Can you hear me now. Good.

August 5, 2005 9:10 AM

CellPhoneFilter: I have the increasingly common dilemma of having two cellphones. Does a two-line cell phone exist?

Ideally, I picture it as having an extra SIM slot and the ability to switch between sim cards. Although I'd want both lines to ring..Hmm..well, someone go out and invent it.

posted by pencroft to Technology (19 answers total)

The Motorola v600 claims to be able to handle two phone lines.
posted by tumble at 9:29 AM on August 5, 2005

Why bother? Just forward one to the other, and the one forwarded can be the cheapest danged phone you can buy.

That's what we do at work for the number our clients call in case of emergency. The person on call (me, 24x7x344) just forwards that number to his own cellphone.
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:35 AM on August 5, 2005

Response by poster: But i can only make work calls from my work phone and personal calls from my personal phone.
posted by pencroft at 9:47 AM on August 5, 2005

Ah, that's a different issue then.

Why don't you just bring this issue up with your boss? Unless, of course, he/she will say that personal calls should not be made during work hours, in which case you're screwed.
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:49 AM on August 5, 2005

Response by poster: I travel about 80% of the time so this is more of a convenience factor. Also, i don't want to use personal minutes on my work account and vice versa. I would think with all the fancy shmancy technology out there, that this already exists.
posted by pencroft at 9:57 AM on August 5, 2005

At my last company, about 50% of our employees were given compensation for having a cell phone. All the executives' cells were paid in full, while all of our engineers and road employees were each given fifty dollars every month as an allowance. What most people did was get a big enough plan to cover work and personal calls and footed the rest of the bill (which ranged from nothing to a hundred bucks). I'm not sure of your situation, but that could be an option. (No, I don't know of any phones that specifically allow for two SIM cards simultaneously; and I'd imagine that swapping out the SIM every 15 minutes is not an option.)
posted by SeizeTheDay at 9:59 AM on August 5, 2005

If you're in the UK (you didn't specify, nor is it in your user info) Orange has a feature called Line 2 where you can put two phone lines on the same SIM. That is slightly different from what you want, but seems better than two phones.
posted by grouse at 10:03 AM on August 5, 2005

Response by poster: I am going to invent a two-sim cell phone. Any takers?
posted by pencroft at 10:04 AM on August 5, 2005

pencroft, the technology exists. It's just a pain in the butt to access and use; and there are simpler ways to achieve cell phone harmony.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 10:12 AM on August 5, 2005

Here's another link. And another.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2005

When I signed up for T-Mobile (T610 handset), they tried to convince me to get a second line for business.
posted by waldo at 10:24 AM on August 5, 2005

Response by poster: The technology doesn't really exist though does it? I mean, the dual-sim adapters only allow one account at a time. I picture something with seperate rings for each account. I hope Mr. Nokia is reading this.
posted by pencroft at 10:42 AM on August 5, 2005

My phone is a Motorola V180 and it has a 2nd line option. I haven't used it.
posted by theora55 at 11:13 AM on August 5, 2005

The technology doesn't really exist though does it?

Yeah, it does. Orange's Line 2 package that grouse mentioned is exactly what you're looking for. You have one SIM card, but two phone numbers. You can set up different rings for each number, and when you make an outgoing call you can choose which line to call out from.

Unfortunately, Orange in the UK is the only provider that I know for sure offers this feature. But the basic idea is built into the GSM system, and practically all but the most basic handsets have support for it, even if not all networks provide the service.
posted by chrismear at 12:25 PM on August 5, 2005

If you do not have unlimited minutes, be careful about forwarding your cell phone to another line. You will be using minutes on the forwarded line, as well as minutes on the line you are talking on.
posted by vignettist at 12:47 PM on August 5, 2005

I have a cingular plan/phone, and it allows me to fast forward my landline to my cell phone. it also has a pretty decent rollover minutes benefits. but i rarely use it, so no i have more then plenty of minutes accumulated where i don't need to worry about going over.
posted by rabbitmoon at 2:07 PM on August 5, 2005

pencroft, you're too late - I already invented this, a few years ago. Unfortunately, like many of my awesome inventions, someone else stole it and brought it to market first. Also unfortunately, the US is once again missing out on cool tech that people in other countries are already taking for granted. Only this time, instead of Japan, it's the bloody Brits. I say we all bug our cellular service providers to implement this, along with all the other stuff we should have by now.

I gotta get me a job where I can just come up with good ideas and get paid, while someone else does all the work on them...
posted by attercoppe at 5:00 PM on August 5, 2005

If you forward your landline to your cell phone, doesn't that mean your landline has to have that feature? And isn't it usually an added cost on your phone bill, or am I wrong?
posted by IndigoRain at 2:27 AM on August 6, 2005

yes forwarding the landline to my cell phone is an added cost, but for how often i use my cellphone (and given that i have a large amount of rollover minutes) it ends up being worth it and i save more, to catch the calls that would go to my landline - which i set up as my business phone for my home office. i guess finding the right plan is up to each individual and the needs they need met.
posted by rabbitmoon at 10:55 AM on August 6, 2005