Phone System Loopholes Using VoIP

by BreakDecks

So you have a phone.  Well I would hope you would.  What do you do with it?

I talk on mine for unhealthy amounts of time.  Of course, with this kind of phone usage, you don't want to have some nOObish setup now do you?  I sure wouldn't.  Now that I have begun with my trademark, patent-pending bad introduction, I will tell you how to change the way your phone works, 100 percent legally!

This is what you will learn to do:

  • Use free VoIP services on the Internet to call computer-to-computer and computer-to-PSTN.

  • Assign U.S. and U.K. landline numbers to your VoIP accounts for use with incoming calls via PSTN.

  • Make outgoing calls with your U.S. and U.K. numbers for minimal rates.

  • Get voicemail that can be accessed on your phone or on the Internet.

  • Get missed calls on land/cell lines to deliver voicemail to your email inbox and still be accessible from the phone.

  • Pick up incoming calls from a land/cell line with your computer via a broadband connection.

  • Assign a U.K. phone number to an existing U.S. cell/landline.

  • Make calls with your home phone but get them charged to your cell phone.

So let's get started with the basics.

The main thing will be using for these tricks is VoIP.  For those who are unfamiliar, VoIP is "Voice over Internet Protocol," in other words, using your computer as a phone.

Anyone who has used AIM's or Yahoo! Messenger's voice chat has used a form of VoIP.  Now there are many VoIP services out there such as Vonage or CallVantage that cost a regular (monthly or annual) fee and automatically assign you a U.S. landline phone number.  Many people are unaware that there are many other services that can give you VoIP with PSTN access free of charge.  These services do have some restrictions but they also can be very handy if used correctly.

Free World Dialup (FWD) is my personal favorite.

It offers a free six digit phone number that can only be reached by other FWD users.  You can also connect to the PSTN networks worldwide, but only to toll-free numbers.  This is useful for calling collect or with a calling card.  If you go overseas, you can use your laptop and a broadband connection to call back to the U.S. via toll-free number such as a calling card, and then call your friends and family without having to wait in long lines or pay excessive fees for international calls.

FWD had a local PSTN number that you could call with your home or cell phone that could be used as a proxy to the FWD network.  These numbers do not exist anymore.  (If they do I would love to know about them.)

Instead you can get a free U.S. number assigned to your FWD account from www.ipkall.com.  Here, you enter your FWD number and you get a free number with a 360 area code.  This number will forward incoming calls to your FWD account and it even comes with free voicemail that not only can be checked on any phone in the U.S. or U.K., but forwards new messages to your email as WAV files.

Your email will display the length of the message, when it was left, and the number of the caller.  (Note: IPKall works with all VoIP services, not only FWD.)

This same service can be very useful on your cell phone.

Sign up for a free IPKall account but give it invalid information (i.e., FWD number: 344344234746454132474567).  That number is too big and will automatically be treated as offline.

Now call the voicemail number for IPKall (360-515-3033) and login with the number you were assigned and the four-digit password you set.  You can record your message that others will hear when they call the number.  Give your number a test call and hear what it sounds like.  Now that you have that set up, take your cell phone and set the busy, no answer, and not available forwarding from your default voicemail to the number that IPKall assigned you.

Now when you miss a call, the caller is forwarded to your IPKall number.  Because your number doesn't exist, they will immediately be taken to voicemail.  When they leave a message, you can listen to it on your phone or download it from your email.  A disadvantage is that you will no longer get graphical notifications about new voicemail, but this can be fixed if you set up a script to send some of the basic data from your notification email to your phone as a text message, filtering out the unnecessary text to save space.

This same trick can be used on some landlines that offer automatic forwarding after X number of rings.  (Note:  You can set valid information and also use your VoIP account to pick up incoming calls using your broadband Internet connection.)

Now let's say you or somebody you know lives in the U.K.  Now you can have a U.K. number to make that situation more convenient!  There is a site that will do this for you.

www.uk2me.com will assign a U.K. 0870 number to an existing U.S. cell/landline.  Also, on the right you will see a link for "FWD 0870 Signup."

This lets you set up a U.K. phone number for your FWD account.  Don't use FWD?  Get an IPKall number for your current VoIP service (if it doesn't already have a U.S. phone number), then get a U.K. number for the 360 number you were assigned.

Now you can get incoming calls from the U.K. to any VoIP service you want!  Also, this service is needed if you want to check your IPKall voicemail from a U.K. phone.  You will need to create a U.K. number for the voicemail PBX (360-515-3033).

Now you have a U.S. and U.K. number for your computer and you want to make outgoing calls with your new 360 number.  How do you do it?  It's much easier than you think.  All you need is a Caller ID spoofing service!  Sign up for SpoofTel, Camophone, etc. and you can make calls using your 360 number!  This is great if you want people to be able to call you back from their Caller ID.

Also, it can prove to be a lot of fun when used with *cough* other people's numbers...

Now the last part deals with pseudo-call-forwarding but not VoIP.  This can be useful to know in relation to VoIP technology.  If you have a cell phone you can use it for long distance calls while you may not have a long distance plan on your home phone.  If you want to make a call using your home phone (for better connections, longer conversations, etc.) you can easily use your cell phone minutes and pay nothing on your home phone.

First you will need to enter this code into your cell phone: *21*(NNN)-NNN-NNNN#

(Replace the N with the number you are calling.  The area code must be included!  Press "Send" after entering.)

Then dial your cell phone number from your home phone.  You will now connect to the number you entered in the code.

After the call is connected, dial #21# (if you do not do this, anyone who calls your cell phone will be connected to the number in the code!).

This is great for sending faxes because it's really not convenient to send a fax with a cell phone.  Just fax it to your cell and use the number of the fax line in the code.

This code is not the same as call forwarding.  Forwarding a call using the phone's GUI usually uses a modified form of this code and can disable voicemail if used.  The best part of this feature is that even though it uses your cell phone minutes, it will display the number of the phone you are actually calling from on Caller ID.

This works on most Nokia, LG, Motorola, and Samsung phones.  There are a few models that won't accept the code, but they are very rare.

Useful Links

Shoutouts to: Cheztir, MasterSheep, Wally, Neco Divad, and Killer.
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