However, some folks would rather not give out a new phone number to people, and we here at VoxOx are cool with that. So, our trusted tech guys gave it some thought and found a way for you to keep your existing cell phone number and still be able to use some of the cool VoxOx perks. It works by forwarding your cell phone to VoxOx through a special set of instructions (provided below). Doing so will enable you to:

• Screen the call through the VoxOx Personal Assistant, which will ask the caller’s name
• Send the caller to voicemail, and let you Eavesdrop™ on the message as its being left – you can pick up at any time, just like those retro answering machines from the 90s!
• Record the call on-demand (*1 to start/stop recording), transfer the call to another phone (*2), and start a conference call with up to 20 people! (press *3 to add friends to your call)
• Use VoxOx voicemail, which lets you access your phone messages both via phone and online – this one’s good for folks who misplace their cell phone regularly and need to access their voicemails

Sold yet? Check out the instructions below, and remember, this is for VoxOx power users!

Instructions: How to forward your existing cell phone number to VoxOx

The instructions are a little tricky, but they work! We tried this with our CEO who has AT&T and he loves it.

(1)      Prep your VoxOx phone settings in the VoxOx client:

• Go to the General tab in Phone Settings (Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> General) and enter your name:

• Go to Tools -> Settings  -> Phone  -> Find Me. You will see your VoxOx number entered, so just enter your cell phone number after it and make sure both numbers are check-marked
• Set the number of seconds you want your VoxOx account to ring on your desktop (suggested: 1-2 seconds)
• Set the number of seconds you’d like your cell phone to ring before going to voicemail
• Where it says “Find Me”, check-mark “ring my numbers in order”:

(2) Forward your cell phone number to VoxOx:

This part is slightly different with every mobile carrier, but fairly simple to do and undo.  Below are the basic instructions, but if you have any specific questions, contact your cell phone carrier.

• With AT&T, you can forward your cell phone number with the following command:

On your cell phone, dial *004*1YOURVOXOXNUMBER*11*10# and press send.  For example: *004*13335554444*11*10#

To undo, dial ##004# on your cell phone and press send. 

• With V erizon, dial *71YOURVOXOXNUMBER on your cell and press send (Example: *713335554444); To undo, dial *73 and press send. 
• With Sprint, dial *28YOURVOXOXNUMBER on your cell and press send (Example: *283335554444); To undo, dial *38 and press send. 
• With T -Mobile, dial *004*1YOURVOXOXNUMBER# on your cell and press send (Example: *004*13335554444#); To undo, dial ##004# and press send. Note: From our research, T -Mobile seems to allow only 500 minutes of call forwarding before they charge you a fee. 

(3) THE TRICKY PART: What to do when someone calls you

You’ve followed the above instructions. Now, anytime someone calls your cell phone number, you will first hear a couple of rings on your mobile – don’t pick up. The ringing will pause for several seconds (to you it will look like you missed a call, but don’t panic, the phone will ring again). When the ringing resumes, this means that VoxOx has kicked in, so pick up and have some VoxOx fun!  As mentioned above, you can screen calls, “Eavesdrop,” record conversations, transfer your call on-the-fly, and more.

(4) Checking your voicemails

Once you’ve forwarded your mobile phone number to VoxOx, all your voicemails will now be stored in VoxOx. They are accessible online and via phone. You will be notified by text message when you have a new voicemail. Go to Notifications in (Tools -> Settings -> Notifications) and make sure that your voicemail notifications by email and text are check marked.

If you want to retrieve messages via phone, set up your 4 digit pin code (Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> Voicemail). Once you’re set up, you can call your VoxOx number anytime and press *PIN# (ex. *5555#) and you’ll get various options, including voicemail.

So there you go!  Just another way that VoxOx works hard for our loyal users. Try it and comment to let us know what you think.

Natasha Grach is a PR pro by day and singer by night -- when not telling the world about VoxOx, she can be found on stage at some of San Diego’s favorite musical theater venues. She is also a travel junkie. Her favorite countries include Turkey, Israel, Spain, UK, Italy, Russia, Lithuania. She’ll be using VoxOx SMS CallBack on her next trip around the globe!

follow natasha.grach twitter.com/natashagrach

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So what does this mean for VoxOx users?

TelCentris’ CLEC status will provide significant advantages over similar services like Skype and Google Voice. For example, with an operating CLEC, TelCentris can issue its own phone numbers to users (you get a free one upon signup), instead of having to rent them from other providers as many of our competitors do. This provides cost advantages we can pass on to users (VoxOx already has the lowest domestic calling plan in the industry). Another benefit is that because we control our own infrastructure (network + CLEC), we are more in control of quality and reliability and providing a better overall customer experience. Our national CLEC roll-out is not complete yet, but we will keep you posted on its status.

Today’s announcement is just one example of how TelCentris is thinking strategically about how it can better serve customers over the long run.

Natasha Grach is a PR pro by day and singer by night -- when not telling the world about VoxOx, she can be found on stage at some of San Diego’s favorite musical theater venues. She is also a travel junkie. Her favorite countries include Turkey, Israel, Spain, UK, Italy, Russia, Lithuania. She’ll be using VoxOx SMS CallBack on her next trip around the globe!

follow natasha.grach twitter.com/natashagrach

follow VoxOx twitter.com/voxox

This looks to be on the heels of moves that Verizon has made with respect to Android phones that “opened” their network. AT&T had to emulate this in some way because of increasing regulatory pressure and their controversial positioning against Google Voice for blocking certain destinations with their calling service. AT&T is likely realizing that customer loyalty is more important than specific revenue streams, and there are two forces working in AT&T’s favor by being open:

(1) A vast majority of users probably won’t bother bypassing their calling plans on AT&T (or any operator) to install a VoIP application and use it to make calls. The overall risk from a business perspective is small in comparison to what something like this does for AT&T’s image.

(2) Over time, it is inevitable that all services will flow over a data connection. Fighting this concept is futile. The fact is, the customer is still using the AT&T network, and this might push more users to buy unlimited data plans to support these services. Most users will not get reliable enough service (yet) on a purely data plan, and without SOME sort of voice plan to rely on when the VoIP quality is not good enough (whenever there isn’t a very good 3G connection), the chances are they will be charging the customer the same or similar amount of money and providing less of the actual calling… this could convert to higher profit margins overall.

So embracing change as it happens keeps AT&T in a leadership position, and in the end they are not really risking much… they may even be increasing their average revenue per user as well as operating margins.

Do you agree? If you own (or will own) an iPhone, how likely are you to install a VoIP application for making cheaper calls?

As CEO, Bryan Hertz operates on many frequencies. Some say Megahertz, others say Gigahertz and when they're really mad, they say Kilohertz. Although there's no known connection to Heinrich Hertz, Bryan likes to think VoxOx will prove to be as important to history as the discoveries of that famous scientist. When he's not geeking out on universal communications, he dabbles in multiple areas of alternative health and Eastern medicine.

follow Bryan Hertz twitter.com/bryanhertz

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