t-mobile $30/month plan: what can I do about reaching the 100-minute limit?

[gtbarry]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but I honestly did search for it and couldn't find it. But it has to have been asked before....

I am new to the $30/month plan that has the 100 minute cap. To my surprise I am dangerously close the limit with about 11 days to go.

So, a few questions:

- what is the penalty if I go over?
- calls to me that leave a voicemail will count 1-2 minutes I assume (as they leave me a voicemail)? If so, can I do something to prevent this?
- what can I do? Can I buy just minutes to get me through the rest of this less than two week period?

Thanks!

 

[jhawkkw]

Yes, you can add additional money to the account and if you go over on your minutes, it will charge you 10 cents per minute.

 

[new optimus]

There are several VOIP solutions people have tried, they wont use mins they use data.
But the best ones seem to involve setting up your own pbx server, either on your computer or on amazons ec2 storage. Both use linux and its a interesting process, I have looked into it but have not been able to get it going yet.
Others have tried using groove ip and other android apps but the call quality leaves something to be desired.

 

[bob60626]

Voicemails do not count towards your minutes, checking them does. Visual voicemail helps.

 

[gtbarry]

Voicemails do not count towards your minutes, checking them does. Visual voicemail helps.

Sadly, my first choice here is Google voice. But without call forwarding I can't

 

[electricpete]

Sadly, my first choice here is Google voice. But without call forwarding I can't

If you want to tell everyone to call your Google Voice number, then you can do whatever you want with the call:
Send it to Google voicemail
Forward it to your Tmobile Number, depending on time of day etc
Answer it with Groove IP (I think).

I guess I'm a little curious as well:

1 - Can we set it up so that when someone calls our GV number and we see the call, we have a choice on how to answer it at that time (Tmo phone minutes or GV Groove IP App?)

2 - Do calls that are forwarded from Google Voice to Tmo normal phone line have the same delay in them that other Google Voice phone calls do?

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I may repost this as new questions.

 

[runtmms]

If you want to tell everyone to call your Google Voice number, then you can do whatever you want with the call:
Send it to Google voicemail
Forward it to your Tmobile Number, depending on time of day etc
Answer it with Groove IP (I think).

I guess I'm a little curious as well:

1 - Can we set it up so that when someone calls our GV number and we see the call, we have a choice on how to answer it at that time (Tmo phone minutes or GV Groove IP App?)

2 - Do calls that are forwarded from Google Voice to Tmo normal phone line have the same delay in them that other Google Voice phone calls do?

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I may repost this as new questions.

I played with this some before deciding I couldn't do the 100 minute thing... This is what learned.

You can have your GV number forwarded to you T-Mobile number. This uses T-Mobile minutes. Either GV voicemail or T-Mobile voicemail could end up picking up. To force it to GV voicemail you can have your T-Mobile voicemail disabled - but then your sim number has no voicemail. Also keep in mind GV doesn't support MMS - if you want MMS you need to use your sim number. These GV calls sound just like sim calls.

You can have your GV number ring GrooveIP. This doesn't use minutes, and will use GV voicemail. I found call quality pretty good on WiFi - but too inconsistent for me on mobile data.

You really only want GV ringing one way or the other - and you can switch this in your account. From what I've read (I didn't try this) if you have it ring both GrooveIP and T-Mobile it's difficult to pick which answers on the fly before the call goes to voicemail, so you really need to decide in advance where you want calls to ring.

Because of no conditional call forwarding you can't get your T-Mobile sim number to go to GV voicemail.

These are all reasons I chose Solavei. I think they are the best value if you can't make the $30 plan work. Solavei is $49 for unlimited talk/text/data unthrottled for 4GB. They support conditional call forwarding so I use GV voicemail for both my sim number and GV number. They also have a referral program which can effectively lower this rate.

 

[tube517]

If you want to tell everyone to call your Google Voice number, then you can do whatever you want with the call:
Send it to Google voicemail
Forward it to your Tmobile Number, depending on time of day etc
Answer it with Groove IP (I think).

I guess I'm a little curious as well:

1 - Can we set it up so that when someone calls our GV number and we see the call, we have a choice on how to answer it at that time (Tmo phone minutes or GV Groove IP App?) Actually, yes but you'll see 2 "calls" (answering/slider screens will be simultaneous) On my phone,the GrooveIP anwsering screen/slider was on "top". So, you could ignore the GrooveIP call and answer the TMobile.) It can be annoying and with only 100 minutes, I just use GrooveIP or Talkatone and don't forward to my Tmo number.

2 - Do calls that are forwarded from Google Voice to Tmo normal phone line have the same delay in them that other Google Voice phone calls do? No, it should not as your call is forwarded to the Tmo number and you answer in the Tmo number and then when you answer you are on the Tmo line like normal.

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I may repost this as new questions.

I answered above

 

[Kamau]

Talkatone is a good alternative, plus it works on 3g/4g.

 

[gtbarry]

I'm surprised more people don't bring up google talk. Anyone with a gmail account can use it - therefore, everyone with an android phone.

 

[MacFett]

I'm surprised more people don't bring up google talk. Anyone with a gmail account can use it - therefore, everyone with an android phone.

You didn't ask about Google talk or any im programs, just minutes on your plan and alternatives. And you can use an android device without gmail. I have a friend who has his Google account tired to his Comcast email.

 

[doboy]

I'm surprised more people don't bring up google talk. Anyone with a gmail account can use it - therefore, everyone with an android phone.

With google talk on the phone, you can only video/voice chat with others running google talk. You can't call phone numbers. I just supplement my 100 min talk time with Skype ($2.99) for outgoing calls, although people won't know it's me since I didn't purchase a Skype #.