Google Simultaneous Ring
Elsewhere (http://www.tijuanabl...ic=6807&p=29614) I posted about Vonage Simultaneous Ring. There is much to be said for having a U.S. number with simultaneous ring. What I am discussing below can be made to:
- Ring your U.S. cell phone
- Ring your Mexican cell phone
- Ring a VoIP landline in a Tijuana residence/office and/or any landline in a US residence
- Ring a VoIP landline in a Tijuana office and/or any landline in a US office
It all starts with Google Voice. With a Google Gmail account, which is free, you can get a Google Voice number, which is also free.
Google Voice has a simultaneous ring feature.
IME it has more bells and features than Vonages simultaneous ring and works well. It is easy to make Google Voice ring U.S. numbers belonging to U.S. cell phones and/or landlines, but doing everything else that Vonages simultaneous ring will do is more complex.
How do make Google Voice simultaneously ring a phone in Tijuana? This is where things get complex and there are more than one way that Google Voice can me made to simultaneously ring a phone in Mexico.
The easiest way is to install a VoIP phone such as Magic Jack or Ooma. (Which cost $30.00 a year for MagicJack or $5.00 a month for Ooma, which has the better call quality. Sadly neither MagicJack nor Ooma produce the call quality I want, perhaps they would if I had a faster Internet connection, but what I have is enough for e-mail and Netflix and I do not want to pay double for a faster connection. ((I have Cablemas 3mbps Internet (without cable or a phone) which costs me 188 pesos--about $16.00 USD--a month.)
When I use the Wi-Fi connection in my residence with my T-Mobile phone everything works as if I were in the U.S. and there are no roaming charges. (I bought an LG Optimus L90 for about a $100.00 from T-Mobile which has the Wi-Fi calling feature. I do not do often do more than talk and text with a phone so this meets my needs.)
If you have phone does not support Wi-Fi calling then you can install the GoveIP app. With GroveIP you can use either a data connection or a Wi-Fi connection to call a U.S. number. The sound quality using a Wi-Fi connection using GroveIP is as good as you get with Vonage (both use the same protocol), but the sound quality using GroveIP with a data connection is only poor to fair.
What if I want a handset in every room?
An advantage to VoIP systemsMagicJack, Ooma, Vonage, etc.is you can connect them to regular phones so there is a phone in every room of your home or office. You can do something similar using Google Voice connected to a cell phone via Wi-Fi. The answer is pairing your cell phone to Bluetooth handsets.
I bought a Bluetooth Motorola base station with two extension phones for $50.00 at Frys. COSTCO has a Bluetooth base station with three extensions for about $80.00 and with four extensions for about $100.00. (The latter also comes with an answering machine, something I do not use as I prefer using either Google Voice or my cell phone for voicemail.)
Bluetooth sound quality is first rate; people do not know I am using a Bluetooth connection. The drawbacks are:
The cell phone and Bluetooth base station cant be more than 15 feet apart
Sometimes they become unpair. (Pairing them isnt hard, but is something youd rather be a once and done event.)
Another nice thing about Bluetooth phones is you can pair two cell phones to the base unit. I pair both my T-Mobile and my Movistar making placing and receiving phone calls very easy.
These are drawbacks I am willing to live with to save $50.00 a month. If I wasnt living on Social Security I might prefer Vonages Mexico Sin Limites simultaneous ring.
How do I call Mexican numbers?
From the U.S. I use either the KeepCalling.dot com app or the Google Voice app. With KeepCalling.com I pay 4.5¢ per minute to call a Mexican mobile phone and 5¢ per minute with Google Voice. The sound quality with both is first rate; Google Voice is a little easier to use if you set all your calls to go through your Google Voice number. (Which I do as I want people to see my Google Voice number on their caller ID screen so theyll always call that number instead of my actual cell phone number.)
At 5¢ per minute I am better off getting Vonage Mexico Sin Limites if I am going to place more 1000 minutes of calls to Mexican mobile numbers per month. I do not, so I am better off using Google Voice or KeepCalling.com from the U.S.
When I am in Tijuana I can use a Telcel or Movistar phone anywhere as well as Google Voice or KeepCalling where I have a Wi-Fi connection. Since I
How do I make/receive a US phone call on the streets of Tijuana?
The most expensive way is by using T-Mobile roaming at 20¢ per minute. The cheap way is that I have installed GroveIP on my Movistar and I can make/receive calls using either my data connection or (if I am near one) a Wi-Fi connection. As I said above, the call quality with a WiFi connection is very good, but only poor to fair with a data connection.
What is missing?
A Mexican virtual number. For an extra (approximately) $7.00 a month I can add a Mexican virtual number to a Vonage Mexico Sin Limites plan. That way people in Mexico do not have to call first my Movistar number then my T-Mobile number to reach me.
Thats something I would like to have. But not if it will take $57.00 a month to get it.
In summary, the Vonage Mexico Sin Limites simultaneous ring feature is the most convenient way to have simultaneous ring capabilities. But while the above is more complex it saves me $50.00 a month, so it is the method I have chosen for simultaneous ring capabilities.
