Not Geeky!

Lately I have been using both Skype and Voipstunt. I do have to Skype’s version 4.0 is a lot better than the old one. In some areas Voipstunt does win, but not in all!

For your convenience I came up with several. This should make it easier for a voip caller to make a decision on what to use or even better, what to use when.

1. PC to PC
When you’re making calls from your PC to another PC Skype is the better option. It is possible using Voipstunt, however it seems to take too much of your computer resources. To be honest: for this I prefer Google Talk. Google Talk is a small application and the sound quality is excellent.

2. Phone to Phone
In some countries Skype offers phone to phone calls. In most it doesn’t. And if it does it still requires you to have a monthly subscription, which is not needed with Voipstunt. In addition Voipstunt offers various ways to initiate a phone to phone call.

3. Dropping Calls
Skype is way more prone to drop calls,which I found really annoying. In this area I hardly have any issues with Voipstunt.

4. Firewall Issues
Skype manages to get through Firewalls a lot better than Voipstunt. So if you are in a particular area where you can’t make voipstunt work, you probably can make your call using Skype.

5. Mobile to Phone
See also item 2. With Voipstunt, If you do it the smart way you can program your phone in such a way it dials the number for you. In addition there are all sorts of mobile client tools that can help you reducing the costs. In the UK you have the 3 network that offers similar functionality on your mobile, however this is only in the UK.

6. Echo Cancellation
Skype has better Echo cancellation overall. In some cases Voipstunt echoes a lot, to the point where it becomes really annoying. This can  depend on your configuration, destination and time of day.

7. Costs to Landlines
Voipstunt is way cheaper than Skype, both to landlines and mobiles. Voipstunt is often, not always, free, Skype just isn’t. With Skype you can reduce the costs by having a subscription, but only if you make phonecalls for hours and hours per day this will be cheaper than Voipstunt. (2.95GBP to one country a month, only landlines)

8. Voicemail
Voipstunt doesn’t offer Voicemail facilities. You can forward calls when you are not on line. Skype does offer Voicemail. Voicemail is included with the purchase of any of their subscriptions or $20 for a full year.

9. Video
Skype has video calling build in, Voipstunt doesn’t. If you use X-lite combined Voipstunt it is apparently possible. Still Skype remains the easiest option.

10. Caller ID
Recently Skype started offering Caller ID services (free). More and more people first look on their phone to see who is calling. Some don’t even answer the phone if there is no caller ID (like me). With Skype you can set it up and upon verification and aproval it is attached to your account. With Voipstunt you can quite easily set a whole bunch of phone numbers (verification is required) or switch it (temporarily) off. With phone 2 phone calls you cannot always switch it off. In some cases it doesn’t work (Nokia N810) at all with Voipstunt. Funily enough Skype Caller ID does work on my Nokia N810.

11. Sending Text Messages
Voipstunt has very low priced text messaging service Skype offers it as well, but it is more expensive. With Voipstunt you can also send your text messages from their website or by using one of the many third party tools.

12. Inbound phonenumber
Both Skype and Voipstunt offer inbound phonenumbers. However, it really depends on the country. In some countries I would say Skype is the better choice, in others Voipstunt is. In the UK you can get an inbound number, which isn’t recognizable as such. In Holland for instance Skype doesn’t offer an inbound number whereas Voipstunt does. The downside is that the number looks a bit awkward, because it begins with 0857.

13. Games
Skype offers some games that you can play with your kids online when you are abroad. Nice feature.

Hope you found this info useful.

Cheers,

Edwin

Just to let you know: Lot’s of Voipstunt users have been waiting for this for ages. I just found out Voipstunt is offering inbound numbers again, 085 numbers that is. Price 1 euro, that’s almost for free! Get there while the offer lasts!

FYI: Phoning a Dutch 085 number is just as expensive as phoning a Dutch landline…

Edwin

When I discovered this a couple of years ago I thought this was simply too good to be true. Using VOIP, even without my PC, I can make free phone calls or send text messages for 5 cents. OK, I’ll be honest sometimes a call costs me just a bit more. The weird thing is though I can hardly find any info on it on the internet. So I thought I might as well share this knowledge here….

I love VOIP. It saves me a lot of money, is convenient and allows me to make phone calls I wouldn’t make if it didn’t exist merely because of the costs. I make a lot of international phone calls. I live in country A and some of my clients in country B and so does a major part of my family.

How do I VOIP? I’m not using Skype, Fring, Vonage, BT or what have you. Nope, I make use of Voipstunt. And no, I’m not using a headset, computer microphone or Voipbox but just a regular phone, or in VOIP lingo: Phone2phone calls.

This has 2 major advantages: You do not need to have access to a PC and, even more importantly, the sound quality is really good. This is often not the case when you use a headset attached to the computer.

When I’m in my car I use an Access number and when I’m home I sometimes use a PC. I can make calls, using my mobile, often completely free of charge. (It depends on how many minutes I’ve used in the last 7 days). When I’m at home I often make use of the VOIPStunt application running on my PC and I can make phonecalls for 5 Eurocents per hour. Another major advantage is you can use VOIPStunt without a subscription.

It’s all very simple:
1. Download Voipstunt. It’s a small application for windows (only) and can be found here
2. Create a user (first screen) and buy credits. You can start with a tiny amount, depending on which country you live in. I usually credit buy for 10 Euro’s.
3. Fill out your personal details. Most important is your landline- and mobile number. You’ll get a textmessage (SMS) or talking computer call for verification purposes.

After you’ve completed your registration you can start calling. Basically, Phone2phone call wise, you’ve got 2 options:

• Use an Access number, best used from mobile to landline
• Use your computer, best used from landline to landline

Note: You have to type in the complete phonenumber including the country code, so 0044 or +44 for the UK, 0032 or +32 for Belgium etc.

Use an Access number
First you need to lookup the Access number in your area. Go to your VOIPStunt application and click on here to go to your account page. Click in your webbrowser on Make VOIP Calls from your fixed/mobile phone. The nearest Access number can be looked up now.

• Dial the Access number
• Dial the phonenumber you wish to call and finish with the # sign.
• A computer voice will tell you about the calling costs. Phoning a landline abroad is, in my case, usually 0 cents.

Use your Computer
Go to your VOIPStunt application

• Click on the Phone2Phone tab
• Select the phonenumber you want to call from (Landline or mobile)
• Type in the number you wish to call
• Click on the Call button
• Pick up the phone
• On your screen the calling costs will appear. Phoning a landline abroad is, in my case, usually 5 cents.
• You can call now for one 1 hour for a small amount, in my case 5 cents.

Edwin

“Phoning cheaper, phoning for free!” The wild wild west in the digital Age. About 10 years ago I experimented with Net2Phone. I had just bought a new PC with an ISDN connection. Net2phone promised phonecalls almost for free. You could for instance phone the US for free. I tried it, and yes I could hear a voice at the other end of the line. Unfortunately no one could hear me.

Then a few years later there was Skype. Thought it was pretty good but it took me a while before I had found a friend that also had Skype. However he was always off-line when I was on-line so that didn’t work very well in real life either.

In 2006 a colleague of mine told me about this Voipstunt thing. I got my microphone out and gave it try. Too much echo and delay so I discarded this as a costsaving workable solution pretty quickly. I couldn’t really see what this nerdy colleague was so enthouisiastic about. The Phone 2 phone option that I tried the day after did work remarkably well. One hour phone conversations, long distance for 5 euro cents. Sound sound quality, no delays.

So, to cut a long story short: Last year I made a Squidoo page about this. And then I accidently deleted it. But Hurray! My Squidoo VoipStunt page, that I made last year is back online now. You can find it here.

Edwin

I’m a big fan of Voipstunt. People that have read my Squidoo webpage already know this. Now I wanted to try the Conference calling Service but it doesn’t seem to work properly and I can’t find any proper documentation on it. The thing is: I want to be able to speak to my sister and my parents at the same time while I am in the UK to make arrangements for the holiday. If I can make this work I would like to try and use it with some of my clients. Any one with good experiences with Voipstunt or other free/nearly free services?

Edwin