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Vonage Introduces iPhone VoIP App With Free 15 Minute Call

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Apr 12, 2001
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Vonage, the home voice-over-IP company, has introduced an iPhone app to compete with Skype. The new app, Time to Call, lets users make VoIP calls over 3G (in the US or Canada) or Wi-Fi (worldwide).

The app doesn't require an existing Vonage account. All billing is done via in-app purchasing, so users pay for calls using their existing iTunes account. The app is free to download and includes a free 15-minute call to just about anywhere in the world.

Vonage charges for calls in 15-minute increments, though "unused minutes may be used for additional calls to the same country or calling region."

vonage.jpg



We compared pricing between Vonage and Skype for a few different countries. Note that a number of countries charge different rates for calling mobile phones versus landline phones. Skype charges different rates depending on what type of phone is called. Vonage does not.

For calling France, for example, Skype charges $0.023/minute to call landlines, and $0.209 to call mobiles. Vonage charges $1.99 for 15 minutes or $0.133/minute for mobile or landline.

A call to China is $0.023/minute on Skype, and is $0.99 for 15 minutes or $0.066/minute on Vonage.

Calls to Russia on Skype are $0.052/minute for landlines and $0.089 for mobiles, though calls to landlines in Moscow or St. Petersburg are $0.023/minute. On Vonage, it's $1.99 for 15 minutes or $0.133/minute for mobile or landlines.

So, in some cases Vonage is cheaper, but not always. Its main advantage over Skype is in-app purchasing of calling blocks, and users aren't required to setup an account. Plus, new users get a free 15-minute call just for downloading the app.

Article Link: Vonage Introduces iPhone VoIP App With Free 15 Minute Call
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/03/vonage-introduces-iphone-voip-app-with-free-15-minute-call/
Ah well competition is good. May force Skype to lower their prices should this app get a good few users in the coming weeks.
 
I want the ability to place and receive calls from/to my Vonage home number. Attach it to my Vonage account, charge me a little extra, and call it good. Please?
 
Snowy_River said:
I want the ability to place and receive calls from/to my Vonage home number. Attach it to my Vonage account, charge me a little extra, and call it good. Please?
Click to expand...
+10 Yes! That would be awesome. A separate iTunes charge is nice if you don't have Vonage, but you should be able to tie it to your regular account and use your minutes.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

What if I am on wifi out of the country? I think the app said .99 per call, vs for 15 minutes....

I didn't try the free call yet to see how it works.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Snowy_River said:
I want the ability to place and receive calls from/to my Vonage home number. Attach it to my Vonage account, charge me a little extra, and call it good. Please?
Click to expand...

I don't have vonage, so I can't confirm this: isn't that what the vonage mobile for iPhone app is for?
 
Snowy_River said:
I want the ability to place and receive calls from/to my Vonage home number. Attach it to my Vonage account, charge me a little extra, and call it good. Please?
Click to expand...

Yes. I currently use Skype to call oversees or to call back to the US, via Wifi, when traveling. Using my home plan to call, with it's oversees calling ability, would be really worthwhile. No more need for a Skype number then.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A5274d Safari/7534.48.3)

Great, I'll try it out. The Skype iPhone app is an abomination, hope this one is better.
 
Richdmoore said:
What if I am on wifi out of the country?
Click to expand...
As far as I can tell, the best deal for this situation -- if you're calling the United States -- is to use Google Voice, previously configured Google Talk, and the Talkatone app on an iDevice (iPhone/iPod touch/iPad).

Properly configured, this combination will allow one to call the U.S. for free while abroad via WiFi.

I've used Talkatone myself to make free calls back to the U.S. on my iPod touch (via WiFi naturally since the device has no cellular hardware).
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/9A5274d)

1998 voiped... They want their hideous icon back.
 
Has anyone tried downloading the app, using the free fifteen minutes, deleting and redownloading? Will you again receive 15 minutes free? It probably won't work, but it's worth a shot.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

I think everyone's glossing over apple's revenue cut. When you only have an ipad 3G or the upcoming iPod 3G, you won't need a cell "phone" and apple will be getting money the carriers would have gotten.
 
Skype has been working just fine for me. No need to switch it now....but I'll dl it to just test it out.
 
I've tried this, and I can't seem to get it to work. I was trying to call Kenya and went through all the steps, but when it comes to entering the phone number, there's absolutely no way it will connect. I've tried every variation of numbers I could possibly think of (including country code, omitting it, adding zeros to the front, and taking them away, etc). I keep getting a message stating I've entered an incorrect number. The same number works perfectly on Skype, my iPhone, my landline and through a service called 'Cherry Call' (similar to 10-10-987 in the States). So, Vonage either knows something I don't about entering phone numbers in an illogical fashion, or this program does not give you access to just any phone number. Perhaps it's only good for calling landlines and not mobiles. I'll feel really stupid if someone finds that in fine print somewhere on the website and posts it here. =P
 
mac1984user said:
I've tried this, and I can't seem to get it to work. I was trying to call Kenya and went through all the steps, but when it comes to entering the phone number, there's absolutely no way it will connect. I've tried every variation of numbers I could possibly think of (including country code, omitting it, adding zeros to the front, and taking them away, etc). I keep getting a message stating I've entered an incorrect number. The same number works perfectly on Skype, my iPhone, my landline and through a service called 'Cherry Call' (similar to 10-10-987 in the States). So, Vonage either knows something I don't about entering phone numbers in an illogical fashion, or this program does not give you access to just any phone number. Perhaps it's only good for calling landlines and not mobiles. I'll feel really stupid if someone finds that in fine print somewhere on the website and posts it here. =P
Click to expand...

i called a UK mobile from Netherlands without issues....albiet call quality is as bad as Viber was when it first launched...
 
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