Call forwarding and roaming

[Laz]

Hi,

If I forward all my calls to my UK Skype number (or another number), will I get charged while roaming ?. I need to turn on my phone while roaming to receive SMS messages

Thanks

[PeteG]

Hey, Westy. 

Yeah, that's right. You won't have connected to the non UK network, which means your divert will be processed entirely on the UK network as normal. 

Pete. 

[WestyOfPoole]

Sorry to jump in on this fairly old thread.

If I purchase a Lebara SIM that has Roaming included, can I forward my Three calls to the Lebara number without incurring any charges?

Will the Lebara phone receive Texts that were sent to my Three number?

If the Text's aren't forwarded, is it possible to create an auto return Text, giving the Lebara number (similar to an Out of Office email)?

[JonathanB]

Hi @WestyOfPoole,

Diverting to Voicemail is free, but if you choose another number like the Lebara one mentioned, this technically does use UK voice minutes to do so, so may trigger a daily Go Roam charge, or charge you per minute if in a non Go Roam destination.

So other Community members have recommended in the past to leave the Three SIM out of their phone whilst they're away, so that it doesn't actually register as Roaming.

The question on texts is a bit more difficult, we don't have an automatic text forwarding feature, although I have seen mentions of using messages.google.com to remotely access SMS from a different device. I believe you do need to "pair" the other device/browser with your phone, as well as entering your Google log in though, so it's best to test this out before you leave the UK.

If you're an iPhone user, I'm not sure there's a direct equivalent to this.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction anyway.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[WestyOfPoole]

Hi Jonathan & HD1983,

My intentions are to set up the Call Forwarding before we leave home and remove the Three SIM from the phone. From what I have read, it will be noted that the last connection was in the UK so call forwarding will work at UK rates which is inclusive in Pay Monthly packages?

TIA,

Westy

[HD1983]

This should in theory work.

Just take time and date stamped photos of the Sim not in the phone and your phone settings under "SIM". These came in handy when i was charged incorrectly every day and prompted Three to refund incorrect roaming charges 🙂

[HD1983]

Leave the sim out of the phone - Three are still unable to fix the phantom roaming chargers - it still happens. So if you leave the sim in your phone, but keep it disabled and roaming data off for the 3 SIM, every day, it will claim to have connected for a few KB (usually 4KB) - and this will trigger the daily roaming charge. or Just use the 3 sim abroad and bulk buy the roaming package to save on costs 🙂

[JonathanB · Accepted solution]

Hi @Laz,

You can divert to voicemail for free but other numbers will count as an outgoing call, so it's best to double check the roaming rates for the destination before setting this up.

Hope this helps,
JonathanB

[HD1983]

Hi - it's quite hard I get some clarity in this scenario - so please see if you can help -

Phone 1 is in 3. 

Phone 2 is on another network where roaming is included ins. Particular country at no extra cost. 

On phone 1 (3, unlimited calls package), I already have a divert set up to divert all phone calls to phone 2 - the coverage in phone 2 is much better for calls most of the time. At the moment - this comes out of the unlimited bundle allowance and works very well. This is an I conditional divert - every call is diverted from phone 1 (3) to phone 2 - other network - without ringing. 

Now - if I take both abroad and switch both on - phone 2 will receive calls for free. But will I be charged for the divert I use daily at the moment? Assuming I disable data too and only use phone 1 for SMS - and assuming that unconditional divert is setup at the core network level - there would be no additional charges to divert calls from 3 right? I know EE and Voda and o2 don't charge in these scenarios but I've never tried this on 3 .

Secondly - if there is a charge in the case above - if I never switch on the 3 phone abroad - then the 3 SIM would never register on a network abroad. So this would mean the divert would come out of the UK allowance anyway right ? Only issue is I can't use the line for SMS etc. so I'd prefer it if the original scenario worked well!

Thoughts?

Thank you!

[PeteG]

Hello. 

If you take both phones abroad and have them both on, my understanding is that you would be charged for diverting your call to the 2nd number. This is because whenever you are diverting calls, the call must be routed to the last network your phone was connected to, this means the divert would be a roaming call. You mentioned this works differently for other networks, however in looking into it, I found that other networks charge in the same way, with the exception being if you have free roaming calls with them. With Three, you do have free calls when you're within a Go Roam destination, but would be subject to a daily charge of £2 or £5 depending on the destination. You can find out specifics about your destination on the Roaming Support page.

If you leave the 1st phone at home, or take it with you but never connect it to a roaming network, the diverts would be treated as normal UK diverts and you shouldn't be charged on line 1 for those calls being diverted to line 2. If line 2 is able to receive calls for free while you're roaming, you will have avoided any charges there too.   

There is an International Roaming setting that will need to be enabled on your account in order for your phone to work abroad. If you haven't used the roaming before, it's like it won't be active. If you head through to the Support Team, you can request to have that enabled on your account. 

Pete.