UKC

Hi,

Does anyone use a PC based system for making phone calls.

There is very poor mobile reception where I live and using the landline seems to hike the phone bill excessively!

Any reliable alternatives out there?

I use Teams on a PC, but that gets charged to my work, but works very well.

An alternative is a mobile. My EE contract on my mobile is £8 per month (my wife's is £5 per month), and the signal is terrible at my house. My phone will automatically use wifi to make the call when the signal is poor. This still uses your minutes, but I have more than I could possibly use.

I've noticed that their cheapest contract is currently £15 per month. My wife tried to leave which is why hers is so cheap, then they agreed to add me to the account for £8.

Most smart phones have the option to use WiFi for calls. On iPhones it's called WiFi Calling, not sure about Android. A search would tell you how to enable it on your phone. Probably easier than using a computer?

You can always use Zoom, and if you don't want to see each other, turn the video off and just keep the sound going.

It's also called WiFi calling on android... 

Settings>swipe right a couple of time>enable WiFi calling 

(On my Samsung phone at least)

But be aware, your provider has to offer it (last time I checked, not all do, at least on the cheaper contracts) and your phone has to support it (not all Android phones do, although maybe these days, most do, I've not looked in a while).

You can use whatsapp on a pc for video and audio calls (and IM) and it seems to work fine.

I have been using Skype now for several years to talk to my offspring overseas. I usually have video calls with my daughter in California at least once a week and usually for over an hour. Works really well and does not cost anything. 

The open standard is SIP.  Sip calls can use a software phone or a hardware sip phone (available on ebay etc) that looks like an ordinary phone.

You'll need a SIP provider, and you can get free incoming SIP with a UK landline number from sipgate.co.uk which includes voice messaging sent via email when you receive a message.

On Android I use Sipnetic as a software phone (search google play).  Android has stopped inbuilt SIP support sadly, though if you have an older phone you may still have it.  I can't comment for iOS.

https://linphone.org/ is a free open source softphone that works with sipgate.co.uk and is windows, iOS, linux etc etc compatible.  You'll need a mic and speaker, though a headset with mic will do.  You can also buy USB handsets (I used one for years)

Most chat apps (e.g. Telegram) now have inbuilt phone/video phone too which is good for friends and family who are also on the chat app.  That's how we communicate with our kids - works anywhere in a world with WiFi (except maybe China!)  They only call "old school" if we're in a non data area (i.e. Scotland!)

Having Sipnetic on my mobile is the most convenient use of SIP as it rings and is used just like a normal phone call.  Add the chat app calling facilities and we no longer have a land line number at the house (The SIPgate landline number is used for business.)

I hope that helps,

Steve

I use Skype to talk to people on the other side of the planet who do not have computers/mobile-phones.  So the connection is: my computer to their landline phone.

It's brilliant!  They just get a normal incoming phone call.  I get the easy-to-use Skype interface.  And it costs about £2 to talk to them for about 2-3 hours, instead of £30-50 or so via conventional phone methods.  Top up Skype account min £5.

You realise FaceTime (face not needed) and WhatsApp are essentially free to use to do this?

Interesting, thanks.  Didn't know that. 

But I don't use -- or want to use -- Facebook or Whatsapp.  Maybe Skype's ridiculously low charges are worth it to not be tied-up with those other parasites   There are enough other parasites surrounding us... Including MS Skype...

FaceTime is Apple software already on any apple device, nothing to do with Facebook. Obviously whether it is useful depends on whether you and the people you want to talk to use apple devices

I and all my contacts are old and all primarily use WhatsApp for calls, if anyone can explain a downside I would be happy to hear it. 

Just owned by Facebook, which not everyone is a fan of. You essentially “pay” by sharing all your usage data, although (allegedly) not the content of your messages/phonecalls. I’d much, much prefer to use FaceTime for this reason, but lots of the people I would use it to call don’t have Apple devices - and I’d rather pay with some data than actual money.

I never use Facebook, not really bothered if they can extract anything useful from my WhatsApp calls.

Call quality is often hit&miss, like any VoIP service using the wild internet.

What's the difference? If you use FaceTime, you're sharing your usage data with another commercial behemoth, namely Apple.

Thanks for previous info - this is for calls to people that we do not have as WhatsApp contact etc. Eg calling a builder a plumber on their mobile or landline.

Thanks for all replies … learned something today!

I need to change mobile network (currently with giffgaff who don’t provide WiFi calling).

If you don't like WhatsApp, "Signal" is a encrypted open-source alternative. It comes with a desktop application as well which can be paired with your phone.

Thanks. I can understand the SIP point-to-point protocol, but what I don't yet understand is the routing.

Suppose you are issued some nominal 'landline' number from your SIP provider. How does the routing work when somebody wants to phone that number from the other side of the planet? That is, how does the overall system know to direct that call to your SIP provider?

It seems like there must be some higher-level protocols or infrastructure in place (in similar style to DNS and BGP) to make all this work - but I haven't seen any good explanations.

Can you give me any hints?

Google Voice might suit your requirements.