Sometimes, one phone number on your mobile phone just doesn't cut it. Maybe you need a second or third number for work reasons. Or perhaps it'd be great if calls to one number could reach everyone in your family on their individual devices.
If either of those scenarios sound relatable to you and you happen to be a Verizon customer, you're in luck. Big Red has just announced My Numbers, a new feature that allows you to buy another phone number to make and receive calls and texts for $15 a month for every number you add. You can buy up to four additional numbers, and each of those numbers can be synced across five smartphones.
If any of that sounds familiar, there's a very good reason. Last year, T-Mobile introduced Digits — a service that operated mostly the same way. Like Digits, My Numbers routes all activities with these additional numbers through a dedicated app. That means all the calls and text messages to and from that My Number will be received by Verizon's app, rather than your handset's stock dialer or messenger.
Verizon says My Numbers supports any LTE-capable iPhone or Android device, and there are already apps live for those respective platforms. To get started, visit the App Store or Google Play Store.
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It's worth noting that Google Voice is really the progenitor to both T-Mobile and Verizon's services — and, better yet, it's free.
Google Voice gives you one free number that is accessible across all smartphones, tablets and computers through a web interface. If one more number is all you need (and, presumably, you live in the U.S. — as you would have to be if you were considering Verizon's My Numbers already), it could be a solid alternative.
