tycho
Guru (not...)
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This came up in the old-ish "IPKall" thread which was recently reopened by a comment about the cessation of the IPKall service.
I claim no ownership of the technique described in the post linked to below by dslreports.com user "idan". Several months ago I took advantage of the methodology that idan describes (which involves installing the TextFree Android app on a rooted phone and then pulling some SIP credentials out of the installed app files) . It worked for me; rather easily in fact. Certainly a lower difficulty-level than many of the Nerdvittles projects that I have successfully completed. Following this technique netted me a free 312 A/C number that is humming along as an inbound trunk on my Dockstar (Pogo PIAF image) PBX. Perhaps the only "gotcha" is that you need a rooted Android phone to pull this off.
Here is the link: https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30594112-
Caveats: Pinger/TextFree* requires activity every 30 days, or they will reclaim your number. They send you an email (or maybe a text; I forget) after 2 weeks of inactivity. "Activity" = sending a text message. Only. Sending and receiving texts are free. But, per their FAQ: "What won't keep your account active: receiving texts, sending picture messages, and placing or receiving phone calls." "Activity" qualifying texts can be sent from the android app on your cell phone, or from your account on their web portal. I just tested that and it works great.
TextFree can be used for outbound calling, but you are given a very limited pool of outbound minutes to start and more will either cost you or you will have to do app-crap like "install an app" or "watch this video." I seem to have accrued 42 minutes somehow. I think I installed solitaire and some other app, that I then promptly uninstalled.
Anyhoo, it works for me as a local DID. YMMV.
_____
*"TextFree" is the name of this particular app created by Pinger. Pinger also has created "sideline," an app that creates a second DID that can work along with the native DID on a cell phone.
I claim no ownership of the technique described in the post linked to below by dslreports.com user "idan". Several months ago I took advantage of the methodology that idan describes (which involves installing the TextFree Android app on a rooted phone and then pulling some SIP credentials out of the installed app files) . It worked for me; rather easily in fact. Certainly a lower difficulty-level than many of the Nerdvittles projects that I have successfully completed. Following this technique netted me a free 312 A/C number that is humming along as an inbound trunk on my Dockstar (Pogo PIAF image) PBX. Perhaps the only "gotcha" is that you need a rooted Android phone to pull this off.
Here is the link: https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30594112-
Caveats: Pinger/TextFree* requires activity every 30 days, or they will reclaim your number. They send you an email (or maybe a text; I forget) after 2 weeks of inactivity. "Activity" = sending a text message. Only. Sending and receiving texts are free. But, per their FAQ: "What won't keep your account active: receiving texts, sending picture messages, and placing or receiving phone calls." "Activity" qualifying texts can be sent from the android app on your cell phone, or from your account on their web portal. I just tested that and it works great.
TextFree can be used for outbound calling, but you are given a very limited pool of outbound minutes to start and more will either cost you or you will have to do app-crap like "install an app" or "watch this video." I seem to have accrued 42 minutes somehow. I think I installed solitaire and some other app, that I then promptly uninstalled.
Anyhoo, it works for me as a local DID. YMMV.
_____
*"TextFree" is the name of this particular app created by Pinger. Pinger also has created "sideline," an app that creates a second DID that can work along with the native DID on a cell phone.