It’s been quite a while since my last post about the best free voip setup. A lot has changed. Small startup companies that I dismissed earlier now offer pretty amazing services, and other more established ones have continued to grow. Look at Skype, for instance. Although they are the most closed and proprietary of the entire group, their range, breadth, and ease of services, along with their huge (and growing) customer base, has clearly kept them on top. If my friends and family are on Skype, by default, I have to be too, even if I am “pro-SIP.”
Basically, I have Skype but only actually run it when I need to. I had been waiting for a way to call Skype users through a regular phone, and I’ve finally found one! Check out Mobivox. This is a spanking new service which allows you to call your Skype contacts through any phone. I tried it out the day it became available. I had problems connecting, but I emailed customer service, and it was working within hours. I used it, and even though still in beta, the service was very good! All I had to do was call an access number and tell the voice-activated robot which Skype contact I wanted to call. So easy it’s cheesy.

Now what do you do when the person you would like to call does NOT have a computer nor internet service? You set up yourself and that person (make an account for them) on Jajah. This is what I did to call my grandmother in Europe. We both were talking on our regular phones, but were connected through VOIP by Jajah. Amazing, and the quality is great! My grandmother couldn’t believe that such a clear long-distance call was free. You do, however, need to beware all the limitations that keep your account ‘active’. Calls are only free when you call an ‘active’ user. Gizmo is touting a similar ‘All Calls Free‘ plan, but I their limitations seemed way too stifling.

Another mover-upper is Gtalk-to-Voip. I had visited their site months ago, and saw nothing spectacular. Now I go there, and it’s like “WOW!” They have truly integrated different VOIP services (even on different protocols!) over the internet for open and free internet calling. It looks like all the major players (except Skype, of course) are included, such as GoogleTalk, Gizmo, Yahoo, SIP providers, etc. I’m very excited to explore this service further.(..thanks Yannick!)

My original favorite, Ekiga, has been making moves lately as well. With a new version out, a Windows version, and some new features, oldie-but-goodie Ekiga is still up in the running. I particularly like their new “presence” feature - you can add a button anywhere online to show your status and allow people to call you with just one click.

Using SIP (the most standard open-source protocol), this guide will show you how to get FREE incoming(with your own call-in number!) & outgoing calls through your softphone with multiple voip providers, along with setting up your sip address.

As you can saw in my previous post about softphones, I did a lot of research and playing around with different software to get the best setup for me. I wanted something non-proprietary (and so, way more accessible) but feature-filled (as much as possible). I also preferred a method that could work cross-platform, as I do have both Windows & Linux on my computer. Unfortunately I did not find much on Macs (though I do have one recommendation below), so I have little to recommend to Mac-users, which includes my sister who has been waiting for a good answer as well.

After some downloading & tinkering, I’ve finally found the best way (for me) to communicate through my computer. I believe that using the SIP protocol is the best, as its the most standard of the open networks to date, and there are many different softphones to choose from. However, it seems that only a small percentage of those actually allow you to choose your own provider (and so, let you know your sip address)! Many of the sip programs out there actually are just trying to suck you into their group with grand displays of “free!” all over their sites, only to pile on fees later (like Skype did).

Well, I have found a way to get FREE calls, IN & OUT of my softphone to landlines(most countries) & mobile phones (the U.S.) alike. Yes, yes, it’s true. This method requires a few tricks, and a couple different services. I didn’t spend a penny, and I’m actually pretty surprised myself. I’m sure this won’t last forever though, so hop on this bandwagon while you still can!
Summary:

1. Get a customizable/configurable sip softphone (for instance Ekiga for Linux (or Windows now!) and X-lite for Windows/Mac).
2. Find a voip provider that offers free outgoing calls (such as Voipbuster, which I use).
3. Find a voip provider that offers a free incoming number (such as IpKall or SipNumber or Stanaphone) or (better for people–from different places–calling you to get cheaper rates) just access your sip account through SipBroker’s access numbers.
4. Set up a mother account (for instance at Voxalot) to manage & direct your calls
5. Configure your softphone to register with your mother account.
6. Set up a sip alias account at sip411.com
7. Give out your “regular” number(for people calling you from regular phones) and your sip address(for calls through the computer) for people to contact you. [Note: you can also map your “regular” number to your ip address with other services if you want to have just one number for finding you]
• establish your “presence” on your website, blog, or myspace? account with clickable icons to contact you

#1 - Softphone

I used Ekiga (on my Ubuntu) with Voipbuster’s free calling as the default account, then sign up(optional, actually) for SIP Broker’s alias & PSTN-SIP service. If you have both Linux & Windows, like me, you will be able to follow pretty easily, as you will soon see. If you have just Windows, you will have to hope that the beta Ekiga will work well on your computer or use another softphone like X-lite, and if you have just Linux, you will need to borrow somebody’s Windows to download Voipbuster once in order to sign up for their account (Note: you won’t need it after that though).

For those of you with Ubuntu Dapper, you probably already have Ekiga installed. For the rest of you (Linux & Windows), please follow the links on my previous post to download Ekiga. Go ahead and sign up for their sip address if you don’t have one already (though you don’t NEED to, since you will be setting up other providers later/below). Also, you can log in at ekiga.net and find out your alias number. Write this down, as this will be handy later.

For those of you with Mac or Windows, I would suggest X-Lite (which also works on Linux, if you want it). It is customizable, easy to set-up, and has a pretty slick interface. It looks like it could be skinnable too (but it’s not!). It also seems to read your network and automatically configure itself to work (a real time (and hair) saver). Mac users could also try Xmeeting, which also has some good reviews.
#2 - Free Outgoing Voip

Next, you will need to get a free account at Voipbuster’s. You will have to download their softphone program (Windows only) & from there you can sign up automatically for your account. Remember your username & password, and that’s it. Voipbuster’s will be your outgoing voip provider, since it’s typically free (for many countries). Check here, though, for other options, if Voipbuster doesn’t work for you.
#3 - Free Incoming Number

After that, it’s time to get your free incoming number. At ipKall, you can get a free number only from Washington State, while at SipNumber, the number is randomized but will most likely never be the local number you want. (you’ll have to pay for a local number) I set up SipNumber for myself and ended up with an Iowa area code - not really that appealing to me. So I found Stanaphone, where I got a local NYC number (212, 718, & 646 are already being billed about $15, so I got a free “347″ area code instead). If you are looking for a more stable non-free but still cheap solution, take a look at Les.net, which offers numbers to people for a low monthly payment. Voip-info.org lists more bargain voip providers.

#4 - Mother Voip Account

If your softphone allows multiple sip providers, you do not need this (you could register your multiple voip providers through the option menu), though I would still suggest it.[Correction: After I found out that Voxalot does not transmit instant messages (at least for me, it did NOT work), I’d like to revise this. Although Voxalot’s great for having multiple CALLING plans, your *best* bet is to use a softphone with multiple providers, period. This way you can still have your instant messages, etc, too…I also had issues with caller ID & sip presence] You have one spot for all your accounts, you get free voicemail, and you can set up calling plans. If you switch partitions, change softphone programs, hop to a new provider, etc, you only have to make the change once, in your mother account. Go to Voxalot and set up your mother account there. It seems complicated, but it’s not. Login, click on “Providers” in the right-hand sidebar, and just add your voip providers, one by one, with your account names/numbers, passwords, & provider host addresses. For instance, check out my Voipbuster setup, below: (make sure to add your username & password)

After you save, make sure each one is ‘registered’, and then you should be ready to go. Mine looks like this:

What’s great about Voxalot is that it routes your calls in & out, taking your voicemail if you are out or your computer’s off, and can be a provider itself as well. What’s really great, is that you can use the “Dial Plans” page to tell Voxalot exactly which provider to use for which kind of call. Here is where you input your free outgoing call provider (such as Voipbuster), so that Voxalot knows to use that provider when you need it. I used these parameters:

This tells voxalot to use Voipbuster(for free outgoing calls) when I dial “1″ - whenever I dial ANY U.S. number, basically. (I can also do the same thing for “0″ which would tell make it use Voipbuster for international calls as well).

#5 - Configure Softphone

The first thing you need to do is register your softphone to your mother account. (if you are just using multiple accounts, then you need to register each one on your softphone). Go to your options, edit Accounts, or preferences menu, and there should be a button to “ADD” a new client. (This is just like adding providers in Voxalot in #4 above. ) There you will need to input your voip provider’s information, such as your username or #, your password, and it’s voip server, which is typically just —–.com or sip.—-.com. If those don’t work, then try pinging the provider to get its exact ip address to input there instead. “Authorized User” is the same as your username or #. You will know if you set up that part correctly, because your softphone will try to register with the provider/s and will tell you if it connected or not. [Note: if you set up a Voxalot account, and it is working correctly with your providers properly ‘registered’, then you just need to configure your softphone to register with Voxalot only]
Next you should try some calls to see test your setup (softphone & providers). Try calling yourself (with your free incoming number), and try calling out through your softphone. If you have any problems actually connecting, either way, then you need to check your settings.
For instance, I noticed that I need to open extra ports for Ekiga to work properly. You can see my write-up on port forwarding here. Alternatively, you may just need to make sure your firewall is allowing your softphone program overall access, &/or check to see that your port 5060 (typically used for these programs) is open.
Other issues with audio, etc, can be more complicated (i.e. I probably won’t know the answer for your problem).

#6 - Alias Sip Address

Although it seems they haven’t updated their website in a while and I’m not sure how many people actually use it, sip411.com seems like a great place to set up an alias for your sip address. Say you have signed up with voxalot.com, freeworld dialup, sipPhone or ekiga.net. Now you have some username which usually is just a number (in the case of ekiga, I got a name with a number). With sip411, you can pick any username you choose, and use it as an alias for your other sip accounts. This way you will always have one easy permanent sip address to give out, especially if you have multiple sip addresses or you change your voip provider/s.

Another option could be to use SipBroker as a place not only to get an alias for your sip address (though it has to be a number too), but also access codes for people to call you from almost worldwide. For instance, if your friend lived in Washington, DC, they would call 1-202-552-1297 and get an automated message telling them to input the provider code (for instance my voxalot code is *010) + user number (for instance your voxalot #). If you had set up an alias number through sipBroker, your number would be *011-1-alias#. You can look up your provider code # here. SipPhone & FWD have a similar, but smaller, service but even though I tried several times, I could not connect the call to my computer. [note: I’ve since read that those sipphone/fwd access numbers don’t work?]

#7 - Go Public!

Now that you’re setup to make & receive calls and give out a permanent sip address & telephone number, you are ready to let the world know! One way to do this is through online “presence”, indicating to others, usually with some icon, whether you are available or not. Many Some voip providers out there have code ready for you on your member/account page. You can paste it on the web, if you like. When people see that you are online, they can click on it and automatically connect to you (voice or im), of course, only if they are using compatible software. This is why it is crucial that people stay away from proprietary software (like Skype), and stick with open protocols which don’t limit interoperability or stop us from communication.

Tell us how you set up your internet calling below in the comments area…

     After posting my previous article on wifi phones, I decided that it’s time to finally do something about my computer’s voip softphone. I currently use Skype, whose temporary “free calling to any phone” is officially over. Having switched to Ubuntu, I realize that I really should ween myself off the proprietary Skype which even my sister’s job won’t let her use because of security risks. Ekiga is already installed on my Ubuntu dapper, so I decided to finally get a SIP account. But, now what? I don’t know anybody on SIP (just Skype), so I ended up on a furious internet search to check out my options. This (below) is a condensed outline of what I found, and boy was there A LOT on this subject out there, phew!

• Skype - PROS: I know people on it, video, text messages & file transfers are included, easy to set up and use. CONS: the Linux version is OLD OLD OLD, brings my system to a screeching halt everytime a text message is being sent, Skype forces your computer to act as a Supernode from time to time (did you know this?), and since it is closed proprietary software (why is this important?), you can’t contact anybody not on Skype (except if you pay to call a landline/cellphone).
• Ekiga - Formerly known as GnomeMeeting, Ekiga is already built into Ubuntu Dapper, has an easy to set up account, is compatible with SIP & H.323, and has a nice interface with audio/video, as well as chat; though I don’t see anything for transferring files, and it doesn’t look easy to find other users. I haven’t found any yet, and so cannot really comment on much other than how Ekiga looks. I now use Ekiga all the time, and its great! For a list of programs that work with Ekiga, check this out. For a beta Windows version, try here or here or HERE (updated).
• Twinkle - Some people love this softphone, and it does look promising. I like the simplistic interface. Twinkle is a SIP phone, and is only available for Linux.
• Gizmo - It’s like Skype but runs on the SIP protocol, so at least it’s compatible with other software. The problem is that it’s closed source, and like Matt says, it’s just the lesser of 2 evils.
• Wengophone - From France, a multi-platform based on the standard SIP telephony, but does not yet offer interoperability with other SIP providers (???-I find this very dumb, but they’re working on it). However, it does offer text messaging & file transfers with many of the major players, such as MSN, Yahoo, AOL, & Jabber, and even has a Firefox extension(only up to v1.5 though), so you don’t have to install a whole new program if you don’t want to. Wengophone really does look like a possible Skype-killer, especially if they enable service with other SIP phones, and if I can ever get it to work on my computer (I will try again…–>see #3 below).
• Linphone - An open-source SIP phone for Linux, with video and text messaging as well.
• GoogleTalk - Only available for Windows, & its on the Jabber protocol, so it doesn’t work with SIP phones.
• Tapioca - very promising compatibility tool, a framework for VOIP & IM. From their site:
  

  With Tapioca you can connect to SIP, Jabber, MSN, IRC and other connection managers that are compliant with the Telepathy specification. Integrate VoIP and IM in your application using your favorite programming language with just a few lines of code, and without having to concern about protocol implementations.

  Boy, do I wish I knew “a few lines of code!” For those of you who do, please tell me how to create an all-encompassing softphone for audio & video with chat & file transfer & interoperability with everybody…please?

• Jajah - I originally saw this as an extension for Firefox. What I gathered from the website is that you can use Jajah (online or *some* cellphones) to connect mobile phones & landlines. The idea is not to have to download any software and just use them as a cheaper way to connect. To other Jajah users, the call is free only if they meet all these conditions, and to non-Jajah people, low calling rates apply. I have added on the Firefox extension, since I heard that Jajah is compatible with other softphones (even Skype!), but I have not yet figured out how to actually look for and call those users (see note below). I also see no text messaging(only SMS to mobile phones) or file transfer options, which is to be expected, since they do not advertise calling through the computer. Note: the Jajah desktop application has likely been abondoned, as I cannot find it on their site (and Wikipedia explains this as well). Here or here it seems you can still download it for Windows, although I have not checked if it works yet or not. If it does, this may be the best bet for telephony with other softphone users such as Skype, etc.–> (see #1 below)
• Rebtel - Similar to the new Jajah, Rebtel connects regular phones with each other through the internet. For $1 per week, you can make all your international calls local, by connecting through the internet with Rebtel. You don’t pay for any weeks you don’t use the service, and it’s simple to set up. This is a great way to save money calling people abroad. It works like this: “You call your friend abroad, using your mobile, they hang up and call you back while you stay on the line, Rebtel connects your two local calls over the internet.”
• Barablu - a free calling community that I saw before but dismissed as too small to be worth it. The community still seems to be small, but their options are growing, and now are offering free video, mobile to mobile, etc, within Barablu.
• PhoneGaim - a SIP extension to the popular all-inclusive instant messenger, Gaim. Built more for Linspire users, and available for Windows, PhoneGaim looks like it could be an interesting contender, but it hasn’t taken off yet or has it been abandoned? Calls to PhoneGaim & SIPphone users are always free, and other promising details are posted in their FAQ.
• SIP Communicator - a JAVA VOIP & IM client able to work with protocols such as SIP, Jabber, AIM/ICQ, MSN and soon others like Yahoo and IRC. Open Source & free, SIP Communicator is still in its development stages, but it is already available for multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, & Linux) and sounds VERY promising.(see #2 below)
• Tesco - VOIP internet calling with a Tesco phone. Free calling to other Tesco phone users, and cheap rates to anybody else, pay as you go (a plus!), and free voicemail for when your internet connection is off. Seems simple & cheap, and many people swear by it.
• Voipbuster - Free phone calls to many countries for 120 days, after a 10 Euro fee. I think this promotion has changed from the earlier days (I saw people posting 1 Euro and without time limit before). Anyways, I found this on Ubuntu Tutorials, a great tip from a commenter:
  

  Gabriel Hurley wrote:

  Try Voipbuster (http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html) it uses the SIP protocol and can be set up to work with Ekiga. For a one-time payment of 10 Euro, you have free calling to many countries.

  To set up in Ekiga:
  1.- Edit -> Accounts -> Add.
  Name: VOIPBUSTER
  Protocol: SIP
  Registerer: sip1.voipbuster.com
  User: (your voipbuster user name)
  Password: (your voipbuster user password)
  More options-> Realm/ Domain: voipbuster.com

  2.- Edit -> preferences -> protocols
  Network configuration:
  –NAT pass type: IP translation or nothing. Not STUN
  –Stun server: stun.voipbuster.com
  SIP settings: Outgoing proxy: sip1.voipbuster.com

  Actually, I did try this exact setup, and found that I had to(on Windows) revert #2 back to the original setup of STUN with stun.ekiga.net. I haven’t paid yet so I have yet to see how this actually pans out found out that I don’t need to! What is important here, is that this shows how versatile Ekiga really is - you can add different accounts to use different sip providers very easily (unlike Wengophone, see #3 below).

• Phone Gnome - This sounded great to me, as a gnome user. With all their offers of great free services, I signed up immediately. Then I found out that most of the options I wanted required me to buy their hardware. This turned me off completely. But if you are looking for an all-around voip hardphone + softphone + lots more, then I’d recommend checking them out, and visiting their informative blog as well.

     As you can see, there are a gazzilion choices out there. You just have to decide what you need exactly. Do you need to lower your costs on your existing mobile phone or landline, and don’t want to chat through the computer? [try Jajah or Rebtel] Or do you want a new calling outlet, like a softphone, that allows you to contact people through your computer?[try any SIP phone] How about just regular cheap VOIP calling? [try Tesco] More complicated yet, are you trying to run a business on VOIP, with conference calling, multiple lines, etc? [this is a whole ‘nother story]

     As for me, I’m just looking for a Skype replacement, a softphone (non-proprietary) that can connect with people using other software on the internet, with text messaging, file transfers, option to call regular phones, etc. It looks like the old Jajah or the new (to come) Wengophone might do the trick, though I’m still working with Ekiga, and I really want to try SIP Communicator. I will get back to you with my final comments…

1. Tried the old Jajah, couldn’t get it to register online, then I found out it was trying to piggyback off my Skype too. I guess its compatibility with Skype was not what I thought it was.
2. Tried SIP Communicator - could not get it to connect to my ekiga.net sip account. Tried various times, opened an extra port, etc, but it never worked, so I scratched that idea for now (it is still not a stable build yet).
3. Tried Wengophone for Firefox, but it only works up to version 1.5…. I have 2.0. Then I tried the pre-alpha Wengophone NG, by following this link. It’s a big file, about 17MB. Actually, I didn’t. It said it was going to install taking up 98MB of space, and I balked. I think I’ll wait. Wengophone 2.0 on Windows turned out to be a better idea(but still humungous at 35mb), so I tried that instead. True to form, Wengophone had a slick interface and inherent ability to chat with those on Yahoo, MSN, AIM/ICQ, Jabber, or SIP. However, I still don’t know if I can talk to any of those people through Wengo’s interface? I can’t even call other sip addresses (hopefully they’ll change this in their next version). Also, I never did get it to work on Linux… And now I find out that I cannot, for the life of me, find a way to find what is my sip address? nor a way to change the sip provider. An earlier version had that ability (see here) but it was difficult then, and all but non-existent now. What does this mean? That we HAVE to use Wengo’s service and buy into their rates. Ughhhh.
4. So, where am I now? Right where I started, with Skype and Ekiga with no contacts. Will update when I have more info….

     In the meantime, check out these interesting sites: Wikipedia’s list of SIP software, tech-faq’s list, voip info’s list, and the appleblog’s wonderful SIP overview here and here.

     I’d love to know, what softphone do you use right now, and why? Also, is there a great softphone missing in this post? Please tell, in the comments below…