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My wife insists on having a landline. I know there are some VOIP providers that have apps that let you answer calls on your smartphone, but is there a generic device that will let you answer landline calls on your cellphone (as if it were a POTS phone extension)?

I assume it would require a companion app.

James
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  • Is this an existing POTS extension that you'd like to interface on a smart phone, or are you shopping around for either VOIP or POTS solutions? – JohnB Sep 10 '15 at 14:33
  • A POTS solution would work for both, so that would be ideal, but VOIP-only solutions would work for many (probably most these days) people. – James Sep 11 '15 at 01:01

2 Answers2

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If you have an Android it's very simple, you don't need any apps or external devices.
Just go into the call settings, and scroll all the way down. There are the Internet call settings, where you can directly log in to your VoIP provider and answer calls wherever you have an internet connection (make sure to check the Receive incoming calls check box).
I use this solution to connect to my router, to use the landline it (the router) is connected to, and it works fine.

szoszk
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  • That doesn't work with POTS, only VOIP, but that is certainly interesting. Does it support ALL VOIP providers? – James Sep 11 '15 at 00:59
  • @James It should support all VoIP providers using the SIP protocol, which is the standard in VoIP right now – szoszk Sep 11 '15 at 14:39
  • Unfortunately, it looks like my current provider (Ooma--one of the most popular around here), uses SIP, but a modified, tunneled version, so I don't think this will work--and I don't have Android. :-( – James Nov 02 '15 at 19:49
  • @James If you only wanted to get an android because of VoIP, then you can risk it, because Ooma offers an android app, in case it won't work. But on the other hand, why use Ooma, when there are different providers, that use SIP non-modified. The benefit of VoIP is, that you can use it anywhere in the world. – szoszk Nov 02 '15 at 20:56
  • Why use Ooma? Other than taxes, it's free. Are there other free VOIP providers? – James Nov 02 '15 at 21:35
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Definitely doable. Often you cannot port the landline directly to a VoIP or Google Voice number but you can port it to a temporary cell phone and then to a Google Voice number.

https://www.google.com/voice

It's $20 if you want to keep the number but if you want to just get a new number, that is free.

You can use the Hangouts + Hangouts Dialer / Google Voice apps to get the calls received on your smart phone(s).

Something like http://www.magicjack.com/index.html would be another approach to keeping the landline but being able to forward calls.

Enigma
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  • I'm not taking about number porting--my wife still wants to use the regular phones--this would be in ADDITION to regular phones. – James Sep 11 '15 at 01:06