VoipCheap credit and numbers

Bert_Anderson

star1 wrote:

I'm not sure about voip cheep, but sip discount allow you to use your own VOIP box (I'm using a Linksys PAP2).

Voipcheap works fine with the PAP2

mk-donald

chriz1000 wrote:

Has anyone made hardware to make any normal landline phone compatible with these broadband services yet?

One cut-price option which I've been using very successfully is the Trust Internet Phone Station ST-1200 #14485
http://www.trust.com/products/product.aspx?artnr=14485

It's available currently for just £17.99 from https://www.7dayshop.com (though there's P&P to pay on an order with them)

It's a USB gizmo that you plug in to your broadband'ed PC and between conventional phoneline and your (DECT) phone.

There's "VoipBusterMate" software that integrates it fully with https://www.VoipBuster.com and https://www.InternetCalls.com (to name two I've used very successfully) as well as Skype (though not tried that) at:
http://www.yealink.com/en/otherdown.asp

(And just noticed they've done some beta software last week to integrate it with MSN Messenger.)

To dial out via VoIP from your regular/DECT phone you just press * and then dial and it routes the call via USB->PC+VoIP

VoIP calls in just ring on your phone in the same way as landline calls.

If PC is off or VoIP software not running then your landline works as before.

As I say works very well with InternetCalls' software (using the "VoipBusterMate" software to integrate it).

Bigun28

When you get your own personal VOIP number, does anyone know how much it would cost someone to ring that number? For example, if I lived abroad and someone called me from the UK on my VOIP number?

Thanks.

mk-donald

Randal wrote:

When you get your own personal VOIP number, does anyone know how much it would cost someone to ring that number? For example, if I lived abroad and someone called me from the UK on my VOIP number?

Thanks.

It's all down to the usual costs of:
- the actual number and hence charge band the VoIP number is (there are several hundred potential bands with different £.pp per minute/call in the UK)
- however much your caller pays to call a number in that charge band via whichever carrier they have chosen to call via

Standard UK landline numbers begin 01... or 02... (versus mobile 07, and various 08 and premium 09...)

The two free UK VoIP IN number's I've had from VoipBuster and InternetCalls have been regular 01... numbers BUT I had no choice as to WHERE in the country they were (I live in Milton Keynes and one was Liverpool, other a London number) so if my MK friends had called that number would count as national rather than local (eg up to 8p/minute versus 3p/min local). [WRONG! Thanks to Pricefighter: All the BT Together 1/2/3 plans now make no distinction about how far away the # is, and just 3p/min all daytime and 60 mins otherwise for the 5.5p/call minimum]

The calls gets routed to wherever your VoIP a/c is logged in HOWEVER there is a nice feature (currently at least) that with the VoipBuster/InternetCalls you can FORWARD when offline to a real number - eg to an Italian 02 landline number and while you PAY them for the forwarded bit of the call - it's at standard rates which to an Italian landline = free/minute!

So someone in UK on a free landline calls package (from their landline/mobile) could call your UK 01 number and get your Italian 02 landline at no cost for the call to them, or to you (currently anyway, who knows if/when/how changing practices change).

pricefighter

Local and National Calls were abolished sometime ago. BT ,TT ,etc etc charge the same to call 01/02 geographical numbers whatever the code is.Whether its in the next street or 300 miles away.( Apart from calls to Channel Islands & Isle of Man which have different charging arrangements.) (Some cable companies still however have local call packages).

Graham1

You were lucky to be allocated 01 incoming numbers from them.

I think many of the numbers they allocate now are 056 numbers (cost to call from BT lines 4.9p/min daytime, 2p/min evening and 1.2p/min weekend, call category g21 on the BT price list).

stunno

I am about to sign up, but have noticed that the credit €10 now only lasts for 90 days. I'm wondering whether to bother, as I am only a light phone user and only ring local numbers. Sipgate charge 1.19p/m for uk land lines, which works out at 720 minutes over 3 months. I may well give that a go instead.

EDIT: Does anyone know how long a deposit with Sipgate lasts? Their web site is impenetrable!

Graham1

Sipgate have in the past told me that credit does not expire. But, of course, they could change that in the future.

If you can cope with a bit of extra voice delay then voxee in the usa is worth considering. 1.4ct/min, $5 minimum top-up and credit also does not expire. However no incoming number supplied.

stunno

Thanks Graham, I'm not too bothered about the delay, but I've just moved to a new place that has ntl broadband and no phone line connected, so I need the incoming number, if only to stop everyone whingeing about the cost of ringing my mobile!

I think I'll end up making a deposit with Sipgate if they can confirm about the expiry

codetown

Ok guys, thanks all for your explanations. It looks like the VoipCheap numbers are given out a bit at random.

If anyone of you has a double VoipCheap account that does not use (e.g. close to 0 credit or expiry) with a UK number (anywhere; just a geographic number) let me know and I might ask you to 'sell' it to me.