VOIP Companies are now breaking the barrier with seamless transition over GSM network and letting the users make cheap international calls over GSM at VOIP rate.
Gone are the days, when you are dependent on Wifi network to make free VOIPcalls
Truphone has successfully broke into the GSM arena with their latest "TruPhone Anywhere" launch. Truphone Anywhere gives users access to their Truphone minutes from the cellular network.
Lets see how this works. So when a user dials a number the Truphone VOIP application will check to see if Wi-Fi is available, routing the call over that network if possible. Otherwise the handset will call up the Truphone gateway and routes the call to the dialled number for connection over the internet.
How much will this cost?
The customer pays only for the call to the local Truphone server plus Truphone charges for the internet portion of the call, which is GBP 0.03 per minute to call any regular landline in more than 40 countries.
Of course, Truphone still offers totally free calls to over 40 countries. However this only work for people who signed up before February 2008. It's seriously the best way to make free calls to many countries in the world namely USA, UK, Singapore and most of the europe.
We believe Truphone Anywhere has lead the new wave of cross-routing calls. This will become big once major telecom companies will lead this business. You would see more joint ventures, takeovers happening in the telecom space. Everyone wants a fair share of the Mobile VOIP market.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
PhonemyPhone Free Calling Reminder Service
Don't we all forget things at times? How about a totally free calling service which reminds you to do things. PhonemyPhone does just the same.
While looking up on the web for interesting VOIP service, we found out about Phone My Phone. A simple free calling reminder service which will remind you events at scheduled time.
We discussed about Skype Free Calling Reminder Setup about 1 1/2 year back. It doesnt work anymore since skype doesnt offer free calls to USA unless of course you buy their Unlimited Calling Package. However Phone my Phone works just the same and its FREE. Lets see how you can set this up.
1) Go to Phone my Phone
2) No need of registration. Just enter your phone number in US dialing format like 8885121212 (dummy number, dont call).
3) Now set how many times you want the service to call you.
4) Now set your scheduled time. Click to Call now.
You can use this free calling reminder service to avoid people at times :-). I will leave you with your imagination. Remember, This service only works for USA phones. Don't abuse the system by using others phone numbers. The only thing we wished they had a way to actually talk to the person :-) we could use that as free calling service to USA. Nevermind, go set the reminder for your next meeting.
While looking up on the web for interesting VOIP service, we found out about Phone My Phone. A simple free calling reminder service which will remind you events at scheduled time.
We discussed about Skype Free Calling Reminder Setup about 1 1/2 year back. It doesnt work anymore since skype doesnt offer free calls to USA unless of course you buy their Unlimited Calling Package. However Phone my Phone works just the same and its FREE. Lets see how you can set this up.
1) Go to Phone my Phone
2) No need of registration. Just enter your phone number in US dialing format like 8885121212 (dummy number, dont call).
3) Now set how many times you want the service to call you.
4) Now set your scheduled time. Click to Call now.
You can use this free calling reminder service to avoid people at times :-). I will leave you with your imagination. Remember, This service only works for USA phones. Don't abuse the system by using others phone numbers. The only thing we wished they had a way to actually talk to the person :-) we could use that as free calling service to USA. Nevermind, go set the reminder for your next meeting.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
EkkoTV Web Video Conferencing Solution
If you thought Video Conferencing needs a standalone application, you are living in 90's. In Voice 3.0 arena, Video Conferencing has much ahead of old fashioned Video conferencing tools.
Video conferencing has moved to the Web with exciting Web Conferencing Tools you never seen before. Today we discuss about Ekko.tv, a cool new web based Video conferencing system. You must be wondering what's great about Ekko?
1) You don't need a standalone application such as Skype to make free calls over the net.
2) You don't need a seperate Video Conferencing application.
3) You can talk without the need to download VOIP softphones or Skype etc.
4) You can talk and video conference from anywhere in the world.
5) No Signup, No Login Accounts. You can talk/Video conference with upto 2 people simulatenously.
The best part we liked about Ekko is shee simpilicity in Web Conferencing. When you go to Ekko, you will be given a Video Conferencing URL. Its like your conference room, All you need to do is share that link with others. When they follow that link, they automatically get added to your Video conferencing session. You can adjust your microphone and Webcam. Done. Now 3 people can talk to each other for FREE and can video conference at the same time. No frills attached.
Web Conferencing is becoming a big market as people are moving towards interactivity in communication. Video Conferencing via mobile phone is't a distant reality. Once we have 3G and Wifi making their way into your phone, you would soon start making video conference calls via your Mobile Phone. Currently the focus is on the web conferencing. We are really impressed by Ekko.
Ekko is definately one of the most Simple, Interactive and cool Video Conferencing Service.
Friday, May 23, 2008
TringMe Mobile VOIP launched
After the initial success of Tringme Web Based VOIP calling service, Tringme has gone one step ahead and now offering you Mobile VOIP. Althought, It was only released for private beta for a few months, its now official out.
There are huge number of people who love to use VOIP but hate PC based VOIP calling services. The whole idea of PC to Phone VOIP doesnt click for many. For them, Mobile VOIP is great. All you need is a latest mobile phone which supports SIP VOIP and Wifi or 3G connection. You can then make totally free international calls using Mobile VOIP solution.
Tringme Mobile VOIP will be just an additional way to make calls using Tringme VOIP service. The core base of Tringme remains the same. You can still use your calling credits to make cheap international calls to countries worldwide. If you already have a Tringme account, we strongly suggest to use Tringme Mobile VOIP on your phone.
You can download TringMe Mobile VOIP application directly on your phone by going to http://tringme.com/tringme.sisx. It would download the SISX file which would install TringMe Mobile VOIP app.
Remember in your Login. You need to use your existing Tringme VOIP login/password.
There are huge number of people who love to use VOIP but hate PC based VOIP calling services. The whole idea of PC to Phone VOIP doesnt click for many. For them, Mobile VOIP is great. All you need is a latest mobile phone which supports SIP VOIP and Wifi or 3G connection. You can then make totally free international calls using Mobile VOIP solution.
Tringme Mobile VOIP will be just an additional way to make calls using Tringme VOIP service. The core base of Tringme remains the same. You can still use your calling credits to make cheap international calls to countries worldwide. If you already have a Tringme account, we strongly suggest to use Tringme Mobile VOIP on your phone.
You can download TringMe Mobile VOIP application directly on your phone by going to http://tringme.com/tringme.sisx. It would download the SISX file which would install TringMe Mobile VOIP app.
Remember in your Login. You need to use your existing Tringme VOIP login/password.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tokiva launches improved Free VOIP service
While looking back to VOIP Guide, we noticed there are many VOIP providers simply missed out in the Archives. Today we look at one of this interesting Free VOIP service and cheap international calling service called Tokiva.
Tokiva VOIP had many issues when they launched about 6-8 months back. We tried their service back then and noticed that there was a serious quality of service issue. I guess they got enough feedback from their customers to realise that they need to improve their VOIP service and quality.
It seems Tokiva has improved a lot from where they started. We tried to use their service and it works good. The best part is Tokiva is a Phone to Phone VOIP service which gives users even more flexibility to make cheap international calls.
You must be wondering if Tokiva is a cheap international VOIP provider how on earth I would make Free International calls? Well, Tokiva has a unique referral system. The more you invite the more referral credits you would get. Of course, you can use these credits to make totally free international calls. Signup to Tokiva and make Free Calls.
There is a catch. If you are not a paid customer, Tokiva will only allow upto 3 minutes per free international call and then disconnect the call. You can try calling again. I guess you can only make 3 calls in a day. You should check on this yourself. However if you are a paid customer, there are no restrictions. You can also transfer credits to other users etc.
Overall, Tokiva is a satisfactory VOIP service. With referral scheme, It can be a good alternative to make totally free international calls and if you can afford their rates, then you can always try cheap international calls with Tokiva.
Tokiva VOIP had many issues when they launched about 6-8 months back. We tried their service back then and noticed that there was a serious quality of service issue. I guess they got enough feedback from their customers to realise that they need to improve their VOIP service and quality.
It seems Tokiva has improved a lot from where they started. We tried to use their service and it works good. The best part is Tokiva is a Phone to Phone VOIP service which gives users even more flexibility to make cheap international calls.
You must be wondering if Tokiva is a cheap international VOIP provider how on earth I would make Free International calls? Well, Tokiva has a unique referral system. The more you invite the more referral credits you would get. Of course, you can use these credits to make totally free international calls. Signup to Tokiva and make Free Calls.
There is a catch. If you are not a paid customer, Tokiva will only allow upto 3 minutes per free international call and then disconnect the call. You can try calling again. I guess you can only make 3 calls in a day. You should check on this yourself. However if you are a paid customer, there are no restrictions. You can also transfer credits to other users etc.
Overall, Tokiva is a satisfactory VOIP service. With referral scheme, It can be a good alternative to make totally free international calls and if you can afford their rates, then you can always try cheap international calls with Tokiva.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Skype offering Cheap International Calls Promotions
With increasing number of VOIP providers offering cheap international calls or unlimited calling packages, traditional telecom/VOIP companies like Skype are feeling the heat. Skype is now trying to bring back some lost customers by giving away some promotional cheap international calls and unlimited calls offers to various countries.
Especially people who would like to make calls to Mexicoetc. Skype Customers pay one monthly fee and can make up to 10,000 minutes of calls to landlines in up to 34 countries. There are various plans available to choose from for example, Unlimited Country, Unlimited Europe or North America and Unlimited World. One good thing about Skype is they are a known VOIP Provider for years, so they aint running away with your money.
Under the special Unlimited Calling Plan promotions, Skype is giving away 3 months for the price of 2 on new monthly calling subscriptions from Skype. You can use our Coupon Code to take this offer.
Remember this subscription is only valid until 1st June 2008. Skype's unlimited free calls packages looks extremely attractive at these price levels of $2.95-$5.95 per month. Especially when you can call upto 10000 minutes within 1 month. The fair usage policy seems decent. We suggest if you want to call any specific country such as Mexico, China, Malaysia etc this is a great deal at $5.95. Dont miss on these Free International Calls offer from Skype. Time is running out, 1st June 2008 is approaching fast.
Especially people who would like to make calls to Mexicoetc. Skype Customers pay one monthly fee and can make up to 10,000 minutes of calls to landlines in up to 34 countries. There are various plans available to choose from for example, Unlimited Country, Unlimited Europe or North America and Unlimited World. One good thing about Skype is they are a known VOIP Provider for years, so they aint running away with your money.
Under the special Unlimited Calling Plan promotions, Skype is giving away 3 months for the price of 2 on new monthly calling subscriptions from Skype. You can use our Coupon Code to take this offer.
Remember this subscription is only valid until 1st June 2008. Skype's unlimited free calls packages looks extremely attractive at these price levels of $2.95-$5.95 per month. Especially when you can call upto 10000 minutes within 1 month. The fair usage policy seems decent. We suggest if you want to call any specific country such as Mexico, China, Malaysia etc this is a great deal at $5.95. Dont miss on these Free International Calls offer from Skype. Time is running out, 1st June 2008 is approaching fast.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Yupee Phone clarifies on Unlimited Calls to India Package
We have been discussing about this Cheap International Call and Unlimited Calls Provider YupeePhone since last 4-5 days. YupeePhone received more eyeballs that we previously thought it would. With increasing number of people buying their VOIP service and a huge number waiting for the clarification on Quality of VOIP Service, Unlimited calls to India Package pricing etc.
Amid major speculations on Pricing and Quality of Service of YupeePhone, we today received a clarification email from YupeePhone on their business practices, What they are going to provide as a part of their VOIP service and What they won't. The email is lengthy but I suggest you all read it. At the EOD, you are the BUYERS so this clarification hopefully help you in taking a stand.
Update: Yupee Phone has now offered a special partnership with us which will give you a free $4 talktime in your account when you signup via our blog. You can signup directly via this link. Or at the time of signing up there is a box which says "Coupon code". Enter voipguide .
Dear friend,
The reason I am writing this email is because I have heard so many good and bad news on your forum and I can't resist to the idea of answering to some of the "nasty" reviews that are posted. I am currently working for YupeePhone.com and I have been doing so for 12 months, preparing the project from scratch. I have worked before in the field and I am a telecom technician.
1) The first thing I read was that we were not ready to get 2000 customers in a day and 15,0000 emails. No we weren't. However in 3 days most of the orders were sent out, except the ones that were Unverified or paid with an uncleared check. I know the people that work for the billing department and they did their best. I could never do that. I have ordered WOW or Comcast service and it was installed 14 days later and I was happy. I have ordered online calling cards and they came after 1 week.
2) ADRESS : We have a PO BOX as a customer address. However the state and the FCC know where to knock our door. We are an FCC approved company and this is the reason I work for this company. We are not a calling card company with no name and no license. For this I ask anybody to find the address of Comcast or Sprint or any other company's mailing address that is not a mailbox. With the volume of letters we receive our building would be a happy place for anyone who needs a letter to read!
3) PROMO PRICE : The price was a promotional offer. $19.95 was a price that never appeared in the market and never will be back. The $36.95 is a very good price. With the same money you get 600 minutes to India the most and this will be from a gray route (you know... illegal cell phones in a basement in India dialing out).
4) FAIR USE POLICY : Our Fair Use Policy changed! We started with 1200 minutes, we went up to 2000 minutes and now we are to 2400 minutes. We never decreased our residenial limit. The only real reason, appart from cost, is the stolen credit cards and the compromised Paypal accounts that they were used for 5 months now on our web site. Customers want their PIN yesterday, however after 4 DAYS Paypal actually canceled payments because the owner compained he never authorized the payment. In 3 cases we informed the proper authorities for this and we provided real IPs.
5) TERMS OF USE : The Terms Of Use NEVER changed. If someone has a copy of another document from our company I will eat it in public. I sent the pages to the server so I know better!
6) UNLIMITED PACKAGE : We received a banch of emails from people that were agents from Vonage, CallCentric and Time Warner. They were upset we are advertising an Unlimited Package for Residential Use and they threatened to report us to the FCC for unethical practices and faulse advertising. When they received the pages with more strict Fair Use Policies in their respective companies, they name came back to us.
7) TRUE UNLIMITED PACKAGE : The Monthly Unlimited 60 Countries for Residential Use is advertised as one, even with a fair use policy notice, because the in-Network calling is trully unlimited. No limit at all between our devices. If someone who has our device dials to another device in our Network he/she can talk for two days straight. Calls to the PSTN network are covered by the Fair Use Policy. There is no company in the entire world that does not have a Fair Use Policy, even Skype has one and in value is is less than ours.
8) BLOCKED ACCOUNTS : We never cancelled one single account. Ask users how many were cancelled by Vonage. Many of these users are still our clients. The employees of our company offered all their free vouchers to customers with blocked accounts in order to talk to their families. We had to stop issuing Vouchers to the employees because most of them are immigrants and they feal the same way as the clients.
9) QUALITY OF CALLS : The quality of the voice is good in our network. It is not AT&T's quality as I read on a post, however it is actually pretty good compared with other providers. There are two types of problems:
a) users who think they know how to unlock an ATA and use it on our network.
b) users who think they know how to configure X-lite.
c) customers who are calling a cell phone in India and they think it is always our fault the voice quality is not good.
At the technical support department we have answered close to a thousand emails from people who :
a) where using ulaw with our service, while in their accounts there is a notice for using g729a or g723 in the worst case.
b) where using silence suppression, while we asked them not too.
c) where using MagicJack to connect to the Local Access Numbers !
d) did not know that the sip settings are posted in their online account.
e) used linksys ad knew only how to change the username and password, nothing else.
10) EXISTING CUSTOMERS : Yupee Phone LLC honored the price for all the people that signed up while the promo was on. Everyone got the price and will keep it as long as they stay with us. Next month their accounts will have $19.95 less and they will have to add more money to use our service, simple as that.
11) BILLING : We have no contract, no recurring billing, no maintenance fees, no connection fees, no disconnection fees, no strange fees, no this an no that. Our fees are the standard fees that apply in the industry.
12) NEW CUSTOMERS : The $36.95 we offer now is the lowest price in the market. And I mean the lowest price I know of. If someone knows a better price for India, Albania, Iraq, Pakistan let me know. Especially for India we have absolutely the best price galaxy-wide. For Pakistan it is the best price universe-wide when everyone starts from 12 cents / minute. We are not Betamax to change the list of countries every month so people have to spent the money they already deposited
13) INVESTMENT : We are in the middle of an investment in India. Obeying the local strict rules for VoIP in India (ask the Lingo-India employees) we are getting ready to provide even a better quality of voice with the same price. .
14) YUPEEPHONE is going to survive. And it is going to survive for three major reasons :
- It is run by people who know what they are doing. I have never seen anybody panicking. Only smiling!
- it has the best prices in the market
- it does not depend in people from one country only.
Thank god the people who invested in this company have the money to pay us even if they do not get a single customers for months to come. And why do you think our 1800 number has no free lines, even when we (add more lines every day. Orders my friends... We have the hottest product in the market since soap was invented!
Finally, I am sorry for the length od the email but this is how I feel. I would be more than happy to receive your feedback and comments.
Regards,
Steve
Technical Support Dep.
YupeePhone.com
--------------
I just noticed that Yupee Phone prices are now $24.95, If I remember right someone told me it was around $36.95. I would like a clarification on change of Pricing. I strongly suggest Yupee Phone to stick to the prices they can afford and provide a quality service at. Comments Welcome.
Amid major speculations on Pricing and Quality of Service of YupeePhone, we today received a clarification email from YupeePhone on their business practices, What they are going to provide as a part of their VOIP service and What they won't. The email is lengthy but I suggest you all read it. At the EOD, you are the BUYERS so this clarification hopefully help you in taking a stand.
Update: Yupee Phone has now offered a special partnership with us which will give you a free $4 talktime in your account when you signup via our blog. You can signup directly via this link. Or at the time of signing up there is a box which says "Coupon code". Enter voipguide .
Dear friend,
The reason I am writing this email is because I have heard so many good and bad news on your forum and I can't resist to the idea of answering to some of the "nasty" reviews that are posted. I am currently working for YupeePhone.com and I have been doing so for 12 months, preparing the project from scratch. I have worked before in the field and I am a telecom technician.
1) The first thing I read was that we were not ready to get 2000 customers in a day and 15,0000 emails. No we weren't. However in 3 days most of the orders were sent out, except the ones that were Unverified or paid with an uncleared check. I know the people that work for the billing department and they did their best. I could never do that. I have ordered WOW or Comcast service and it was installed 14 days later and I was happy. I have ordered online calling cards and they came after 1 week.
2) ADRESS : We have a PO BOX as a customer address. However the state and the FCC know where to knock our door. We are an FCC approved company and this is the reason I work for this company. We are not a calling card company with no name and no license. For this I ask anybody to find the address of Comcast or Sprint or any other company's mailing address that is not a mailbox. With the volume of letters we receive our building would be a happy place for anyone who needs a letter to read!
3) PROMO PRICE : The price was a promotional offer. $19.95 was a price that never appeared in the market and never will be back. The $36.95 is a very good price. With the same money you get 600 minutes to India the most and this will be from a gray route (you know... illegal cell phones in a basement in India dialing out).
4) FAIR USE POLICY : Our Fair Use Policy changed! We started with 1200 minutes, we went up to 2000 minutes and now we are to 2400 minutes. We never decreased our residenial limit. The only real reason, appart from cost, is the stolen credit cards and the compromised Paypal accounts that they were used for 5 months now on our web site. Customers want their PIN yesterday, however after 4 DAYS Paypal actually canceled payments because the owner compained he never authorized the payment. In 3 cases we informed the proper authorities for this and we provided real IPs.
5) TERMS OF USE : The Terms Of Use NEVER changed. If someone has a copy of another document from our company I will eat it in public. I sent the pages to the server so I know better!
6) UNLIMITED PACKAGE : We received a banch of emails from people that were agents from Vonage, CallCentric and Time Warner. They were upset we are advertising an Unlimited Package for Residential Use and they threatened to report us to the FCC for unethical practices and faulse advertising. When they received the pages with more strict Fair Use Policies in their respective companies, they name came back to us.
7) TRUE UNLIMITED PACKAGE : The Monthly Unlimited 60 Countries for Residential Use is advertised as one, even with a fair use policy notice, because the in-Network calling is trully unlimited. No limit at all between our devices. If someone who has our device dials to another device in our Network he/she can talk for two days straight. Calls to the PSTN network are covered by the Fair Use Policy. There is no company in the entire world that does not have a Fair Use Policy, even Skype has one and in value is is less than ours.
8) BLOCKED ACCOUNTS : We never cancelled one single account. Ask users how many were cancelled by Vonage. Many of these users are still our clients. The employees of our company offered all their free vouchers to customers with blocked accounts in order to talk to their families. We had to stop issuing Vouchers to the employees because most of them are immigrants and they feal the same way as the clients.
9) QUALITY OF CALLS : The quality of the voice is good in our network. It is not AT&T's quality as I read on a post, however it is actually pretty good compared with other providers. There are two types of problems:
a) users who think they know how to unlock an ATA and use it on our network.
b) users who think they know how to configure X-lite.
c) customers who are calling a cell phone in India and they think it is always our fault the voice quality is not good.
At the technical support department we have answered close to a thousand emails from people who :
a) where using ulaw with our service, while in their accounts there is a notice for using g729a or g723 in the worst case.
b) where using silence suppression, while we asked them not too.
c) where using MagicJack to connect to the Local Access Numbers !
d) did not know that the sip settings are posted in their online account.
e) used linksys ad knew only how to change the username and password, nothing else.
10) EXISTING CUSTOMERS : Yupee Phone LLC honored the price for all the people that signed up while the promo was on. Everyone got the price and will keep it as long as they stay with us. Next month their accounts will have $19.95 less and they will have to add more money to use our service, simple as that.
11) BILLING : We have no contract, no recurring billing, no maintenance fees, no connection fees, no disconnection fees, no strange fees, no this an no that. Our fees are the standard fees that apply in the industry.
12) NEW CUSTOMERS : The $36.95 we offer now is the lowest price in the market. And I mean the lowest price I know of. If someone knows a better price for India, Albania, Iraq, Pakistan let me know. Especially for India we have absolutely the best price galaxy-wide. For Pakistan it is the best price universe-wide when everyone starts from 12 cents / minute. We are not Betamax to change the list of countries every month so people have to spent the money they already deposited
13) INVESTMENT : We are in the middle of an investment in India. Obeying the local strict rules for VoIP in India (ask the Lingo-India employees) we are getting ready to provide even a better quality of voice with the same price. .
14) YUPEEPHONE is going to survive. And it is going to survive for three major reasons :
- It is run by people who know what they are doing. I have never seen anybody panicking. Only smiling!
- it has the best prices in the market
- it does not depend in people from one country only.
Thank god the people who invested in this company have the money to pay us even if they do not get a single customers for months to come. And why do you think our 1800 number has no free lines, even when we (add more lines every day. Orders my friends... We have the hottest product in the market since soap was invented!
Finally, I am sorry for the length od the email but this is how I feel. I would be more than happy to receive your feedback and comments.
Regards,
Steve
Technical Support Dep.
YupeePhone.com
--------------
I just noticed that Yupee Phone prices are now $24.95, If I remember right someone told me it was around $36.95. I would like a clarification on change of Pricing. I strongly suggest Yupee Phone to stick to the prices they can afford and provide a quality service at. Comments Welcome.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
VOIP SIP Client for Windows Mobile 6
There are huge number of Windows Mobile users who still never used VOIP due to multiple incompatibility issues in the past. Today's post aims at solving these VOIP issues and discusses a way to setup VOIP on Windows Mobile 6 Device.
Thanks to Priyanka for sending this article. Priyanka is one of the most active reader and contributor of VOIP Guide.
Priyanka had been facing issues using Fring on Windows Mobile 6, mainly related to incoming calls and SIP configuration is not properly saved.
To overcome this issue, Lets find an alternative to Fring.
Here's the solution. I have been able to use VOIP without FRING, using windows mobile itself. Actually wm6 has the capability of VOIP which the providers like AT&T / T mobile etc do not enable.
This feature is called Internet Calling. The trick is to enable the feature. I have downloaded 2 files and installed on the PDA. (you need to register to download both files)
Follow these steps:
1) Download MajikVOIP.cab: You will have to be registered member to download this file.
2)SipConfigTool_2_0_1.CAB : This tool will provision the device for using with 3G ( ie we give the sip settings here). This tool is explained nicely here with screen shots at this page
3)Install both the files and Restart your phone.
4)Do the sip settings using program sip config tool ( downloaded in step 2). enable the sip over 3g/gsm see screenshots url for details. Say you gave the name of provider as VOIP
5)Now go to the start -> settings -> select phone you get a new tab Internet calling. select option whenever available.
6)On the main screen you will see a phone icon with description VOIP ( you entered name of provider VOIP in (step 4 ) After connecting using 3G or wifi, You will see the status displayed as VOIP: Available.
7)To call using voip provider click on the phone icon ( ref step 6), the status will change to VOIP: Selected. This means, if you call now, the call will go out through your VOIP provider using 3G or WIFI.
The call quality using 3G may be crappy at times in US. I use HTC PDA and I am able to do outgoing voip calls. You will be able to recieve calls also on that VOIP number too. The only problem I had was to recognise if the call came to the VOIP number or to the Cellphone number. In USA incoming is not free. But i would say its tried and tested and it works !! Note the audio comes through the back speaker for VOIP calls. Hence you may use a headset.
Remember to try it out at your own risk. This article has technically enabled a non-VOIP Phone into a Mobile VOIP Phone. Now you can make Free international calls or cheap international calls with your Mobile. No need to download or use SIP softphone or webcall feature anymore.
Thanks to Priyanka for sending this article. Priyanka is one of the most active reader and contributor of VOIP Guide.
Priyanka had been facing issues using Fring on Windows Mobile 6, mainly related to incoming calls and SIP configuration is not properly saved.
To overcome this issue, Lets find an alternative to Fring.
Here's the solution. I have been able to use VOIP without FRING, using windows mobile itself. Actually wm6 has the capability of VOIP which the providers like AT&T / T mobile etc do not enable.
This feature is called Internet Calling. The trick is to enable the feature. I have downloaded 2 files and installed on the PDA. (you need to register to download both files)
Follow these steps:
1) Download MajikVOIP.cab: You will have to be registered member to download this file.
2)SipConfigTool_2_0_1.CAB : This tool will provision the device for using with 3G ( ie we give the sip settings here). This tool is explained nicely here with screen shots at this page
3)Install both the files and Restart your phone.
4)Do the sip settings using program sip config tool ( downloaded in step 2). enable the sip over 3g/gsm see screenshots url for details. Say you gave the name of provider as VOIP
5)Now go to the start -> settings -> select phone you get a new tab Internet calling. select option whenever available.
6)On the main screen you will see a phone icon with description VOIP ( you entered name of provider VOIP in (step 4 ) After connecting using 3G or wifi, You will see the status displayed as VOIP: Available.
7)To call using voip provider click on the phone icon ( ref step 6), the status will change to VOIP: Selected. This means, if you call now, the call will go out through your VOIP provider using 3G or WIFI.
The call quality using 3G may be crappy at times in US. I use HTC PDA and I am able to do outgoing voip calls. You will be able to recieve calls also on that VOIP number too. The only problem I had was to recognise if the call came to the VOIP number or to the Cellphone number. In USA incoming is not free. But i would say its tried and tested and it works !! Note the audio comes through the back speaker for VOIP calls. Hence you may use a headset.
Remember to try it out at your own risk. This article has technically enabled a non-VOIP Phone into a Mobile VOIP Phone. Now you can make Free international calls or cheap international calls with your Mobile. No need to download or use SIP softphone or webcall feature anymore.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
NimBuzz Mobile VOIP offers free calls
The Mobile VOIP market has been silent for long. However this scene is about to change a lot with new startups coming up in Mobile VOIP market and existing VOIP providers extending their service to Mobile VOIP platform will make it difficult for exisiting players to retain market share.
NimBuzz is one of the companies whose core focus is Mobile VOIP, a direct competitor to no.1 Mobile VOIP application developer Fring. The rest of the players like Truphone, Tringme are VOIP providers but Nimbuzz will take compete directly to Fring in the coming days.
Nimbuzz offers a solution for free mobile VoIP calling, conference calling, instant messaging, chat and group chat, and photo and file sending across multiple IM communities, including Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo!, AIM, Jabber and ICQ, plus 23 social networks. Nimbuzz currently supports over 500 handsets, which is really great. That means Nimbuzz is able to bring Mobile VOIP to the masses. It would be interesting to see how this whole thing will actually work.
The Official launch date of Nimbuzz Mobile VOIP is May 13th, thats today. With Mobile VOIP application slowly taking over the whole telecom business from Mobile companies, it would be interesting how this whole thing will work. Sending files and photos using Mobile VOIP for FREE is gonna make life difficult for GSM/CDMA operators across the world. We strongly feel there will be consolidation, takeovers and mergers happening soon in this space.
Just to give you a heads up, Fring is also moving into the same direction. Lets see what next they come out with.
NimBuzz is one of the companies whose core focus is Mobile VOIP, a direct competitor to no.1 Mobile VOIP application developer Fring. The rest of the players like Truphone, Tringme are VOIP providers but Nimbuzz will take compete directly to Fring in the coming days.
Nimbuzz offers a solution for free mobile VoIP calling, conference calling, instant messaging, chat and group chat, and photo and file sending across multiple IM communities, including Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo!, AIM, Jabber and ICQ, plus 23 social networks. Nimbuzz currently supports over 500 handsets, which is really great. That means Nimbuzz is able to bring Mobile VOIP to the masses. It would be interesting to see how this whole thing will actually work.
The Official launch date of Nimbuzz Mobile VOIP is May 13th, thats today. With Mobile VOIP application slowly taking over the whole telecom business from Mobile companies, it would be interesting how this whole thing will work. Sending files and photos using Mobile VOIP for FREE is gonna make life difficult for GSM/CDMA operators across the world. We strongly feel there will be consolidation, takeovers and mergers happening soon in this space.
Just to give you a heads up, Fring is also moving into the same direction. Lets see what next they come out with.
Friday, May 9, 2008
AIM Phone offers Free Worldwide calls for 2 days
This is a limited time offer. You must read this post before this great free calling offer ends. This includes free calls to India and all the countries you possibly wanted to call for FREE.
AIM is currently running a mother's day promotion and giving away totally FREE calls over this weekend (10-11th May). AIM is a VOIP Internet Phone service by AOL. AIM is extremely popular in the USA but now they are expanding their reach to other countries which such Free calling offers.
You need to buy a minimum of $5 Credit in order to use this Free International Calls offer. Of course, they won't deduct $5 from your account, after the 2 days of free calling is over you can use your $5 credit to make normal calls.
Their calling rates are not that great and expensive that other VOIP providers however totally free international Calls for 2 days to any number in over 200 countries is a deal you can't miss. In order to make free international calls you need to download AIM 6.5.
The promotion starts at 06:00 EDT on Saturday, May 10th and runs until 04:00 EDT on Monday, May 12th.
There are certain rules for this free international calls offer:
1) You can't make free calls to nmarsat, Thuraya and Iridium Satellite Services, Myanmar, Ghana, Egypt, Brunei, Comoros, Croatia, Morocco, Oman and Zaire.
2)You can talk as much as you can or make multiple calls. They never explicitly mention the minutes cap but not more than residential use. I would safely assume this as 2000 minutes(roughly 33 hours). That would cost you $80 if you bought the cheapest calling card.
Make the most of this deal before its over.
AIM is currently running a mother's day promotion and giving away totally FREE calls over this weekend (10-11th May). AIM is a VOIP Internet Phone service by AOL. AIM is extremely popular in the USA but now they are expanding their reach to other countries which such Free calling offers.
You need to buy a minimum of $5 Credit in order to use this Free International Calls offer. Of course, they won't deduct $5 from your account, after the 2 days of free calling is over you can use your $5 credit to make normal calls.
Their calling rates are not that great and expensive that other VOIP providers however totally free international Calls for 2 days to any number in over 200 countries is a deal you can't miss. In order to make free international calls you need to download AIM 6.5.
The promotion starts at 06:00 EDT on Saturday, May 10th and runs until 04:00 EDT on Monday, May 12th.
There are certain rules for this free international calls offer:
1) You can't make free calls to nmarsat, Thuraya and Iridium Satellite Services, Myanmar, Ghana, Egypt, Brunei, Comoros, Croatia, Morocco, Oman and Zaire.
2)You can talk as much as you can or make multiple calls. They never explicitly mention the minutes cap but not more than residential use. I would safely assume this as 2000 minutes(roughly 33 hours). That would cost you $80 if you bought the cheapest calling card.
Make the most of this deal before its over.
Yupeephone offers unlimited calls to India
Almost 50% people coming to VOIP Guide are always looking for Free Calls to India or Unlimited calls to India Deals. Today we found another VOIP Provider who offers unlimited calls to India.
Anyone remembers JoiPhone? I am sure most of you do. Unfortunately they received more negative reviews than positive ones. There are however still some people on the unlimited calling plan with Joiphone and are happy about it. However most of the unlimited calls to India plan people have either cancelled or quit the contract.
Ramesh Kumar from Bangkok has shared with us another such provider called YupeePhone. YupeePhone seems to be a US based VOIP Provider and they have UNLIMITED calls to over 60 destinations worldwide including India.
The good part is India is included in the Landline + Mobile Unlimited Calling Package. We hope that it includes all the mobile services.
The Monthly Unlimited Calling Package is charged at $19.95 per month + Taxes if any.
Update: You can now get $4 Free Talktime by using coupon code = voipguide while ordering any of the Yupee Phone plans or signup via our special link.
It's extremely important that we analyse the hidden cost and Whats being offered by this VOIP Provider. So lets take a quick look at what we will get under this Monthly Unlimited Calling Package.
The complete package includes :
1) a digital telephone device or adapter, you get to choose between the two. They do not lock our devices.
2) a $22 credit to use either with the Monthly Unlimited or Pay As You Go plan. The free credit does not expire and will remain in your account until it is fully used.
3) there is no contract or cancellation fee. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee. Note: These money back gurantees can be debated, so don't get too lured by that.
4)It seems they offer a Grandstream BT102 or a Linksys VOIP Adapter.
5)They also seem to have a Local Access Numbers to make Calls. I guess this would be mostly be used under Pay as you Go plans. More details here
6) The most important point is they also have a Fair Usage Policy but it's not very clear just like everyone else in the VOIP industry. The more confusing fair usage policy a VOIP company would make, its better for them to dispute later for overusage. People might need to check on what are their expectations. Allowing only 1000 minutes per month and saying we give unlimited calls to India will not be any good.
Overall looks like a promising service. Remember you have to shell out $74.95 in the first month and then $19.95 each month. $74.95 includes IP telephone/VOIP Adapter and $22 free international calling credit.
If anyone manages to contact their support team and get any answer of Fair Usage Policy, do post under comments. Looks like another promising VOIP service we can look at.
Anyone remembers JoiPhone? I am sure most of you do. Unfortunately they received more negative reviews than positive ones. There are however still some people on the unlimited calling plan with Joiphone and are happy about it. However most of the unlimited calls to India plan people have either cancelled or quit the contract.
Ramesh Kumar from Bangkok has shared with us another such provider called YupeePhone. YupeePhone seems to be a US based VOIP Provider and they have UNLIMITED calls to over 60 destinations worldwide including India.
The good part is India is included in the Landline + Mobile Unlimited Calling Package. We hope that it includes all the mobile services.
The Monthly Unlimited Calling Package is charged at $19.95 per month + Taxes if any.
Update: You can now get $4 Free Talktime by using coupon code = voipguide while ordering any of the Yupee Phone plans or signup via our special link.
It's extremely important that we analyse the hidden cost and Whats being offered by this VOIP Provider. So lets take a quick look at what we will get under this Monthly Unlimited Calling Package.
The complete package includes :
1) a digital telephone device or adapter, you get to choose between the two. They do not lock our devices.
2) a $22 credit to use either with the Monthly Unlimited or Pay As You Go plan. The free credit does not expire and will remain in your account until it is fully used.
3) there is no contract or cancellation fee. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee. Note: These money back gurantees can be debated, so don't get too lured by that.
4)It seems they offer a Grandstream BT102 or a Linksys VOIP Adapter.
5)They also seem to have a Local Access Numbers to make Calls. I guess this would be mostly be used under Pay as you Go plans. More details here
6) The most important point is they also have a Fair Usage Policy but it's not very clear just like everyone else in the VOIP industry. The more confusing fair usage policy a VOIP company would make, its better for them to dispute later for overusage. People might need to check on what are their expectations. Allowing only 1000 minutes per month and saying we give unlimited calls to India will not be any good.
Overall looks like a promising service. Remember you have to shell out $74.95 in the first month and then $19.95 each month. $74.95 includes IP telephone/VOIP Adapter and $22 free international calling credit.
If anyone manages to contact their support team and get any answer of Fair Usage Policy, do post under comments. Looks like another promising VOIP service we can look at.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
UK Personal Numbers for Free International Call Forwarding
When we posted about Ether, there were huge number of people who had no idea about Whats a Personal Number. We hope this tutorial helps you in understanding how to use a personal account number to make free international calls and completely free call forwarding.
In UK, There are various types of telephone numbers which can be alloted by providers which include VOIP numbers or UK personal numbers mostly starting with 070. There are various Premium Rate services which also offers 0870 numbers but avoid them cause the cost is enormous when you call those numbers. Lets stick to the 070 Personal Phone numbers.
Since 070 phone numbers are mainly for the purpose of anonymity, they can be forwarded anywhere in the world for FREE. That means if anyone calls up your Personal number, they can reach whatever number you set as per the call forwarding rules in your account. This gives you totally free international call forwarding facility.
Lets see how we can use it to make totally free international calls.
1) Get yourself a free UK Personal number.
Option A: UK Number
Option B: UKnumber4U
There are many more services like these, they all work the same.
2) Remember always get a number starting with 070. AVOID 0870 or 0840 numbers.
3) Now Login to your Control Panel and change call forwarding Settings.
4) Here you need to put the number you want the call to be forwarded to whenever someone calls this UK personal number. Lets assume you set it to India Mobile (+91 9992125121). So wherenever someone calls up your UK personal number, the call will be automatically forwarded to your India Mobile. This service is absolutely FREE.
So where the catch?
The Person who is going to call you must bear the cost associated with the service. Typically a 070 number call might cost your around 20 Pence (GBP) to 50 Pence (GBP) per minute, so its costly.
Now a smart way to save that hefty Price.
You can use one of the VOIP service to make calls to these numbers and pay only a few cents or even make free calls. This way you will be connected to UK personal number for Free or cheap calling rate and call forwarding will anyways work for you for FREE.
You can try this hack with Ether, which lets you use UK Personal number and actually makes a call to the number for FREE. AdPhone also works well with UK personal number however each call is limited to 2 minutes only. You can call back again after 10 minutes.
Let us know if you manage to make free international calls with this workaround.
In UK, There are various types of telephone numbers which can be alloted by providers which include VOIP numbers or UK personal numbers mostly starting with 070. There are various Premium Rate services which also offers 0870 numbers but avoid them cause the cost is enormous when you call those numbers. Lets stick to the 070 Personal Phone numbers.
Since 070 phone numbers are mainly for the purpose of anonymity, they can be forwarded anywhere in the world for FREE. That means if anyone calls up your Personal number, they can reach whatever number you set as per the call forwarding rules in your account. This gives you totally free international call forwarding facility.
Lets see how we can use it to make totally free international calls.
1) Get yourself a free UK Personal number.
Option A: UK Number
Option B: UKnumber4U
There are many more services like these, they all work the same.
2) Remember always get a number starting with 070. AVOID 0870 or 0840 numbers.
3) Now Login to your Control Panel and change call forwarding Settings.
4) Here you need to put the number you want the call to be forwarded to whenever someone calls this UK personal number. Lets assume you set it to India Mobile (+91 9992125121). So wherenever someone calls up your UK personal number, the call will be automatically forwarded to your India Mobile. This service is absolutely FREE.
So where the catch?
The Person who is going to call you must bear the cost associated with the service. Typically a 070 number call might cost your around 20 Pence (GBP) to 50 Pence (GBP) per minute, so its costly.
Now a smart way to save that hefty Price.
You can use one of the VOIP service to make calls to these numbers and pay only a few cents or even make free calls. This way you will be connected to UK personal number for Free or cheap calling rate and call forwarding will anyways work for you for FREE.
You can try this hack with Ether, which lets you use UK Personal number and actually makes a call to the number for FREE. AdPhone also works well with UK personal number however each call is limited to 2 minutes only. You can call back again after 10 minutes.
Let us know if you manage to make free international calls with this workaround.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Untimed Free International Calls to India
We introduced Pennytel services a few months back and received a few good and bad reviews. Today, we look at another australian provider, Pennytel's competitor who offer 3600 minutes of Free International Calls talktime to India and several other countries.
One of our reader, Umesh has shared with us this new VOIP provider called SwiftCom. They seem to be based out of Australia. Although, they have multiple VOIP Calling packages, we highly recommend taking a look at Swift-SAVER package which gives 30 Free International Calls to various countries. Each call has limit of 2 hrs max. Techically they offer you 3600 minutes in total. The SWIFT-Saver plan is $9.95 per month. After the 30 FREE calls have been used up, you can still call those destinations for 20c per call. This rate is similar to Pennytel however Pennytel doesnt offer you any free international calls.
There are however a few things you must know before you actually go ahead and buy the service.
1) The untimed calls are only to Landline in countries (unless mentioned) here. I know many people are interested to know if India is included in the free calling destination. YES, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is included in the free international calls package.
2) Fair Usage Policy will be applied to any free international calls lasting more than 2 hours.
3)Its not very clear on their website on how are we suppose to use their service. Our best guess is SIP however its better to confirm. We suggest you call them.
Swiftcom is just another solution to save your money however we strongly suggest you ensure that you are getting what you are paying for. Lately, we have seen many VOIP providers claiming great service and customers end up getting poor quality of VOIP services. We also suggest that you must know about SIP or SIP Phones before buying this service unless you are interested in buying their VOIP adapter.
One of our reader, Umesh has shared with us this new VOIP provider called SwiftCom. They seem to be based out of Australia. Although, they have multiple VOIP Calling packages, we highly recommend taking a look at Swift-SAVER package which gives 30 Free International Calls to various countries. Each call has limit of 2 hrs max. Techically they offer you 3600 minutes in total. The SWIFT-Saver plan is $9.95 per month. After the 30 FREE calls have been used up, you can still call those destinations for 20c per call. This rate is similar to Pennytel however Pennytel doesnt offer you any free international calls.
There are however a few things you must know before you actually go ahead and buy the service.
1) The untimed calls are only to Landline in countries (unless mentioned) here. I know many people are interested to know if India is included in the free calling destination. YES, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is included in the free international calls package.
2) Fair Usage Policy will be applied to any free international calls lasting more than 2 hours.
3)Its not very clear on their website on how are we suppose to use their service. Our best guess is SIP however its better to confirm. We suggest you call them.
Swiftcom is just another solution to save your money however we strongly suggest you ensure that you are getting what you are paying for. Lately, we have seen many VOIP providers claiming great service and customers end up getting poor quality of VOIP services. We also suggest that you must know about SIP or SIP Phones before buying this service unless you are interested in buying their VOIP adapter.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
O-Fone offers VOIP on S60 Symbian devices
The team at O-FONE ,mobile Voice Over Internet Protocol- mVoIP provider has released a client for Symbian s60 mobile devices. They are claiming that it's world's first ever S60 symbian device Mobile VOIP client.
However, If i am not wrong, Fring already has a S60 compatibility. However this doesn't make O-Fone VOIP service inferior. Unlike other VoIP providers, O-FONE can support all kinds of Nokia Symbian S60 phones.
We had a quick look at their offering and found some interesting things.
O Fone is a standard mobile VOIP service which works on WiFi or 3G cellular Data access. O-Fone offers a interesting VOIP service called "Zone FREE". With ZoneFree all your O-FONE network calls (on-net) are free and calls to landlines are cheap. If you buy a starter pack, which is FREE i believe. This should give you instant 2 euro credit and you can test their service almost instantly. The good part is O-Fone charges per second instead of the standard per minute billing. There is definately some money to be saved on this VOIP package.
The O-FONE team promises that they will be the first global MVNO 2.0 based on VoIP technology, which will include on-line multi-level billing and an on-line secured payment system. Thus, they will bring the traditional PaBX features to mobile support IPcentrex soft-switch and class 5 telephony features.
However, If i am not wrong, Fring already has a S60 compatibility. However this doesn't make O-Fone VOIP service inferior. Unlike other VoIP providers, O-FONE can support all kinds of Nokia Symbian S60 phones.
We had a quick look at their offering and found some interesting things.
O Fone is a standard mobile VOIP service which works on WiFi or 3G cellular Data access. O-Fone offers a interesting VOIP service called "Zone FREE". With ZoneFree all your O-FONE network calls (on-net) are free and calls to landlines are cheap. If you buy a starter pack, which is FREE i believe. This should give you instant 2 euro credit and you can test their service almost instantly. The good part is O-Fone charges per second instead of the standard per minute billing. There is definately some money to be saved on this VOIP package.
The O-FONE team promises that they will be the first global MVNO 2.0 based on VoIP technology, which will include on-line multi-level billing and an on-line secured payment system. Thus, they will bring the traditional PaBX features to mobile support IPcentrex soft-switch and class 5 telephony features.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)