Free landline calls?

[jgpaiva]

A friend of mine just told me about internetcalls. It allegelly allows you to make phone calls in some countries for free!
And i saw my friend calling home, without paying anything.
I can't quite believe it, though. Does anyone know something about this? How is this possible?

[Deozaan]

I downloaded a program in 2001 in which the trial version let you call anywhere in the US (from the US) for free and talk five minutes. The purchased version didn't limit you on your time.

I haven't checked out your InternetCalls program/website, but the one I used let you use your internet connection to call other people. When I used it I talked into my microphone and heard the other person from my speakers. The person I called just used their phone like normal.

I can't remember what it was called anymore. I only used it to call one person a couple of times.

[tsaint]

I noted that:
a. Free calls to landlines last max 1 minute unless you've paid a balance to them (couldn't see what the minimum balance was)
b. In the EULA, you agree to let them use your computer and bandwidth for their purposes (ie I guess you are signing up to be a relay for them)
Skype does this too I believe, but there's other companies out there who don't. Don't ask me which, Ive forgotten, sorry

[Baseman]

Ha_Ha-Ha That in S.A. will never happen, certainly not with our Tele service provider...When it comes to telephone calls and Internet you pay up or you get cut off Full Stop ...UNLESS VOIP but I'm not sure on that one either...

[dynamike56]

Yes.I have use internet calls and it allows you  to call certain destinations for one minute.

[MDupreejr]

When you run the skype client your helping relay the network for skype?

I didn't know that, how much bandwidth do they use?

[lanux128]

based on the website interface, the company jgpaiva mentioned is almost similar to another company, VoipStunt.

Its free calling terms are such:

* Max 300 minutes per week of free calls, measured over the last 7 days and per unique IP address. Unused free minutes cannot be taken to the following week(s). If limit is exceeded the normal rates apply. With your FREE DAYS you can call for free to all the destinations listed as free! when you have no FREE DAYS left the normal rates apply. You can get extra Freedays by buying credit

http://www.voipstunt.com/en/index.html

More googling reveals this:

What is VoIPStunt? VoipStunt is an international VoIP service based in Germany. It works in a manner similar to Skype, in that it has a softphone application installable on a computer, and a service which can be obtained online. VoIPStunt has gained some popularity lately among softphone users due to its free calls to PSTN (landline) phones over some common destinations. There is a list of countries to which you can call free, but how free is free? Free for One Minute: Using VoIPStunt, you can make calls to landline phones in the free destination countries, but these calls last only a minute! The reason given for this by the VoIPStunt marketers is to prevent misuse of their network. Anyhow, it's only logical: anyone on business needs to make some money, besides Santa Claus!

http://voip.about.com/od/voipsoftware/p/VoIPStunt.htm

[tsaint]

you might like to check out these, neither of which require the other party to have a computer. Both of which work by you inputting 2 phone numbers, then "they" call both and broker a telephone
connection.
Webcalldirect will give you lots of "free" or 5c calls o/s - almost as many as you like over a 90 day period -if you maintain a balance of about 10 euros (from memory)
The second seems to just let you make free calls in either usa, au or uk. Don't know about o/s (ie au->usa)
The addresses are
http://www.webcalldirect.com
http://www.idatalk.com/
tony

[Deozaan]

Only one minute?

I absolutely hate talking on the phone but back in 2001 when I used that program I mentioned earlier in this thread that limited it to 5 minutes, the call was over before I knew it. One minute is nothing.

[sri]

Check out www.jaxtr.com.

"Free unlimited phone to phone calls (as long as both are jaxtr users)" is what I understood that site is about.

[yksyks]

I'm not going to make any advertisement here, but for those interested: I'm using VoipBuster (http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html), which is another client of Betamax GmbH & Co., like most mentioned in this thread. They only differ in the free destination countries list.

I can confirm I'm absolutely satisfied and I don't use my current landline anymore (only for incoming calls). The quality is excellent, usually better than Skype. More, it uses SIP standard, so you can even use SIP phone instead of a PC client. Or, using USB Telbox B2K with proper software you can connect your PC client to an ordinary analog phone, optionally together with your landline at the same time. Then when you pick up the handset the PC client pops up, you can dial using your phone's keyboard, etc.

Recommended!