Getting an Additional Mobile Number

Smartish

I'd like to get a separate mobile number to give out to prospective clients. I made the mistake of giving out my personal number in the past and some clients weren't very good at respecting personal boundries.

I want a way to be able to turn off incoming calls on the work number and divert it to voicemail but still receive personal calls.

I am not sure how I can do this. It seems in america this is a standard service where you can just buy additional numbers but in UK the only option I could see are 070 which is not an option as it would cost the client more and appear scammy.

I could buy a voip number and re-direct it but the call charges to mobiles for re-directs are pretty high and I want the client to know its a mobile number and not a landline as the only voip numbers I have seen are in landline format.

Another alternative is to buy a PAYG phone and put credit on that and divert calls from that but then its a bit clumsy and still expensive.

Does anyone know what my best option is?

SuperAllyB

Carry 2 phones?

grumbler

A dual-sim phone?

Ypaymore

Three 3-2-1 payg sim would cost you 3p a minute to divert.

Cheapest Voip 01/02/03 number would cost you about 4p a minute to divert to mobile.

jnm21

IIRC GiffGaff may be of use (note the upcoming changes before deciding) - they may (I can't be 100%) offer forwarding from a goodbag (inclusive bundle) allowance (i.e. £10 for 500 minutes or what may be best £5 for 60 minutes PLUS 1 minute free for every incoming other network minute) or even if you moved both sims to GG they may allow free forwarding from one to the other (need to top up £10 every 3 months to qualify).

That said, a dual sim phone is also a great idea - I had an Acer E2 Duo which was a very decent android phone with dual sim that kept both on at the same time if you wished & you could easily turn one off. So good I still keep it just in case (currently using a single sim G2).

Hope this helps.