Dummy's guide - help please

angeldaisy

Wondered if anyone can help me understand what I need.

I'm thinking of getting rid of my landline, only time I really use it is to phone my family in the UK. I have a skype account and use my smartphone.
Thing is what do I need to be able to get my parents set up in order to skype? They are in their 60's and aren't really technically minded and have bog standard mobiles. they do have broadband though.
If they get skype through the pc - does it need to be on for me to be able to call them?
Please help - very simple terms please - not really confident on this!!:o

Mr. G

Here is a simple diagram of how VOIP works:


If you wanted to save on calls and keep your existing providers here is how you would setup that. However, you will make outgoing calls via VOIP and inbound will come through voip and from the land line. If they have DSL broadband this is your option:


Here is a diagram of an IP phone which can connect directly to your broadband connection. Idealy you can port your number, if you have broadband (DSL) on that line, that will need to be cancelled:


Of course you could always buy an Analogue Telephone Adapter (cheap on ebay) and try it out first. As I said, inbound via landline and test outgoing via VOIP over your existing broadband. You will still pay line rental just lower call costs. You outgoing caller ID can be set to show as your existing landline phone number caller ID even though you haven't ported you number. You don't ever have to port your number to change the Caller ID on outgoing VOIP calls.

Idealy I wouldn't use Skype, you can't port a number to them as they have no agreements with Eircom.

Here are some guides that might help you:
http://www.blueface.ie/helpandadvice/newtoblueface.aspx#VoIP
http://www.blueface.ie/helpandadvice/newtoblueface.aspx
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=256682
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ip-telephony.htm

If you have any questions please ask!

I suggest you check the cheapest and most viable providers, here are some i would recommend you to take a look at:
http://www.goldfish.ie/page.aspx
http://www.blueface.ie/
http://www.blueface.ie/residential.aspx

What is the existing broadband provider and what is the router? Could you post a speedtest result?

http://www.speedtest.net/

Feelfree to ask any questions you might have.

Edit: you can also setup QoS which will give the voip phone priority to use the internet connection and so you will not get any glitches. The sound should never glitch like a mobile out of coverage, sound does not use as must data as video does.

Yeah the PC will need to be on and the skype program turned on also (usually when skype is installed it turns on automatically then when the PC is turned on). You probably would have to ensure that the computer that your parents have, contains a microphone and a speaker (which is usually standard) as a minimum, a webcam can be an additional feature.

Or, you could get the Freetalk office phone on the skype shop? It's €88 to buy, you just plug it into the broadband router (no PC connection needed on their end) so it's always on and it allows free skype to skype calls, looks like an ordinary fone.

Mr. G

angeldaisy wrote: »

Thing is what do I need to be able to get my parents set up in order to skype? They are in their 60's and aren't really technically minded and have bog standard mobiles. they do have broadband though.
If they get skype through the pc - does it need to be on for me to be able to call them?
Please help - very simple terms please - not really confident on this!!:o

You could get them an IP phone to connect to Skype. You could than ring that IP phone from your skype pc software or from your IP phone.

Although you can't poort your number to Skype which is why I explained voip and other providers which allow you to port numbers.

It generally costs 1.8 cent to call the UK on voip, if you have a package its less. So. you could move to voip and leave the relatives in the UK the way the have it, and you won't have to worry about the expense.

---

If you just want to get rid of the landline altogether, get your relatives a skype phone to connect to their broadband. Then you can ring that phone anytime and they don't have to have the PC turned on.

They have to be online and have the computer on in order for you to call them on the computer.

If they have a skype phone connected to their broadband, you simply ring them from your smartphone.

angeldaisy

Thanks for all that help and information. I will talk to them and see which they prefer. might be easier to just go with the skype option.
Need to take the step into getting rid of the house phone first!

malachy47

If there both in their 60's won't they soon, if not already, be eligible for free line rental in any case? You can use Skype to call landlines on your end.

angeldaisy

malachy47 wrote: »

If there both in their 60's won't they soon, if not already, be eligible for free line rental in any case? You can use Skype to call landlines on your end.

Isn't there a cost though to phone landlines using skype? plus I also need them to be able to phone me and avoid charges.
They only pay about 20 stg a month for their phone and broadband and that includes free calls to my landline.

malachy47

angeldaisy wrote: »

Isn't there a cost though to phone landlines using skype? plus I also need them to be able to phone me and avoid charges.
They only pay about 20 stg a month for their phone and broadband and that includes free calls to my landline.

Yes, there is a cost for Skype to landline. If this puts you off then I would suggest a dedicated Skype phone that plugs into an RJ-45 port on your parent's router. Thus no need for a PC and you save electricity, not to mention complexity to boot.

Something along the lines of http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PANASONIC-KX-WP1050E-SKYPE-PHONE-WIFI-CORDLESS-SKYPE-/251042228362#ht_514wt_971 is all you'd need at your parents house.

Mylow

I would go a different route.
I would get a UK phone number from www.sipgate.co.uk (they are free, you can get your parents area code).
I would then buy a IP phone (Cisco SPA IP Phone) for your home in Ireland, configure it with the Sipgate UK number.
You could get an account with one ot the Irish VOIP providers for calls to IRL/UK. thsi should cost you less than €8 a month.

I have posted an example here

edit: Sipgate will only offer 0845/0870 numbers if you access there site from a non-UK IP address. Get family in the UK to set-up account for you.

Mr. G

Mylow wrote: »

I would go a different route.
I would get a UK phone number from www.sipgate.co.uk (they are free, you can get your parents area code).
I would then buy a IP phone (Cisco SPA IP Phone) for your home in Ireland, configure it with the Sipgate UK number.
You could get an account with one ot the Irish VOIP providers for calls to IRL/UK. thsi should cost you less than €8 a month.

I have posted an example here

edit: Sipgate will only offer 0845/0870 numbers if you access there site from a non-UK IP address. Get family in the UK to set-up account for you.

As I mentioned before, you could port your number to an irish voip provider and then cancel line rental. you get cheap call plans with no line rental, like the €9.99 blufce plan.

You can't port your number to Skype.

Its against the regulations in the UK to get a geographic number when you have no uk address.

Mylow

Mr_Grumpy wrote: »

As I mentioned before, you could port your number to an irish voip provider and then cancel line rental. you get cheap call plans with no line rental, like the €9.99 blufce plan.

You can't port your number to Skype.

Its against the regulations in the UK to get a geographic number when you have no uk address.

They have a UK address, their family/parents.

From OFCOM
"However, there might be nothing to prevent a user technically from
connecting to the service from another location (such as a Wi-Fi hotspot or
Internet café). Article 23 of the USD (as transposed in GC 3) would not be
relevant when the service is used in these other locations."

Blueface certainly used to Provide UK numbers at an extra cost at one stage this may have changed.

Petercarlos

As far as I know about skype, you need to be on in order to call your parents but why don’t you consider taking hosted PBX VoIP services. You can set up an IP phone at your parents’ place and make calls to US at low rates. You can also get many advanced features like caller-ID, voicemail, and many more. I am also taking this service to talk to my family and it is working well. My telephony bills are quite less even though I talk quite a lot.

jeckle

Just how bog standard are their mobiles? They might be able to install Skype on them if they're compatible?

I see from a recent post that you are (or were) with Three. If you're a billpay customer (Flexifix, Flex and Flex Max plans) you can use 50% of your flexiunits to call UK landlines & mobiles, so you may want to consider that as an option also.

pizzahead77

Here's some options for Skype calls without using a computer - adapters for your normal landline phone.

http://shop.skype.com/intl/en-ie/phones/#/#categoryid=2&sortby=3&price_range=~100|100~200|200~300|300~&page=1