Other Virtual Number Recommendation

Hi All,
I live in the UK and I need a second number for my mobile for work (I don't want to hand out my personal number to clients). VOIP/Virtual number seems to be the way to go rather than buying a second phone on payg (I can barely keep track of one - two would be pushing it!). It must have an answerphone service so that I can keep calls to working hours. Can anyone recommend a good service?

I looked at Google Voice but the recent update seems to have broken it. I also looked at Swytch but the reviews put me off?

I'm very grateful for any help or recommendations you can all offer.
Awoken

 

I don't suppose your present phone is dual SIM is it?

 

It's not. I do need a new one but it's a cost I'm putting off whilst I wait to see what happens with Brexit/Pandemic/Work.

 

I tried Skype with Microsoft. Didn't work for me at all and their support was terrible. Did get a refund from them though. I suppose this is a somewhat unhelpful unrecommendation, but just an FYI I suppose.

 

Thank you for the warning, I was going to try them next but I've seen a number of reviews just like yours. The search continues...

 

Sounds like a VoIP SIP provider might be a good option, it's something I toyed with a long time ago. The service I kept finding was sipgate - I don't know what their reputation or reviews are like though. I've also heard of soho66, but same deal - I can't comment on how good they might be. You can get SIP client apps for iOS and I believe Android has a SIP client built right into the OS (as well as having dedicated apps).

 

I've had Sipgate accounts for a decade or so. Never had a problem with them at all

 

Most of the Chinese phones support dual sim, Huawei Oneplus etc. As another plus, you can get a decent capacity compared to brands like Samsung. This solution will be much easier than any software solution, especially given how cheap plans are from giffgaff as you won't need data for the second plan and minutes are now free. £6 per month for 500mb, unlimited text and minutes.

 

The part I liked about a SIP-based solution was the flexibility: I can use an actual VoIP handset at home (with some kind of simple asterisk-based server), a software application on a laptop, or a software application on a mobile phone.