Make (Almost) Free Phone Calls Anywhere
Jul 23rd, 2007 by Tariq Bamadhaj
It’s now possible. And you do not need your headset at all (for Eten Glofiish users). Make (almost) free phone calls, anywhere in the world. You will need to use VoIP for this and thus the almost because there are some free services out there. With wireless internet being easily available at cafes and residences, it would not be too difficult for you to find one.
Preparations
Before we begin, you will need the following files:
- A WM6 based device (I recommend the Eten Glofiish X500)
- Generic WM6 VoIP cab file (filesize: 1.73MB)
- SIP Configuration Tool cab file (filesize: 23KB)
Note: You will also need a VoIP account. I am currently using VoipStunt which offers free calls to many international destinations for a 120 days. Check out their website to find out more.
Set Up
1. Copy both the cab files to your PDA.
2. Install the Generic WM6 VoIP cab file. After installation, turn off your device, wait for 30 seconds and then restart it. You should see the screen below with your new Internet Calling Today plug-in.
3. Copy the SIP Configuration Tool cab file and install it. You should see a new program in your programs folder which looks like the one below.
4. Launch the ‘Sip Conf Tool’ program and fill the fields with the following information:
- Description: Any description that you want to call your VoIP
- Sip Server: Your SIP server. For those using VoipStunt, the server is sip.voipstunt.com
- Port: The port for your server. For VoipStunt users, leave it at default of 5060
- User Name: Your SIP account username
- Password: Your SIP account password
5. Once filled, press the ‘Save Configuration’ button. You will be asked if you want to overwrite. Select Yes and it will inform you that the Configuration Update Completed. Tap the left softkey or Exit to quit the program.
6. Tap on your Internet Calling plug-in on your Today screen.
7. You will be asked to set the calling network for your next call. Based on your option this is what you will get.
- Whenever available: Whenever you are connected to the Internet, the program will connect your VoIP account and all calls made will be VoIP-based. This is the setting that I use.
- Only if cellular network is unavailable: This will only work when there is no coverage AND you are connected to the Internet. Perfect for users who are located deep underground of on an aircraft with free WIFI.
- Never: You will never be connected to your VoIP account.
8. Make your selection, and depending on what you chose, you are now ready to make cheap or even free calls.
Making Free Calls
Before you can make calls, you will need to be connected to the Internet via WIFI or ActiveSync. For quality purposes, you will not be connected if you turn on GPRS or 3G (or the equivalent in the United States). This is because these networks are slow and would not provide good call quality.
However should you choose to use VoIP over GPRS or 3G, you can select the option from your Sip Conf Tool by going to Tools > Sip Over 3g/Gsm > Enable Via Reg
Once on the internet, go to your Phone. You will notice that instead of showing your normal Carrier’s name, you would instead see the description that you entered earlier for your VoIP settings. You are now ready for to make those free calls. Enjoy!!!
Note: As you are now connected to the VoIP network, you would need to dial using the format set by your service. For VoipStunt, it means that you would need to dial 00 before the number. A US number would thus be in the 001234567890 where 1 is the country code, 234 being the area code and 567890 being the number.
**Bonus for Eten Glofiish Users**
Thanks to the ability of our devices to redirect sound from the main (rear) speakers to the phone speakers, we are able to make VoIP calls as we do normal calls, and without the need for an earpiece. This would definitely save a lot of trouble, especially for frequent travelers.
To do so, you would need to have the Skype Switch as well as the Switch program by tonychen of Eten Users Forum installed. You can read about the installation of this set up here.
(3 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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thanks for your tutorial, I followed it and it worked, except that ppl I call can’t hear me (I hear them).
Strange isn’t it ?!
Great to hear that the tutorial proved useful. One thing about VoIP is that it might get a little laggy, depending on your provider and the internet connection. If you wait a while, the lines might be ’sync-ed’ enough that you can both have a decent conversion. If this does not work for you, let me know and I will be glad to help you out.
Hi !!
I’m config this tool, perfect, because audio volume is very low, any sugestion ¿?
My smartphone is HTC S710
Comment.
The volume in celular call is perfect, the problem is only VoIP my server is Asterisk
TAL
Hi,
I followed the steps and it is shown on my phone that but when i go to phone, it is not reflected as my VOIP account provider which is pingoTALK in this case but still my usual GSMS provider. Any idea on this? Thank you for your assistance.
Hi Brian
Thank you for visiting. I am not too sure about the settings and requirements of your VoIP provider as I do not use it but I will provide some possible solutions to your problem on Monday’s (August 27th 2007) post. Do keep a lookout for it
Hi Tariq,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I actually checked out on the XDA forum and some of the users are facing the same problem. The Internet Calling plugin on the Today screen is shown as after installing and configuring the Sip Conf Tool (i’m using version 2.01) but when go to , the service provider is changed to the VOIP provider which is pfingoTALK for my case. Some people who post in the XDA forum said to tap on the Internet Calling plugin on Today screen and changed the to but when we tapped on it, there are only three choices for us which is , , and . There is no way to choose as it is not provided at all. Hope to see a solution for this. Thank you so much :o)
Hi Brian
I am not sure I understand your problem right now. Are you saying that your Today screen shows the same as mine after configuration? And that when activate the internet connection, it shows your VoIP provider? How about in the phone application? Does it show your VoIP or GSM provider? And are your choices exactly , , and . or are they words?
Hi Tariq,
I’m not sure why some of my words are filtered out. I will retype again.
The Internet Calling plugin on the Today screen is shown as Available after installing and configuring the Sip Conf Tool (i’m using version 2.01) but when go to Phone application, the service provider is not changed to the VOIP provider which is pfingoTALK for my case. Some people who post in the XDA forum said to tap on the Internet Calling plugin on Today screen and changed the Available to Selected but when we tapped on it, there are only three choices for us which is Whenever Available, Only When Cellular is not Available, and Never. There is no way to choose Selected as it is not provided in the dropdown list at all.
To sum it all, I am connected to wireless network and my configuration for VOIP is done properly but when goto Phone application, it does not change to my VOIP provider which is pfingoTALK.
Hi Brian
You are right. There are only 3 options available and they are the ones you mention. I do not know about ‘Selected’ as I do not see it in mine.
For me, I chose ‘When Available’ which means that every time I am on WIFI, it would activate the VoIP and use that service. If you go back to your ‘Today’ screen, then you will see ‘pfingoTALK: Selected’ and maybe that is what they are referring to?
Just a quick check, are you using WIFI to connect to your VoIP and from where are you connecting? At home or a hotspot outside?
I am connecting to WIFI from home and I even tried doing a ping test to the pfingoTALK server and the result is positive. But my phone application still did not change automatically to pfingoTALK and my today screen also did not reflect as pfingoTALK: Selected as what you mentioned.
free calls with voipstunt are said to be limited to 1 minute on the email i got when i registered
is that so ? (i dont have an international credit card to pay por credit right now)
any idea where i can check whats the corrrect international format for my number ?
Hi Roberto
You will have to buy credits before you can make unlimited calls. As for the codes, you try this site and look under IDD.
so, if i have credits, i can make free calls?
free calls = no spening credits i guess ?
but they want me to buy credits first, right ?
once i have credits (that i wont spend cause ill use free calls only :P), ill be able to do so (free calls) forever, or only for 120 days ?
thx in advance, ill check that site.
also, form that page i found:
Argentina:
country code: +54
idd: 00
ndd: 0
my city code is: 03488 (i think that the 0 is the ndd and 3488 is the city code actually)
both phones are from the same city, so, voipstunt ask for a 00 before the number, so, i should input:
00+5403488x******
where x is 4 for most argentinian phone numbers, and the * are the phone numbers (5 numbers in my city).
am i correct ?
or should i remove the + from it ?
I am not too sure about the number of zeros that you should use but it does look right. If I am wrong, then remove or add zeros until it connects. You should also remove the ‘+’ as it is not required. For example, in USA, the country code is 1, my area code is 234 and my phone number is 5678900. So if you want to call me, you dial 0012345678900. In Singapore, the country code is 65 and my number 12345678. To call me, you dial 006512345678. In your case, I guess the number would be 00543488XXXX
and, was i right about the free calls question ? buying credits gives me free cals (this, not using the credits) to land lines ? or are the free calls only for 1 minute and only for when u dont have credits ?
i ask this, cause local calls are cheap, but free is even cheaper, and could be usefull for calling my girldfriend XD
Buying credits gives you free calls provided you call to destinations listed as free on the site. Otherwise you would have to pay. Most free calls are to landlines but the site will tell you if you can make free calls to mobile as well. Also, your free minutes are capped to 300 minutes per 7 days and if you exceed that, your credits will be used instead. After 120 days, you can choose to buy more credits which will allow you to make free calls for another 120 days or you can choose to use your credits to make those calls cheaply.
awesome, thx XD
i cant think of myself talking more than 300 minutes a week tho.
ill see if i can get someone to lend me a credit card for some credits then XD
I setup the voip as your said, but the sip config tool seems not work on my device. The intenet calling in today’s plugin always shows no service even I confirm my voipstunt setting is correct in the sip configuration tool. My device is eten x500 WM6 Chinese version.
I am not sure if it works for the Chinese version as I do not have one on hand to test. Try to do a soft-reset or to start the process from the beginning. This might help.
Is there anyway in which I can hear the voice through the earphone speaker using an HTC phone?
First time in my life I am jealous of Eten instead of damm proud I own a phone from HTC (according to me, much better phones)
Hi Xavier
At the moment no. Only Eten devices (as far as I know) are the only Pocket PC that have this feature.
ok, I bought the Glofiish X800, I should receive it on Monday-Wednesday
I really hope it works that’s the only reason I bought it
Hi Xavier
Do test and let us know. I wish I had one to play with as well.
VoIP calls with Glofiish X800 are so good that I’m already trying to see how I make them work with 3G as well as WiFi
“It’s like a call from a province in my same country” was the comment from my cousin, after a 30 minute call to Ecuador, South America, from California, using WiFi
MUCH better than the other one (Skype), with that one I could barely hear you, I understood you from time to time, but some times I just heard your voice but couldn’t figure out what you were saying
Hi Xavier
This is indeed promising. Thanks for testing it out. Were you testing the 2 services at the same time of day?
Yes, I called my family with Skype, talked for half hour
Then I called them again with VoipStunt “finally I can hear, I heard you before but from time to time I didn’t understood a thing. I mean I got the whole story, but I had to GLUE myself to the phone and pay extra attention and even with all that from time to time I didn’t understood you at all!”
Hi Tariq
Thanks for the post! - very useful, but for one problem:
I have an X800, and I followed the above instructions. Everything worked as planned, except that when I make calls, I can’t hear what the other person is saying. The other person can hear perfectly, but on my side the sound is so broken and jittery that I can barely make it out.
Any ideas?
(Something that might be relevant: I also tried installing a VoIP softphone, and it said the X800 is using a NAT router, which messes up the incoming audio port routing, and that it needs to be configured manually. I have no idea how to do this.)
I really appreciate your help here.
Thanks
Arlyn
Hi Arlyn
It looks like a problem of low resources on your device. Maybe you could try to free up some RAM before making the call and see if that helps?
Could you tell me which VoIP softphone you tried using? I’ll try to create the problem on my end and see if there is a way around it.
Hi Tariq
I’ve used ExpressTalk, SJPhone, Fring, and the proprietary WM6 VoIP facilities (with the necessary CAB’s you detailed above).
I’m afraid clearing up my RAM hasn’t helped at all. SJPhone recommended that I get a DirectX audio codec or something, and ExpressTalk told me about the NAT problem. Fring just made a whole lot of weird noises. Weirdly, Skype works (but it slows up the whole device cause of the resources the software requires, and also isn’t as cheap as Voipstunt).
With everything except Skype, there’s also a significant delay between saying something and the message coming out on the other end. And a lot of echo.
Thanks a lot for your help
Arlyn
Hi Arlyn
It does appear that the problem lies with your connection. I do face this problem sometimes and it was due to congested traffic. I also notice that sometimes, there is a lag at the start of a conversation but that lag dissolves after some time.
What I can advice you to do is to tweak your router to open up ports. I can’t tell you exactly how to do so because each device is different. Google should be able to help you better in this case.
As for your Pocket PC’s resources, I would advice you in trying to see how you can increase it. Right now, I have about 20MB of RAM and 11MB of ROM and Skype works great on my device. However, if you are unable to increase resources, maybe it’s time to do a hard reset and start from scratch. Install everything to SD Card except for the important files and your device should perform better.
If VoIP still lags on your part, then I would suggest you look deeper into your internet connection settings because that would be the only factor left that I cannot examine.
Hope that works for you
Hey Tariq
I’ve tried a hard reset, only to find that the lag is identical to how it was before. Also (weirdly), the call quality seems to deteriorate with time on WM6’s VoIP support, becoming more broken up over the first few minutes until it’s impossible to talk.
I have about 20mb RAM free before I start any programs, and over 100MB free ROM, but everything’s the same.
My internet connection is pretty fast - it’s Wifi - and my PC doesn’t have any trouble with VoIP over the same connection.
Sorry to sound so useless, but my attempts to find router tweaks or software to do it have yielded nothing at all. The X800 is a new device, so there’s not a lot of content related to it. As far as I know, there’s no software at all that can allocate ports and such.
Any ideas?
Arlyn
Hi Arlyn
It does seem that the problem lies with the device. Have you tried tweaking your device to speed it up? Tweaks like increasing font cache will really help.
As for ports, it is dependent on software. My advice is to turn off your firewall first and see if this solves the problem.