alternatives to skype - Google Voice?

davidmaxwaterman

Hi,

I spend a lot of time in China. I have a Three 'all you can eat data' sim card. Three have an app for allowing you to make calls over wifi, but it is severely cobbled[1], and even when using VPN from China, it doesn't work very well. Heck, even on wifi in the UK it is so-so. So, I tried Skype's skype-to-phone service by signing up for their 400 mins/month for £6/month (cancel any time). It worked really well from China, even though I never used anywhere near 400 mins/month. The price isn't terrible, and much cheaper that Three would charge. I even set it up so it would show my Three cell number on the receiver's phone, so my Mum's phone would 'say' it was me calling just as if I had used my cell. I don't even have to use VPN for Skype, but it works even if I do. Nice.

Now I'm back in the UK, I'm wondering if I should consider using Skype as a real number, so I can receive calls too. It seems I can have voice mail too, and perhaps send SMSes too. However, I read some reviews written by people using Skype for this sort of thing, and many were quite negative (mainly since Microsoft got involved), so it got me wondering what my options were.

I had a look around, and found Google Voice. I wish I had discovered this while I was in China, since I could see if it worked there - (almost?) all Google products don't work there, and require the use of a VPN. Anyway, Google Voice has some lovely features, but it is confusing which are available in the UK - most of the docs seem to assume the user is in the USA or Canada.

I did find this on MSE: /phones/free-international-phone-calls

but it's a little out of date, and doesn't mention Google Voice at all. Is there anything more recent?

I did have a look at some services mentioned in that MSE article, and the Localphone one seemed attractive to me for some reason. Like most of the other services (and Google Voice, I guess) I imagine I'd have to use it with a VPN.

Has anyone here tried Google Voice in the UK? Any other observations or advice?

Regards,

Max.

[1] They say it should only be used from within the UK, and you have to have a Three sim installed to be able to activate it. O2's ToGo worked much better from China and they didn't have any such restrictions (though you had to have a subscription sim when I was on O2). I kind of wonder what is behind Three's restrictions - I imagine there's a real reason.

pmduk

o2's Tugo is being withdrawn soon. I've not used Google Voice so hopefully someone more familiar with it will be along to advise soon.

d123

davidmaxwaterman wrote: »

I had a look around, and found Google Voice. I wish I had discovered this while I was in China, since I could see if it worked there - (almost?) all Google products don't work there, and require the use of a VPN. Anyway, Google Voice has some lovely features, but it is confusing which are available in the UK - most of the docs seem to assume the user is in the USA or Canada.

I did find this on MSE: /phones/free-international-phone-calls

but it's a little out of date, and doesn't mention Google Voice at all. Is there anything more recent?

I did have a look at some services mentioned in that MSE article, and the Localphone one seemed attractive to me for some reason. Like most of the other services (and Google Voice, I guess) I imagine I'd have to use it with a VPN.

Has anyone here tried Google Voice in the UK? Any other observations or advice?

MSE probably don’t mention Google Voice for one important reason.

Google Voice is only available in the U.S.

and

Start using Google Voice
First, you'll need:

A Google Account
U.S. phone number that can forward calls after ringing

https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115061?hl=en

davidmaxwaterman

Ok, if that is still current info, then so be it However, it seems there is some support, of a kind, if you follow the link you provide and the bit that says:

"If you're outside the U.S., you can make calls with Hangouts."

However, even then it seems not to *receive* calls/etc:

"To receive phone calls, text messages, and voicemails in Hangouts, you need to set up Google Voice or a Project Fi account, which are currently only available in the U.S."

According to wikipedia, it was launched way back in 2009 - I had imagined it was more recent than that, and even more recent than the MSE article, but no. I wonder what might be stopping them from bringing to what is usually their second target market.

Anyway, I guess it's a dead end, and I should be looking at some of the other services.

d123

Hangouts isn’t Google Voice and it has one huge weakness for your intended use (as you’ve noticed), you can’t receive calls if you don’t have a Google Voice account, and that’s not available outside the US.

For some reason Google doesn’t seem interested in expanding Google Voice outside the US either.

Inner_Zone

How about VoIP?

d123

Inner_Zone wrote: »

How about VoIP?

Good idea, OP could sign up with someone like Sipgate and install an app on the phone to make/receive calls.

Zoiper works well on Android.

Inner_Zone

On my previous Android phones I used to use CSipSimple, current phone (Moto G5) has built in VoIP support and I still use PhonerLite on my laptop. VoIP supplier is Sipgate.

d123

Inner_Zone wrote: »

On my previous Android phones I used to use CSipSimple, current phone (Moto G5) has built in VoIP support and I still use PhonerLite on my laptop. VoIP supplier is Sipgate.

I’ve got a Linksys PAP2T Adapter connected to a BT 8500 DECT phone at home and Zoiper on my phone (I can’t remember why, I tried CSipSimple and ended up with Zoiper), both can receive and make calls using the landline number, I’m also with Sipgate.

eDicky

When I occasionally make a (very cheap) call using the credit I put on my Viber account, 'Viber Out', the called party sees the mobile number to which my Viber is registered. But I don't know if that's useful for calls being returned to that number, if roaming charges will apply, depending on where you are.

davidmaxwaterman

Yeah, there are lots of options for plain old voip, but I am tempted to just stick with skype in that case (mostly because I've already confirmed it works nicely from China). There are also some in the MSE article. I was kind of hoping for something with some fancy features, like visual voice mail...I wonder if there's a comparison of all the services and their features.