I use Whatsapp, especially for international calls**, and it occurs to
me that my whatsapp number is not my home or cell number. It's the cell
number I had years ago, when I first signed up for whatsapp. So if I
had a webpage with my home or cell number, and someone tried to call me
at one of those numbers, using Whatsapp, what would happen?

A recording that says the number is not in service?

Just ring and ring and ring?

I guess this applies to any hardwired phone, what happens if you try to
call one using whatsapp? (Skype will do it. FWIW Skype costs about
2c/minute.)

I made two international calls tonight and both were answered, but in
one case it was the 3rd time I'd tried. I didn't know what it meant when
the phone rang and rang until it stopped and disconnected me, just as it
would, at least there, if it were a valid number and no one answered.

**I still don't know how international calls would be billed by my
cellular provider. They're not included, and there is a price schedul
per minute with a price for each county in the world, sometimes a
different price for wired and cell. And I've accidentally called that
way a couple times, amounting to a dollar or two. But afaicr they've
not billed me. I pay an annual fee to Mint Mobile. Maybe they're
giving me a a couple dollars worth of int. calls for free. They're not
expensive, only 1.5c/minute, but the price list didn't exist when I
first signed up with Mint, and I'm in the habit of using Whatsapp
instead.

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
> I use Whatsapp, especially for international calls**, and it occurs to
> me that my whatsapp number is not my home or cell number. It's the cell
> number I had years ago, when I first signed up for whatsapp. So if I
> had a webpage with my home or cell number, and someone tried to call me
> at one of those numbers, using Whatsapp, what would happen?
>
> A recording that says the number is not in service?
>
> Just ring and ring and ring?

You literally have all the information to answer this yourself. Ask someone
you know to try it.

On 2023-03-12 08:58, micky wrote:
> I use Whatsapp, especially for international calls**, and it occurs to
> me that my whatsapp number is not my home or cell number. It's the cell
> number I had years ago, when I first signed up for whatsapp.

And it still works? That's strange, unless you still have a phone with
that number and WhatsApp installed, even if off.

> So if I
> had a webpage with my home or cell number, and someone tried to call me
> at one of those numbers, using Whatsapp, what would happen?
>
> A recording that says the number is not in service?
>
> Just ring and ring and ring?

He simply can not even find that number in WhatsApp. Impossible to send
a message or initiate a chat or call.

Try yourself to send a message to that number. In the directory in the
phone, the number will not have a whatsap symbol, unless you registered
that number to whatsapp at some time.

>
> I guess this applies to any hardwired phone, what happens if you try to
> call one using whatsapp? (Skype will do it. FWIW Skype costs about
> 2c/minute.)

I don't understand this question.

> I made two international calls tonight and both were answered, but in
> one case it was the 3rd time I'd tried. I didn't know what it meant when
> the phone rang and rang until it stopped and disconnected me, just as it
> would, at least there, if it were a valid number and no one answered.
>
>
>
> **I still don't know how international calls would be billed by my
> cellular provider. They're not included, and there is a price schedul
> per minute with a price for each county in the world, sometimes a
> different price for wired and cell. And I've accidentally called that
> way a couple times, amounting to a dollar or two. But afaicr they've
> not billed me. I pay an annual fee to Mint Mobile. Maybe they're
> giving me a a couple dollars worth of int. calls for free. They're not
> expensive, only 1.5c/minute, but the price list didn't exist when I
> first signed up with Mint, and I'm in the habit of using Whatsapp
> instead.

The billing depends on your company, I can't say what it is. Sometimes
people manage to use a service that should be disabled for you, because
someone forgot to block it. It is possible they don't bill those errors.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> He simply can not even find that number in WhatsApp. Impossible to send
> a message or initiate a chat or call.
>
> Try yourself to send a message to that number. In the directory in the
> phone, the number will not have a whatsap symbol, unless you registered
> that number to whatsapp at some time.

There are other ways to launch a WhatsApp to a given number without having
it in your contacts, eg:

https://wa.me/+12345678901

and if you do that you may get a message from the app saying the number is
not in WhatsApp.

> > I guess this applies to any hardwired phone, what happens if you try to
> > call one using whatsapp? (Skype will do it. FWIW Skype costs about
> > 2c/minute.)
>
> I don't understand this question.

Whatsapp doesn't have a connection to the phone system, so unlike Skype it
can't call off-network numbers. It's either on-Whatsapp or nothing.

You may be able to register a landline phone if it can receive SMS - WA
doesn't care what your number actually is, as long as it can verify it. In
that case you would have to register from some other device, as the landline
phone can't run the Whatsapp app.

Theo

Am 12.03.23 um 12:28 schrieb Carlos E.R.:
> On 2023-03-12 08:58, micky wrote:
>> I use Whatsapp, especially for international calls**, and it occurs to
>> me that my whatsapp number is not my home or cell number. It's the cell
>> number I had years ago, when I first signed up for whatsapp.
>
> And it still works? That's strange, unless you still have a phone with
> that number and WhatsApp installed, even if off.

+1

--
Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovid)

Theo wrote:

> There are other ways to launch a WhatsApp to a given number without having
> it in your contacts, eg:
>
> https://wa.me/+12345678901

There's nothing wrong with that web app, but why not just dial directly?

We covered how to do that so many times in gory detail on this newsgroup
that I'm tired of posting the apps, links, descriptions, and pictures.

Suffice to say I have explained many times I have no contacts and I have
absolutely no problem dialing WhatsApp connections via phone or messages.

> and if you do that you may get a message from the app saying the number is
> not in WhatsApp.

Yes. Agreed. The person you directly dial or directly chat by their
WhatsApp "phone number" (actually an account) has to have an account.

On 2023-03-12 14:31, Theo wrote:
> Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>> He simply can not even find that number in WhatsApp. Impossible to send
>> a message or initiate a chat or call.
>>
>> Try yourself to send a message to that number. In the directory in the
>> phone, the number will not have a whatsap symbol, unless you registered
>> that number to whatsapp at some time.
>
> There are other ways to launch a WhatsApp to a given number without having
> it in your contacts, eg:
>
> https://wa.me/+12345678901

Nice trick.

>
> and if you do that you may get a message from the app saying the number is
> not in WhatsApp.

It tells me the number is invalid.

>
>>> I guess this applies to any hardwired phone, what happens if you try to
>>> call one using whatsapp? (Skype will do it. FWIW Skype costs about
>>> 2c/minute.)
>>
>> I don't understand this question.
>
> Whatsapp doesn't have a connection to the phone system, so unlike Skype it
> can't call off-network numbers. It's either on-Whatsapp or nothing.

It can send an SMS to that number, to invite it to wasap.

>
> You may be able to register a landline phone if it can receive SMS - WA
> doesn't care what your number actually is, as long as it can verify it. In
> that case you would have to register from some other device, as the landline
> phone can't run the Whatsapp app.
>
> Theo

--
Cheers, Carlos.

In comp.mobile.android, on Sun, 12 Mar 2023 12:28:08 +0100, "Carlos
E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

>On 2023-03-12 08:58, micky wrote:
>> I use Whatsapp, especially for international calls**, and it occurs to
>> me that my whatsapp number is not my home or cell number. It's the cell
>> number I had years ago, when I first signed up for whatsapp.
>
>And it still works? That's strange, unless you still have a phone with
>that number and WhatsApp installed, even if off.

Yes, it still works, repeatedly. And I have no other phone with that
number, have not had one for years. If that's all you need to know, you
can skip the next 3 parapgraphs. I have another phone but it has no sim
and when it last had a sim, it was the same sim that is in the first
phone now. Checking, the WhatsApp settings, I see that it has a
different foreign number, from a previous year, but neither phone has
even the foreign number I used last spring.**

I had a really big problem finding my whatsapp number when I looked.
You have to go to Settings and then tap the "name" at the top, which
didn't even look like a setting.

**And FWIW the Profile info is different in each phone,
One has my name just initials, MM; About available, and the other
And the other has my phony google name, and About is "Hey there! I am
using WhatsApp" which isn't even an option on the first phone. Hey, it's
not an option on either phone. I must have set it when it was an
option.

Having two different numbers iln two different phones may have caused me
to miss some whatsapp calls.

>> So if I
>> had a webpage with my home or cell number, and someone tried to call me
>> at one of those numbers, using Whatsapp, what would happen?
>>
>> A recording that says the number is not in service?
>>
>> Just ring and ring and ring?
>
>He simply can not even find that number in WhatsApp. Impossible to send
>a message or initiate a chat or call.

That makes sense, and that's good.

>Try yourself to send a message to that number. In the directory in the
>phone, the number will not have a whatsap symbol, unless you registered
>that number to whatsapp at some time.

Theo says it might work another way. I'll try both.

>> I guess this applies to any hardwired phone, what happens if you try to
>> call one using whatsapp? (Skype will do it. FWIW Skype costs about
>> 2c/minute.)
>
>I don't understand this question.

Theo explained this well.
>
>> I made two international calls tonight and both were answered, but in
>> one case it was the 3rd time I'd tried. I didn't know what it meant when
>> the phone rang and rang until it stopped and disconnected me, just as it
>> would, at least there, if it were a valid number and no one answered.
>>
>>
>>
>> **I still don't know how international calls would be billed by my
>> cellular provider. They're not included, and there is a price schedul
>> per minute with a price for each county in the world, sometimes a
>> different price for wired and cell. And I've accidentally called that
>> way a couple times, amounting to a dollar or two. But afaicr they've
>> not billed me. I pay an annual fee to Mint Mobile. Maybe they're
>> giving me a a couple dollars worth of int. calls for free. They're not
>> expensive, only 1.5c/minute, but the price list didn't exist when I
>> first signed up with Mint, and I'm in the habit of using Whatsapp
>> instead.
>
>The billing depends on your company, I can't say what it is. Sometimes
>people manage to use a service that should be disabled for you, because
>someone forgot to block it. It is possible they don't bill those errors.

That makes sense and might be what happened.

In comp.mobile.android, on Sun, 12 Mar 2023 14:55:47 +0000, Andy
Burnelli <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:

>Theo wrote:
>
>> There are other ways to launch a WhatsApp to a given number without having
>> it in your contacts, eg:
>>
>> https://wa.me/+12345678901

I will try this.

>There's nothing wrong with that web app, but why not just dial directly?

Do you mean using the included dialer? Because it's an international
call and costs money.

>
>We covered how to do that so many times in gory detail on this newsgroup
>that I'm tired of posting the apps, links, descriptions, and pictures.
>
>Suffice to say I have explained many times I have no contacts and I have
>absolutely no problem dialing WhatsApp connections via phone or messages.
>
>> and if you do that you may get a message from the app saying the number is
>> not in WhatsApp.
>
>Yes. Agreed. The person you directly dial or directly chat by their
>WhatsApp "phone number" (actually an account) has to have an account.

That's good to know, in that when it was ringing, I knew I had called a
valid number. I thought it might ring for a while and then if I held
on long enough, I'd get a message, "You have not dialed a valid Whatsapp
number."