VOIP help needed

M

MKFrost

Expert Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2012
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Location
Cape Town
I've gone through a large number of VOIP related posts but have thus far not found an answer to my question.

What I need: I'm leaving SA in 3 to 4 months but still have quite a number of clients and relatives here. I want to setup a virtual number (Cape Town 021-xxx) which they can dial which will then go through to my mobile (Android) and or whatever I have on the other side linked to that number.

I've been through lots of websites and have an idea of the costs to buy/rent the number etc.. I have however also found lots of discrepancies between different suppliers and or some suppliers acting as different vendors for example Rynga which also have websites up as VOIPRaider and VOIPCheap etc.. and on each site the pricing is different even though its all one company....

So my question to all you VOIP users: Who will you recommend I go through? All I need is a local number and a reliable service that will get my calls to me and if possible at a very competitive rate.

PS: I know Skype, Viber etc... but need a solution for those who do not make use of these.

Thanks
 
With Skype you can buy a Cape Town number, which when people call, will ring if you are online using Skype.

The other person only needs a phone. I helped someone set up a Pretoria number for their virtual office a while back, worked reasonably well.
 
you can rent a local number through skype too.
Then local people will dial the number and you'll get the call on skype.
 
Sorry I said buy, I think you are correct. You rent the number for a certain amount of time.

Madman88 said:
you can rent a local number through skype too.
Then local people will dial the number and you'll get the call on skype.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the replies.

Anybody using any other supplier or is Skype the way to go?
 
Just did a quick check to compare some services.

Monthly cost for the number (US$)

Skype 5.00 (if you pay for 12 months)
Rynga - seem not to offer numbers
VoipVoip - 15.00

Call cost
Destinations I will be calling most and the cost to each. Costs are in US$ and this reflects the cents per minute being charged. I only looked at landlines for this to get a quick overview or idea.

UK - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.025 VoipVoip)
USA - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.019 VoipVoip)
Hong Kong - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.019 VoipVoip)
Australia - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.021 VoipVoip)
Singapore - 0.018 (Skype) 0.007 (Rynga) 0.019 VoipVoip)

So for now Rynga seems to be the cheapest in the long run.

Anybody using their services?
 
Just did a quick check to compare some services.

Monthly cost for the number (US$)

Skype 5.00 (if you pay for 12 months)
Rynga - seem not to offer numbers
VoipVoip - 15.00

Call cost
Destinations I will be calling most and the cost to each. Costs are in US$ and this reflects the cents per minute being charged. I only looked at landlines for this to get a quick overview or idea.

UK - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.025 VoipVoip)
USA - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.019 VoipVoip)
Hong Kong - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.019 VoipVoip)
Australia - 0.018 (Skype) free (Rynga) 0.021 VoipVoip)
Singapore - 0.018 (Skype) 0.007 (Rynga) 0.019 VoipVoip)

So for now Rynga seems to be the cheapest in the long run.

Anybody using their services?
 
Found this site for anybody who may be interested in getting a local number https://did-number.voipits.com/

I have not done an extensive search yet. These guys however seems to offer numbers in various locations at very competitive prices (cheaper than Skype) and the numbers can be linked to various services i.e. Google, PABX, Rynga etc...

I will be setting up a number and make use of Rynga as their call charges to most of the destinations I call on a regular basis is currently free and thus overall far cheaper than Skype.

Thanks for those who replied
 
Hi MKFrost,

BitCo has a geographical number range available so we can easily allocate you an 021 020 XXXX number, when someone calls this number we can automatically re-direct the number to your international cell phone number. You will indeed pay for the call forward from SA to International number but the rates we offer are very affordable.

Its going to be extremely difficult to have a SIP client on your mobile device registered to a Telco provider as you will often experience call quality issues as the voice traffic will be traveling over the public internet.

My suggestion is to go with the call forwarding as then your customers will have no problem contacting you.

If you would like more info please feel free to contact us via [email protected]
 
Thanks for the suggestion.

Call quality is not mission critical, at least for me, so I'm going to setup the Rynga thing for now and see how it goes for the next month or so. If there are problem I will contact you guys.

I only need a solution until next year, after that I no longer have any responsibility to local clients and or the local firm so not looking for any long term and or contract based type solution.
 
Solution - setup an ECN trunk on your cellphone using CSip Simple. That trunk can be set to register anywhere in the world. You can attach a local number (Cape Town) to that trunk that will ring on your cellphone's SIP client. The only downside (like BitCo said) is that voip quality over a 3G connection is not great. It will work fine if your phone is connected via WiFi though. By using this solution you pay nothing for the call and keep a local South African number.

We do this for a few expats in Spain etc that have a local SA number but with a phone that physically rings in Spain.
 
Hi There,
I use otel for my voip connection. I have been impressed with their service and quality of support. I would have a look at what they can offer you.

www.otel.co.za will get you to them

Regards

Tim
 
Mweb Talk offers regional numbers, and it's free if you have an mweb account. Outgoing calls are very competitively priced, and it can be easily setup with csipsimple or bria.
 
I've used Wanatel in the past and found them to be very good. I think their pricing is a little higher than some of the other mentioned providers though.
 
Thanks for all the advice, I'm on the road at the moment but will go through them the weekend.

Thanks
 
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