How to keep hardly used phone number for elder who can't pay anymore?

February 17, 2024 11:30 PM

This is a question for an elderly friend of mine. I'm an informal caregiver for a couple of elders. This fellow has a telephone number that he has had since 2008. He has a new line that I got him bc of his brain injury. It has no voice mail, bc he is cognitively unable to use voice mail. He cannot FaceTime or text, or figure how to read texts on his Iphone. I have and pay for his original phone, on a number he has had since 2008, because he still gets calls, texts, notifications etc. from doctors, hospitals, and sometimes old friends on that line. How do I stop paying $25 per month for that line and still keep it going? Google voice? Forward to my phone? Other tech?

He switched from T-mobile to cricket about two or three years ago. Switching allowed him to take all existing lines and get an iPhone SE for $50 each. So he helped three other folks to get lines with him. They paid the $50 each, and the iPhone SE phones all still work great.
One of the folks pays the $25 per month for his phone bill. I pay the $25 monthly bill for another of the elders. My elder friend has two lines, two phones, and only needs one. The problem is that his second line has been his number since 2008. He rarely gets calls on that line. He doesn't have the funds to keep paying for this second line. However, once in a while a doctor, hospital, or old friend calls on that line. I can't just cut that line off bc my elder friend needs to get these calls. I am the person who has custody of this phone and answers it for him, and helps him call back. He is not able to use voice mail, text, email, or any computer sort of thing bc of his cognitive issues.

I'm guessing there is a way to use google voice, or the internet, or some other technology, to use the 4th phone line and forward it to my phone. I'm able to use voice mail and texts, while my elder friend is not, so it would be better to have the 2008 number forwarded to my phone. I

My googlefu has completely failed me. I know there must be a way to keep this 2008 number and have it forwarded to my phone, cause I'm effectively answering these calls and texts for my elder friend anyway. Can I change the Cricket number to a google voice number and make this work? Can I forward the 2008 number to my phone and stop paying the $25 for the fourth phone line? I can't just cut off the 4th phone line. He would be deprived of medical calls (danm why won't the docs and hospital change the number to the right one!!!?) and calls from old friends.

Any idea how I can get this done?

posted by KayQuestions to Technology (4 answers total)

Best answer: Here are the instruction on how you can port the person's wireless phone number to a personal google voice account. Once you do that, you can forward the google voice account to ring on either the person's newer phone or on your number (or both)
posted by metahawk at 11:44 PM on February 17 [6 favorites]

Seconding Google Voice.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:01 AM on February 18

Best answer: I don't know the answer but you are a wonderful person for doing this. Thank you.
posted by HotToddy at 8:18 AM on February 18 [9 favorites]

Best answer: If for some reason you decide against google voice, there's also NumberBarn. Looks like the $6/month plan could work for you.

I recently used their "vanity" number service to get a phone number in a new area code that was similar to my number in my old area code. It was cheap and easy to do but I can't vouch for their forwarding service in particular.
posted by davybyrne at 8:58 AM on February 18