Permanent Laptop Landline?

cormie

Hi,
I'm not too up to date on the whole VOIP thing. I'm looking for a solution to allow me to have a permanent landline number from my laptop (and a new laptop if I upgrade of course). Basically to have a portable landline, wherever I go, worldwide.

Is VOIP the solution?

If so, what are the best options to go for? I wouldn't be making many landline calls at all so I'd prefer a credit type option rather than a pay monthly option. So I just have a certain amount of credits that will last me until I use them, then I can top up again if I need to.

Would appreciate any feedback on this:) Also, will the laptop need to be on to get calls?

Cabaal

VoIP will do the job your looking for, the likes of blueface.ie and freepseech.ie can give you a VoIP 076 number or a landline gepgraphical number (sometimes for a fee)

which once setup with software on your laptop means that people can call you on your laptop

Unless you get an ATA (Anaolog Telephone Adapter) then yes your laptop would need to be powered on to receive/make calls.

cormie

Ok cool, thanks:)

Is the ATA expensive and do you need a normal phoneline to do it? As in, will I be able to receive calls say if I'm in a cafe that has wifi, with my laptop turned off?

Are blueface and freespeech the only options available to Irish people or can we sign up to other (better? cheaper?) websites? I assume they are the only ones who can offer a geographical number though? Could I get an 01 number if I reside in Dublin for example?

If I get a 076 number, will that be mine forever if I keep using it? What if I close the account, could it be offered to somebody else?

Is VOIP at a stage where it is reliable enough to use for say, a business landline number?

What does it cost somebody to call a VOIP number, on eircom for example? Is it the price of a local/national/international or mobile number or does it have its own rate?

nilhg

cormie wrote:

Ok cool, thanks:)

Is the ATA expensive and do you need a normal phoneline to do it? As in, will I be able to receive calls say if I'm in a cafe that has wifi, with my laptop turned off?

ATAs are about 70 euro each for the basic ones and need to be connected by ethernet to broadband, which can be dsl or wireless or cable so not likely to work in a cafe. You can though have two logins for one account which allows you to leave the ATA at home and use your laptop on the road, both will ring when you get a call

cormie wrote:

Are blueface and freespeech the only options available to Irish people or can we sign up to other (better? cheaper?) websites? I assume they are the only ones who can offer a geographical number though? Could I get an 01 number if I reside in Dublin for example?

You can sign up to whoever you like but only the Irish providers can give out Irish numbers, geo numbers tend to be tied to monthly plans

cormie wrote:

If I get a 076 number, will that be mine forever if I keep using it? What if I close the account, could it be offered to somebody else?

I presume the same rules apply as for POTS and mobile here, number allocation is controlled by Comreg

cormie wrote:

Is VOIP at a stage where it is reliable enough to use for say, a business landline number?

Depends on the business and on the quality of your broadband connection.

cormie wrote:

What does it cost somebody to call a VOIP number, on eircom for example? Is it the price of a local/national/international or mobile number or does it have its own rate?

Local call from all over the country, no matter where in the world the device is located. Both my sisters living in Australia have ATAs connected to Blueface so we have local call rates from any phone in Ireland to them.

cormie

Thanks for the help:)

what's the difference in an Irish number and a GEO number? I thought a Geo number was an Irish number when it was first mentioned:o

So will it still be the price of a local call for somebody in the USA/Europe/Asia etc to phone me from their Landline, or just Irish residents?

nilhg

A geo number is linked to your physical location ie 045 43xxxx is located in or around Newbridge .

The local call rate applies only to Irish residents, however it is possible to get numbers from other countries linked to your account, whoever you use as your provider will have to set it up for you.

watty

If you using mice/speaker on Laptop or a simple mic/ear piece plugged in, then you don't need an ATA. An ATA is only to use an analogue regular phone handset or DECT cordless basestation.

Any USB and most WiFi "VOIP" phones are not phones at all. They are just handset shaped sound cards. A 5 Euro mic/earpiece with 2 x 3.5mm plugs connected to a built in soundcard on PC or Laptop often works better. Such a setup works with Skype or SIP VOIP

You can get a true VOIP handset for SIP (or Skype, the two are incompatible), if corded you need ethernet port connected to Internet, and if cordless it usually needs a WiFi base station, there are also a few DECT cordless basestations that connection to ethernet directly but poor value comparet with an ATA and cheap DECT phone.

VOIP/SIP works best OUTSIDE the NAT/Firewall/Router, though you can get it to work in side a firewall, configuration of the firewall/NAT/Router is needed and the SIP client needs to support ICE/TURN/STUN type solutions.

cormie

Hi, thanks for that but unfortunately I didn't understand most of it:o

What is SIP? Is it VOIP software like Skype or is it a different type of communication to VOIP?

NAT/ICE/TURN/STUN, I don't have a clue what they are:p


Basically all I want is a solution that will allow me to make and receive calls through my laptop, anywhere I go, so if I'm in a wifi hotspot, I can make calls there, the same way I would if I was connected to an ethernet modem, the same way I would if I had a datacard broadband thingy (the likes that vodafone, and now 3 supply). So I don't think a solution where a phone will be connected to my router is for me, because I wouldn't be able to use that when in transit. I just want to use the same solution all the time.

I wont be making many calls at all, it's just so I have a cheaper way of calling landline numbers than spending 60 odd cent using my mobile if I need to. And also so I can give an alternative number than my mobile to people.

Does anyone know, if I get a geo number from the likes of blueface.ie, can I still be contacted on that number, if it's a Dublin number I get, and I'm in Cork at the time? Or even another country? Will my 01 number still connect to my laptop?

Thanks again for all the help everyone:)

adrian.s

cormie wrote:

Hi, thanks for that but unfortunately I didn't understand most of it:o

What is SIP? Is it VOIP software like Skype or is it a different type of communication to VOIP?

Not gonna touch on the actual details of this, it's something that is used under the hood to establish a call to another party, and skype doesn't use it.

cormie wrote:

Does anyone know, if I get a geo number from the likes of blueface.ie, can I still be contacted on that number, if it's a Dublin number I get, and I'm in Cork at the time? Or even another country? Will my 01 number still connect to my laptop?

Thanks again for all the help everyone:)

If you sign up for freespeech, you can get an 076 number. That basically is a voip number that anybody can call. You also get a sip login from freespeech, this is what's required to login to freespeech.ie servers so that when somebody calls you on that number, it knows where to send the call to.

In order to login from your laptop, you'll need a softphone, for example xten light (you'll find downloads on freespeech.ie and on blueface). You give it your login details so when the softphone starts up it knows where it has to log into. Once you are logged in, people can call you, the softphone on the laptop will ring, and you use your headset to chat. The beauty of this is that you can be anywhere in the world, and people get you on the same number. What's happening here is that the call is routed to freespeech, and it routes it over the internet to wherever you are.

You can also call out from your softphone provided you have credit with your voip provider. No matter where you are in the world, the call rates will be the same.

I personally use blueface and have found them to be very reliable. As I travel on occasion and it's extremely handy to be able to call home at local rates. I have a monthly plan with them so I've also got an 01 number. In this case you have 2 numbers that people can call you on and the softphone on your pc will ring no matter what number they call.

To get started, sign up for the evaluation offer thingy on blueface or a full account on freespeech. Download the phone, set it up as per their instructions and give yourself a call!

Hope this helps ya....

A.

cormie

Thanks, I'll give it a go:)

watty

Skype works via firewalls and anywhere. You can get an incoming phonenumber from Skype. Skype uses its own unique system.

All the regular VOIP suppliers use SIP (Vonage, Smart076, Blueface etc). SIP is hard to get working via a firewall. It usually won't work on a WiFi hotspot. (Skype will always work).

Travelling internationally with an Irish SIP account is much more a problem than using Skype. (This is where knowledge of SIP's ICE/TURN/STUN solutions to traverse a firewall is needed)

However sometimes SkypeIN (the phone number service) doesn't work well. Even without a SkypeIN phone number you can instantly add Skype Credit and make calls to regular phone numbers. Skype to other PC/Laptops is always free and never needs a phone number. SIP based VOIP for free and without a phone number is possible but not for the Faint Hearted.

All Commercial VOIP = SIP based Service = Mostly not work at Hotspot
Skype VOIP = Skype = Work anywhere and even to real phones

cormie

So you reckon it's a much better idea to go with Skype than other VOIP? I know Skype is the most popular alright. Would I get an 076 number from Skype that will be mine forever or do they use a different number system? Is Skype actually VOIP too yeah?

Really all I want is my own number that I can use in as many different places as possible, that people can contact me through when my laptop is on, and that I can make cheap calls to international landline numbers around the world regardless of where I am and also a pay as you go system with credit that wont expire. So what would be best for that?

Can skype use the ATA phones too?

nilhg

Cormie

Skype probably would be the best for your needs but it has one huge disadvantage for you in that you cannot get an Irish skypein number, so anyone who needs to call you will need to call an international number.
My advice to you would be to take your laptop to the type of places you plan on using VOIP from and run this test(pick the UK server), if you get consistently good results then SIP based solutions my be a runner, if not then you will have to use skype for outgoing and your mobile for incoming.

It probably would be no harm to post your question up on blueface's forums, they are quite helpful there.

cormie

Oh, I never realised that for people to contact me, they would have to call an international number through Skype:eek:

This would obviously cost them much more?

I hear VOIP can't be used with the vodafone datacards for broadband? Is it the same with Skype and Blueface etc?

kinaldo

adrian.s wrote:

You can also call out from your softphone provided you have credit with your voip provider. No matter where you are in the world, the call rates will be the same.

I personally use blueface and have found them to be very reliable. As I travel on occasion and it's extremely handy to be able to call home at local rates. I have a monthly plan with them so I've also got an 01 number. In this case you have 2 numbers that people can call you on and the softphone on your pc will ring no matter what number they call.

To get started, sign up for the evaluation offer thingy on blueface or a full account on freespeech. Download the phone, set it up as per their instructions and give yourself a call!

Hope this helps ya....

A.

I think this helps me too but I'm still slightly confused. I've just signed up to the freespeech free account for an 076 number. When I'm abroad will international rates be applied for receiving calls or is it necessary to upgrade to freespeech full access for the local 01 number to avail of local rates anywhere?

adrian.s

kinaldo wrote:

I think this helps me too but I'm still slightly confused. I've just signed up to the freespeech free account for an 076 number. When I'm abroad will international rates be applied for receiving calls or is it necessary to upgrade to freespeech full access for the local 01 number to avail of local rates anywhere?

Nope, if anybody in Ireland dials your 076 number they get charged at the national rate (they'll need to check with their provider for the exact cost, usually just a few cent/min) irrespective of where you are physically located in the world. You wont have to pay anything for the incoming call either. 076 can be treated as just another area code when people are dialing you, it's just the "area" you are physically in spans the planet!

A.

kinaldo

adrian.s wrote:

Nope, if anybody in Ireland dials your 076 number they get charged at the national rate (they'll need to check with their provider for the exact cost, usually just a few cent/min) irrespective of where you are physically located in the world. You wont have to pay anything for the incoming call either. 076 can be treated as just another area code when people are dialing you, it's just the "area" you are physically in spans the planet!

A.

Cool that's brilliant, but then what exactly are the benefits of having an 01 number as well? Is this needed for making local rate home calls around the globe or is it just for the sake of having two numbers and one with a fancy Dublin area code? Thanks.

adrian.s

kinaldo wrote:

Cool that's brilliant, but then what exactly are the benefits of having an 01 number as well? Is this needed for making local rate home calls around the globe or is it just for the sake of having two numbers and one with a fancy Dublin area code? Thanks.

Good Question! Once upon a time it might not have been possible to call an 076 from all providers so the geo area code was good to have. I ported over my existing number so I was able to migrate to voip and keep my old number. I guess if you're a business it's good to have a geo number in the same area as you are based. But you don't really need to have one!

A.

cormie

I didn't think I'd need a geo number but I now want it to put on my business cards. I have a 1890 number for Irish and then a 00-353-1- (Dublin) number for international. This means if somebody can't call an 1890 number, for whatever reason, they will see the Dublin number below and can call that instead of seeing some 076 number they wont be familiar with.

If it wasn't for business, I see no reason for not having one:)

I ended up going with freespeech anyway. Their €20 for full access and a geo number that doesn't expire unless you don't make a call for 6 months was a better option than the same service from blueface for €5 a month subscription. Just to start me off anyway. So I now have an 076 number and an 01 number that will last forever as long as I make a call every 6 months for €20:)