Email to Phone Call: Get Called When a Critical Email Arrives
An email to phone call service converts an incoming email into a text-to-speech phone call, so a server alert, alarm notification or sensor warning is heard within moments instead of sitting unread in an inbox. Email2Phone has provided this service since 2008 and works with any system that can send email.
Last updated September 2026
What an email to phone call service does
The idea is simple: an email comes in, a phone rings, and a voice reads the email aloud. The value is in the details — which emails trigger a call, who gets called, what happens when nobody answers, and whether the message can be replayed later.
Email2Phone gives each account a dedicated address (yourname@email2phone.net). Anything sent to that address is filtered, converted to speech and delivered as a call to the numbers you choose. Because the input is plain email, there is nothing to install and no API to integrate. If a device or application can send an email notification, it can trigger a phone call.
Who uses it
IT administrators and MSPs
Nagios, Zabbix, PRTG, Checkmk, UptimeRobot, Datadog, Grafana and similar tools all send email. Route the CRITICAL ones to a phone call so the on-call person is woken up, without paying per-seat for an incident platform.
Facilities, labs and cold storage
Temperature sensors, freezer monitors, alarm panels, generators and building systems email when a threshold is crossed. A call at 2 a.m. is the difference between a reset and a lost inventory.
Small operations teams
Schools, clinics, delivery and field-service teams use one email to ring several staff phones at once for closures, schedule changes and urgent instructions.
People who cannot read a screen
Drivers, people who are visually impaired, and anyone working somewhere a phone is available but a screen is not can hear email and reply by voice.
How Email2Phone works, step by step
- Sign up. The free 30-day trial gives you a
yourname@email2phone.netaddress and a six-digit phone PIN. - Add phone numbers. One or several. Choose sequential dialing (next number only if the previous one does not answer) or simultaneous (ring everyone at once).
- Set filters. Match on sender, subject or body text. Send only emails containing
CRITICALorDOWNto the on-call phone; sendALARMfrom the freezer monitor to the facilities manager; drop everything else. - Point your system at the address. Add it as a notification contact in your monitoring tool, alarm panel or sensor portal, or create a forwarding rule in Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365.
- Send a test. Your phone rings and reads the message. Press a key to save, delete, skip or record a spoken reply.
If nobody answers: with voicemail delivery enabled, the message is left on voicemail. Without it, Email2Phone calls back at 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes and once more after another hour, and files the message in your online history. You can also dial in from any phone (toll numbers in the US, Canada and UK) and replay any message — dial-in is free.
Phone call vs. SMS vs. push notification for critical alerts
Each channel has a place. For the small number of alerts that must not be missed, a call has properties the others do not.
| Phone call (TTS) | SMS | Push / app | Email only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakes you up | Rings until answered; retries | One chime | One chime; often muted | No |
| Breaks through Do Not Disturb | Yes, when the number is a favorite or emergency contact | Usually no | Only with app-specific critical-alert entitlement | No |
| Works on landline / basic phone | Yes | Mobile only | Smartphone only | No |
| Needs an app installed | No | No | Yes | No |
| Depends on carrier email-to-SMS gateway | No | Often (AT&T and T-Mobile gateways closed; Verizon closes 31 Mar 2027) | No | — |
| Message length | Full email read aloud | ~160 characters | Short | Full |
| Confirms someone heard it | Yes (answered, keypress, spoken reply) | No | Sometimes | No |
Many teams keep email or Slack for everything and reserve a phone call for the two or three alert types that justify waking someone. Filters make that split a five-minute job.
If you relied on @vtext.com, @txt.att.net or @tmomail.net
For twenty years the free way to get an alert to a phone was to email the carrier's SMS gateway. T-Mobile shut its gateway in December 2024, AT&T on June 17, 2025, and Verizon has announced March 31, 2027 for vtext.com. Every Nagios contact, PRTG notification and alarm-panel setting that points at one of those addresses has stopped working or will. Replacing the address withyourname@email2phone.net restores delivery — as a call rather than a text — with no other changes to the sending system.
Common setups
- Monitoring tool → on-call phone. Add the Email2Phone address as a contact in Nagios, Zabbix, PRTG or UptimeRobot for CRITICAL/DOWN states only. Filter on the word
CRITICAL. Sequential dialing: primary admin, then backup. - Freezer or lab sensor → facilities manager. Most sensor portals (Sensaphone, Monnit, Temp Stick, SensorPush) email on threshold. Forward to Email2Phone; simultaneous dialing to two phones.
- Mailbox rule → your own phone. A Gmail filter or Microsoft 365 rule forwards messages from a specific client or containing "URGENT" to your Email2Phone address. Everything else stays in the inbox.
- One email → whole team. Send a single message to the address; simultaneous dialing rings every staff phone with the same spoken announcement.
What it costs
Plans are $10, $100 and $400 per month for 40, 500 and 3,000 call credits. A one-minute call to a US or Canadian number is one credit; most alert calls are under a minute. An IT admin receiving 15 critical alerts a month stays inside the Basic plan. Extra credits are $0.25, $0.20 and $0.15 respectively. International destinations use 1–6 credits per minute; thepricing page calculator gives the exact rate for any number. There are no setup fees, and dial-in retrieval is free.
Frequently asked questions
What is an email to phone call service?
An email to phone call service receives an email, converts the subject and body to speech, and places a phone call to one or more numbers so the recipient hears the message. It is used to make sure critical emails — server alerts, alarm notifications, sensor warnings — are noticed immediately, even when nobody is looking at a screen.
How does Email2Phone turn an email into a phone call?
Each account gets a dedicated address in the form yourname@email2phone.net. Any system that can send email — a monitoring tool, alarm panel, NAS, UPS or a forwarding rule in Gmail or Microsoft 365 — sends to that address. Email2Phone applies your filters, converts the text to speech, and calls the phone numbers you configured. US and Canadian calls use 1 credit per 60 seconds.
What happens if I do not answer the call?
If voicemail delivery is enabled, Email2Phone leaves the message on your voicemail. If it is not, Email2Phone calls back at 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes, then once more at 60 minutes, and also stores the message in your online Message History so you can dial in and hear it later.
Can it call more than one person?
Yes. You can add multiple phone numbers and choose sequential dialing (call the next number only if the previous one does not answer) or simultaneous dialing (ring all numbers at once). Filters can also route specific emails to specific phones based on sender, subject or body text.
Does it work with Nagios, Zabbix, PRTG, UptimeRobot or other monitoring tools?
Yes. Email2Phone works with any tool that can send an email notification, which includes every mainstream monitoring platform, most alarm panels, NAS devices, UPS management software and IoT temperature sensors. No API or plugin is required — you add the Email2Phone address as a notification contact.
Why use a phone call instead of SMS or a push notification for alerts?
A phone call rings until it is answered, comes through Do Not Disturb when the number is saved as a favorite or emergency contact, works on landlines and basic phones, and does not depend on an installed app or on carrier email-to-SMS gateways — which AT&T and T-Mobile have already shut down and Verizon retires on March 31, 2027.
How much does email to phone call cost?
Email2Phone plans start at $10 per month for 40 call credits (one credit per minute for US and Canadian numbers), with additional credits at $0.25. Larger plans are $100 per month for 500 credits and $400 per month for 3,000 credits. Dial-in to replay messages is free. A 30-day free trial is available.
Can I reply to the email from the phone?
Yes. After the message plays you can record a spoken reply. Email2Phone saves it as a .WAV file and emails the original sender a link to listen to it.
Which countries can Email2Phone call?
Email2Phone can call phones worldwide. US and Canadian numbers cost 1 credit per minute; other destinations cost 1 to 6 credits per minute depending on the country. The pricing page has a per-country calculator.