Many Filipinos subscribe to Vonage/Ooma to connect with their parents back home in the Philippines. It was one of our option to cut the phone bills of my sisters in USA/Canada. Vonage is charging $18.95 per month for USA & Canada Unlimited (now they offer USA & Canada 300 for $11.99/month). Although, it’s a big savings, that didn’t stop me from looking for cheaper means. Indeed there is a cheaper and better option - no monthly fee and it’s reachable worldwide for free - huge savings for hardworking and diligent Filipinos worldwide.
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Do you mean I can reach the Philippines with just a local from regular phones? Yes - that’s right?
How? Via services offered by VoIP providers. Different marketing terms are used but they work the same:
What do you get? Just a phone number.
But I already have a phone line and a mobile phone, too! Why do I need another phone?
No. You don’t get another line - neither it’s connected to your existing line or to your mobile phone BUT … here’s the key … it’s connected to a VoIP device (or Internet phone) installed in the Philippines!!!
Use this local number to call the Philippines!!!
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Phone rates in the Pacific are quite expensive. Why? Because expensive submarine cables are used to connect these islands to the continents. One company in Guam, for example, charges US$0.04/minute to mainland USA. Many resorted to MagicJack or Skype. No problem with that except you can’t leave your computer ON round-the-clock. There has to be a cheaper way without paying $18.95 per month offered by other services. As a telecom guy, here’s a simpler solution:
Get yourself an ATA (Analog Telephone Adaptor) w/ Phone Number in Mainland USA
If you call Mainland USA, it only costs you $0.0198/min. But it’s unlimited-free when they return call. Eitherway, it’s cheaper than $0.40 offered by a Guam provider.
Initial Cost: $32~54 for the ATA plus $5.00 for Callcentric Pay-per-Call plan
Monthly cost: $3~5 for the Phone Number
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You alway see this symbol on blogs and websites. It took me sometime to appreciate it’s usefulness until I found this YouTube video. This time-saving tool is really useful to you - readers. Click the symbol to watch the video. I really dig on how people can make things simple. Right?
Before I invested on a MagicBox, I proved first on my computer whether my sisters in Canada and USA can call me (in the Philippines) from their landline or mobile phones. I tested several SIP* softphones (software telephone) - X-Lite, Zoiper, etc. But for easiest transition to MagicBox.PH, I recommend Callcentric softphone. Here’s the step-by-step procedure
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Yes you can call your family anytime, anywhere - at home, work, malls, train or car. No computers at all - even in the Philippines! My sisters in Canada and southern California, both nurses, are using this to call me (in Cebu City). This is a very simple solution that should work to connect anywhere like the Pacific (Hawaii, Guam, Marianas, etc.) where long distance calls is quite expensive. There are only two requirements:
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Here’s some popular OPM/Visayan songs rendered by our brother Mario - Matod Nila, Never Ever Say Goodbye, etc. He started singing in college in 60s. He was a member of The Bluebirds, a band originally composed the Noguera brothers (Luis, Bobby, Carly and Arthur from our hometown Mambajao, Camiguin), while studying civil engineering at Mapua Institute of Technology.
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Using desktop calculator is a pain to use especially via mouse. Instead of using the standard Windows calculator, I download RPN-style calculators, those dreaded HP calculators without = (Equal) keys which I’m fond of since my college days, due to the ease in working out complex, long formulae. I’m fond of looking for simple but highly usable tools and I found one regular style calculator (with = keys) into my PCs. It’s easy to use especially via keyboard — the SpeedCrunch. It can create constants and variables - really cool. Try this out! It works in all platforms - Windows, Mac and Linux. Highly recommended!
There’s one annoying problem when I playback my MP3 collection on CD - some are too loud, some are too soft. I keep on adjusting the volume. This is a common problem when files are taken from many sources. It would be nice if all files have the same volume.
MP3Gain to the rescue. This is a small program that performs this to all files in a directory. When the program runs, select the directory containing the MP3 files. MP3Gain analysis every file and determines the amount of adjustment needed. When done, click the Track Gain button to write the adjustment value to the file. You can now burn them to CD or transfer them to your MP3 Player.
Download MP3Gain at http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net. Happy listening!
I was searching how to unblock VoIP (MagicBox, Magic Jack, Skype, etc) in some countries. I found the solution - VPN (virtual private network). However, I also learn that having VPN allowed me to view USA-only (video) websites although I’m in the Philippines. It works by substituting (proxying) my IP address into a USA-assigned IP address. Finally, the last but important feature - security in public hotspots. You can’t be sure if a hacker is fishing out account details especially credit cards.
I got all those benefits by downloading Hotspot Shield. Try it! Once installed, you can connect or disconnect VPN anytime.
I just meet my wife’s former co-employee. I learn that her husband is spending $100 (PhP 4,500) for a 30-minute call whenever he is on port. What? That’s $3.33 per minute or PhP 150 per minute! Hey, there’s much cheaper option - use the PSTN Access Numbers! it’s present in 37 countries in cities like Rio de Janiero, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Santiago, Paphos (Cyprus), Brussels, Dublin, Rome, Yokohama, and many more.
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No! This is not Google-to-Google - that would be computer-to-computer call. But this one is Google to regular USA/Canada phones for FREE!!!. And I just tested calling my cousin’s mobile phone in California. the quality is really good at 9:15am Philippine time. How about that?
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I often heard complains that uploading photos to Facebook, Friendster, etc. takes hours. As the viewer, I’m annoyed when photos doesn’t display instantly. This tip is more important if you have slow Internet connection.
Where’s the key? The filesize of uploaded photos!
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Some YouTube music videos are played in mono by default. Thanks to one guy who gave the tip how to play it in stereo. How? Just append &fmt=18 on the URL and press the Enter key. Happy listening!
just cleaned up a laptop in London from spyware/malwares.
Let’s have a short break, setting aside technos and music. This time … the realm of psychology! After watching this, what can you say?
Can you still breathe?
Plug N’Talk, the latest service of Smart Communications , uses a USB device that contains the ff components:
When you come across this term VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), what comes into your mind? Hmmm… chatting, YM, Skype, GoogleTalk, or MSN. The latest craze is MagicJack where it uses ordinary phone as a calling device and it can dial regular phones. That’s better. However, there’s one big disadvantage, all of them require PC/laptop!
How about old folks at home who doesn’t know anything about PCs? They only know how to use the ordinary telephone. Can we make phone calls via Internet without using a PC? Yes - by getting an Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATA). It’s a portable box with sockets for an ordinary phone as a calling device and to your Internet connection. There’s a socket for your PC should you wish to do your usual Internet stuff.
How to get it? There are 3 options:
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At last, Camiguin Telephone Cooperative (CAMTECO) puts up an online phone listing. For tourists and Camiguingnons abroad, it’s a big help. I posted this to my other blog. Please proceed to http://lanvox.wordpress.com
Can you still remember your first email message?
Mine was in 1994, in the remote island of Camiguin. I was then connected with the Camiguin Telephone Project, a grant of the German government. At that time, there were no ISPs, surfing, cafes, Yahoo, Friendster, etc. It was just plain text BBS (bulletin board system) and email. I got the info about bbs, email and Internet from the pioneer himself, Joel Disini. He sent me a diskettes of a DOS program called FrontDoor and installed them on one of the project PCs - a 486!
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