Cost Efficient way to save Cell # while out-of-country for 18 months

[Fx45]

Hi All,

I will be moving out of the country for work for 18 months, so would need to cancel my phone ($60/mo) but really don't want to lose my phone # as it's my primary contact # for pretty much everything as I don't have a landline. Can anyone recommend the most cost efficient way to keep my number intact while I'm away? I know there is the option to just move to a cheaper plan or PAYG plan but that's still at least $100/yr. Is there any way to transfer my cell phone # to some cheap VOIP and maybe have a voicemail while I am away?

Thanks!

[l69norm]

You can port to voip.ms for $25 one time. Did number is 99 cents per month depending on the phone number. You don't need e911 as its optional with voip.ms.

Then get a sip client and connect to it remotely while you are out of country.

[n3o321]

you can try stripping down all your features like CID, voice mail, data, call forwarding and just go for for the lowest voice plan (not sure what it is now a days.) explain to them that you will be out of the country for 18 months but you would like to keep your number and ask them if there is anything they can do)

(from my experience from trying to cancel, the lady was nice enough to strip down all my features and gave me a 10$ disacount on the basic voice plan for $17.50 to $7.50 /month X the remaining months.

to cancel Data is 100$...
To cancel the voice plan is 400$

What i ended up paying was 100$ (data cancelation) + [$7.50 x M(number of months remaining)]

im not sure if this is the most cost efficient way but hope it gives you some idea of what you can do.
not everyone will giev you that 10$ voice plan discount. just talk to them nicely...im sure they can do something for you.

[gr8dlr]

Go to 7Eleven and buy a speakout SIM ($10) and $25 airtime and plug it into a Rogers/unlocked phone. Activate the service (costs $1.25/mth for 911) and then call them and port your telephone number over to them.

Make a note to yourself to add $25 more before one year expires and you're good for your pending return...you can buy airtime online and add it to the account.

When you return in one year, you can still use the phone because there'll be $32.50 left on the account.
($5 opening credit + 25 - (18 x 1.25) +25)

[[buck]]

As someone previously mentioned, voip.ms would be good option, but if you want to save a few bucks, you could port to Anveo instead. Anveo is another powerful voip provider like voip.ms that has been gaining traction in the "voip enthusiast" community recently.

It's $8 to port a number compared to $25 with voip.ms, and the recurring monthly fee is $1.45 which includes 40 incoming minute per day. And the advantage with going with voip.ms or anveo compared to SpeakOut or similar is that you can forward your Canadian number to your new foreign number while you're a way for barely pennies a minute.

[l69norm]

http://anveo.com/sms

It looks like anveo can forward SMS as well as voice to a different cellphone as well

[Fx45]

Thanks for all the help - always appreciate the people on this forum.

I called and checked and my ECF will be $400, and they offered me the emergency plan for $13 per month. So for 18 months including taxes and fees should be $310 so wondering if I should do that instead. The nice thing about the VoIP plans is that I can continue to check voicemails on my phone which is nice; maybe I should get some generic number on Anveo and forward my phone over to that number?

Anveo looks like a good deal (I think) but that website is bloody difficult to understand.

[shwinn]

Anveo and voip is also confusing for me.

Im looking in to it for my home line. So far Voip.ms and anveo are the top two.

You can also get a free number from freephoneline.ca

[Fraser River Rat]

Thanks for all the help - always appreciate the people on this forum.

I called and checked and my ECF will be $400, and they offered me the emergency plan for $13 per month. So for 18 months including taxes and fees should be $310 so wondering if I should do that instead. The nice thing about the VoIP plans is that I can continue to check voicemails on my phone which is nice; maybe I should get some generic number on Anveo and forward my phone over to that number?

Anveo looks like a good deal (I think) but that website is bloody difficult to understand.

Hi,

What do you get with the emergency plan? What would it cost to convert to a PAYGO plan? A paygo plan would cost <$200 & the money will still be there (less the 9-1-1 fees) for you to use when you get back. You'll need to pre-purchase the paygo cards & reload your account at the appropriate time.

[shwinn]

Anveo has a 2.45$ plan for a DID with unlimited incoming. Compared to VoIP.ms which is a 4.95 addon.

[Fx45]

Hi,

What do you get with the emergency plan? What would it cost to convert to a PAYGO plan? A paygo plan would cost <$200 & the money will still be there (less the 9-1-1 fees) for you to use when you get back. You'll need to pre-purchase the paygo cards & reload your account at the appropriate time.

Basically the emergency plan is 40 mins per month, which will all go to waste but in doing so I don't need to pay ECF so overall I'd save $100