Smart Number Technology

EE BECOMES THE FIRST UK NETWORK TO LAUNCH SMART NUMBER TECHNOLOGY, ALLOWING CUSTOMERS TO USE ONE PHONE NUMBER ACROSS SMART WATCHES, TABLETS AND LAPTOPS

London, 11 June 2018

  • EE becomes first UK network to launch smart number technology that gives customers the ability to make and receive calls and texts using the same number across multiple devices – all at no extra cost
  • Available initially on Apple devices, with Android compatible devices at a later date
  • New service is a key part of EE’s ambition to create a converged, smart network – allowing customers to seamlessly make the most of all their smartphones and connected devices
EE today announced it is the first UK operator to launch smart number technology that enables customers to make and receive calls across their tablets, watches and laptops using one phone number, even when they don’t have their smartphone with them. Available at no extra cost to new and existing customers, this service is part of EE’s strategy to keep customers connected by bringing together the best of mobile and broadband through first-of-their-kind converged services across the UK.

If a customer leaves their smartphone at home, their phone battery goes dead, or even if they want to go away for the weekend with fewer devices - they’ll still be able to use other connected devices to make and receive calls and messages. The number will be the same, so friends and family will be able to call them just like they can on their smartphone, and they’ll know exactly who is trying to get hold of them.

Max Taylor, Managing Director of Marketing, EE We’ve made it our mission to give our customers amazing new technologies that make the most of our award-winning network to help keep them connected, wherever they go and whatever they want to do. Our new smart number technology is a great example of how we’re helping customers to seamlessly connect their favourite devices – whether on laptops, tablets or smartwatches, even if they’re away from their smartphone.”

With smart number technology, multiple calls can be made at the same time, so customers can ring friends and family on a tablet while on-hold on their smartphone. Calls can also be handed off from one device to another with the simple press of a button, so a customer can make a call on their connected laptop or tablet and then quickly switch to their smartphone if they need to leave the house.

The service works using Wi-Fi Calling and EE is the first network in the UK network to offer this feature. A customer can extend their phone number to five other connected devices which are internet connected with either Wi-Fi or mobile connectivity. While the primary device needs to be on EE, the other devices do not need to be. If they are made or received on a device with access to EE’s network, the calls will be taken out of their voice allowance.

The service will give existing and new EE pay monthly mobile customers new levels of freedom and convenience, without any requirement to upgrade, across a wide selection of compatible devices including smart watches, tablets and laptops. Initially available for Apple devices including iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and the Apple Watch, EE is also developing the functionality for Android devices with more details to be announced in due course. Customers will need to be on a EE pay monthly plan on their smartphone and have iOS 11.3 on an iPhone 6 or later. Paired iPads will need to be on iOS 10 (or later) and OS X El Capitan or later is required for Macs.

EE is also the only UK network to support the full connected capability of the Apple Watch Series 3.

For more information on EE’s unique new service, please visit https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/offers-and-services/ee-smart-number/one-number

 
Years ago on some networks you could pay for another 'duplicate' SIM so one mobile number could be shared. Think only one device could be active at a time. Then they stopped doing it.

Sooner or later, everything old is new again!
 
Years ago on some networks you could pay for another 'duplicate' SIM so one mobile number could be shared. Think only one device could be active at a time. Then they stopped doing it.

Sooner or later, everything old is new again!
Previous generation mobile systems required the mobile to occasionally tell the network which cell they were in so having multiple seemingly identical mobiles in different locations at the same time could cause grief. Not sure how this is managed in the newer systems.
If this is all built around VOIP then that would explain a lot.
 
Previous generation mobile systems required the mobile to occasionally tell the network which cell they were in so having multiple seemingly identical mobiles in different locations at the same time could cause grief. Not sure how this is managed in the newer systems.
If this is all built around VOIP then that would explain a lot.
Undoubtedly it will be built on VoIP. I think they’re also deeply leveraging the call handoff technology built into IOS and Mac OS, but extending it across the LTE network.

I can take a call on my iPad if I’m in the shed and my phone is in the house 300 metres away for example (shed and house on the same LAN/subnet). I’m on Vodafone but have WiFi calling.

I suspect this EE initiative is a wide(er) area network implementation of this, as it were.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 105 40.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 94 36.3%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 39 15.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 5 1.9%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.2%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 13 5.0%

May Event: The most profitable farm diversification strategy 2024 - Mobile Data Centres

  • 1,734
  • 32
With just a internet connection and a plug socket you too can join over 70 farms currently earning up to £1.27 ppkw ~ 201% ROI

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mo...2024-mobile-data-centres-tickets-871045770347

Tuesday, May 21 · 10am - 2pm GMT+1

Location: Village Hotel Bury, Rochdale Road, Bury, BL9 7BQ

The Farming Forum has teamed up with the award winning hardware manufacturer Easy Compute to bring you an educational talk about how AI and blockchain technology is helping farmers to diversify their land.

Over the past 7 years, Easy Compute have been working with farmers, agricultural businesses, and renewable energy farms all across the UK to help turn leftover space into mini data centres. With...
Top