I think I’ve seen this done in movies, but I’m not sure how. This isn’t something I really want to do, but want to use as a device in a story, so if it can be done simplistic explainations are fine since I’m not going to screw it up if steps are left out.
Anyway, how would one go about having a phone call made to their house be forwarded to their cellphone, so the person calling wouldn’t realize that they’re not really home to take their call? I suspect a computer would probably be involved…
It’s just standard call forwarding - at least where I live
I should mention I have never used a cellphone, let alone owned one, so I don’t know how things that are probably common knowledge to cellphone owners work.
Yeah, just have Call Forwarding on the phone. Where I live, you’d dial *72 and then the number you want the calls forwarded to. There’s also Remote Call Forwarding, where you dial a number then enter your home number and a PIN, then enter *72 and the forwarding number.
Rex
Most phone companies here in the UK offer it - i use it a lot with British Telecom (its called “Call Divert” I think) basically you just have to dial a code followed by your mobile number before you leave the house and presto!
the only disadvantage is that the person who is ringing still only pays the same price that they would have if they’d rung the landline - you pay for the cost of the call to the mobile.
What Rex Fenestrarum said. You need to sign up for call forwarding with your telephone service providor. I don’t remember what the monthly fee is, though. I always forward my landline to me cellular when I’m going to be gone for more than a day. I also forward it if I’m expecting a call and I’m going to be online, since I’m on a dial-up internet connection. That way when I’m online the call is routed to my cellular.
There are, or were, services offered by the phone companies where a single incoming call would ring to a land-line phone, a cell phone, and a pager simultaneously. I haven’t seen it offered in a while, though, so I don’t know if it still exists.
That said, my mother forwards her home phone to her cell all the time.
Robin
Thanks. Does it change anything if their home phone is in MA and they’ll be intercepting the calls in NM?
The location of the cell phone makes no difference other than that if you’re out of your regular cell phone area, there will be an out of area charge, the same as for any call. The person calling won’t know you’re forwarded. The line I’m using for the modem forwards to my partner’s cell phone. No problem.
Great! Thanks for your help everyone!
There’s also a feature where you can activate the call forwarding remotely. This means you can change the forwarding number from any phone as opposed to having to activate from your home phone.
This is too simple. I suggest you place the story in some backwoods location where they still use live operators, so the secret agent can distract and/or seduce the operator to divert the call. Or if it’s a children’s story, our pint-sized detective makes up a special patch cord, so when the operator plugs it into the panel the call is actually relayed to a different location.
In any event, this misdirection successfully causes the fleet of attacking Zeppelins to be diverted from their target.
Heh, heh. One of the benefits of my dispatch job is our voicemail number. Being a supervisor, I’ve got the software set up so that when I get a message, the system calls me at home, my other work (desk) number and my cell phone. It also sends the voice message as an attachment via e-mail, which allows me to download it on my personal computer and store it indefinitely. Of course, these are messages that have already been recorded, not the actual live caller. I believe MCI has a call program that allows a person to call you and the call-routing technology tries several different numbers to reach you at.