Next week, at the Midland Dulcimer Festival, we should be able to receive our phone calls using the same phone number we use at home, and we’ll have unlimited phone service. It may sound like I’m just talking about “forwarding to a cellphone,” which is nothing unique, but I’m talkig about having our wired “land line phones” working within our trailer. At least that’s my plan.

If I have access to high speed internet through Boingo, it should work. Boingo’s website shows they provide high speed wireless which is compatible with VOIP. That’s what we’ll need from the Midland Fairgrounds. (Boingo is a $9.95 monthly service that is available most everywhere.)

John and I use a fairly complex but very cheap phone set-up for our landline(s). By cheap, I mean under $24 for two phone lines with unlimited service.

Our cellphone service is an old $15 a month pay-as-you-go plan which only gives us about an hour a month. Last year, although I tried to watch our phoning, I spent considerably more than the $15 on cellphone calls during the festival, and this year we’ll be there for two additional days.

Our main house phone line is through Vonage with the number 989-781-0849. Vonage uses a device (a small box) which plugs into most high speed internet modems and then a “cord” phone is plugged into that device. Using Vonage gives us our 989-781-0849 number which rings either in Michigan or Florida, depending on where we have the Vonage box plugged in.

But we also have a second phone number. It’s a Hillsborough County, Florida area code (813-398-4135). Anyone living in Hillsborough County can call us as a local call at no charge. We purchased that number and the service to support it for $99 for five years, but now it’s even less. The service is called MagicJack (http://magicjack.com). MagicJack subscribers can pick out a phone number using the area code where you want the phone to originate. We use it as a second line.

We forward the MagicJack to the Vonage, or the Vonage to the MagicJack. Whichever the situation requires.

Most of the time we have MagicJack set so that our Florida phone line (813) “forwards” to our Michigan home phone system (989). Those calling us on either line, see 989-781-0849 on the caller I.D. Calling either of our phone numbers (989 or 813) is just a “local” call for people in either area.

I’m hoping to use the MagicJack while at the Midland Fairgrounds using Boingo as the high-speed service. Our home phone number can be set to forward to MagicJack. The caller I.D. will show the 813 number.

If it works, we’ll have regular phone service (in fact two phone lines) at the fairgrounds – A price tag of less than $24 monthly for both.

How cool is that?!!

Stop by and see how it works.