Can I forward 2 lines to one number?

[archiwei]

I registered 2 FPL in two different cities. I want to forward the 2 FPL to one number (my current cell phone). But I can't set the second FPL line's "follow me" number as the first FPL line.
How can I resolve this problem?
Thanks.

[FONGO_steve]

We don't allow this at present time to prevent number harvesting, sorry.

[laurent]

You've been mentioning the "number harvesting" scenario a number of times but I still can't understand what it is. What would abusers do to your services if you allowed the forwards to lead to another number you control? (I'm just curious here)

[adamm]

I think what he's referring to is people signing up for a huge amount of numbers and having them all forward to one number.

[FONGO_steve]

I think what he's referring to is people signing up for a huge amount of numbers and having them all forward to one number.

Precisely!
When you're giving away phone numbers for free, versus having people pay a monthly bill for them, you have to be a lot tighter when it comes to security and preventing abuse. A lot of the rules we have exist because at some point in time someone was abusing the service in a way that forced us to put them in place.

We do have an add-on DID option coming, where you can pay a super small monthly fee to have several freephoneline numbers that all ring/forward to one destination. This is still in works, but I'll keep everyone posted when it launches.

[laurent]

I think what he's referring to is people signing up for a huge amount of numbers and having them all forward to one number.

And why would someone want to obtain a large set of phone numbers? I might sound naïve but I still can't figure out what's to gain. What can one do with a huge set of phone numbers?

[evilmonkey]

I think what he's referring to is people signing up for a huge amount of numbers and having them all forward to one number.

And why would someone want to obtain a large set of phone numbers? I might sound naïve but I still can't figure out what's to gain. What can one do with a huge set of phone numbers?

Register a phone number in every area code and start an inbound call center (problem: prohibited by terms of use). Use a different (voip) number every time to harass someone or make prank calls (problem: criminal conduct). Possibilities are numerous.

[Jake]

I think what he's referring to is people signing up for a huge amount of numbers and having them all forward to one number.

And why would someone want to obtain a large set of phone numbers? I might sound naïve but I still can't figure out what's to gain. What can one do with a huge set of phone numbers?

I think I read sometime that this rule came about to stop people (businesses) setting up call centers.

They could set up a number in each area, then offer to their customers a 'near country wide' local help center (by phone). All the calls would be forwarded to the same number and would cost them nothing to set it up.

If you want a second number but only use one phone, you could buy the config file for each line, then use either a PBX at home, or an online service. If you have a sipsorcery account, that would work, or there is a pbx online site mentioned in another thread (I can't remember it now, but I am sure someone will remind me).

The rule is basically there to stop abuse of the system. Personally I think it is a little tight and I think they should allow just one other number to be forwarded, but I don't make up the rules

The last thing we would all want is for FPL to have problems because of abuse. It would mean I would have to go back to paying Bell $50 a month for what I am getting for free now, and that is something I don't want to do, so I live with the rules.

[tbrummell]

The other site you may be thinking of could be pbxes.org.

[Jake]

The other site you may be thinking of could be pbxes.org.

That sounds about right. Thank you.

[laurent]

Oh my god yes! Call center, that's brilliant. Open a bunch of free/cheap phone line accounts throughout Canada, have them all forward to one single phone line and bam, instant nation-wide tolls free call center. I can now see why FPL is so tight about this particular rule!

However, I think one possible solution would be only allow multiple phone numbers from the same area to forward to one another. That way, I could have a second montreal number for other purposes than my normal phone line, while still preventing the abuse of call-center-creation. Unless of course there's another possible abuse when using multiple numbers form the same area.

[sl9280]

To strike a balance between people abuse the feature to forward mutliple numbers to one number and the convenience for users to have two to three numbers to forward to one number for personal use, I think limit the number of freephoneline numbers that can be forwarded to the same number to 3 would be appropriate.

This flexibility is very useful for people need to be on the road but don't want to miss calls to their office, home, vacation house suppose all on freephoneline. They can just forward all the phone numbers to his cell phone when no answer.

FPL wants to expand their customer base and present across Canada, with this feature, it will help promote the useage and keep loyalty customers who have multiple homes and offices across the country.

[Jake]

We will always look at it from the point that we want things as cheap as possible, or preferably free. FPL will always see it from the viewpoint of they want to make money and not get ripped off in the process. After all, they are not here just so we can stop paying our Bell bills, they are here to make money and this service is basically a loss leader to sell their other products.

While there is always the option of buying the config files and setting up a pbx system either online or at home, they are unlikely going to buckle. Making it easy for us to get nice phone numbers all around Canada for nothing is not realistically going to be on the agenda and although I would like it otherwise, I can see their point.

For $200 you can buy yourself 4 numbers almost anywhere in Canada for life. Set up a simple pbx and you are good to go. When you put this against the cost of one phone line for a year, ~$600, it is a fantastic deal really. Once you start playing around with what is possible with VOIP services, you can really be surprised. Through hours of searching I found a site that provides phone numbers in Lymington back in the UK. This was my home town where I grew up and have a lot of family back there. When they want to call me they dial a local call to them, and it rings my house lines here. I have managed to set that up for free and international calls for them is now non existent.