When you live in the Philippines, or elsewhere overseas, you may wish to maintain a telephone number in the U.S. For example, because I use my U.S. credit card overseas they sometimes call me with a “fraud inquiry” to find out if I authorized a particular charge. There are many other circumstances where you may wish to have a permanent U.S. phone number so that people can reach you by phone or fax no matter where you may be in the world.
There are a number of options for maintaining a U.S. phone number. Vonage, Skype and other VOIP vendors offer such numbers. I have had a Skype U.S. number, but now use Maxemail (www.maxemail.com) because it’s cheap and reliable. I found the Skype answering system to be unreliable and besides, more expensive. Especially annoying was that it would constantly “lose” our personalized message and so play a generic one. Callers are reassured if they hear a personalized message in your own voice. Getting a computer-generated generic message can raise more questions.
With Maxemail, you can choose a number in a specific city (that costs more) or you can accept whatever number they assign you. With the proliferation of cell phones, having a number in the area code where you live has become pretty irrelevant. I use the “Lite” versions of Maxemail which costs $24.95 per year.
Once you have your account with Maxemail, you can record a personal message in your voice which will be played when someone calls your number. Callers will be given the option of leaving a voice message or sending a fax. The messages they leave are saved and immediately sent to your e-mail address. There will be an e-mail in your inbox with an attached audio recording of the telephone voice message. You can choose which audio format works best for you. I use Real Audio.
If you receive a fax, it will be converted into a PDF file and sent to your e-mail address. You can also send faxes (at a small extra charge) using the Maxemail service. Supported file types include: .doc, .xls, .txt, .pdf, .tif, .html, .htm, .gif, .jpg and others. I almost always use PDF.
We don’t have any interest in Maxemail, except that it works well for us.
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January 14, 2013 at 12:39 pm
I’m using a professional-grade VoIP service, which allows me to connect multiple telephones using multiple numbers (hardphones, such as Cisco Linksys SPA-941, etc. or adapters such as the SPA-3000 series that allow you to connect a normal phone to both VoIP and landline services).
IP-based hard phones ($100-ish) tend to require a bit more configuration (and getting used to if you’re not technologically inclined).
The simple (SPA-3000) adapters can be bought on ebay for about $30, and professional-grade VoIP service costs me about $25/month (we have tremendous overkill, 6 different inbound numbers including 2x 1-800 numbers) but the service is excellent and the call quality greatly exceeds that of either Skype or MagicJack — to the point where most people I talk to don’t even realize I’m using an Internet-based service.
January 15, 2013 at 10:54 am
J.R.,
Sounds idyllic! You have a great internet connection but many (most) of us don’t. What do you think the best VOIP solution for those of us with lower quality connections. While the speed of my WiMax connection is low, the ping is ok enough so that VOIP more or less works. On this connection, Skype seem to work a bit better than Google Voice but Google Voice calls to the U.S. are free, so that’s what I use. I have never had a MagicJack so I can’t compare. Since I managed to get a U.S. phone number free through Google Voice (using a VPN) and the calls are free, I have stuck with Voice.
Bob
April 2, 2010 at 11:54 pm
hi! try using MAGICJACK, u can buy it from the states. That’s what we use to talk (unlimited calls) to relatives in the US/CANADA.
check this link>>>http://www.magicjack.com
April 3, 2010 at 10:16 am
Magic Jack is very popular with expats living in Philippines. I have not yet tried one as Skype meets my needs and I don’t have to buy anything.