Using my Mac to ring family in the UK

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Geektastic

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#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.

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#1030386 24-Apr-2014 09:46

Skype can call landlines

Inphinity

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#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

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#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

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#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

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Geekzone

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#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.

Geektastic

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#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

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#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.

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wellygary

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#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

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#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

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#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

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#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

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#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

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#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?