Help enable call forwarding on AT&T before travelling?

[jet987]

On the Captivate for AT&T, is there a way to set up call forwarding to my home number BEFORE I travel to another country? When travelling I don't want my phone to ring or else i'd get charged international roaming rates for the voicemail if one is left, so I need any incoming calls to go immediately straight to my home phone without the call reaching the Captivate while i'm abroad. While i'm overseas I use my phone for text messaging, no voice to save money. I do this with my Palm Treo Pro all the time when travelling, set up the network so that the call immediately gets forwarded to my home number.

 

[BLJones]

Is there a charge for google voice mail service overseas?

 

[Tasmin]

On the Captivate for AT&T, is there a way to set up call forwarding to my home number BEFORE I travel to another country? When travelling I don't want my phone to ring or else i'd get charged international roaming rates for the voicemail if one is left, so I need any incoming calls to go immediately straight to my home phone without the call reaching the Captivate while i'm abroad. While i'm overseas I use my phone for text messaging, no voice to save money. I do this with my Palm Treo Pro all the time when travelling, set up the network so that the call immediately gets forwarded to my home number.

To stop incoming calls you have a couple of options that I can think of ... which one you choose depends on what you need the phone to still be able to do.

You can call AT&T and tell them you'll be out of the country for XX amount of time and they'll suspend your plan. Of course, the phone won't do anything except connect over wifi then. And any calls will probably just get rejected (this number is out of service ... beep beep).

You can call AT&T and set up unconditional call forwarding. There's a [per call?] charge for that.

Check out "airplane mode" and see what it disables on the Captivate (I'm still saving up for mine, so I can't tell you). At minimum it should disable the radio for phone calls and possible texts. Not sure how your data will function. Use Google Voice's voicemail to get your messages.

I kind of question whether or not you would get charged international rates for a voicemail while abroad or not. I would assume you'd only get charged if you listened to it, in which case setting up GV to email or text you transcripts should solve that problem. However, I've never dealt with my own mobile while abroad, so I don't know (usually just by cheap pay-as-you-goes in country if I really need one).

BLJones:

Is there a charge for google voice mail service overseas?

How do you plan to use it? With a US phone? Just accessing it online?

 

[BLJones]

I was just giving him the option of google voice. But to forward calls, go to settings, go to call settings, then call forwarding, then go to always forward and enter a phone number.

 

[BLJones]

Also use text plus app to send free text

 

[jet987]

thanks!

 

[tushar46]

Thanks for sharing your information. Communication while travelling is very important.

 

[mrcamp]

No need to call AT&T for anything. Just unconditionally forward all calls to whatever US number you want. This can be done from any GSM phone. You can do it via the phone's menu or via the GSM code (**21*13125551212#). I do this every time when I am traveling. I forward my number to my international sim that has a US number. Also, you do not even need to do this in the US before you travel. You can do it from where ever in the world there is GSM signal. I forward/un-forward(##21#) form all over the place!

 

[NvigR8]

Is anyone certain there is no extra cost for texting overseas? What about receiving texts? Also, what about all the apps that need data? Will keeping the background data turned off take care of that completely?

Thanks.

 

[fldude99]

Is anyone certain there is no extra cost for texting overseas? What about receiving texts? Also, what about all the apps that need data? Will keeping the background data turned off take care of that completely?

Thanks.

There is no charge for receiving texts when overseas..just gets charged to your text plan. There is a charge for sending of course...but not that expensive. There is also a charge for when someone calls and you don't answer and goes to voicemail. If the phone is off, then it goes directly to voicemail and no charge

 

[sremick]

When I was roaming in Canada, there was definitely an extra charge for texting. I think it worked out to be like $0.50/text.

 

[3gAndroid]

No need to call AT&T for anything. Just unconditionally forward all calls to whatever US number you want. This can be done from any GSM phone. You can do it via the phone's menu or via the GSM code (**21*13125551212#). I do this every time when I am traveling. I forward my number to my international sim that has a US number. Also, you do not even need to do this in the US before you travel. You can do it from where ever in the world there is GSM signal. I forward/un-forward(##21#) form all over the place!

I do this same thing when traveling internationally, works flawlessly & saves time. My mobile serves as my main line of communication. A landline is useless, since I travel so much.

 

[snapper.fishes]

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