British Expats - Dinosaur Needs Help

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Re: Dinosaur Needs Help

Quote:

Originally Posted by Former Lancastrian (Post 13116668)

I have heard Skype video calls are free

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeMango (Post 13116822)

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.

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by BEVS (Post 13117084)

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.

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.