Phone numbers for where you are

There are times when we are traveling and would like to have the folks we are visiting be able to reach us via a local phone call. There are also those times we want to give out our phone number, but really don't want to receive calls from the folks (most usually a sales operation) after a certain period of time.

For those situations and more, I've been using a service called Vumber. When you sign up for a Vumber phone number, you can select pretty much any area code in the US, and a number is assigned to you. That number is then redirected to your existing cell phone or land line number.

So far, that's not all that unusual since there are lots of services that can do that.

What sets Vumber apart is its range of features.

• For one thing, you can request your number be changed at any time, making it convenient to use for those "temporary contacts."
• You can also set up your preference for how caller ID is shown, both on inbound and outbound calls, so that your calls appear to be originating from your Vumber.
• There is, of course, a voicemail account for each Vumber, and messages can be sent to your email account.
• But one of my favorite features is the ability to have multiple Vumbers. This means that I can have a Vumber in multiple area codes, and call from and receive calls to all of them at any time.

Of course, there are costs to using Vumber. The basic charge is $9.99 per month for one Vumber. You can change your Vumber twice at no charge, but there is a charge thereafter, as well as for additional Vumbers.

Who answers your phone while you're gone?

So, how do you deal with your phone when you're away from home?

I know that some people just let their answering system pick up calls, then they check in periodically by calling their own phone.

Others use call forwarding to direct calls to their cell phone while they're away, but invariably the first call that comes in when they get home goes to their cell and there's a mad dash to grab it... or they just forget for a day or so until they realize they aren't getting any calls on their home phone.

If any of these, or different variations apply to you, you might want to give GrandCentral a try. It's a free (yea, really free!) service that routes your incoming calls to as many phone numbers as you like. That means your calls come to your new, free phone number and ring on both your home and cell phone.

There are some very cool features that let you set up different ring tones, different answer messages, and other niceties. And you can set the system to send email, text messages, or both to announce when you get voicemail.

You need to tell your callers to use your new phone number (which you can also announce on your home answering system), and your new number can be in a completely different area of the country if you like. For instance, I live in North Carolina but I just signed up for a Beverly Hills, California phone number... and hey, there goes Hillary Swank... Call me, girl!!

Anyhow, GrandCentral may be just the answer for stabilizing your phone traffic.