Transfer Bell landline to FreePhoneLine

[verona]

I already have an FPL # with VoIP unlock key that I have been using for about 15 years. I also have a Bell land line which I now want to cancel. I don't get many calls on the Bell line and most of them are spam. I'm wondering however, if I should keep the # and transfer it to FPL before cancelling the Bell account. The fee to transfer is $25 and I'm OK with that assuming I can forward all calls to my cell or existing FPL #. I don't need to make any outgoing calls on the Bell #, I would just like to keep it in case someone calls me on it.

Does anyone know if there would there be any additional fees associated with this new number? Example, would I also need buy a VoIP unlock key ($69.95) and pay $1.95/month for it?

[Liptonbrisk]

I already have an FPL # with VoIP unlock key that I have been using for about 15 years. I also have a Bell land line which I now want to cancel. I don't get many calls on the Bell line and most of them are spam. I'm wondering however, if I should keep the # and transfer it to FPL before cancelling the Bell account.

Keep the following in mind:

1) Only one number per FPL account is permitted, and each FPL account requires its own separate email address (although you can use the Gmail trick: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7436150). This is also true for Fongo Mobile.

So if you port your Bell number into your existing FPL account, you will lose your current FPL account phone number. It will be replaced by the Bell landline number.

2) The Freephoneline destktop application is being discontinued on June 3, 2025, and it's not available for download anymore, at least not from an official source. That's the only way to make outgoing calls without a VoIP unlock key. Without being able to make outgoing calls, non-VoIP unlock key accounts will eventually become dormant and will be terminated: https://support.freephoneline.ca/hc/art ... unt-policy. Basically, buy a VoIP unlock key and pay the monthly 911 fee-- or lose the Freephoneline account.

3) "Follow Me settings will be automatically reset (turned off) for accounts which have not been used to place an outgoing call for 90 days."
https://support.freephoneline.ca/hc/art ... unt-policy. That's also true for Fongo Mobile accounts.

4) Officially, "you cannot forward to FreePhoneLine numbers. Only forwarding from Fongo Home Phone numbers to Fongo Mobile numbers (and vice versa) are allowed." If you find forwarding from FPL to another FPL number works, it may not work forever.
https://support.freephoneline.ca/hc/art ... -Follow-Me

5) "FreePhoneLine is not intended to be used primarily as a call forwarding service."
https://support.freephoneline.ca/hc/art ... -Follow-Me
The same is true for Fongo Mobile.

The fee to transfer is $25 and I'm OK with that assuming I can forward all calls to my cell

You can, except you need to make an outbound call from the Bell number every 90 days (see #3 above) or enable Call Forwarding again every 90 days.

or existing FPL #

Officially, you can't. See #4.

Does anyone know if there would there be any additional fees associated with this new number? Example, would I also need buy a VoIP unlock key ($69.95) and pay $1.95/month for it?

If you wish to keep both your existing FPL number and the Bell number, by porting it into a different FPL account, then yes. You would need to buy an additional VoIP unlock key, pay $25+tax to port the number into the new FPL account, and also pay a monthly 911 fee. Additionally, you would need to set a reminder to make an outbound call using that Bell number every 90 days--or remind yourself to enable Follow Me every 90 days.

Porting the Bell number into Fongo Mobile for $25+tax is another option that avoids the 911 monthly fee (at least at the time of composing this post) and VoIP unlock key purchase, but again you need to make outbound calls every 90 days to maintain call forwarding settings. As mentioned previously, you're not officially allowed to forward to Freephoneline numbers: https://support.fongo.com/hc/articles/2 ... ngo-Mobile. Make sure to read that webpage fully before considering porting into Fongo Mobile.

More importantly, to keep from losing a Fongo Mobile account, outbound calls must be made: https://support.fongo.com/hc/articles/3 ... unt-policy. I recommend reading that webpage carefully as well.

Here's how to port into Fongo Mobile, if you're interested: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/arti ... le-Port-in.

Also please be aware that the Fongo Mobile smartphone application does have prominent ads. To remove them, the user has to pay a fee (or earn credits): https://www.fongo.com/services/fongo-mobile/remove-ads/. So ad removal can turn into a monthly fee.

[verona]

Thank you for very detailed reply - much appreciated!
Based on this, I'm thinking of just cancelling the Bell # entirely.

[Liptonbrisk]

Thank you for very detailed reply - much appreciated!

You're welcome!