Dinosaur Needs Help
 

I am posting this as I am in need of help and not embarrassed to ask for help as I might just have helped posters on here myself once or twice.

I have heard Skype video calls are free and my question is can I use Skype from Canada to UK video call only for free? I use an iMac at home and the person I am trying to connect with has I believe an Android tablet. This person has a cell phone and I have a landline. I know if I call the UK cell phone they get billed for the call. So if we both download Skype to our devices are we able to video chat (camera on/off) for free or am I missing something?

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

I have used Skype to make free video calls to the UK (from the US) within the Skype AP (Skype at both ends of the call). It has probably been a couple of years since I made the most recent one, but AFAIK it is still a free service offered by Skype.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

I haven't used Skype in years but I suspect you're correct, it should be free.

Much of the world has moved on, have you both got Microsoft Teams? That's free to download and use.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Any Skype call to any other Skype User is for free, no matter if it's audio or with video. I've used it for years and love it. It works on MSFT Windows, on Android and iOS, and best of all, you don't have to have your own phone number.

If you want to call a regular phone number with Skype, you have to pay, however the cost is minimal. Also you can call any phone, in any country, even if it's not possible for regular phones.

The only thing you can't call via Skype is emergency services.

I'd also recommend Skype over MSFT Teams, as Teams uses more resources of your PC. that's a bit of a drag, especially if your PC is older.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Not my family, they're all What's App users. Skype is too new fangled for them.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Thanks. I have MS Teams installed on my work laptop but not on my iMac. The other person also has MS teams installed on their work laptop but of course we know using MS Teams on work devices for personal use is frowned upon by our bosses.
I have a landline and I am prepared to pay for calls but the other person has a UK mobile only so my understanding is that they would get billed for any call.
I am simply trying to find a way to actually talk to this person rather than sending emails. Bonus if it is free and I am not bothered if I can see this person on the other end.
Person only has an Android tablet so obviously we need to use a compatible system to communicate.

So which way do you communicate with friends in the UK and do you use a free platform?

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

WhatsApp? Free calls (including video calls), and you can download the WhatsApp app to your iMac - I'd assume the same applies for Android.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

The problem with WhatsApp is that it's always stubbornly tied to a phone number. Also, you still need a smartphone to have a local installation on your laptop PC, Microsoft or Mac, doesn't matter.

Skype doesn't need any of that.

Especially if you're moving between countries that's an advantage, - one doesn't necessary always need a phone number to connect.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

FL asked about other options, I was just suggesting WhatsApp as an alternative. Personally I use WhatsApp a lot anyway for group chats, so find it very handy for speaking to friends abroad at no cost, I often phone them if I'm on a long drive and have a good catch up. I don't have to download an additional app or any other software as I have it already.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Both Skype and What'sApp allow groups or virtual teams to communicate.

I think the matter is that Skype is simply the older product, been around way longer. Meaning it was developed at a time when people didn't have smartphones, hence not the need to provide a phone number. Skype as an app for smartphones was developed later on.

What'sApp is way younger and more "born" out of the "smartphone generation", that's probably why they so stubbornly insist on a phone number even in the event if you want to install it on your PC. What seems to be better at What'sApp is that it's easier to connect to those around you, whilst on Skype you have to do more searching.

However, since What'sApp is always tied to the phone number it makes it hard to change countries. In Skype you just change the settings on your profile to a different country, and you're good to go with your existing account and contacts. This can happen as easy and quickly as you're arriving in a new country, - our you're giving the impression to be still in the other country and keep the settings to that country. I don't think that What'sApp will ever offer this function.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Of course you mean when someone else is driving. :sneaky:

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

No, me. Hands free though your honour!

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Both of you could use "Google Chat" and use the video feature. No need to complicate things with phone numbers, just add each other as a Google contact.

https://support.google.com/chat/answ..._topic=7649316

&

https://support.google.com/chat/answ...form%3DAndroid

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Facebook Messenger video calls or phone, WhatsApp, Signal, Duo - all free.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

My lot mostly use Facebook Messenger and thrones that don't use Google Chat. This one is great because you can select auto generated subtitles which is really useful for hard of hearing peeps

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Morning FL.

We use Skype for vid calls New Zealand to the UK with no problem. This is either with a laptop or a tablet at both ends. Why ? Because the screens are bigger and it is more comfy. It is free. It is easy.

We did have Whatsapp for my phone but it was a bit of a bother really and I was uncomfy with giving out the phone number like that. Also Whatsapp doesn't translate to a laptop so it is more mobile to mobile -- or so it seemed to me. Blimmin' thing would ping at all sorts of hours from those overseas forgetting the time zones or thinking the odd hour was somehow ok. I got rid.

We will also use FaceBook messenger sometimes . That works all ways round , be it laptop, tablet or mobile phone. Of course one needs messenger for that. It does not require a phone number.

Only used Zoom a few times. It is quite good for group calls.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Thanks for the suggestions I have sent the Skype link so it is now up to them to either install or not and person doesn't know if their tablet has a built in web camera.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

I've used Whats App in Canada, the UK and Switzerland without doing anything special. When I landed I carried on with the conversation I was having when I took off. Same with Teams. I expect all the voip services are seamless in that way. Why do you think these internet based tools would be sensitive to the user's location?

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

Hi Former Lancastrian

Yes, if they have Skype (regardless of whether Mac/Windows/Android) and you also use it, you can video chat or phone call for free. You have to find each other via Skype ID.

There is also Signal (WhatsApp is owned by Facebook/Meta and is not secure)

If you have Signal installed on both phones, you also have free video and call functionality.

Re: Dinosaur Needs Help
 

I have it on my laptop which is very handy for calls or typing out longer messages (my children laugh at me typing with one finger on my phone so it takes me ages, but 100wpm on a keyboard!). Mine is a Mac, not sure about PC's but I assume you can get the app on those too. You can also set up restricted hours for WhatsApp notifications too. I have that for all of my phone notifications, bar contact from people that might need me in the middle of the night in an emergency i.e. my parents, brother, husband, children, sis-in-law etc, as we don't have a landline. Any other notifications on my phone are silenced after 8pm and before 8am.

I also use the 'snooze' function quite a lot on WhatsApp as some of the chats drive me mad but I need to be on them. For example, my son's rugby team has a chat for all parents and coaches, which is very useful for info on training sessions, cancellations of matches etc, but in-between those times it tends to be filled with lots of rubbish! So I snooze it until the day before a match.