mercury27

My son recently moved to that states for higher studies and we were
wondering if there is any inexpensive way for us to make calls to US/UK
mobile/landline phones.

Josh0806

Both download the application called Viber. Free viber-viber calls and usually great quality and fidelity

Brigette

I agree...vibes is one of the best right now. I use it practically everyday multiple times per day to speak to my family. Not only can you speak for free but text as well as long as it is done within the app. Amazing really. You can also send pics via the app and do mini voice recordings. Very cool

Pulaski

Skype-Skype is also free, but if you just want to pick up a phone and call, you can use planet-talk.co.uk and prepay for calls for, I think, 1p/minute. That is the same whether you're calling a US landline or cell phone.

The opposite way I use onesuite.com's similar service to call the UK. The only thing is that it cost about 25¢ to call a British mobile phone, calls to British landlines is only about 1.5¢/ minute.

jibsymalone

I use Vonage to call the UK and New Zealand. its relatively cheap and they have an app where I can use my cell phone just as I would my home phone and for free. The only downside is that it is only free and unlimited for landlines, mobile incur a charge. Viber is also very good, but a lot of the folks I have tried to call in the UK on it seem to struggle with the voice call part (could very well be user error, considering the people in question!)

brit_usa2014

I use Vonage App, amazing! It's similar to viber, where Vonage to vonage is free but it costs 10.8¢/min to call UK mobile and calls are free anywhere in the US from Vonage to mobile/landline.

Calling UK landline costs around 1.4¢/min (if I'm not mistaken)

By the way, for Vonage if using on iPhone you top up using iTunes credit. Not sure for Android users.

penguinsix

Here in Asia LINE is the most popular for voice-to-voice calls and the sound quality is quite good--better than Skype and Viber. Of course you both need to download and it doesn't have an option to a mobile/landline number. For calling phone numbers we have Skype 'out' service which allows you to call regular phone numbers.

jibsymalone

It depends on the plan you are on. I have the unlimited plan, and thus receive unlimited calls to all UK and NZ landlines also. The fact you can use Wifi or cell service to make calls on the app is excellent.

AmerLisa

My daughter has Sky and if we want to talk she just calls me because her calls to the US are free (for 60 minutes.) We also use Skype which is nice when we want to see the people we are talking to...

rpjs

Skype allows you several options. As well as direct Skype-to-Skype which is free, you can also call out from Skype direct to a phone number which costs a few cents/pennies a minute. You can even (for a fee) set up a UK or US phone number which routes to a Skype account and then route incoming calls on that account to an actual phone.

So for instance, if my father in Greater Manchester wants to call me, he can call my Manchester 0161 number. That routes through to my Skype account which, if I don't have Skype open on my computer or mobile, routes through to my house landline. It's not free but the costs are pretty low.

malch

I've tried several services over the years for calling USA to UK. Currently, I prefer Skype. I make most calls from my computer but am also set up to call from my iPhone when necessary. I call my Mom's landline in southern England every day.

I subscribe to a plan which gives me 400 minutes/month for $4. Call quality is excellent and I am very happy indeed with this arrangement.

markonline1

If you've both got iPhones/iPads, FaceTime?

hungryhorace

Buy a VOIP phone. Something like: http://amzn.com/B0041ORNJ2 Then register for a UK landline number with sipgate.co.uk. You *will* need a UK IP for this purpose, but that's easily done with a UK based proxy server (or ask someone in the UK to do this for you). Enter your newly assigned username / password into the phone, and bingo, you have a UK landline. Make sure to add in some QoS rules [1] to ensure your phone calls with always receive adequate bandwidth.

You can use soft clients for Android and iOS when you're out and about also. Another option is a 3 (UK) PAYG sim - there is NO charge to receive calls whilst in the United States.

[1] match 'ip dscp 24' will do the trick for SIP.

jibsymalone

Are you sure? When I used to go on holiday abroad, and people called me, then i was charged the difference from what they pay for calling the UK?

It has been 10 years since then, so things might have changed?

hungryhorace

Absolutely positive. Please see:
http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roami...=1214306357859

It is a *great* sim to have. Just make a call every 6 months to keep the sim active.