Another free calling option using a softphone or ata

[sabresfan]

I have found out about a free calling service called whistlephone. You download their softphone and create an account with them. The deal is you have to listen to a short 15 second or so ad. The call quality with my pap2 is great so far but I will play around with this more this week and see. You can set this up with any sip device and you receive a free DID that is assigned randomly. Again you do have to listen to a small ad to make calls free to USA numbers. The settings to register a sip device are proxy.whistlephone.com with your DID as the username and your account password. You have to create an account by downloading/installing their softphone first. I had this setup in less than 10 minutes so this can act as a backup if you use MJ with an ata.

[Paul777]

there is also freephoneline.ca for softphone use. Absolutley free call within Canada and no ad to listen to.

[sabresfan]

Just to post an update I talked to a couple of friends today and the calls were clear. Their features seem to work so far without any problems. I've tested call waiting with caller id and their follow me setting (call transfer) to my google voice number.

[JamietheRoadie]

Sounds like an interesting concept, but I've heard nothing but good things concerning Magic Jack. I'll stick with Magic Jack, see how it goes and then take it from there. If I don't enjoy it, I may very well just give the device to someone else. However, I've seen it in use at other people's houses, so it isn't very likely.

[msiam]

Hey sabresfan, Awesome find on the "Whistle" I set it up on my PAP2 and it is all and more than you described.. The call quality is as good as the best for VOIP, and I'll mention here that on the morning that I set it up, I only had to listen to one Nationwide ad, every call (about 15) after that ad I got straight ringing into the call, ad free, That makes me a little nervous, actually, because they have to have an ad base that works in order to survive.. The ad wasn't much to have to listen to. It was about 10 secs long and wasn't obnoxious.. Again.. Great find, Thanks
Michael

[N7AS]

I setup whistlephone on my Linksys SPA941 IP phone. It works great for outbound calls, but can't get any incoming calls. When I call my whistlephone number I get a message saying "i'm sorry, but I can not complete your call". When I called the softphone, it rings through ok.

[msiam]

Sorry It isnt working for you N7AS, Works great on m7y PAP2.. If they had this back when I was looking at Magic Jack, I wouldn't have two dead MJs in a drawer, Id be using my Whistle.. Incoming and outgoing work GREAT!!

[conniemadagain]

Working good ...

Can you change the phone number?

I am kinda far from Vermont ... lol

EDIT:
Can I change my Whistle phone number ?
At this time, you cannot change your Whistle phone number.

[conniemadagain]

I used my MJ to call and it was perfect ... in fact both are using the same computer ...

I setup whistlephone on my Linksys SPA941 IP phone. It works great for outbound calls, but can't get any incoming calls. When I call my whistlephone number I get a message saying "i'm sorry, but I can not complete your call". When I called the softphone, it rings through ok.

[N7AS]

I called my whistlephone number from my cellphone and the inbound works. Then I thought that as my home phone (Comcast Voice) blocks every outbound call, that may be why I got that error message. I tried later by unblocking it and it works. Even later, I tried it without unblocking and it suddenly worked.

[blueadept]

having a problem. When I specify in my.magicjack.com to forward to the whistle number, it goes straight to voice mail. If I call the number whistle gave me, it works.

Any idea?

[sabresfan]

having a problem. When I specify in my.magicjack.com to forward to the whistle number, it goes straight to voice mail. If I call the number whistle gave me, it works.

Any idea?

I tried this as well and get a message your call can not be completed as dialed. I even tried to forward MJ to my google voice number to my whistlephone number and it did not work. MJ is either blocking whistle phone or whistle phone and MJ don't play well together. A free alternative for incoming calls is Sipgate. I use them as my main home line now. They will also give you a free number but outgoing calls are 1.9 cents a minute. It is free to open an account with them. In the year that I have used them I have put $30 in that account and still have plenty left. Hope this helps.

[sabresfan]

Quick update MJ must be doing some work on their servers because when I call my MJ number now I get were unable to complete your call as dialed please hang up and try your call again. I can call out without a problem. More upgrades in progress yeah.

[airwolf3000]

Hello,

I just try it out, it works great, even from overseas

I am currently in Colombia, from coast to coast: New York, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and not a problem dialing out and making a calls, however I have not try it inbound calls.

Thanks for a great tip

[msiam]

having a problem. When I specify in my.magicjack.com to forward to the whistle number, it goes straight to voice mail. If I call the number whistle gave me, it works.

Any idea?

In the FAQ for WhistlePhone you will find this statement :

Can I redirect all my phone calls to my Whistle phone number ?

Currently our platform does not support direct call forwarding to your Whistle phone number from outside services. We are in the process of addressing this issue.


That would explain it

[msiam]

Something new with Whistlephone is that they are letting you change your numbers one time free to a local exchange. Man, they are adding goodies fast.. I was also able to get GVoice to accept the Whistle phone number and verify, but, couldn't make a call go thru GV to the whistle. Oh well, maybe they are working on it..It seems that the only ad you hear now is for WhistlePhone Over Seas Calling. that could be a bad thing, I was hearing Diretctv, Allstate ins, and a couple other ads, but now I wonder if the big names pulled their ads and Whistle might be running out of air.. Hope not, it actually works very well, except for the occasional "We're Sorry, but we cannot complete your call" That even happens on incoming calls.. It could have been a wonderful thing..

[Darkman90808]

They seem to be having some other issues lately, as well. I've been on a quest for the best quality voip and heard Whistlephone was right up there.

However, I was never able to complete my activation and there appears to be some sort of internal problem preventing it. There is a thread in the support forum that shows new wannabe subscribers unable to activate.