Can I put a SIM card in my PC?

February 16, 2011 5:59 AM

Is it possible to make/receive calls and send/receive texts using my PC, rather than my phone?

I have a SIM card which, of course, is tied to a particular phone number on a particular network. Is there any hardware available that lets me attach the SIM card to my PC in some way, and any software so that I can then make/receive calls and send/receive texts using my PC? I am happy to use either Windows or Linux.

I want to do this so that I can mess about with my phone for a few hours without missing calls/texts in the process. The only other (less preferable) option that I can think of is to buy a spare phone on the same network and put the SIM in that.

posted by jeatsy to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

I don't think it is possible to do what you are asking, but a better solution might be Google Voice. You can have your current phone number ported to them. Then set it up to ring your cell phone. It accepts texts and phone calls.
posted by bove at 6:05 AM on February 16, 2011

I'm afraid the easiest solution would be simply putting the sim card into another phone, but google voice sounds like a good solution if your in the U.S.

There are sip providers that'll let you make phone calls appearing as any number you like, but skype requires verification via sms proving that you control the number. I'd imagine you could forward your calls to another number too.

I'm sure that skype doesn't correctly identify your texts even once you've set it's caller id info, but other text sending services might work. I've no idea how you'd handle receiving texts though.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:29 AM on February 16, 2011

Or could you temporarily set up forwarding on your phone to a land line or a Skype phone number (or something similar)? I don't know if carriers will forward your texts, though.

It's funny; I routinely let my phone run out of batteries or lose it in the house/leave it in the car/forget it at work, so missing a few hours worth of calls and texts is pretty ordinary for me.
posted by mskyle at 6:33 AM on February 16, 2011

If you were to get a data stick (ex USB Mercury on AT&T) and pop your SIM in that, you'll be able to receive your text messages. Calls, however, you will not be able to answer.
posted by msbutah at 10:26 AM on February 16, 2011

There certainly are some GSM gateways that provide SMS functionality via a web interface and telephony via VoIP (or any other format), but since they're designed to interface with a PBX or similar telephony hardware to enable business to take advantage of better on-net mobile - mobile tarifs, they're not cheap, and such use is frowned upon by the mobile operators and often contractually prohibited.

TD;DR Possible but probably not worth it for what you want. Msbutah's suggestion of using a USB data stick for SMS is probably the closest you'll get.
posted by dirm at 6:11 PM on February 16, 2011