The Localphone Blog

One frequent request that we hear from our European users is to improve our access number coverage across the continent, and to offer more Direct Dial numbers in the cities we already serve.

To start this process we’ve contracted with a new supplier and I’m pleased to announce that we have expanded our coverage to 50 Direct Dial access numbers in the following cities:

• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Dublin, Ireland
• Madrid, Spain
• Oslo, Norway
• Paris, France

If you are currently using access numbers in these cities please note that we have updated the numbers you’ll need to dial. You can get an up-to-date list on Your Dashboard. The old access numbers will continue to work for now but we plan to disable them within the next few weeks.

If you live in one of these countries but are not currently using access numbers in the above cities and would like to take advantage of the improved coverage, you can update your Direct Dial numbers at any time by clicking the “change” link next to “Your Location” on Your Dashboard.

I hope you’ll benefit from this first stage of improved coverage. Over the coming months we’ll be expanding our access numbers in more cities, as well as launching our service in new European countries.

As always, please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any other suggestions or other comments.

We wanted to write a quick guide to help you get the best level of service from Localphone over the holidays. Like many companies we’re expecting a dramatic increase in traffic over the next couple of weeks, especially on Christmas Day and New Years Eve, so here are a few handy tips to avoid any issues…

Top-Up Your Call Credit Early

To make sure there are no delays you should add any call credit you expect to use now, so it’s ready when you want to make those important calls. You can make a secure online payment at at any time.

Verify Your Payment Details

When you use a new credit or debit card we may split your first payment into two separate transactions. You can then check your bank or credit card statement and tell us what these two amounts were, proving that you own the card so we can speed up your future payments.

Verify your payment details.

If you prefer to use Paypal for your Localphone credit you can still verify your account by following the instructions on the Paypal website.

Update Your Access Numbers

We have been busy expanding our capacity to avoid problems when there is an unusually high spike in call traffic. If you should experience busy signals when calling via Localphone try changing Your Location to another city in your country and then dial the new access numbers you’re given.

Users in the UK should switch to our high-capacity “London (0207)” range.

To update your location just visit your Localphone dashboard and click the “change” link next to your current location.

Send an SMS

We recently added the ability to send international SMS text messages from the Localphone website.

Let Friends & Family Call You Instead

You can get Localphone Incoming Numbers in any of 2,262 locations across 46 countries, and forward incoming calls to your existing landline or mobile where you are.

This has been a great year for Localphone and I want to thank all of our customers sincerely from the entire Localphone team. We’ve got a lot of exciting new developments planned for 2010 and you can expect the same commitment to call quality and great rates to continue.

We recently launched Localphone SMS—a service for sending cheap international SMS text messages. We’ve listened to your feedback and have added a number of new features to enhance the service.

SMS Your Direct Dial Contacts

Users in the UK can now send SMS messages to our Direct Dial numbers and the message will be forwarded on to the corresponding contact. There is no extra charge for using this service—just our standard SMS rates.

We are working to add this functionality to other countries as soon as possible.

SMS History

From now on any messages you send will be recorded and available on your SMS History page.

Receive SMS Messages on Your UK Incoming Numbers

If you have a Localphone Incoming Number in the UK you can now retrieve SMS messages too. When a friend sends a message to your number it will be displayed in your SMS History.

You can also send SMS’s from your Incoming Number when sending a Web SMS.

This added functionality comes at no extra charge and we hope to expand it to our Incoming Numbers in other countries soon.

New Number Verification Methods

Customers asked for alternative methods to SMS-enable Your Numbers so we have added the options to send or receive a verification code on your mobile. You can find out more information on this new feature on our SMS Verification page.

We hope you’ll enjoy these improvements to Localphone SMS. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any comments or suggestions about this or any other part of the Localphone service.