Skype | Phone Cards Blog

June 5, 2009

Is VOIP Right For You?

In the world of high technology VOIP has now become a modern and wide spread word. But, in everyday usage many have not heard about this new step in the internet arena? We can surmise that many ordinary people may well have heard of it but not known exactly what it means this device or tool called VOIP. So where can you use this VOIP system? Does is suit the home laptop?

The answers are quite startling, it can be used almost anywhere and works on a simple laptop. You can also utilise this new technology not just at home, but for your business, while you are away from your place, on your trip, vacation etc. All you need is just high speed internet connection. The VOIP systems transfers signals via the backbone of the internet. Very soon it might well happen that common telephone could be replaced by these more mobile system, as they are not only convenient but most of all cheap.

Basically, VOIP works over long distances and it is often free and unlimited. Our generation will watch and observe what VOIP entrepreneurs will be offering as competition intensifies between VOIP and the traditional telephone providers the facilities being offered can only grow and grow. Is it a perfect thing for you? Well, very soon in the not to distant future we will be seeing these changes. VOIP is a simple working technology. Let us see what the pros and con’s are when examining VOIP services. As we have mentioned, you can reach far distant places at most reasonable prices. This new equipment is really easy to use and not expensive.

What do you need to operate and these services?

The necessary things are: a computer, fast internet access, some downloaded free software and the necessary adaptor to connect your computer to the Internet. So, what is the difference and what is the advantage of the common telephone. Some regions do not have good internet connectivity. But, this is the main condition for VOIP. Some areas and regions still suffer from the bad or low speed internet connection. This influences the VOIP usage, due to the fact that the signal goes via internet. It can provoke delay in transferring the signal casing stutter, echo and loss of signal. Sometimes it appears to allow only simplex transmissions whereas standard telephone is always duplex so is easy to interrupt one another while talking. Thus it disturbs you from the conversation as it is difficult to focus on what you are saying or hearing simultaneously.

But, if VOIP works properly, it is very functional and helpful for emergency cases. For example in the US only recently the 911 emergency services can now be accessed by VOIP. Which is a big plus as it allows many hot telephone lines to share the call, as well as identifying the information of calling person.

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April 15, 2009

Checklist: How to Mix VoIP with the iPhone

Filed under: VoIP — Tags: Skype, VoIP — admin @ 2:25 pm

The announcement of Skype for iPhone attracted enormous attention. And for good reason: The app brought together two of the decade’s best-known examples of innovation in communication. As such, it did a great job of getting the word out that cellular phones and cheap international calling needn’t be mutually exclusive. In reality, though, various applications have for some time given iPhone users not just affordable rates but plenty of other VoIP-related benefits. Here are 11 options to consider as alternatives to Skype for iPhone

1. Start by looking at Skype for iPhone. Starting with the gold standard of Internet telephony offers a good basis for comparing all the other offerings. The Skype application works through software downloaded from Apple Inc.’s App Store to the iPhone handset. Users can make Skype calls via wifi links when they’re near hotspots. In accordance with Apple’s strict rules, the application doesn’t use cellular data links to carry voice. It also, by choice, doesn’t use cellular voice links, which means its usability is geographically limited. Also in accordance with the rules, it can’t operate in the background like Skype does on PCs, only popping up when a call comes in. That limits how useful it will be for answering incoming Skype calls, at least until Apple brings push notification to the iPhone, as many say it will in version 3.0 of its software.

2. If you travel frequently, consider Truphone’s Skype for iPhone. Truphone’s application brings a number of benefits in addition to basic Skype access. Like a number of other apps that use wifi to carry voice calls, it runs on the iPod touch as well. But when used on the iPhone, it also permits calls to travel between the handset and Skype gateways via cellular links. That capability works with another Truphone service to great benefit. Truphone Anywhere, a sort of traveler’s SIM card service, lets users make local calls at local rates when overseas. Thus when they’re in a foreign country, and make a Skype call that uses a local cellular voice channel, cellular roaming charges don’t cancel out the savings of using Skype for the international portion of the call.

3. If Skype alone is not enough, try Fring for iPhone. Fring stands out for the number of services with which it interoperates. Its users can exchange instant messages with users of AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Twitter and Yahoo! Messenger. They can also talk via cheap VoIP connections using Skype or various SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based Internet telephony providers. Notable too is that Fring is one of the few mobile VoIP applications that, in addition to using wifi links, sends voice traffic over the cellular data network where possible. That’s not possible with the iPhone version, of course. As noted, Apple prohibits voice applications from doing so, and what Apple wants Apple gets. Instead, the Fring client software replicates the iPhone dialer and uses a combined buddy list, allowing users to choose between making cellular, SIP and SkypeOut calls.

4. To cut your cellular minutes, useiCall for iPhone. Unlike most other mobile VoIP services, iCall makes the iPhone (though not the Macintosh) central to its offering. Users can make calls in two ways: through headset-equipped PCs or through iPhones. With Windows PCs or iPhones, they can use downloaded client software. With other PCs, they have to use the Flash-based Web browser version of the service.

The service comes in free, pay-as-you-go and $9.95 monthly versions, with the free version for computer callers only. There are also two sorts of incoming calls. For free and pay-as-you-go users, callers must dial an iCall access number and then the user’s “extension.” Customers who pay monthly receive their own permanent incoming numbers.

The most iPhone-friendly feature is call handoff. Users who are talking on cellular calls can, when they come within range of a wifi hotspot, seamlessly transfer the call to a wifi VoIP connection, terminating the cellular connection. It will save a lot of airtime minutes, and money, for those who talk a lot on the way to Starbucks.

5. If the basics are enough, go for JAJAH. There is actually less here than JAJAH Inc.’s past statements might have led one to believe. A year ago the high-profile VoIP startup said it was developing a wifi iPhone application. The planned product resurfaced in February in the form of an application that would turn the iPod touch into a mobile phone using wifi connections.

JAJAH said it planned to offer the app as a “white label” product that operators could sell under their own names. That hasn’t yet happened either, though, so for now the only JAJAH iPhone service is a mobile Web callback dialer accessible through the handset’s browser. Users enter their numbers and those they wish to reach. JAJAH dials both numbers from nearby exchanges and connects the call via its worldwide VoIP infrastructure. It does save on international calling, and doesn’t require a software download.

6. For basics plus conferencing, sign up for Talkety Pro. Like JAJAH, Talkety provides cheap callback service through a mobile Web interface. Users point their iPhones’ browsers at the Talkety Web site, log in and access their online address books, which work just like their iPhones’. They click a contact and Talkety calls their number, then the contact’s, and connects the calls. Those who sign up for a Pro account can similarly click to launch conference calls involving as many as 50 people.

7. Set up and manage conference calls through Calliflower’s iPhone interface. Iotum’s Calliflower service brings the power of Web integration to conference calling. Moderators can set up and manage calls through a Web interface, including sending invitations, tracking RSVPs, muting participants and recording calls. Similarly, the interface allows participants to see each other’s names and pictures, chat by text, “raise hands” and share documents during the call. The iPhone application brings the same features, including those of both moderators and participants, to mobile users, and has the ability to display photos or icons of those on the call. A warning, though: Use of the iPhone version of Calliflower will have to wait for the resolution of a dispute between Iotum and the contractor who developed the application.

8. If you don’t have time for chitchat, use Palringo’s vocal IM. Palringo provides an instant messaging service that communicates across a wide variety of platforms, and with multiple commercial services including AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. It also lets users send instant messages containing voice rather than text, a sort of cross between push-to-talk and SMS. That’s a big help for those who want to convey information quickly but don’t want to spend the time on pleasantries that actual voice calls typically involve. And speaking a message is much easier than typing it on a tiny keypad.

The service, which Palringo calls vocal IM, requires downloading the company’s IM software, which is available for platforms ranging from Linux, Mac and Windows PCs to BlackBerry, iPhone, Java, Symbian and Windows Mobile handsets. Unlike traditional push-to-talk, vocal IM works on different carriers’ networks, further broadening the potential number of people users can communicate with. The iPhone vocal IM app plays the audio through either speakers or headsets, and requires the messaging window to be open in order to play the messages.

9. If you can wait a while, look for Promptu’s speech-to-text app. Many services these days turn spoken words into text. They are particularly useful for mobile users, who often aren’t in a position to type messages they want to send. But such services can be unreliable in erratic wireless environments. Promptu’s ShoutOUT application for iPhone takes the unique approach of digitizing the voice message on the handset, then sending it to a voice recognition server for processing into text for delivery as SMS messages. That means the server receives the voice data as error-corrected packets rather than potentially garbled raw audio, thus increasing accuracy. If they wish, users can still correct the text manually before it gets sent. Unfortunately, Promptu’s iPhone application will first launch with a carrier in Europe under a revenue-sharing arrangement. U.S. users will have to wait for a domestic carrier to see the light and cut a similar deal, if one ever does.

10. If you’re an optimist, look for GVDialer, GV Mobile and VoiceCentral for Google Voice. Google Voice, formerly GrandCentral, offers a convenient service built around a free inbound number. Currently it’s available only to former GrandCentral users, but it will be open to the public in the future. Users can go online and have incoming calls to their numbers forwarded to any phones they like, including iPhones. Outbound calling to North America is free, but less convenient. Users have to initiate the calls through the Google Voice Web site or by dialing an access number and the number they’re trying to reach. MobileCrunch reported, however, that two developers have created Google Voice dialers for the iPhone. The VoiceCentral and GV Mobile apps will automatically dial numbers the user has chosen from the iPhone contact list. Separately, Israel’s MobileMax announced the release of a similar product called GVdialer for a number of handsets, including the iPhone in the near future. The three iPhone apps will cost $2.99 each on the App Store and will supposedly be available soon. That’s assuming, of course, that Apple approves them. And that doesn’t always happen, as the following item reveals.

11. If you were waiting for Newber location-based forwarding, forget it. FreedomVOICE Systems’ Newber application for iPhone had interesting possibilities. For one thing, it could automatically forward calls to whatever preregistered number the user was closest to, as determined by the iPhone’s GPS location data. FreedomVOICE tried for months to get Apple’s approval for the Newber app. It never got a response and finally gave up.

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April 23, 2008

Asia Domain Name Registration Limited：Skype introduced unlimited international long distance service

Filed under: telecom news — Tags: Skype — admin @ 2:03 pm

The Asia Domain Name Registration Limited report that : eBay’s Skype Internet phone sector has announced the first overseas long-distance telephone call when the package is not limited programme.

In charge of Skype North America’s vice president and general manager, Albert said that the new package will allow users no time limit applies to the 34 countries of the fixed telephone call per month for a 9.95 U.S. dollars.

Usable in most countries, including European, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, China Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. Packages also include domestic fixed-line and mobile phone call, you can also call Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, the mobile phone in these areas, but can not dial the phone in other countries.

Skype has been in the United States and Canada to the user sales of the three U.S. dollars per month for unlimited calling package, the company will also sell 5.95 U.S. dollars per month for the new package allows users free calls to Mexico City, Guadalajara And Monterrey, Mexico, and also provides other parts of the call preferential measures.

Skype usually installed on a computer applications, and with a microphone, speakers or wearing headphones. However, users can choose a telephone call the local number, or to connect to the Skype service under the international number, users only pay for local telephone access fees or phone calls.

Via: link

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