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Forget paying up to 12.5p per minute to use your BT line. You can get calls absolutely free by using the internet or for next to nothing with an override provider. The Moneymagpies have done all the research for you, so read on to lower your phone bills.

• Make free phone calls online
• Make super cheap calls from your landline
• Using your mobile

Calling using the internet – VoIP technology

Vo..what? It sounds a bit fancy, but Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is one of the cheapest ways to make phone calls. It costs less than using a traditional landline or mobile phone, and is especially  good if you are calling abroad.

It works by allowing you to call and speak over the internet instead of using a phone line.

You can do it in three ways:

• Talking over the internet via a microphone headset, the built-in microphone on your computer or a plug-in handset. This means you’re actually connected to a computer all the time. So – the quality will be great but you can’t really move around.
• By using a VoIP hub phone where your phone is connected to the internet via wireless internet. This means you have a cordless phone that you can walk around with – but you stay connected to and still call via the internet.
• A VoIP mobile that still calls via the internet, making calls free or very cheap. You’ll still have to pay for the price of the original call and the surf time.

Are all calls free?

If you speak straight from your computer to your friend’s computer – wherever they are in the world – it’s completely free (assuming you already pay a monthly rate for your broadband connection).

However, if you phone their normal home telephone or mobile phone from your computer it will cost you. How much depends on where they are and whether it’s a mobile or a landline, but even international calls are generally pretty cheap.

The only real drawback is that it’s entirely reliant on your internet connection . If your connection is weak or unreliable your voice can sound garbled at times. But with broadband advancing at the speed of light, you shouldn’t have many problems.

So how do you get it?

This is where it gets confusing. There are various different providers who use various different means to offer you cheap VoIP calls. They all have their advantages and disadvantages so you’ll need to choose which suits you best.

The most simple method is to call online, using your computer. The provider you need for this is Skype.

Skype

Skype is probably the most well known VoIP service. All you need to do to use it is to downoad the software for free here. Once you have Skype on your computer simply add Skype contacts (anyone else you know who also has the software) and you’re ready to go.

When you and any of your contacts are online at the same time you can talk to each other for free no matter where you are in the world. If you both have webcams you can also make video calls for free.

There are no catches, honest. All you need is a decent internet connection and you can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, for as long as you want, without paying a penny.

You can also call phone lines from your online Skype account for a small charge. There are two ways of doing this:

• Pay as you go

This works just like a pay-as-you-go mobile. You put credit on your Skype account online (minimum £10) and then spend it on calls.

The rates to call UK landlines are 1.4p all the time – cheaper than using BT during the day. However, it costs 16.6p a minute to UK mobiles which is actually more expensive than calling from a BT landline.

The best value calls are international. For example, it costs 1.4p to call a US landline or mobile.

• Monthly subscriptions

If you want to call a lot through Skype, they’ve introduced packages giving you unlimited calls to whichever countries you choose.

There are a selection of packages available if you just want to call UK landlines and mobiles – they start from just 69p per month.

There are also two other packages – ‘unlimited Europe’ and ‘unlimited world’. The first offers you calls to 20 European countries and costs £4.99 a month, the second gives you calls to 40 countries worldwide and is £7.99 a month. Quite noticeably, none of these plans include free calls to UK mobiles.

Using your landline

If you want to make VoIP calls using your phone, there are some other providers you need to know about.

Vonage

Vonage is a service that calls over the internet but functions just like a normal landline. You simply connect your phone to your computer modem (via your wireless router) instead of the telephone socket – your computer doesn’t even have to be turned on for it to work.

You have to pick a plan that includes unlimited free calls to UK or worldwide landlines. For these calls you pay a monthly subscription.

For making calls in the UK, Vonage is good. It offers unlimited local and national (landline) calls to anywhere in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for £5.99 a month. As the plans go up in price, more countries are included in the unlimited minutes.

Vonage to Vonage calls are always free, as long as you have already signed up to a monthly payment plan. For other calls you do have to pay. Calls to mobiles are charged at 12p a minute (or if they are 3 Mobile 20p a minute).

On the other hand, the international calls are all under 13p per minute with the cheapest costing  just 1p per minute. So you can still call internationally quite cheaply, even without buying an international call package.

VoIP Cheap & VoIP Stunt

VoIP Cheap works in exactly the same way as Skype, except instead of having a lower rate per minute or buying a bundle package, it gives you free calls to landlines in selected countries just for signing up. You can also phone other VoIP Cheap users for free.

VoIP Stunt is more like BT Broadband where you phone through the internet but on a normal phone. However, it’s better than BT as you get completely free calls.

If you sign up for a trial you get 60 minutes of calls for free. After that, you have to buy £10 credit to get on the free days plan.

This then gives you 300 minutes to free calling destinations per week. You stay on the freedays plan for 60 days and then you have to buy more credit to continue calling for free.

These are both good services, but the credit top-ups may be left unused if you are only calling free destinations. After you have used up your 300 minutes per week, normal VoIP Cheap/ Stunt rates apply. Certain countries are free to call, although not a huge selection.

Providers for mobiles

Skype mobile phone

This is a mobile that lets you call your Skype contacts online or on their own Skype mobiles, completely free. You can buy Skype mobiles from 3 Mobile and as with other phones, opt for pay-as-you-go or pay monthly.

The best thing about this is that you can call another Skype phone wherever in the world they are. They just have to be on the 3 Mobile’s sister network in the specific country. To find out which are the sister networks, click here. All non-Skype calls are charged at a flat rate of 12p.

The only downside is that all Skype pay-as-you-go outgoing calls (with a handset) are subject to a connection fee of 3.3p.

RebTel

RebTel is a service that lets you make cheap international calls from your mobile. No need for a computer. It works in two ways:

• Direct call

To call someone directly, first you send their number to RebTel. They will then generate a local RebTel number which you can dial from your phone and pay a cheaper rate for calling internationally.

• Smart call

To set up a smart call, you dial someone on their RebTel number. You then ask them to phone you back on the number that has appeared on their phone.

They hang up to phone you back, but you stay on the line. In a few seconds they will click back onto the line and your call will be free. You can only smart call between certain countries – see which ones here.

When calling with RebTel you do still have to pay your main provider (o2, Orange etc) for the minutes you use. However they will only be charged at local rate.

RebTel really is good if you have a big free minutes bundle from your mobile provider and you have lots of friends abroad. It is a bit fiddly, but if you can be bothered to do it you can save as much as £1.48 per minute compared to your home provider.

Connect Me Anywhere

Connect Me Anywhere is similar to RebTel. You register online with them for free and then upload your friends’ numbers into your database.

To call them, you phone a local number that connects you to Connect Me Anywhere. You then type in the name of the person you want to call using the keyboard, or use the voice activation service. Connect me Anywhere will then connect you and you can chat away.

What you have to pay is:

• The rate for the local call – this can be included in the free minutes bundle you have on your mobile or free calls you get with your phone line.
• The Connect Me Anywhere rate – see them all here.

The rates on Connect Me Anywhere are relatively low, but not that competitive with the landline VoIP services. However, it is an option if you want to use your mobile. You can use it anywhere and it is significantly cheaper than your mobile provider’s rates will be.

However, do watch out as the rates are extremely fiddly. There are different charges for different mobile providers in different countries and even different areas in different countries. The rates can change all the time, so make sure you look up carefully where you are intending to call before you make the call.

Truphone

Truphone is essentially a bit of software you can download onto your mobile which routes calls over the internet. However, it will only be of use to you if you have a smart phone (an iPhone, Blackberry etc).

The software works alongside your phone, a bit like having an extra pay-as-you-go contract on the side. You can just top-up your credit online, and use the Truphone service whenever you want.

• If you’re in a Wi-Fi zone – Nokia and iPhone users can make calls in any Wi-Fi zone worldwide; Truphone routes the calls over the internet. Wi-Fi calls made to other connected Truphone users are completely free.
• If you’re out of a Wi-Fi zone – Nokia and Blackberry users can select to call using Truphone Anywhere. As much of your call as possible will be routed over the internet meaning international calls will be charged at a very low rate. Find out more here.

Rates vary depending on where in the world you’re calling from and to. For all the rates, click here. Happily though, calls between Nokia Truphone users are always free regardless of where you are in the world.

Truphone also offers bundle deals for calling the USA and Canada. It’ll cost you £7.49 for 1000 USA and Canada minutes, charged at less than 1p per minute.

Override providers

Override providers are specialist phone providers that you access by dialling a code before the number you are calling. When you dial the access code, the company lifts it from the BT line and runs it through their own line.

The calls made with these providers are mostly charged straight to your credit or debit card. You need to go online to register with them and provide these details. To use an override provider you must already have a phone line, but they work on all normal landline providers.

Calls made using an override provider almost always charge an initial connection fee. However after this the calls are generally a lot cheaper than with BT or other suppliers.

The best one for UK landlines is 1899. You’ll pay a 4p connection charge and then the calls are free, for as long as you want to talk. For calling mobiles during the day the cheapest service is 18185 which is 6p/min plus a 5p connection charge (BT peak price is 12.5p/min).

These companies also offer ridiculously cheap international calls and are well worth using if you phone abroad a lot.

18185 rates start from just 0.5p per minute to a US mobile with a 5p connection charge. You can sign up to all these services at the same time to get the best price for whatever call you’re making.

The advantage they have over VoIP services is that you don’t have to have the internet (except to sign up in the first place). You won’t be stuck to a computer to make the calls and calling is so much simpler. No need to send off numbers and get local ones to replace them, for instance.

However, it’s not portable and can only be used in your own home. The best way to use override providers is to be registered for all of them. Then you can pick and choose the best rates.

When you call a mobile, use one code. When you call nationally use another. Finally, look at all of them to find the best rate for the specific country you want to ring.

Here are a few to get started:

• Alpha Telecom
• OneTel
• 18185
• 1899

Useful links

• Truphone
• RebTel
• BT Broadband
• Skype
• Vonage
• VoIP Cheap
• VoIP Stunt