Use of VOIP for telephone calls.
Thread Starter
Use of VOIP for telephone calls.
I use a variety of VOIP services to make International phone calls, some via a computer programme and others via "phone cards". This allows me to make calls for 2.5c/min instead of the 60c/min charged by my NZ telephone provider.
However, I'm occasionally finding that however carefully I dial I get a wrong number.
Is it only me, or do the audio sounds get scrambled so that the incorrect number is identified ?
However, I'm occasionally finding that however carefully I dial I get a wrong number.
Is it only me, or do the audio sounds get scrambled so that the incorrect number is identified ?
Thread Starter
However, I'm occasionally finding that however carefully I dial I get a wrong number.
It's you!
if you have wifi and some Apple kit, (at both ends) try facetime. It can be video or calls only. Have used it in NZ to Uk and to Tx and it works fine.
Best of all, it is free.
Best of all, it is free.
Using VOIP
Yes, I use VOIP all the time. I use Gigaset VOIP telephones using the Gigaset N300 AIP base station.
I then subscribe to Easy option to save on your monthly calling charges right away., pays my €10 and get free landline calls for three months (have to pay for calls to mobile numbers). After that free period the cost of calls is taken from my €10 until I run low. I then buy another €10 worth and get another three months of free calls.
So cost of calls though my TalkTalk account is zero, and calls through voipdiscount amount to about €30 per year.
I am unable to detect any difference in call quality between VOIP and the regular service.
Oh, I nearly forgot I can use voipdiscount on my iPhone (because there is an app called Mobile VOIP) when I am using any wifi network. The app links to my voipdiscount account.
Simples!
I then subscribe to Easy option to save on your monthly calling charges right away., pays my €10 and get free landline calls for three months (have to pay for calls to mobile numbers). After that free period the cost of calls is taken from my €10 until I run low. I then buy another €10 worth and get another three months of free calls.
So cost of calls though my TalkTalk account is zero, and calls through voipdiscount amount to about €30 per year.
I am unable to detect any difference in call quality between VOIP and the regular service.
Oh, I nearly forgot I can use voipdiscount on my iPhone (because there is an app called Mobile VOIP) when I am using any wifi network. The app links to my voipdiscount account.
Simples!
Last edited by Frelon; 22nd Sep 2015 at 16:41. Reason: Speeling!
Thread Starter
Frelon - Thanks, I used do exactly the same with a NZ based operator, i.e. $10 deposit for free calls for a set period, then use up the $10 until it is time to add more money, but recently a NZ service has started whereby I insert the numbers into my computer - my number and the one I'm calling - then they call me back and only connect when I pick up, free around NZ but I pay for International calls, but the other day I didn't want to wake my wife with the call back, so used a "phonecard" and it is this that has occasionally called the wrong number.
There are two kinds of VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and they can perform quite differently
One is 100% internet where you call from your computer or tablet to an number registered with a VOIP operator- say Skype or Whatsapp . The registering part usually comes from syncing your contacts selecting some to call this way . In this case the call is 10% VOIP and has to be answered byan IP device. Often/usually free
The other is where you have a special phone or a different type of PC app where the call starts out as VOIP and indeed is carried over the internet until it gets to hand off point at the destination end where its ends up back on the local phone network and makes effectively a local call to complete the connection-cheaper than 100% phone service but not free. However you can call any number anywhere .
They both have their advantages but as we saw the other day with Skype they are not 100% reliable and can run into problems with call quality that phone calls do not have -this can be temporary high internet loadings or the interface between the internet and phone network not working properly.
However the trend is towards everything becoming voip especialy from your smart phone which is smart but not the most functional phone in many ways , but think about how many times you actually use it for a phone call.
This could be done now but mobile operators are too busy ripping people off on international calls or special rate numbers to be very proactive However the trend is such that by 2018 I reckon your mobile contract will just be Mbs with voice and text absorbed into that
One is 100% internet where you call from your computer or tablet to an number registered with a VOIP operator- say Skype or Whatsapp . The registering part usually comes from syncing your contacts selecting some to call this way . In this case the call is 10% VOIP and has to be answered byan IP device. Often/usually free
The other is where you have a special phone or a different type of PC app where the call starts out as VOIP and indeed is carried over the internet until it gets to hand off point at the destination end where its ends up back on the local phone network and makes effectively a local call to complete the connection-cheaper than 100% phone service but not free. However you can call any number anywhere .
They both have their advantages but as we saw the other day with Skype they are not 100% reliable and can run into problems with call quality that phone calls do not have -this can be temporary high internet loadings or the interface between the internet and phone network not working properly.
However the trend is towards everything becoming voip especialy from your smart phone which is smart but not the most functional phone in many ways , but think about how many times you actually use it for a phone call.
This could be done now but mobile operators are too busy ripping people off on international calls or special rate numbers to be very proactive However the trend is such that by 2018 I reckon your mobile contract will just be Mbs with voice and text absorbed into that
Thread Starter
Thank you for all your comments, but my question was not so much about the systems available, but is it possible that the "tones" provided by my computer, when I use a call back system, or my handset when I use a Phonecard and my telephone, can be degraded such that although I may push the 1234 buttons, in fact 1237 is transmitted, therefore connecting me to the wrong number ? Although it is rare, it does happen.
Of course we can all be subject to "finger trouble" but knowing that there is a possibility of mis-slection we are VERY careful when making International calls, yet errors still occur, even to Mrs. ExS yesterday when she tried to call me locally on my cellphone, she didn't have to push the right numbers, just selected it from the memory bank, which she usually does, but that time if called the wrong number. Which supports my theory.
I'm presuming that each digit has a specific tonal frequency, and if ever so slightly off frequency for whatever reason, the wrong digit is transmitted, but maybe not ?
I'm assuming the Tonal Frequency gambit 'cos I recall sometime in the '60's (?) when telephone dialling was moving from the rotary dial system to the push button system that we use now, some Smart Alec in the USA invented what was called the "Blue Box", i.e. he created a gadget that mimicked the sound of the buttons being pressed and used it in public telephone boxes to make free toll calls. I have no idea how he did it, and of course he was eventually apprehended, but his system depended upon creating the right sounds for each of the keys that he might otherwise have pressed on the telephone keypad.
Another thing !! Telephone keypads have a top row of buttons that read 1 2 3, but electronic calculators have a top row that reads 7 8 9 - but as they are both the product of the modern electronic age, couldn't they have got together !! The whole idea of the British 999 number for Police emergencies was because one could find the last hole on the old rotary dial even in the dark, but now, if I have to dial the Police in a situation where I can't see the keypad I would have to remember which key was the 9 ? Is it third from the top of the right hand column, as on a telephone, or top right as on a calculator. KISS. You may think this is inconsequential, but when you are over 80. and can't even remember where the car keys are - you might agree with me !!
Of course we can all be subject to "finger trouble" but knowing that there is a possibility of mis-slection we are VERY careful when making International calls, yet errors still occur, even to Mrs. ExS yesterday when she tried to call me locally on my cellphone, she didn't have to push the right numbers, just selected it from the memory bank, which she usually does, but that time if called the wrong number. Which supports my theory.
I'm presuming that each digit has a specific tonal frequency, and if ever so slightly off frequency for whatever reason, the wrong digit is transmitted, but maybe not ?
I'm assuming the Tonal Frequency gambit 'cos I recall sometime in the '60's (?) when telephone dialling was moving from the rotary dial system to the push button system that we use now, some Smart Alec in the USA invented what was called the "Blue Box", i.e. he created a gadget that mimicked the sound of the buttons being pressed and used it in public telephone boxes to make free toll calls. I have no idea how he did it, and of course he was eventually apprehended, but his system depended upon creating the right sounds for each of the keys that he might otherwise have pressed on the telephone keypad.
Another thing !! Telephone keypads have a top row of buttons that read 1 2 3, but electronic calculators have a top row that reads 7 8 9 - but as they are both the product of the modern electronic age, couldn't they have got together !! The whole idea of the British 999 number for Police emergencies was because one could find the last hole on the old rotary dial even in the dark, but now, if I have to dial the Police in a situation where I can't see the keypad I would have to remember which key was the 9 ? Is it third from the top of the right hand column, as on a telephone, or top right as on a calculator. KISS. You may think this is inconsequential, but when you are over 80. and can't even remember where the car keys are - you might agree with me !!
Last edited by ExSp33db1rd; 25th Sep 2015 at 00:40.
Ex Speedbird FYI
If it wasn't for your explanation about being very careful dialling (as we still call it even tho dials are long gone) I would have suggested finger trouble as of course 4 and 7 are adjacent.
On the technicalities the traditional (but still rotatory dial) phone network used what was called Dual Tone Multi frequency signalling (DTMF) which transmitted the numbers by using a code made up of two frequencies out of five - you could often here this 'tune ' if you dialled a number and then pressed redial so they were sent quickly one after the other. People in the US like the blue box man used to covet phone numbers that paled the opening bars to Dixie of the national anthem.
But back to your problem. If you are calling computer to computer these tones are not used the number starts out in the standard keyboard code for numerics and is sent as a digital signal all the way to the far end .
If you are using one of the systems where the internet carries the call say from NZ to the UK but to an ordinary phone number (say like Skype out , where the called party) doesn't have a PC) then there is room for error as the internet digital code has to be converted back in to phone network speak and there is the possibility of a fault there.
If you are phoning from an ordinary phone there is again the possibility that the wrong frequency pair is sent for the wrong digit but that shouldn't affect you on voip.
So your options are
1 You have a voip phone and the 4 or 7 key makes a bad contact sometimes -they are adjacent
2 You use a Skype out type service where the far end is Offnet and the conversion back to ph0ne signalling is faulty
3 You are using end to end on net and the problem is your pc keyboard if you are using laptop or desktop-try typing a string of fours and see if the occasional seven appears.
Not much help I am afraid but they are the fault options.
As to the calculator keypad difference that was a big issue back in the 70s when a huge amount of effort went into discussing the layout for a phone keypad -including the names and symbols for what became * and #.
The reason they are not the same is really one for the calculator people since in the USA DTMF -push button -phones were there before calculators .
And finally about 999 it is easy to find but on the old rotary phones it used to take the dial three seconds to send the signal whereas 911 on a US dial phone took only 1.3 seconds because the ones take less time that the 9s to send the info to the exchange. That's whey New York is area code 212 because 1 and 9 were never used as the first digit of phone numbers and as New York received the most calls it got the code that dial fastest. And yes someone did work that out for all of America because it actually made difference to the giant clockwork electromechanical switches how fast the numbers were sent, hence NY 212 LA 213 Chicago 312 and so on
PB
If it wasn't for your explanation about being very careful dialling (as we still call it even tho dials are long gone) I would have suggested finger trouble as of course 4 and 7 are adjacent.
On the technicalities the traditional (but still rotatory dial) phone network used what was called Dual Tone Multi frequency signalling (DTMF) which transmitted the numbers by using a code made up of two frequencies out of five - you could often here this 'tune ' if you dialled a number and then pressed redial so they were sent quickly one after the other. People in the US like the blue box man used to covet phone numbers that paled the opening bars to Dixie of the national anthem.
But back to your problem. If you are calling computer to computer these tones are not used the number starts out in the standard keyboard code for numerics and is sent as a digital signal all the way to the far end .
If you are using one of the systems where the internet carries the call say from NZ to the UK but to an ordinary phone number (say like Skype out , where the called party) doesn't have a PC) then there is room for error as the internet digital code has to be converted back in to phone network speak and there is the possibility of a fault there.
If you are phoning from an ordinary phone there is again the possibility that the wrong frequency pair is sent for the wrong digit but that shouldn't affect you on voip.
So your options are
1 You have a voip phone and the 4 or 7 key makes a bad contact sometimes -they are adjacent
2 You use a Skype out type service where the far end is Offnet and the conversion back to ph0ne signalling is faulty
3 You are using end to end on net and the problem is your pc keyboard if you are using laptop or desktop-try typing a string of fours and see if the occasional seven appears.
Not much help I am afraid but they are the fault options.
As to the calculator keypad difference that was a big issue back in the 70s when a huge amount of effort went into discussing the layout for a phone keypad -including the names and symbols for what became * and #.
The reason they are not the same is really one for the calculator people since in the USA DTMF -push button -phones were there before calculators .
And finally about 999 it is easy to find but on the old rotary phones it used to take the dial three seconds to send the signal whereas 911 on a US dial phone took only 1.3 seconds because the ones take less time that the 9s to send the info to the exchange. That's whey New York is area code 212 because 1 and 9 were never used as the first digit of phone numbers and as New York received the most calls it got the code that dial fastest. And yes someone did work that out for all of America because it actually made difference to the giant clockwork electromechanical switches how fast the numbers were sent, hence NY 212 LA 213 Chicago 312 and so on
PB
Thread Starter
pax britanica. ... Thank you very much for your detailed reply, fills in a lot of gaps for me ! 4 and 7 aren't necessarily my problem, I just used that as an example, but maybe two keys in close proximity may give a problem of crossed connectivity - maybe. Never say never.
I hadn't thought about the length of time taken for the old rotary dial to transmit a 9 or a 1, and maybe that is why the NZ Police use 111, but I think that the ability to find an easy digit, or key, in the dark or reduced visibility, e.g. heavy smoke, outweighs a few seconds gained, which is why the USA 911 is illogical, one has to stop after the 9 and find the 1... but then who said the USA was ever logical, look at their date formula, small,medium,large or large, medium, small makes sense, but medium,small, large. i.e. month, day, year is illogical. ( and no, I'm not starting another Yank bashing contest - wouldn't dare, I'm married to one ! )
Cheers and thanks again.
ExS.
I hadn't thought about the length of time taken for the old rotary dial to transmit a 9 or a 1, and maybe that is why the NZ Police use 111, but I think that the ability to find an easy digit, or key, in the dark or reduced visibility, e.g. heavy smoke, outweighs a few seconds gained, which is why the USA 911 is illogical, one has to stop after the 9 and find the 1... but then who said the USA was ever logical, look at their date formula, small,medium,large or large, medium, small makes sense, but medium,small, large. i.e. month, day, year is illogical. ( and no, I'm not starting another Yank bashing contest - wouldn't dare, I'm married to one ! )
Cheers and thanks again.
ExS.
It is interesting to look at the distribution of the 'old' area codes i.e. the ones with second digits of 1 or 0.
Not only can you tell which places were important by having fast-dialling codes like 212 - New York and 213 - Los Angeles, but also which places were not important - the ones with slow-dialling zeros in their codes, for example Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and the Western Canadian provinces.
Not only can you tell which places were important by having fast-dialling codes like 212 - New York and 213 - Los Angeles, but also which places were not important - the ones with slow-dialling zeros in their codes, for example Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and the Western Canadian provinces.
