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What is the cheapest way that I can add telephone capabilities to my computer?
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5 Answers
Google Phone is currently free to make calls to landlines, cellphones etc. In the new year they may start charging however but it will be significantly less expensive than Skype I believe.
All you need for Google phone is a gmail account (free).
Best,
Zach Bussey
www.trendhunter.com
I use Skype. With a quality internet connection voice quality is reasonable.
I agree with Jason. One of the cheapest (and quickest) methods to telephone capabilities on your computer is skype.
I have incoming calls go through Magic Jack and can forward it to any phone I want or have the message sent via email. Outgoing calls are "iffy" at times. Calls to Canada are part of the yearly bill.
It's hard to beat free, so Skype is my answer, although all IM platforms offer free voice to varying degrees. This solution is great for PC-to-PC calling, but if your definition of telephony is more traditional, then the plot thickens. These free calling services aren't telephony in that no phone numbers are involved, and they only work with people using that service. For that reason, I like Skype the best, since it reaches such a broad audience.
If you want to reach people with phone numbers, Skype's paid service - SkypeOut - is also hard to beat. GoogleVoice is similar, as are other PSTN-enabled PC calling services. The cost here is pretty small, and varies on how much calling you do, as well as the geographies you're calling. Skype's international rates are hit and miss - some countries are very competitive, but with others, you can get cheaper LD rates elsewhere.
The aforementioned MagicJack is another model to follow, and can be very economical for domestic calling. I have reservations about this service, and wrote extensively about it when they first came out, but that's another story.
There's one more piece to consider here. Making cheap calls is pretty easy on the PC, but some people also want to receive calls. This is especially helpful when traveling and you want to use a softphone to support your virtual office. Coming back to Skype, you can do this with their SkypeIn service, but keep in mind they can only issue DIDs in certain countries - and Canada, where I live, isn't one of them. Getting inbound calling can be very efficient when on the road, but you have to keep in mind you won't get the full feature set of your deskphone - and the quality can be highly variable - but for the low cost it's hard to complain.
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