Since last April or so, I have used a pay-as-you-go Tracfone as my sole cell phone. The phone itself cost $10 including some cell phone minutes. The good things about this phone include
- Incredibly cheap–with a special deal, I just paid $30 for 90 days and 300 minutes (120 minute card * double minutes for my cell + 60 minute bonus )
- Has three games (“Rebels”, “Crazy”, and “Soccer”)
- Reasonably good cell phone coverage
- Small
- Text messages cost 0.30 minutes each, and you can delete unread text messages without being charged for them
However, the phone has a few limitations:
- No internet
- No keyboard so you’re text messaging like it’s 1999
- Does not use any technology invented since 2000, such as cell phone keyboards
- May get picked on for owning this phone
Despite the limitations, this phone has worked out well for me. Here’s how I use it:
- I have a Google Voice account and Google Voice phone number
- I don’t know my Tracfone cell phone number–only Google Voice knows
- I pay for a Skype incoming phone number, $60/year. This number is hooked up to my Google Voice phone number. I never make outgoing calls with Skype–I use Google Voice’s web site to place my Skype calls, which will call Skype and then call the other party.
- When someone rings my Google Voice number, all my phones ring. I only use my Tracfone if I’m not around another phone.
- When someone texts my Google Voice number, I check it on-line via Google Voice if possible. Then I can delete the text without reading it from the Tracfone. I almost always wait and respond to text messages via the web because it is so horrible to text with the Tracfone.
Using the 80/20 rule, we can guess that 20% of your conversations take up 80% of your cell phone minutes. I almost always have these long conversations on my home phone or work phone–the only exceptions over the last year have been when I’m at conferences, and I can now use Google Voice plus my Skype number to talk on my computer at conferences.
My only issue with this setup is that, when I do text or call from my Tracfone, my caller ID shows up. I have been thinking about whether I should block the caller ID.
Interesting post, John.
Very innovative and resourceful use of your TracFone.
Regarding the handsets themselves, you may want to consider Net10. There’s qwerty keyboard models available with Web access. They also include 300 minutes with each phone.
Info here: http://net10.com/store_manager.jsp?task=buyphone
Cheers!
Comment by Doctor TracFone — January 15, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
How do you prevent the TF voicemail from picking up before GV voicemail does?
Or do you just use the TF for all voicemail?
Comment by JB — June 16, 2010 @ 10:32 pm
Great question, JB!
The short answer is, I never set up my tracfone voicemail, so it never picks up.
However, you have two other options:
1. If you have call presentation “on,” make your tracfone voicemail at least 15 seconds long. Google Voice will “give up” and decide that you’re not going to take the call if it’s at least 15 seconds long. This only works when call presentation is “on” (the thing that says “Call from [[Whoever]]”.
2. Google Voice will give you a code you can type in to your tracfone that replaces your tracfone voicemail (which is really AT&T voicemail) with Google Voice’s voicemail. If you go to settings, to the “Phones” tab, then you can click “Activate Google Voicemail on this phone.” Then you get a really long code you type into your phone and dial it as if it were a real number.
Comment by John — June 16, 2010 @ 10:53 pm
I’m doing pretty much the same thing with skype, GV and TF. A few thing that should be noted however in reference to GV. If you don’t setup TF voicemail, callers will get a message saying that voicemail is not set up and unfortunately it goes to that message in 20 seconds (at least on my samsung TF using ATT) and GV needs 25 before going to voicemail. Tracfone can’t (or won’t) change that pickup time to a longer period. GV can’t be changed to a shorter time either. The code that google voice gives you to enable their vm on other carriers is done by conditional forwarding which Tracfone doesn’t have. There is a code that you can enter to change the time to pickup on most services, but TF blocks the use of all those codes. I’m going to try contacting ATT to see if they can do anything about it. I haven’t tried the GV call presentation yet but I’m thinking that the delay between the last ring and when the caller actually gets put through to GV would be too long for most callers to hang around. One other solution I heard of is unlocking the phone, change the phone settings so you can use the network codes and then enter the code to increase the delay to 30 seconds.
If anyone has a solution I would love to hear it. I’ve been trying to figure out a work around but not having any luck.
gary
Comment by Gary — July 11, 2010 @ 8:38 pm
Gary, I take it you have turned off call presentation? With call presentation on, GV has to receive the “1″ (pickup) code from any voicemail system or the caller will still go to GV voicemail.
Comment by John — July 11, 2010 @ 9:54 pm
ok it all seems to be working! Thanks!
I ended up just putting a blank recording of around 1 second on the TF and turned on the caller presentation on GV as you suggested and all is good. The caller presentation isn’t the ultimate solution but it is close enough for me.
I guess if someone wanted the calls to go to their cellphone vm they would just have to start the recording with the “1″ dialtone.
Anyway it all is a little confusing but thanks again for a solution that works fine.
I found this blog on google by entering “how to get tracfone to ring longer before going to voicemail”
Comment by Gary — July 12, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
Gary, you may want to make your TracFone message at least 15 seconds long. Here’s why:
When Google Voice hears your phone “pick up” (because the voicemail answered) it doesn’t really know whether it’s you picking up, or your voicemail. Call presentation gives you 15 seconds to hit “1″, “2″, etc before it gives up and hangs up on you. If your voicemail is only 1 second long, you will get lots of TracFone voicemail that says “Press 1 to answer, Press 2 to send to voicemail” etc. In other words, your TracFone voicemail will fill up with Google Voice call presentation messages.
This is why our home answering machine message (when we had a home answering machine) had a lot of delays in it. “Hello…. you’ve reached 555-1212… we can’t come to the phone” etc so that it would be long enough for Google Voice’s call presentation to hang up before the beep came.
Comment by John — July 12, 2010 @ 6:42 pm
Do i need to set up voice mail first to do this?
Please list detailed instructions to follow. I have a Samsung T309 and can’t find call presentation in the phone or on google voice.
Comment by K — August 3, 2010 @ 12:01 am
T301g on Tracfone, excuse me for my typo.
Comment by K — August 3, 2010 @ 2:21 am
Call presentation is a google voice setting. Sorry–it’s not called call presentation anymore; it’s called “Call Screening.” You can set it from the “Calls” tab in your Google Voice settings. To make sure it’s on:
1. log in to Google Voice
2. click “settings” -> “Google Voice Settings”
3. click the “Call Screening” “ON” option
4. click “save changes”
Now you will be presented with the option to answer any incoming calls. When you answer, Google Voice will say “Call from [[name]]. Press 1 to answer, 2 to send to voicemail, 3 to listen in on the voicemail, or 4 to record the call.” When any voicemail picks up, it will never send the “1″, “2″, “3″, or “4″ sounds so it will never interfere with your call.
For any voicemail that you have set, if your voicemail message is not very long you will hear Google Voice talking to your voicemail–something like “3 to listen in on the voicemail, or 4 to record the call.” In other words, just the end of the message that didn’t finish before your answering machine message was over. To stop Google Voice from leaving you robot voicemails, you can just make your voicemail message longer.
You do not need to set up voicemail at all on your phone.
Comment by John — August 3, 2010 @ 11:21 pm
John, and other commenters:
First, thank you for all your advice and information. Here’s my experience …
I’ve had a tracfone for more than a year. I didn’t activate my tracfone voicemail. About 3 months after getting my tracfone I acquired a GV number and added my tracfone as a forwarding phone. Everything worked great — I used all GV voicemail and text features without a problem. Then, about 3 months ago, my tracfone’s never-activated voicemail started to intercept (with the message “I’m sorry but the person you called has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet”). Most people who called my GV number would get my tracfone voicemail. Strangely, when I tried this from other phones it sometimes worked and went to my GV voicemail, but sometimes it didn’t. That is, if I called from a particular phone it might go to my GV voicemail, but calling from other phones just went to my tracfone voicemail.
I decided that, since my GV voicemail isn’t cooperating with my tracfone anyway, I’d try the advice I found here (30 second voicemail greeting, call screening on) and see if that worked. I recorded at least 30 seconds of radio static (my tracfone voicemail system wouldn’t let me leave a blank personal greeting) and made sure that call screening is on.
I de-registered my home phone and used it to call my GV number. Still, my tracfone voicemail answers and I never make it to my GV voicemail. I tried calling from my girlfriend’s cell phone (never registered as a GV forwarding phone) and still my tracfone “radio static” personal greeting answers before GV voicemail can.
I don’t know if you or your commenters have any more advice to give, but I just thought I should post my own experience. I’m considering switching to another cell provider — I’d like to stick with a pre-paid and avoid a contract. I’m very disappointed that all of this isn’t working. I would think that if tracfone could make things work smoothly with GV and adjust their business model a little they would stand to make some money — good, cheap integration with GV would probably draw in a lot of users.
Comment by ck — August 11, 2010 @ 9:52 am
John and Commentator’s thanks for the advice.
I had a net10 phone with my google voice and it did call forwarding without any problem. But over a 2 month period I used less than 150 minutes and that is with 6 plane trips, calling hotels and everything. So I realized that the $15 month on net 10 was still spending more than I used.
So I wanted to use tracphone (got phone for $10 a samsung, not as nice a LG net 10, no games, not even a back space for entering addresses into address book). But it has double minutes for life so I should be able to get 60 minute (120 due to double minutes) card for $20 and 90 days. That a minimum cost of $6.66 per month vs $15 month for net10. Then I found out the tracphone refuses to do call forwarding, and they automatically step up the voice mail. (I called to deactivate and unless it takes 24 hours they didn’t).
But you guys mentioned the google voice call screening and that works like a dream. The person calls my voice mail. I reject call it goes to google voicemail because that is where the person is connected. If I answer the call i just hit #1 on my keypad to be connected to call.
Note: Google Voice Number is my main number.
thanks again everyone.
Comment by Scott Wickham — September 5, 2010 @ 12:00 am
Howdy everyone. I use a Tracfone (a low-end Samsung T105g) with an AT&T SIM. I have a Google Voice number that won’t ring my Tracfone when someone calls the GV number. This is most frustrating. I have airtime on my mobile, I can get my Tracfone cell phone to ring when I want to call someone from the internet, GV can send me texts when I have a message on GV … but it won’t do the most important feature of all … actually ring my hard phone from the “soft” number. Arrrrggg!
Comment by Trevor — September 5, 2010 @ 3:11 pm