Show Your Own Number When You Call

Show your own mobile, not your BubblyPhone number, when you call. Who can use it, setup, how Automatic works, the one-time cost, and the limits to know first.

If you own a BubblyPhone number, the calls you make from it can show your own phone number instead, for example your mobile, so the people you call see a number they recognise. You prove the phone is yours once with a short code call, then choose what each BubblyPhone number shows on its Settings page.

It's an option, not the default. Before you switch, read the limitations: on some networks and in some countries your number won't come through as you expect.

What the person you call sees

They see the number you chose for your BubblyPhone number: the BubblyPhone number itself, your own phone, or, with Automatic, whichever of the two suits the country you're calling. If they've saved your phone in their contacts, their screen shows your name, just as it does when you call from that phone.

Nothing else about the call changes. It still goes through BubblyPhone, costs the usual per-minute rate for that destination, and appears in your BubblyPhone call history.

The setting applies to calls you make from your BubblyPhone number. If you pick BubblyPhone shared number in the dialer's Call from menu, that call shows a shared number, as it always has.

Who can use it

Anyone who owns an active BubblyPhone number can use it, however they pay for the number. A number in its grace period counts too. Without a BubblyPhone number the option isn't available, so get a number first.

You can add up to 3 of your own phones. Each must be a regular mobile or landline that you can answer, because we prove it's yours by calling it with a code. Toll-free, premium-rate and short numbers can't be added, and neither can a BubblyPhone number.

How to set it up

You set it up on the BubblyPhone website in a few minutes: add your phone on your number's Settings page, answer a call that reads out a code, type the code, and choose what your calls show.

1. Go to My Numbers, open your number and select the Settings tab. The first section is What people see when you call. From the dialer, the Show your own number link under Call from opens the same page.
2. Type your phone with its country code, starting with + or 00, for example +971 50 123 4567. Select Continue.
3. Check the number, its country and the price. For a UAE mobile you'd see something like: "We'll call +971501234567 (United Arab Emirates) and read out a code. This costs $0.84, taken from your balance when we place the call." If anything is wrong, select Cancel.
4. Select Call me with a code. Your phone rings. Answer it and note the code it reads out.
5. Type the code in the Code box and select Verify. You'll see "Verified. Choose “My phone” above to show it on calls from this number."
6. Choose This number, My phone or Automatic, then select Save.

If the call doesn't reach you, Call me again shows the price again before it places a new call. Every code call is charged. If the code never arrives, see Own Number Caller ID: Troubleshooting.

The three choices, as they appear on the page:

• This number — "Callbacks and texts come to BubblyPhone." Calls show your BubblyPhone number. This is the default.
• My phone — "People see a number they recognise. Callbacks ring your phone." Calls show your phone, except calls to the UK or India from a phone of that country (see the limitations below).
• Automatic — for a US number: "This number when you call the US and Canada, your phone everywhere else."

The choice is saved on the number, not in your browser, so it applies wherever you call from that number. If you own more than one BubblyPhone number, each has its own setting.

How Automatic chooses the number

Automatic shows your BubblyPhone number when you call that number's own country, counting the US and Canada as one, and your own phone everywhere else.

Say your BubblyPhone number is +1 (415) 555-0100 and you've verified your UAE mobile, +971 50 123 4567. With Automatic:

• You call a number in the US or Canada: they see +1 (415) 555-0100. Showing a US number there avoids the extra "Spam Likely" risk of showing a foreign mobile to US carriers.
• You call the UAE: they see +971 50 123 4567, the number your family and friends there already know.
• You call Germany: they see +971 50 123 4567 too. Outside the US and Canada, Automatic shows your phone.

If you've verified more than one phone, Automatic shows the one from the country you're calling when you have one, and otherwise the phone you added first.

The UK and India work differently. Their networks block calls from abroad that show one of their own numbers. So if your only phone is an Indian mobile and you call India, Automatic shows your BubblyPhone number instead, and the web dialer tells you: "Networks in India block calls from abroad that show a local number, so we're showing your BubblyPhone number on this call." The same happens with a UK mobile when you call the UK. If you've also verified a phone from another country, Automatic shows that one instead.

What it costs

Adding a phone costs a one-time fee for the verification call, and the exact price is shown before we call. There is no monthly fee and no extra charge on the calls you make with it.

• The price depends on where your phone is, because it pays for a call to that number. For example, about $0.14 for a US mobile, $0.27 for an Indian mobile and $0.84 for a UAE mobile. It's never less than $0.10.
• It's taken from your balance when we place the code call, even if you miss the call. Your balance needs to cover it before we call.
• Typing the code is free. You can get it wrong up to 5 times per call.
• Another code call costs the fee again. Call me again shows the price before it calls.
• Calls that show your phone cost the normal per-minute rate for the country you're calling, the same as any other call.
• Removing a phone and adding it back needs a new verification call, which is charged again.

The charge appears on your Billing & Activity page as "Caller ID verification call to" followed by your phone number.

What changes and what doesn't

Only the number shown on your outgoing calls changes. How calls and texts reach you stays exactly as it was.

• Callbacks ring your phone. If someone calls back the number they saw, the call goes to your phone through your own carrier, not to BubblyPhone. It won't appear in your BubblyPhone call history or voicemail.
• Texts to your phone stay on your phone. They never appear in BubblyPhone.
• Your BubblyPhone number works as before. Calls and texts to it keep arriving in BubblyPhone, with your forwarding and voicemail settings unchanged.
• Your phone's service isn't touched. We only check that the phone is yours. Your carrier, plan and number stay the same.

Limitations to know before you switch

Your number shows on most calls, but not all of them, and results vary by carrier and country.

If a call matters, make a short test call to someone in that country first. If your number doesn't come through as you expect, switch that BubblyPhone number back to This number, or to Automatic if the problem is calls to your BubblyPhone number's own country.

Managing your phones

You can keep up to 3 phones on your account, and you manage them all in Settings › Your number. The Show your own number page lists each phone with its status:

• Ready — verified and available to show on calls.
• Waiting for code — the code call was placed but the code wasn't entered. Select Enter code to finish. A phone waiting for its code counts toward your 3.
• Paused — see the next section.

To add another phone, use the box below the list. Your number's Settings page only shows the add box until your first phone is verified.

Under What your BubblyPhone numbers show, each of your numbers is listed with what it shows, for example "Shows your phone +971501234567" or "Automatic — your phone outside the US and Canada". Select Change to open that number's Settings page.

To remove a phone, select the bin icon next to it. You'll be asked "Remove this number? Adding it again needs a new verification call." Select Remove to confirm. Any BubblyPhone number that showed that phone goes back to This number. If no verified phone is left, numbers set to Automatic go back to This number as well.

When your BubblyPhone number lapses

If you no longer own an active BubblyPhone number, your phones are paused, not deleted. They stay listed as "Paused — no active BubblyPhone number" and can't be shown on calls.

Buy a number again and they come back with no new verification call and no new charge. A new number starts on This number, so choose My phone or Automatic on its Settings page.

If a phone shows Paused while you still own a number, showing your own number has been turned off for your account. Contact support if you think that's a mistake. Closing your BubblyPhone account removes all your phones.

Using it in the iPhone and Android apps

The setting is saved on your BubblyPhone number, so the iPhone app already follows it and the Android app follows it from version 1.3.3. Calls you make from that number in the app show what you chose, with nothing to change in the app. Older Android versions don't apply the setting, so update the app to use it there.

Adding and verifying a phone happens on the website: open your number's Settings page, or Settings › Your number, in a browser. Something not working? See Own Number Caller ID: Troubleshooting.