[General Topics] serty4011:
Your account number is your T-Mobile phone number. For anyone interested, this is how I setup Google Voice to get virtually unlimited minutes for free-- best part, it'll continue to work after May 15th!

For free, CallCentric offers incoming SIP phone service along with a free forwarding number. This free service also included unlimited minutes and call waiting. The free phone number they give you is based out of New York and will automatically ring your phone via SIP. SIP account settings are entered right in the settings for the stock dialer.

I also setup outbound calling through CallCentric via SIP. This is not free, but very reasonable. I am on their "pay as you go" package. The price? 2c per minute. They also spoof caller ID thereby showing my "real" telephone number, which will eventually be ported to Google Voice. One recommendation, when setting up your account you will see a question asking if you will be making your calls from within the United States. If you say yes, the price for service will increase by a monthly cost of $3.95 in order to provide 911 service on your SIP phone line. Because we already have 911 access through T-Mobile, you can comfortably answer no if you wish to avoid paying that additional monthly charge.

Still with me? After you have setup your account with CallCentric, test it. Have someone call your CallCentric number, which is the one based out of New York, and make sure your phone works normally. Again, SIP phone settings will need to be correctly inputted into the stock dialer, in addition, the option for receiving calls must be selected. Also test outbound calling. One issue I ran into was the phone would ring, but would immediately disconnect. The issue turned out to be network related. SIP and IPv6 do not get along. When I changed my access point settings on my phone to utilize IPv4 only, things worked perfectly.

The next step is porting your number to Google Voice. One important thing to keep in mind is that once the port is complete, your account with T-Mobile will be immediately closed. Because my cell phone is the only phone service I have, and I'm always on call for work, going without for any time period was not an option for me.

To minimize service disruption during the porting process, I first ordered a new SIM through T-Mobile. When it arrived, I activated the $30 plan online, and received a new number from T-Mobile.

Finally,I started the process of porting my number to Google Voice. It took exactly one business day, and service on my original T-Mobile account was turned off literally within minutes of receiving an email informing me that the port is complete.

Finally,I slipped the new SIM into my phone, which we already activated in preparation for the port, logged onto the Google voice desktop site, and added two forwarding numbers. One for your new T-Mobile number, and one for the New York based SIP number. The number checked (do not check both) determines if incoming phone calls will go through T-Mobiles voice network, or CallCentrics SIP network.

If you have not done so already, download the Google Voice app. Make sure during setup that when asked what calls you would like to make through Google Voice, select the "always ask", option. In addition in your stock dialer settings under internet calling, also select always ask. I'll explain below.

T-Mobile's voice network is more reliable, particularly when you are somewhere with poor service. During that situation, you'd want to make a call using your minutes, which is accomplished by dialing the number and answering yes when it asks you to place the call through Google Voice.

Subsequently, when placing an SIP call, AKA " data call ", you would answer no to the question of making the call through Google Voice, and yes to the next question of placing the call through the internet.

One last tip, all calls placed via SIP must follow the standard format of: 1 (area code) (phone number), so you'll likely need to update your existing contacts to follow that format.

When all is said and done, you essentially have unlimited phone service for $30 a month, free incoming calls, and 2c outgoing calls.