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SPONSORED: Phone Service Directs Landline Calls to Cell Phones, Blocks Robocalls

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May 20, 2019

The following post is a sponsored advertisement for OurOldNumber.com 

At a time when everyone has a cell phone and fewer people have landlines, cloud-based telephone service Our Old Number will now let you keep your home telephone number without having to keep your actual landline.  The calls are simply forwarded to customer’s cell phones.

“Most of our customers are over the age of 50,” Our Old Number founder Jeff Swenson explained. “Nobody under 35 has got one. People over a certain age not only have a landline, but have had [one] for 25-30 years and it is important for them and it is the basis of our service.” 

Swenson launched the company in February of 2016 after speaking to a colleague who wanted to get rid of their landline. His wife, however, did not want to lose the number they’d had for three decades. 

A light bulb went off in Sweson’s head.

“I said to one of the guys, ‘Don’t we have tech where we can direct traffic and redirect it?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and the cloud-based alternative to your landline was born.” 

Denver-based Swenson, who has worked in the phone business since 1980 said, “People can still call you. You don’t have to pay 40 bucks a month to have a landline.”

A landline connected with Our Old Number comes with a voicemail prompting the caller to press a number to be connected. The call is then forwarded to that person’s cell phone. 

An unintended benefit of the product is that it provides a barrier against robo-callers and telemarketers. “Since robo-callers cannot press buttons and telemarketers won’t bother with it, Our Old Number customers avoid receiving a deluge of those unwanted, irritating marketing calls,” Swenson said.

“This is a huge driver for people buying our service,” he added. “When we created the service, that was not on our radar. All we wanted was a cloud-based alternative to the landline.”

Our Old Number customers can have up to nine family members on the service. The phone will no longer work as a landline, nor will it ring. People with an internet connection have the ability to log onto a webpage and view a log of all received and forwarded calls.

You can sign up for Our Old Number at ouroldnumber.com, or by calling the company directly and staff will set up the service by phone. 

Swenson said he loves speaking over the phone to satisfied customers. “I still take calls from customers, which, to be honest with you, is the best part of this job,” he said.

After signing up for Our Old Number, which costs $9.99 per month with no additional taxes or fees, the onus is on the customer to cancel their landline service. People do not need to purchase any special equipment or even have an internet connection, though without a connection they cannot view a log of their calls.

“You don’t need an internet connection, don’t need a box, don’t need a special phone,” Swenson said. “It’s all housed in our data center.”

Though it is against his nature, Swenson said he is proud of OurOldNumber. “My Scandinavian upbringing frowns on being proud of things,” he said, “but I will own up to being proud of it.”

The following post was a sponsored advertisement for OurOldNumber.com 

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