calling options via Wifi for android?

[Worthington]

So, the project I'm assigned to at work has a solid 5 hours of conference calls a day if not more. On the plus side I'll get to work from home. On the downside, I don't have a landline any more and my current plan doesn't support the kind of minutes I'll be burning through.

Is there a way to leverage my wifi network at home to make calls to the 1-800 bridgeline I'll be calling into? I'd prefer to not have to get the telco out here to run a landline just so I can call 1 number.

Google Voice perhaps? Any suggestions?

Using an Evo btw.

 

[pm]

This would be my pick:
http://www.fring.com/android/

It uses Skype. Strange that there's no native Skype client for the Evo...

I use Skype (for iPhone) for business calls and it's been great. Cheap, the voice quality is good (esp. after the recent upgrade) and it's been solidly reliable for me. Before there was a native Skype app for the iPhone, I used Fring and it was fine.... well, initially it was a little rough, but once they improved it a couple of times, it was pretty good.

 

[zerocool84]

Google Voice

A single Google forwarding number to all of the user's phones

Unlimited free calls and SMS in the US and Canada, up to three hours in individual length (this might be a problem for you as you said you have 5hrs of conference calls a day since this limits individual calls to 3hrs each for free)

Calling international phone numbers for as low as US$0.02 per minute

Call screening. Announcement of callers based on their number or by an automated identification request for blocked numbers

Listening in on someone's recording of a voice message before taking a call (press 2 while answering, * to "pick up")

Blocking calls from specified numbers

Send, receive, and store SMS online

Answering incoming calls on any configured phone

Call routing. Selection of phones that should ring based on calling number

Voicemail transcripts. Reading of voicemail messages online

Listening to voicemail online or from a phone

Notification of voicemail messages via email or SMS

Personalized greetings based on calling number

Forward or downloading of voicemails

Conference calling (press 5 when answering call)

Call recording and online archiving (press 4 while on a call)

Switching of phones during a call

Viewing the web inbox from a mobile device/phone

Customize preferences for contacts by group

Ability to change your number for a fee

Specifying an existing phone number instead of the Google Voice number on initial setup for use with limited functionality, such as some voicemail functions and using the voice mail system for the user's phone number (mobile devices only).

 

[ponyo]

Google voice uses cell plan minutes. I would recommend something like Ooma or magic jack if you have internet at home.

 

[Worthington]

Thanks so far for the suggestions everyone. I'll take a look at fring, thanks. And yeah Zero I looked at Google but like you noted I'll be on for at *least* 4 hours a day.

Edit, I looked at Magic Jack as well, but doesn't that require a standard phone. Which isn't really a deal breaker of course as I have a few laying around. Just be easier to use my cell if possible.

 

[Binky]

I believe the current builds of "Incredible PBX" (CentOS based) come pre-setup for free tollfree calls. This is a prepackaged and preconfigured Asterisk build with a lot of community support over at nerdvittles.com.

On a Windows machine, you can use VMware server + iPBX to get free calls. Add googlevoice (highly recommended) to the mix if you want for free calls to non-tollfree numbers.

On the EVO, you can use an sip client like sipdroid which would connect to the iPBX via your data plan. On a home network, you can also use a normal phone with it by purchasing an ATA device such as a Linksys PAP2 or Grandstream 286 ($40-$50).

 

[Worthington]

Just a quick bump to see if anyone has any other suggestions. Messing with Fring now. Could there be less documentation? lol.

 

[SunnyD]

Google Voice + Sipdroid + PBXes.org + SIPGate.

Setup SIPGate account (Free inbound calls).
Link Google Voice to SIPGate number.
Setup PBXes trunk to route/aggregate your VOIP trunk.
Setup Sipdroid on your phone (pointing to your PBXes account).

Start Sipdroid. Open web browser, go to Google Voice (not the GV APP!!!), select "Call", punch in the number you want to call and have it ring your SIPGate number and connect. GV will ring your SIPGate account (which will be available on your phone via Sipdroid), answer it and it will ring the number you wanted to call. Viola, instant free VOIP via Wifi.

I've made several hour-long+ calls this way, given I'm on prepaid paygo @ 5 cents a minute. I talk to my dad via this route all the time. Good call quality, PBXes adds a little delay, but with SIPGate being a pain in the ass I couldn't get Sipdroid to connect directly to SIPGate's servers.

Your biggest issue is going to be battery life, given you'll be using Wifi. Still, with my Eris I've gone for 1.5 hour long calls using maybe 20% battery. Guess it all depends.

 

[Fear No Evil]

This would be my pick:
http://www.fring.com/android/

It uses Skype. Strange that there's no native Skype client for the Evo...

I use Skype (for iPhone) for business calls and it's been great. Cheap, the voice quality is good (esp. after the recent upgrade) and it's been solidly reliable for me. Before there was a native Skype app for the iPhone, I used Fring and it was fine.... well, initially it was a little rough, but once they improved it a couple of times, it was pretty good.

Skype has an exclusive contract with Verizon currently.

 

[Worthington]

sigh, yeah I hit that snag.

Thanks again all.

 

[Cruisin1]

Why not just use your laptop and google voice through gtalk? free VOIP calls to the US and Canada.

 

[logan08]

Why not just use your laptop and google voice through gtalk? free VOIP calls to the US and Canada.

I'm only on calls for about an hour a day, and then off an on with my team that is out in the field. I use google voice and it works great.

______________________

 

[Worthington]

I could, but it wouldn't be a perfect solution as I don't always have my laptop in front of me. I do always have my phone though. Still, it would solve the majority of my airtime.