Voipbuster & free call-are they REALLY free calls to France??

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi guys/gals,

Am hoping some of the experts here can advise.....my G/F calls France a few times a week. We're with Virgin so she dials a freephone number & connection cost is 5p-call is FREE. We have to 'pre-load' by calling a premium rate number.

Are VOIPBUSTER & FREE-CALL really free? Not easy to get a definative answer....some entries I've seen on the web say its only for a few months or the free calls are 'limited'.....any ideas folks?

Also I have virgin b/band via a netgear router (modem connected to this)-would I plug the headset into the router LAN socket or into the base unit?:beer:

ehlo

Free Calls are available once you've topped up. There is a free use limit of 300 minutes per week per Account+IP.
http://www.voipbuster.com/en/termsofuse.html#freecalls

I think the free calls expire after 90 or 120 days. Either way it beats skype calling and probably most other providers.

It is worth noting that VoipBuster is owned by betamax who operate many similar sites which all have slightly different free calling terms and rates. There is an independent comparison available http://backsla.sh/betamax

TRAVELMAN_2

Thanks ehlo! The only calls made on our (expensive) virgin landline phone is to France on that premium number. Seems daft to pay £13 line rental a month! Any idea on the minimum to top up & what type of headset to get? Also...sorry if i sound thick but how do i tell if I have a sound card on my pc (!!!)....

I do have an IP phone for my new job that I can call out on no problem....could this be used instead of a headset?? It's plugged into a router. But........I'll be 'loggin in' as my company pays the calls....guess the IP phone is configured just for them? So...probably need to buy a headset?

ehlo

VAT (rate depending on which country the reseller is based in. I used voipcheap last time and got 19% German VAT I think) and a credit card processing charge (50p I think?) are two things you need to consider when topping up. Really depends how many minutes you're going to use per month.

Might want to start with the £10 minimum and then top up more/as needed depending on whether you go over the free allowance or make calls to mobiles which obviously aren't free (although they'll still be cheaper than BT/Virgin/etc).

Plantronics are a good headset manufacturer. Comfortable to wear and good sound quality. Logitech also do some good ones. Stay away from the cheaper Logitech models though, the one I used to have was painful to wear!

If your PC can output sound, you have a sound card . You need a microphone port too (normally coloured red/pink). I'd be surprised if your computer didn't have one. You can also get headsets which use USB, but these can sometimes be a pain as you have to configure the program to use them instead of the normal outputs.

The IP phone you have can almost certainly be used.
Which model is it? Not all support multiple providers and it would presumably be a pain to reconfigure it for every call.

Incidentally if it does support multiple providers you might want to get a free landline number from sipgate as that will obviously let people call you cheaper than mobile rates

TRAVELMAN_2

Ehlo...just nipping out now-THANKS-....would be nice if I could use that phone though! Probably easier to buy a headset! Any idea on costs of those?Is £10 the minimum to top up?

The IP phone is a MITEL 8622.

ehlo

I think £10 is the minimum although when they add on VAT it comes to slightly more

The good ones are probably in the £30-50 range. Can't really advise on any specific model as mine is fairly dated now . You could probably look at Skype headset reviews (if you only look at those with headset/microphone connectors rather than USB there shouldn't be any compatibility issues). Although I was looking at this the other day which is a standalone device and seems to have some good reviews.

I had a quick look at the Mitel 8622 manual and I don't think it supports multiple providers (but it was a really quick look as I should stop procrastinating on MSE! )

TRAVELMAN_2

Thanks again! Will look at sorting this out in the next 2 weeks or so. Virgin is £13 a month line rental & with 1st telecom (as an overider) its £4-£10 a month.....so over a year if I used the voipbuster & topped up say £10 every 1/4 year savings would be huge!

Will update when I do it....(!)

victor2

Assuming you can't use a free service like Skype to Skype, you could consider TeleDiscount. You just call an 0844 or 0871 number at a pre-determined rate. For France it's 1p a minute. We use it to call the Far East quite often and it works out pretty good - no need to register or pre-load minutes. You dial the access code, which then tells you the charging rate and you dial the number to call, including the country code. Of course, Virgin round the time up to the next full minute, but as we usually talk for around an hour at a time, that isn't really an issue.
The only drawback is that even if you don't connect, you get charged for the call (connect charge plus 1 minute), where quite a few pre-pay ones don't do that, although you still get Virgin's connect charge.

TRAVELMAN_2

Victor....cheers for that! We use a company that you load with a premium call-fiver a time-5p connection charge for France-no call charge. Works out really well for us. It's on the MSE international checker.

blueplatinum

I have been using Voipcheap for the last few days and it is very good. If you top up by €10/£10 then you get 90 days of free calls to land lines in many countries including France (maximum free calls is 300 minutes per week so that is over 3600 minutes per 90 day period).

Calls to French mobiles cost €0,08 per minute (per minute billing) which comes out of the €10 top up. If the €10 is used up with calls to mobiles before the 90 days is up and you want to make more chargeable calls then you can just top up again and get another 90 days from that date.

Even if you never use any of the top-up for calls (to mobiles or countries that are not free) then you have effectively received over 3600 mintes of calls to French landlines for €10 which works out at €0,0028 per minute. If you do use the top up on other calls then the free calls work out to be absolutely free. There are no connection charges.

If your G/F has a mobile with free calls to UK landlines then she can simply register her mobile number on her Voipcheap account and then call their London access number 020 8180 9940. I use the Madrid access number which is never congested - I can't comment on the London one. Using this method means you can ditch your landline and don't have to faf around using the PC application or an ATA (Analogue Telephone Adapter).

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi Blue platinum-thanks for that!

Ok....I'm being thick but if it's a VOIP phone how can she access this via her mobile using inclusive minutes???

Sorry to be thick!!!

Surely for the other (occiaisional) calls i make to say UK landlines I'd need a USB plug in type phone?

Again...thanks for your help. Much appreciated!

EDIT EDIT...Voipcheap website says French calls are NOT free???! Confused...!