I actually do love attending press gatherings and launches. Not only do I get the inside track of a variety of things, I meet great people. One person I was speaking to recently had a really cool looking app – called onoff.

onoff is based around a really simple idea, as most great things are. The service allows people to set up as many phone numbers as they need, all on one phone.

onoff’s founder Khris Taïg is perhaps best known for rollerblading off of the Eiffel Tower. The idea came to him after being hospitalised when he was flattened by a falling Hollywood starlet (Mila Kunis, he caught her) whilst working as a stunt double.  During some forced leave he came up with the concept for a privacy protecting telecoms company after witnessing the challenges people in the movie industry have in keeping their numbers private.

Why would I need onoff?

Just imagine that you’re a celebrity who’s fed up with using burner phones whenever you’re on location. Or, more realistically, you’re a regular person who has had enough of nuisance calls.

The ability to have multiple numbers, for different purposes, under full instant control changes many things about the way we can use our phones. It could be handy in my line of work, for instance. I could give a different number to PR contacts that I could switch on or off with a flick, but still get access, and be accessible to, personal calls.

Even better is that those numbers can be switched on and off as they need to; one number for work, one for family, one for dating, one for eBay, one in France, one in America etc.

Setting up a number literally takes seconds, and unlike VoIP services onoff uses the GSM network, so it has great call quality and is highly reliable.

onoff in use

I was really impressed by just how easy the whole thing is to use and how quick a new number can be generated.

It was merely a case of selecting a new number and, boom, sorted. Granted, you need to have some credits ready.

onoff services

Your phone lines, contacts, messages etc. can be accessed from any device, anywhere – so, if your phone is flat you can log in on a PC or a friend’s phone.

Every number has its own profile within the app which means no accidental potentially embarrassing cross over between numbers. This means they’ll run a separate contact list, voicemail greeting, profile picture, email address etc.

You even get a “stealth” mode. This lets you choose to discreetly hide your additional numbers and password protect access to them. This mitigates the risk of snoopers or when you let your child play with your handset – no embarrassing emails or texts being sent to your boss!

I bet onoff costs a bit though

The onoff app is actually free.  You are the able to set up multiple phone lines on your mobile for as long as  you need them.

As I have already mentioned, onoff are a registered telecoms company and uses the GSM network. This ensures that call quality is high and the service reliable. Each customer receives a test line, free for 3 months, through which they can receive calls and SMS. Making calls or setting up additional lines requires the purchase of credits.

Get onoff now

Onoff has so far raised 5 million Euro to transform the privacy and usability of mobile phones, and it has already won 700,000 users in France.

Android and Apple versions available now. Check the website for more details.