AT&T Introduces Worldwide VoIP Calling App

[mkrishnan]

For calling the US from abroad (VoIP over WiFi), your best option is Google Voice (free) via the Talkatone app (free). I've done this on several international trips with my iPod touch. You don't even need the latest and greatest hardware nor iOS 5.

Wow, $0.01 a minute. Not bad. Google's rates are impressive all around.

 

[nburwell]

No thanks. I'll stick with Skype for my VoIP calls.

 

[cvaldes]

Wow, $0.01 a minute. Not bad. Google's rates are impressive all around.

Interesting. The 1-cent per-minute fee (from outside US/Canada) is recent. It was totally free last year. No complaints though, still a bargain.

 

[blueroom]

I've been using voip.ms and Acrobits / PAP2T to do this for about a year. Average phone bill is about $3 month.

 

[evillageprowler]

Thanks for the pointer to GV and Talkatone. I'll give them a look. 1c/m is no big deal.

 

[liavman]

i prefer Yahoo Voice. I only pay $2.50 a month for a valid phone number so people can call me and if i dont pick up, they can leave a voice mail in my yahoo mailbox. Calls to cell phones are real cheap with Yahoo voice out. Like 1.7 cents a minute for US calls....and the lowest rates I have seen for international calls.

Google Voice is free....but will start charging like yahoo in January. I do like that google voice not only allows people to leave an audio message in your gmail box....but it also TRANSCRIBES the voice mail! Its pretty accurate too. However, sometimes it will turn to gibberish if the person leaving the message doesnt speak clearly.

There is also an app called Whistle Phone....which gives you a number for free AND the ability to make free calls anywhere in the US. Calls can only be 20 minutes long....and u do have to listen to a quick ad before calls...but its good in a pinch. People can't leave voice messages tho. Thats why i got yahoo.

Of course there is skype. Which i do like for skyoe to skyoe calls. Lots of people around the world use it, so it's great for international connections. And unlike Apple's facetime, does allow audio only calls. Calls to cell phones using skype are more expensive than Yahoo tho...so i only use skype for skype to skype calls.

Lastly facetime is great since i am a mac user....but as popular as Apple is....many of my friends still dpnt own an iphone or ipad. Hopefully soon. Same for imessage.

I have an unlocked iphone, since i travel alot and dont like being locked into expensive contracts. I have found that VOIP apps on my iphone, ipod and ipad are all i need.

Good summary of the options, MacDarcy. You are indeed a power user of these internet based services. With the yahoo voice having their own email, one possible issue is your voice mails are split in two places. I guess that is the same issue with GV also. Whistle has the followme feature where you can add your cell phone as one of the alternates phones to try and you can send that to your iPhone voice mail, so it is all in one place. I think it should work when you are traveling internationally if you do not have international roaming, your cell company should immediately send the cell phone call to voice mail.

About GV charging like yahoo, is that official? Do you have a link? Thanks.

 

[fsck-y dingo]

I think Apple is holding off on allowing FaceTime over 3G because it would be laggy.

When my phone was jailbroken I used FaceTime over 3G many times and I can tell you it's usually great quality. If you're down to one bar it can sometimes get jittery. I found even when that happens it's better than what Skype offers. With 4 or 5 bars of reception I can't tell the difference between 3G and wifi.

Apple may be against doing this but I'd be willing to bet the party most against the 3G FaceTime feature are the carriers. What they do usually makes little sense anyway. With my unlimited data plan I can email large files all day long but if I want to send a few 160 bytes messages (texts) it costs extra.