For those of you who haven’t heard of AT&T’s NumberSync feature before. It’s a fantastic feature that allows you to link your phone number to another device. To be more precise, you can link up to five compatible devices to your phone number. Meaning you can make and take phone calls on other devices using your actual phone number. It will even let you make video calls if your device supports AT&T Video Call. Not only that but your phone doesn’t even have to be turned on or with you. In addition NumberSync is also offered at no extra charge. Sadly you cannot share your data plan with this feature, it’s for calls only.
While this is a great feature, don’t get too excited just yet. NumberSync does come with a couple of caveats. First and foremost you must have a compatible device. Starting with an AT&T phone with HD Voice enabled. This includes some of the most recent Android flagships such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, S7, Note 5, LG V10, G5, or past couple of iPhone models. For the full list you can check their website here.
Next you will need a device to sync it with, at the moment that only includes one tablet and a couple of smart watches for Android. The smart watches it is compatible with are the Samsung Gear S2, S2 Classic, and LG Watch Urbane 2nd edition LTE. Recently AT&T announced the addition of the LG G Pad X 10.1 to this list. In order to let me try this out our friends at AT&T lent us the LG G Pad X 10.1 along with the LG V10.
Once you have your compatible devices you are ready to sync everything up. When I opened the dialer on the G Pad X 10.1 I was greeted with a NumberSync intro screen. After hitting next I was asked to sign in with my AT&T account or create an account. This is where I ran into a little trouble, admittedly it was partially my fault. First after creating an account it told me there was something wrong with the server and to try again later.
When I tried again later it said I already had an account with that email address. Then while in the process of trying to login, it would continuously loop me back around to the intro screen. Without any error message or notification that anything had gone wrong. This turned out to be a problem on my end, because I was allowing auto complete on the keyboard to fill in my email address. In the process it was adding a space and that was making the User ID invalid. It took me awhile to figure this out. Had there been an error about an invalid User ID instead of just looping me around, it would have been much easier to figure out.
After logging in you will are required to enter in an address for emergency 911 calls. Once this is setup you are good to go and start receiving and making calls using your tablet or other device. As long as you leave Wi-Fi and location access enabled on your device. While it does not require a SIM card, both of those must be enabled to make or receive calls.
You’ll also notice a notification icon in the top left corner. As well as one in your notification shade informing you that you are signed in with NumberSync and with what number. Despite the server error, setup was easy and would have been quick if not for my own login issue.
When you receive a call all of your linked devices will ring and allow you to choose which to answer with. In my case that meant the LG V10 or LG G Pad X. I was able to completely turn off the phone and leave it in another room while making calls using the tablet. I can only assume it uses some form of VOIP to make and receive calls on the tablet. Hence why you must have Wi-Fi enabled.
Call quality was good and you can even switch to a Bluetooth headset, instead of using the tablet’s microphone and speakers. I did have one call drop on me however after about half an hour. Other times I was able to talk over 40 minutes without any issues at all.
AT&T’s NumberSync feature is a great way to make or take phone calls on your watch or tablet. It simplifies the process by keeping everything on the same phone number. In a day where we are all acquiring more and more mobile devices. It’s extremely convenient to keep the same phone number, while being able to call your friends and family using whatever device you choose.
