The Localphone Blog

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.

We’ve spent a great deal of time listening to our customers’ feedback; finding out what services you would like to use, and what features could improve the Localphone website. If you haven’t noticed already, I’m pleased to announce that we have re-launched our website adding a whole host of new services.

The best way to explore our new features is to visit Localphone.com and look around, but here are some of the changes we’re most proud of…

Localphone Incoming Numbers

We can now provide you with your very own phone numbers in a growing list of countries. You can choose to forward Incoming Numbers to your landline or mobile, to a Localphone VoIP account (see below), or just let it go to your free Localphone Voicemail.

For example, if you live in the UK but have family in Australia, you could buy an Incoming Number in Sydney and forward it to your UK mobile. When somebody dials it you’ll receive the call on your mobile, and you’ll only be charged our standard rate to the UK. To the caller it will just appear to be a normal local landline number.

Get an Incoming Number wherever your friends and family live, and no matter where you go in the world you’ll always be just a local call away from your loved ones.

Localphone Incoming Numbers

Localphone VoIP

Localphone VoIP lets you make and receive cheap international calls over the Internet. It’s free to upgrade, and once you do you’ll be able to call from your PC or laptop, VoIP phone, or many modern mobiles that are VoIP-enabled.

We’ve made VoIP easy and fast to set up and it’s perfect for users where we don’t have local access numbers, or if you don’t want to use up your mobile contract’s free minutes.

Don’t worry—if you upgrade to VoIP you can still use our fantastic Calling Card and Direct Dial options. We want to give you the power to choose the most convenient way to make and receive calls.

Localphone VoIP

The Localphone Website

There are a few features that lots of customers have asked for; easier to manage contacts, a printable contact list, and simpler access to your account history. I’m pleased to announce that all of these features, and many more, are now available on the Localphone site.

Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the new dashboard layout as we continue to improve and simplify the interface.

Your Localphone Dashboard

We’ve received some great feedback from our customers so far, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new site and services, so please don’t hesitate to contact us with suggestions.

As always, you can keep up-to-date with our latest news and releases on The Localphone Blog and by following @localphone on Twitter.

Finally, don’t forget you can call for free by recommending Localphone to your friends and family.

I hope you’ll join the Localphone Team in celebrating the launch of our new website. We’ll continue our commitment to listen to your feedback and implement the features you feel will make your Localphone experience even better.