Need US phone number in UK

[bigsi]

I would like to have a US number that will allow people from the US to call me in whilst I am in the UK or anywhere else. I have tried a few different apps that have seemed to suggest they offer this service but they have not worked. A few of the apps let me receive text messages but seem to fall down when someone tries to call me. I am happy to pay for this service but would prefer pay per use rather than a monthly fee but would welcome all suggestions or tips. Thanks

[davefl]

You can get a Skype number for about £7/month with discounts for a year which will give you a choice af US area codes, then your skype app will ring normally when someone calls it. I’ve never seen a pay per use one.

[bigsi]

@davefl thanks, I didn’t know Skype offered this service. Just had a look at it. Do you use it and find that it works well?

[Lady London]

You used to be able to do this with Google Voice… not sure if still going but if it is would probably still work for a US based person

[davefl]

bigsi wrote:

@davefl thanks, I didn’t know Skype offered this service. Just had a look at it. Do you use it and find that it works well?

For incoming calls and outgoing calls to landlines (with additional Skype credit) and receiving SMS it worked fine for the 2 months I used it. For sending SMS it was totally broken.

[AJA]

Do you want people in the US to call you from a landline? And do you want to call landline numbers in the US? If so then Skype is the answer as already suggested.

If not and all of your US contacts have mobiles why don’t you all just use WhatsApp? As long as they have a decent data plan or you both can connect to Wifi and you disable roaming by turning on Airplane mode on your mobile you won’t incur data roaming charges. Or buy a local UK PAYG sim card for internet access in the UK.

Your US contacts can also install WhatsApp for Windows on a PC and as long as they have a microphone on their PC they can call you. Likewise you can call your contacts on WhatsApp.

[Kowalski]

I’ve used a UK Skype number for several years now and received incoming calls in countless countries around the world with a local simcard in my phone for data. Works great for incoming and outgoing calls.

[bigsi]

Thanks all. Skype looks like exactly what I need, for incoming US calls and SMS messages to a US number. I have signed up.

[trient]

I’ve been using talkatone for many years now and it’s been flawless. I don’t even pay for it, they will send a reminder when it’s about to expire and all it takes is a text or call (eg to an 800 number) to reset the time. Only thing it can’t do is receive/send texts to short numbers, which is a pain for US banking. But hey, it’s free.