Caller ID as well as the EU rates. We for example would look at you calling a Spain number as EU to EU.

More info here

Lets get your FlyNumber live as I imagine it would make things easier to setup.

Just to touch on this one, an app like Groundwire works great without draining battery - Im speaking from over 10 years of personal experience with the app. Its a one time paid situation but well worth it.

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Sending outgoing SMS - test results

Betamax:

Sending SMS does not work almost at all for the international and US numbers I have tested. I have normal mobile phones with SIM cards and wasn’t able to receive SMS text by sending either from Betamax website or their mobile app. It used it work but I think they no longer develop it, it’s just maintenance mode. Also the URL sending didn’t work at all.

The only success I had is sending SMS to a VOIP number in Canada. That was received, but guess what, it was received as a call and read to me in Text to speech. So my guess this is was a feature they had, if SMS was sent to a lane-line, it would be converted and read by voice.

So overall, Betamax is now total fail when it comes to SMS. It used to work, once.

(By the way, same has Dingtone, they also use Text to speech to landline in the correct language, so if it is a German number, the text to speech would convert the SMS to speech when sending to German land line. That is interesting but that is the only thing interesting about Dingtone, more about them below.)

Betamax calling rates are unbeatable, they are even lower than Flynumner rates, some regions they are dirt cheap for mobile plus they have free calling to landlines.

LocalPhone

Sending SMS works! It actually works reliably well, sometimes with delay, but it does work!
The issue is however, Call ID for sent text mostly does not work. I was only able to display the call ID when sending from a Canadian number (mobile number) to one of international numbers (mobile number), otherwise it shows random numbers or shows some text like InfoSMS or Verify etc. Too bad, because they do allow configuring the Call ID. Mobile app on iOS and Android doesn’t allow sending SMS text, do that I have to go to LocalPhone website. No good.

Dingtone:

They actually work for everything, sending and receiving texts work with their number and cover most countries in the world, however, are expensive, they charge 10 dollars per month for phone number, the prices are hidden in the application, what they show on the website are credits but they don’t tell you actual cost, calling can cost about 0.20 USD, for me it’s 2x Flynumber or Sonetel rates, texting also 0.19 USD. They also charge for receiving call about 0.09 USD and also charge for receiving SMS about 0.16 USD. They also charge for Voicemail in per year fee abuout 3.50 USD. Dingtone is a rip-off. Their app still pushes advertisement, even though you are a paying customer and are subscribed to their phone number, they still expect you to pay another subscription on top of that to remove advertising. What a freakin way of doing business. Also have a 0.07 USD connection fee for calls.

Sonetel - sending SMS doesn’t work for any numbers at this time. Sonetel is similar to Flynumber except they offer the phone system at no charge but it is a bit confusing to setup and they do have still issues with delivery of voicemails but they have transcription included in their phone system too (English).

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Sending INCOMING SMS - test results

Sonetel offers incoming SMS … hm,… didn’t know. Their website is confusing. So it took me to come to Flynumber and go around circles to find it out. They are clear as mud.

But receiving doesn’t work. SMS not received by email. Doesn’t matter from what number the SMS is sent.

I tried now with Flynumber and have same issue however. SMS is also not received. I tried sending from different physical phones with US number and also International cell phone regular SIM card, neither the SMS is not received by email.

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Sonetel SMS working now, able to receive SMS by email, so I am on the fence now. I would prefer using Flynumber if it allows me to use Call ID on the outgoing call because Sonetel doesn’t include that in their basic package. Need to make decision on this asap because need to publish the phone number so I can’t spend time changing it later on again.

Still no response from you guys, SMS not received. Tried to send SMS from many differnet lines and phones SIM cards, nothing works.

Voicemail/Calls not working either, connected for me but I know this is just question of setting up sip2sip.

But the incoming SMS to email is handled in Flynumber, my guess is it doesn’t work for international numbers.

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Apologies on the delay with this as it seems our partners involved with the country you ordered a number (we assume) mistakenly have asked for documentation regarding the address.

Unfortunately Sunday is not the best day to get a response from them but we’re seeking further clarification.

This is with the URL method correct? Im thinking the old tech may not work as promised if its not updated by betamax.

Interesting and thanks for the feedback, I imagine this has alot to do with carriers and countries involved. A US number texting a US number for example should be simple.

Also appreciate the feedback here, very good read indeed.

Their model is different than ours but we share aspects, decent company but not sure they would cater to the more advanced user.

Number is not live yet but Im hoping we can get this done in less than 24 hours. Usually it takes 24 hours or less but we ran into a snag here, then Sunday came about. Apologies for this and will make sure to add a free month credit to the account for the inconvenience.

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No problem, I understand they want address confirmation. I don’t much of a proof of address because I don’t live there physically anyways, I only cell phone bill with the local address and my ID has an address. So if they want something more, I don’t have.

Sonetel only asks for my current address (different from DID country) and drivers license number to get the DID.

It is to get the Call ID shown on the outbound call is where I would need to provide a proof of address plus a photocopy of ID to Sonetel.

So I assume the outbound call will show the Call ID? Is that reason they asking the extra documentation?

I would still like to use Flynumber, if you can help me to setup but I have to use Sonetel for this month because I had to start working today on what I need.

Sonetel provides a limited version of the phone system with their “free” plan which I like because it is no-hassle setup.

I think that makes more sense to consider for you guys as well to provide a no-frills lite-version of your phone system with the number subscription, because that would prevent you from having to answer a lot of basic questions here in support forum from people who don’t know this or that when it comes to setting up with the 3rd party free providers.

What I am not thrilled about Sonetel rate is their outbound call rates to mobile numbers have a varying range… calling a mobile number can cost 8 cents but also 42 cents USD. That is huge range. How do I know if I am charged one or the other if I am calling the other country. So I like the fact Flynumber has one flat rate for all calls to mobile numbers I am calling into the country. That gives me reassurance I am not going end up with a large bill.

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Do you know of any other service providing outbound SMS internationally?

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This might be an issue as they are requesting proof of address in the country you want the number. PM sent.

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Really appreciate all the feedback again @itoldusoandso

It’s more about activating the number in general, how you will be using it doesn’t really matter ( in the technical sense of things )

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Perhaps Twilio as you eluded to earlier but not sure if it fits the bill for you. Hopefully we can get our outbound SMS off the ground soon.