Skype again

[Gumby]

I know we've discussed it before but I just love Skype :D

Booking my (now cancelled) NZ holiday recently, I was on the phone direct to a hotel or the car hire company and paid 13.5 cents for a 4.5 minute phone call.

No wonder Tel$tra shares are low.

[Wood Butcher]

I've got VOIP (Internet Phone) and it cost me 10c to any landline phone in Australia for as long as I want. For an extra $10 a month for the service I save on average $40 a month. More money in my pocket the better.

And its gets even better with Wireless Broadband being rolled out here, soon you can ditch the landline connection altogether and just have a VOIP phone with a mobile as a backup in case of a blackout.

[Gumby]

I've got VOIP (Internet Phone) and it cost me 10c to any landline phone in Australia for as long as I want. For an extra $10 a month for the service I save on average $40 a month. More money in my pocket the better.

And its gets even better with Wireless Broadband being rolled out here, soon you can ditch the landline connection altogether and just have a VOIP phone with a mobile as a backup in case of a blackout.

With VOIP, how much are incoming calls

[Cliff Rogers]

I bought a new headset & never got it out of the packet.

I should & then I could sing Happy Birthday to you. :D

[Wood Butcher]

With VOIP, how much are incoming calls

Who cares. I'm not paying for them!:p

It costs the same to call my VOIP number as it does to call my landline.

[Auld Bassoon]

IBooking my (now cancelled) NZ holiday
Does this mean that you are now coming to the WWW show old bean?

[Gumby]

Does this mean that you are now coming to the WWW show old bean?

Yeah, but don't tell anybody ;)


Who cares. I'm not paying for them!:p

It costs the same to call my VOIP number as it does to call my landline.

It's just that if people know it's the same or cheaper they will call you. If it's too expensive, they won't.

If i had any friends, i'd want them to call me. :(




I should & then I could sing Happy Birthday to you. :D

That's why you aren't on my Skype friends list :)

[DPB]

I just signed up for a VOIP service. It is costing me $9:00 per month plus call charges as noted above. My calls to Canada are costing me 2.5 cents per minute.

I signed up with my service provider for a regular land line for $27.00 per month which continues to take incoming calls. I did so because I don't want to go through the hassle of changing my telephone number. Although my VOIP phone has its own telephone number, I will reserve that system for outgoing calls only.:)

[scooter]

Just signed up today with SIPME, 9.9 c untimed any landline across Oz.

27c/min to mobiles. We don't have need to ring overseas.

Getting a headset tomorrow, will give it a run first before I buy one of those ATA thingies.


Cheers................Sean

[Cliff Rogers]

.I could sing Happy Birthday to you. :D


.That's why you aren't on my Skype friends list :)

If I make a video of it, can I upload it like you did with your interlude? :rolleyes:

[Gumby]

I had a look at the Sipme and Engin sites. One thing which gets forgotten is that the calls to mobiles at 27cents are timed per second. You could make 3 20 second calls for 27 cents for instance. Same with Skype. But one 20 second call to a mobile with telstra is 39cents because they charge in blocks. :mad:

[MurrayD99]

I registered but I haven't spashed out on the headset yet. What happened to the NZ trip Gumby? Worried about political instability?

[scooter]

Wasn't feeling sheepish enough? :o

[Gumby]

no, sick father-in-law, is in hospital so the wife wasn't really in the right frame of mind to go.

(I posted an answer to this yesterday but it seems to have not worked. I'm getting some severe timeouts since they switched to the new server.)

[Nic0]

I also have skype but when i made the switch to ADSL i decided to buy a combined ADSL/VOIP router that I can plug my normal cordless into so I don't have to leave my computer on. I have been using freshtel for about 3 months for outgoing calls only and it works great, not to mention the 10c untimed calls.

[scooter]

Got the sipme up & running, bought a $35 Voip phone yesterday, cheapy but works. Mic is a little faint, have jacked the level up to max & will try for a couple of days, otherwise will return & swap for a Logitech headset.

Takes about 50sec to a minute from clicking the number & hitting dial, to the number actually ringing. Is this typical? I'm using the voip phone per above with x-lite softphone software. Connection is 512k broadband.


Cheers..........Sean

[lesmeyer]

For cheap international calls, just purchase a 'Go Bananas" calling card. NZ. USA. UK, Canada and most of Europe is just 2c/min + call connection of 20c.
Les
Ps. Happy happy birthday to all having a birthday. You know who you are. :D

[pcal]

The only problem with skype is that it doesn't play well with others. Just about all other internet call services are based on the sip protocol while skype has it own proprietory protocol.

Whay does it mean? With other than skype as a provider, you can mix and match. I have accounts with four different voip providers, and my voip telephone adaptor is programmed with all of them, and with the rules I chose for which one to use for each type of call. All the providers I've chosen have "no monthly fee" fee options, so I don't pay anything until I actually make a call.

When I dial a mobile number, the adaptor routes the call through Koala Telecom who charge me 19c per minute by the second. (Eg 10 sec call = 3.16c charge)

When I make a quick call to a fixed phone line, the adaptor routes the call through Pennytel, who charge me 2c a minute by the second to any fixed line phone in Australia.

If I'm calling a fixed phone, and I know the call will take more than five minutes, I prefix #5 to the number, and the adaptor routes the call through SipMe who charge a flat rate 9.9c no matter how long the call is to anywhere in Australia

And because I have accounts with 4 different providers (my adaptor allows up to 5), if I'm calling someone on any of these networks, I prefix the network number, and get the call completely for free. One of my providers even gives me 100 free text messages to any mobile in Australia every month!

I don't do international calls, but there are prices starting from 0.9c a minute with no connection charge. I even saw one provider offering 15 minutes free to Hong Kong if that was your want.

All this works from my normal phone, even if the computer is off. And if the network goes down, the phone automatically reverts to using the normal phone line instead.

It's a sweet system, and as others have already said, as soon as I can ditch the tel$tra line, I'll be even happier!

Regards,

Glen

[scooter]

Glen, welcome :)

What ATA are you using? Sounds the goods.


Cheers................Sean

[Gumby]

The only problem with skype is that it doesn't play well with others. Just about all other internet call services are based on the sip protocol while skype has it own proprietory protocol.

Whay does it mean? With other than skype as a provider, you can mix and match. I have accounts with four different voip providers, and my voip telephone adaptor is programmed with all of them, and with the rules I chose for which one to use for each type of call. All the providers I've chosen have "no monthly fee" fee options, so I don't pay anything until I actually make a call.

When I dial a mobile number, the adaptor routes the call through Koala Telecom who charge me 19c per minute by the second. (Eg 10 sec call = 3.16c charge)

When I make a quick call to a fixed phone line, the adaptor routes the call through Pennytel, who charge me 2c a minute by the second to any fixed line phone in Australia.

If I'm calling a fixed phone, and I know the call will take more than five minutes, I prefix #5 to the number, and the adaptor routes the call through SipMe who charge a flat rate 9.9c no matter how long the call is to anywhere in Australia

And because I have accounts with 4 different providers (my adaptor allows up to 5), if I'm calling someone on any of these networks, I prefix the network number, and get the call completely for free. One of my providers even gives me 100 free text messages to any mobile in Australia every month!

I don't do international calls, but there are prices starting from 0.9c a minute with no connection charge. I even saw one provider offering 15 minutes free to Hong Kong if that was your want.

All this works from my normal phone, even if the computer is off. And if the network goes down, the phone automatically reverts to using the normal phone line instead.

It's a sweet system, and as others have already said, as soon as I can ditch the tel$tra line, I'll be even happier!

Regards,

Glen

Thanks Glen, I'm going to have a look into this. ;) :)

[pcal]

Glen, welcome :)

What ATA are you using? Sounds the goods.


Cheers................Sean


I'm using a Sipura/Linksys SPA3000 (there are two of them, but the only differance is the case - same machine inside). It is the most feature rich system I've ever seen - but be warned that this is a two edged sword. Because there is SO MUCH that can be configured, its real easy to inadvertently muck something up...

Most common problem is echo on the line at one end or the other which is fixable, but involves precise setting of not one but four different amplifiers.

It has heaps of other features as well (which I don't use), like the ability to bridge voip and pstn calls. Eg. If I'm out and about and need to make an std or isd call, I could grab the nearest payphone, ring home for a local call cost, enter my pin when the ata answers, and then dial the number I want, and the ata makes the call via voip and bridges it to the payphone I'm on! Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to solve the conflict between this function, and my bog standard answering machine - so its not enabled at the moment/ It can do the same thing in reverse too - receive a call via voip, and with proper authorisation, bridge it to the phone line to make a local call.

There is just too much to play with on this thing ;)

Regards,

Glen

[scooter]

Takes about 50sec to a minute from clicking the number & hitting dial, to the number actually ringing. Is this typical? I'm using the voip phone per above with x-lite softphone software. Connection is 512k broadband.


Cheers..........Sean

Bump :)

Have been looking around on the whirlpool forums & this sounds like way over the odds, some complain about 10-15secs as a long wait :rolleyes:

I wish.

Any ideas ?

[Gumby]

One other question guys. How much is the hardware ? Is it worth buying or does it take 5 years of calls to recoup the initial cost?

And can i use my normal cordless phones?

[pcal]

Just did a quick search, and current hardware cost seems to be between about $120 and $190 for the SPA3000..

http://www.shopbot.com.au/p-15304.html

I have mine plugged into a standard dect cordless phone. I have heard some say that the cordless, and the wireless router (if you have one) can interfere with each other, but mine are sitting only a couple of inches apart and I've had no trouble.

As for connection time, there are a number of separate issues, but 50 seconds is WAY too long. The device you use, whatever it is, has to have some way of knowing when you have finished dialing. With a pots phone (plain old telephone system), the exchange is getting each number as you dial it, and connects you once it has a valid number to work with - ignoring any additional digits you dial after it has a hit on a valid number format.

Different hardware can be set up differently, but a common theme is to assume you have finished dialing after you haven't pressed any more digits for "X" seconds (X usually adjustable). So it may well be that your soft phone gets the digits from your usb phone and waits for a while before processing the number, then there will be the further delay required to establish a connection with the voip provider, for them to patch it through to the pstn, and finally for the recipients exchange to start ringing.

I know with my ata hardware, there is a special code to put into the dial plan which signifies "if you have a match - ring now and don't wait for any more digits". For example, if the first three digits are all zeros (000), then dial 000 immediately through the normal phone line and don't wait for anything else. On the other hand, if you don't recognise what is being dialed, wait until 10 seconds after the last digit, then send it to the default provider and see what happens. The trick to speeding up dialing in this case, is to try and anticipate every kind (pattern) of number you're ever likely to dial, and have an entry in the plan specifically for it, followed by the "dial now" code.

On average, I guess I wait about 5 second to hear a ring signal after hiting the send button on the cordless.

Regards,

Glen

[Gumby]

So it's a question of how long before you get the initial outlay back in savings.

If those voip boxes are to follow the same path as all other technology, they should be half the price by early next year and free by about July. :D

It might be worth waiting. I don't use my landline all that ofter (no friends to ring :( )

:D

[pcal]

My guess is they will remain static for a while, then vanish all together. This kind of functionality will become more and more generic, and we will end up forgetting that phones didn't have voip capability built in all along.

In the mean time, the capital cost for me comes out of a budget marked "hobby", and the running costs from another marked "expences". If I can have fun setting up and experimenting with something that going to save me running costs as well, I guess that's a double bonus :)

Regards,

Glen

[kiwigeo]

One word of warning for you VOIP users....on some VOIP phones you cant make calls to emergency numbers. Certainly the case out here on this oil rig here in NZ where we're running USB VOIP handsets tied in to company LAN. USB handsets sold here have warnings to that effect on the handset. Worth checking this one out with your VOIP provider

[kiwigeo]

Takes about 50sec to a minute from clicking the number & hitting dial, to the number actually ringing. Is this typical? I'm using the voip phone per above with x-lite softphone software. Connection is 512k broadband.


Cheers..........Sean

40 second delay on system I'm running skype VOIP on here....its a function of bandwidth of the system Im running on. When the system gets busy delay is longer and quality of connection degrades markedly.

[pcal]

One word of warning for you VOIP users....on some VOIP phones you cant make calls to emergency numbers.

Quite correct.

Most providers reccomend you have a "non-voip" service available as a backup (either landline or mobile). Many will actually allow you to make a connection to the emergency number, but can't pass on your phone number / location to emergency services as is automatically done if you call from a normal phone.

Some telephone adaptors (such as my spa3000 for instance), also have a connection to the normal phone system, so it can be programmed to patch emergency calls to the normal phone in any case...

Glen

[scooter]

Got the delay thing sorted, after a fair bit of forum reading (whirlpool & others) it seemed that SIPME's primary & secondary DNS server addys were needed.

Emailed their support, they gave me the addys, keyed it into my network connection & bingo!

6 odd seconds to connect :)

It's a heap more usable now


Cheers...............Sean