Forum Discussion
Charges for conference call numbers
I am a new T-Moble customer as of August. Today I received a rude shock when I learned that some conference call phone numbers (in the US) are "out of plan" and that T-Mobil will charge me extra...
Ok here's what is going on and what they are trying to stop. Traffic pumping
AT&T actually started blocking people from connecting to these numbers and continue to add to the list. There is a legal battle going on over it.
AT&T/Cingular blocks cellular customers from free conference call services | Ars Technica
Verizon has been rumored to start charging or cutting off depending on the outcome of the verdicts.
bflosue2337 wrote:To avoid the extra charges, I use an app that gives me a second phone number. There are several apps available - the one I use is called "2nd Line" and is free. It also lets me pick a phone number from any area code I want. I can make/receive calls and send/receive texts using the new number just like usual. The difference is that these calls and texts use my data plan rather than my cell minutes, and if I am connected to a wifi network it will use that. Since it does not use cell minutes, TMobile does not charge extra.
PS - these apps are typically "use it or lose it" and will take away your number if you don't use it every few weeks (you can always get a new number but that is bad if you have given out the old one to friends). I simply send a text from my main number to the app number every week or so to keep it active (I also don't give it out).
Thanks so much! Will try!
