Throw away voicemail solutions
This post was published 3 years 3 months 10 days ago and its content may not be valid anymore.So what’s the best solution for keeping your mobile number clean from unnecessary phone calls from strangers, nagging contacts, online listings, or other public forums which require a number of some sort? Short of registering a throw-away number, or opening a second phone line dedicated to dealing with temporary correspondences, make use of one of many free voicemail solutions available at your disposal. The following services have proven beneficial on many occasions. Use these services to list phone numbers in public or offer visitors on your personal sites with an option to get in touch [on a more personal level].
- K7 Unified Messaging – Highly recommended for individuals interested in acquiring a disposable phone number. K7 is completely free [previous mention], and numbers stay active assuming you check your voicemail at least once in a 30 day period through a standard phone line. K7 even offers vanity numbers – depending on availability – and the option to receive voicemail’s via email (WAV format). The downside? New phone numbers are limited to the 206 (Greater Seattle) area code.
- NetZero Privatephone – NetZero jumped into the private voicemail arena with its own Privatephone line service. Limited availability based on your locality. Receive email or text message notifications of new voicemail’s ensuring that you’re messages are never missed.
- AIM Digits – AIM users might as well make use of free services even more so than they already have with AIM’s Digits service. Register your screen name and receive a local phone number. According to the FAQ, AIM Digits notifies users of incoming calls – granted they’re signed online (AIM). Voicemail’s are sent to AIM’s proprietary email service username@aim.com. I’ve registered for a number and passed the number out on various occasions. Unfortunately, AIM does not notify iChat users of missed calls or voicemail’s. If you register for this service and make use of the voicemail functionality, check your included AIM.com email address regularly.
There are a handful of other free throw-away voicemail services available to internet users. If there is something worth mentioning, drop your recommendations in the comments for readers to enjoy. Personally, I’ve relied on the a combination of K7 and AIM Digits for letting complete strangers reach out – just a little bit.
Good post and yes,I love K7.Let friends of mine just leave me a message sometime but Netzero Privatphone is just big and utter bullshit if you ask me.And I don’t get why anyone which could pick k7 would chose Privatphone.I love how every single Voicemail also gets send to my gmail account which practicly makes me be able to store thousand of Voicemails.
What is wrong with Privatephone? I see no noticeable difference between K7 & the NetZero solution. If anything, text message notification of voicemail messages is a valuable asset considering most users have yet to subscribe to a data package allowing them to check their email for notifications. Not to mention, K7 limits phone numbers to a specific area code. If you are going to outright label a service as bullshit, present some support for your claim(s).
Keep in touch without being in touch…
Disposable voicemail-only numbers act as an intermediary for individuals which you have yet to discern between being an arbitrary stranger or a bona fide contact.
Well the simple fact that I as a average user couldn’t set a private greeting message,is messed up.And I think even if you get to set it up,People will still hear some privatphone crap.
And I rather have a nice number starting with 206 only,than a crappy one with a other one.
You must have your services twisted. I have a Privatephone number setup. I was able to choose a local area code – anyone is free to choose a local area code granted there are available numbers, and I setup a personalized greeting with NO mention of the service being powered by NetZero Privatephone. Your “crappy” assumptions are false and unsupported.
No,I don\’t have the services twisted. You didn\’t understand me, I got a privatphone number which is kinda crap 716-980-1128. Now my K7 number only has 5 different numbers and I could remember it immediatly.
And I never said that people could STILL hear the Privatphone thing, I said I think they did.
So my assumptions aren\’t false and unsupported as I never made clear I wasn\’t sure about one thing. And the other thing was simply my own experience.
Well then you shouldn’t open your comment with “blah blah xxx service is bullshit”. Do your research before coming out and blatantly stomping on a service based on your own personal experiences – ie number being too hard for you to memorize immediately, or – presumably – being too average to figure out that setting up a personalized voicemail on Privatephone is no harder than doing so through a standard cellphone system.
and on this, I close the comments