Guest guest Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 I've seen several queries from people living in various parts of the world asking for information on how to dial into a US based tele-conference so they can listen to discourses or attend tele-classes of various kinds. I would like to share some information here that I've found useful. First some disclaimers:* I do not work for any of the VOIP (Voice over IP) companies mentioned here. So I am not going to gain personally from the information here.* For more information, you would need to contact these companies or visit their web sites on your own. * You will need a high-speed internet connection for any one of these options to work.* Most of these companies require payment in US Dollars, so you would need to work with someone in the US who can front the connection for you. My parents live in Srirangam, India and I've been successfully tested *ALL* of these options from their house to the US. They work when there is power supply in India, so occasionally they do get Browned out. Option 1: Vonage. Their web site is http://www.vonage.com. My parents currently have Vonage number. This costs $18 per month including taxes that I pay. They have a US based number with a regular push-button phone attached to the device. It is very easy and simple to setup. For older people who are not computer savvy this is a good solution. We have had this for over 4 years and it works flawlessley. The only hitch we had was about 4 months ago, when a lightning strike destroyed the Vonage modem. Vonage replaced the modem at no cost to me in the US and I took it to them and installed it during one of my trips back home. Does requires basic knowledge of home-networking to be setup. They can dial any number in the US at any time upto 500 minutes per month. If all you are doing is listening to tele-classes and tele-upanyasams, this is a good choice. Vonage is available in selected European countries as well as the US. Option 2: SKYPE. Their web site is http://www.skype.com. The basic service is free. The basic service allows you to talk to other people on SKYPE. By paying an additional $10 per month you can call land-lines or other phone lines in most of the countries in the world. I've found that this is cheaper than paying the phone companies international calling rates. You will need to logon to SKYPE in your country to get more information. SKYPE requires some computer skills since this runs on an Operating System like Windows or Linux. Once setup, this is a breeze. Please be aware that SKYPE also generates spam, so make sure your settings only allow you to accept calls from people on your known list. Option 3: MAGICJACK. Their web site is http://www.magicjack.com. This is a hardware based VOIP provider based out of the US. They sell a small USB based device that works only with a Windows XP or WIndows Vista computer. The basic device costs $40 and comes with a US based phone number, 1 year of service, voicemail etc. Subsequent yearly service is $20. For this price you get to make and receive as many calls to anyone in the US. This is very inexpensive and works! Does require you to have some computer skills, since you will be making calls via the computer. The device has the added capability to plug in a simple phone and this allows a person like my mom to make calls as if she is on a normal phone without going thru the computer User Interface. I've 1 and take it with me when I travel -- and have tested it from UK, France, Singapore, India, and Honk Kong. But be aware that It will not work if you go thru a corporate VPN account due to some proxy server issues. You will need to test it with your company. Also, while you are on MagicJack, you will not be able to use the computer for any internet or email related work -- there is a bandwidth issue and you need to test it on your own. The company accepts payment only in US dollars and will ship only to a US based address. But if you make more than $40 worth of calls to the US in a year, this is a very good device to have. Highly recommended. There are other options like and GOOGLE but I've not tried them and have not explored them. I hope people from all over the world sign up for the various tele upanyasams!-- Thanks & RegardsRaja Srinivasan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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