Free Landline Calls- Home and Abroad

Jim · 09-08-2008, 08:12 AM

Last year my mobile phone bill whilst in Europe was almost £500, trouble is I do need to make and receive a few calls whilst away. In an attempt to avoid such charges this year I have re-visited Skype

Has anyone checked out the new Skype subscriptions? for just £2 a month you can call any UK landline numbers as much as you like up to a fair use policy 10,000 minutes a month.

This is great, but even better if you are travelling, you get your own UK Number. This meansthat people can call you and of course the caller only pays for the UK call and you are not saddled with those international bits when someone calls you, nor charged 40p to access your mailbox.

Of course you can only make and receive these calls when you have an internet connection, but because you are not tied to a contract, you could effectively join and get a number just for the month you are away. My initial feelings after using the service for two weeks is that it is excellent and a massive money saver. For an extra quid you can extend it to free landline calls to any of 21 European countries

Check it out here

johnsandywhite · 09-08-2008, 08:35 AM

I've been using Voipbuster for the last 3 years to call the UK from the USA and Europe. Costs 1 cent a minute to landlines and nothing for landlines within the country you are calling from.

Jim · 09-08-2008, 08:44 AM

VOIP was terrible a as little as 18 months ago. But now I speak to friends in Australia and the USA and the quality is excellent. . You can get an echo from Australia sometimes, but I just re-connect and it normally sorts it out, calls to landlines in the UK or Europe are superb quality.

Having your own number from Skype is nothing new, but they made you pay through the nose for it and tied you in, but now you could just have your own number for a month! It certainly saves you paying when people are calling you whilst you are away. I even chose an Oxford landline so when my mum calls us she is only making a local call

olley · 09-08-2008, 12:09 PM

Hi so is it feasible to use my 3 Modem with skype at £15 a month plus £2.95 for unlimited Europe, and dump by home BT landline?

Olley

johnsandywhite · 09-08-2008, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olley

Hi so is it feasible to use my 3 Modem with skype at £15 a month plus £2.95 for unlimited Europe, and dump by home BT landline?

Olley

YES. If you have a good enough signal. Our friend in Spain with Vodafone uses it ALL the time to call the UK.

JockandRita · 09-08-2008, 06:47 PM

Hi all,

When travelling through Europe, would I be right in thinking that this facility can only be used if you are able to get free or cheap WiFi.
Surely the extortionate rates that mobile phone companies charge for mobile internet abroad, would make it cost prohibitive, ie, £7.50 per Mb

If I have got it wrong, I'll be more than pleased to be corrected.

Cheers,

Jock.

Jim · 10-08-2008, 05:46 AM

If you use a UK dongle then of you will be paying through the nose. But cheap and or free wifi is spreading across Europe fast. Once connected you can call any landline free and give others a free or cheap (to both of you) point of contact with free voicemail for calls you miss when you are not on line.

Using this service rather than your mobile can only happen when you have access to cheap of free wifi. But when you do then this Skype subscription could save you the cost of its £1.95 a month with just your first call back to the UK!

Just thought I would add that there is no affiliation or commission thing going on here with Skype, its a just a good service I have found that I am using every day saving £££

Jim · 10-08-2008, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olley

Hi so is it feasible to use my 3 Modem with skype at £15 a month plus £2.95 for unlimited Europe, and dump by home BT landline?

Olley

Absolutely, however you cannot make emergency calls on Skype so the facility to do that needs to be considered carefully.

JockandRita · 10-08-2008, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim

If you use a UK dongle then of you will be paying through the nose. But cheap and or free wifi is spreading across Europe fast. Once connected you can call any landline free and give others a free or cheap (to both of you) point of contact with free voicemail for calls you miss when you are not on line.

Using this service rather than your mobile can only happen when you have access to cheap of free wifi. But when you do then this Skype subscription could save you the cost of its £1.95 a month with just your first call back to the UK!

Just thought I would add that there is no affiliation or commission thing going on here with Skype, its a just a good service I have found that I am using every day saving £££

Thanks for confirming that Jim. I do have the basic Skype, but rarely use it, and I have never yet been able to get a WiFi signal when abroad in the MH.

Cheers,

Jock.

Braunston · 10-08-2008, 11:43 AM

Hi,

I was under the impression that SKype was just a company name and it used Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), i use Voipstunt which is similar to Voipbuster with Fring on my 3 mobile to make cheap or even free VOIP calls, I also use Voipstunt without Fring on my laptop to make cheap or free calls