Using my Mac to ring family in the UK

Forums › Mac OS › Using my Mac to ring family in the UK

Geektastic

14791 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#143704 24-Apr-2014 09:42

Is there any way to use my iMac to ring my mother's landline?

I certainly cannot see any simple and obvious one.

She has a computer and I can get her on FaceTime or Skype sometimes but she has a habit of leaving the computer closed (its a laptop) because her cat keeps walking over it!

I'd like to call her home phone from my computer (we have no landline) on our VDSL connection but there seems to be no immediately apparent way to do so.

1 | 2

5542 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Microsoft

#1030386 24-Apr-2014 09:46

Skype can call landlines

populism, the most important and misunderstood movement of our time

Inphinity

2576 posts

Uber Geek

#1030387 24-Apr-2014 09:46

You could use Skype to call her landline, but you'll need to pay. Otherwise you'll need a VOIP line of some sort.

Geektastic

14791 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1030391 24-Apr-2014 09:49

Inphinity: You could use Skype to call her landline, but you'll need to pay. Otherwise you'll need a VOIP line of some sort.

Yes, I suppose that is more or less what I had in mind. However, despite calls simply being some form of data it does not seem obviously possible to use VOIP?

In this day and age, it feels as though it should be a simple matter of 'click, click, ring' but is in fact some complex affair requiring some insider mojo!

wellygary

4918 posts

Uber Geek

#1030393 24-Apr-2014 09:50

UK "Skype out" rates are about 2c /minute, and you can pay using you skype credit balance

http://www.skype.com/en/rates/

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
68433 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1030395 24-Apr-2014 09:51

Both VoIP and Skype will cost - not as much as a POTS call. Just install Skype, load some credits and call the number. Easy, no configuration.

These links are referral codes

Geektastic

14791 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1030396 24-Apr-2014 09:51

Seems odd that I can't just do it over the data connection I already pay for and within that cost....

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
68433 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1030397 24-Apr-2014 09:53

Geektastic: Seems odd that I can't just do it over the data connection I already pay for and within that cost....

Two different services. And you are doing it over the data connection. If you wanted a voice service you wouldn't go with Naked Broadband or would use a ISP with VoIP (Snap, WxC, Orcon). Mind you they still charge the minutes anyway, just like Skype and other VoIP providers do.

These links are referral codes

wellygary

4918 posts

Uber Geek

#1030398 24-Apr-2014 09:53

It requires money to be paid for access to the Telco Network,

Legacy telcos are fussy about not giving away anything for free.

jonb

1569 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1030405 24-Apr-2014 09:54

Simplest would be to buy Skype credit, maybe a 1 year subscription for 300 mins a month to landlines in most countries (and mobiles in UK) for ~$4 a month.

Otherwise a VOIP account(e.g. sipgate.co.uk), and you can get a UK VOIP account to have a local UK number to call from and people to call to.

dclegg

2743 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1030420 24-Apr-2014 10:02

nathan: Skype can call landlines

Not only can it do this, but it is reasonably priced. It costs me around USD $1.50 for a 1 hour call to San Francisco. They also have a monthly subscription, if that makes more sense to your usage profile.

Inphinity

2576 posts

Uber Geek

#1030423 24-Apr-2014 10:09

Geektastic:
Yes, I suppose that is more or less what I had in mind. However, despite calls simply being some form of data it does not seem obviously possible to use VOIP?

In this day and age, it feels as though it should be a simple matter of 'click, click, ring' but is in fact some complex affair requiring some insider mojo!

How do you expect it to magically transition from a data connection on the internet, to a voice connection to a landline without some intermediary service (like Skype)?

Geektastic

14791 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1030430 24-Apr-2014 10:19

Inphinity:
Geektastic:
Yes, I suppose that is more or less what I had in mind. However, despite calls simply being some form of data it does not seem obviously possible to use VOIP?

In this day and age, it feels as though it should be a simple matter of 'click, click, ring' but is in fact some complex affair requiring some insider mojo!

How do you expect it to magically transition from a data connection on the internet, to a voice connection to a landline without some intermediary service (like Skype)?

I don't. I am a photographer. I expect someone else to do that...!

Geektastic

14791 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1030431 24-Apr-2014 10:22

jonb: Simplest would be to buy Skype credit, maybe a 1 year subscription for 300 mins a month to landlines in most countries (and mobiles in UK) for ~$4 a month.

Otherwise a VOIP account(e.g. sipgate.co.uk), and you can get a UK VOIP account to have a local UK number to call from and people to call to.

I don't find the audio quality very good on Skype. Is there a way to improve that?