Even cheaper calls to the UK

I've written before about the Internet phone that we use to make calls to the UK. Via our 3Mb Telefonica ADSL connection,  call quality is excellent even when I am connected to the Internet at the same time (my router is set to reserve 1Mb of bandwidth for the phone when it is in use).

NB VoIP  is not recommended if you are using a dialup or satellite connection because call quality will be poor - possibly unusable.

The service we use is VoIPTalk, a UK based company, but there are of course others.

The company offer free subscriptions with calls rates to UK landlines at 1.4pence per minute.

A better option though is the standard Silver Prepay plan which costs £2.99 (plus VAT) per month and  includes:-

• a free UK geographic number (from a choice of 600 local prefixes)
• voicemail to email service (messages are sent to your email address as sound files)
• call divert to either a mobile or landline - you can schedule this to occur when you are offline, out of office etc
• three way calling to selected IP phones
• online billing information
• special rates to mobiles e.g. 7p during evenings and 5p at weekends
• discounted tariffs e.g. to UK numbers: 0.9p per minute at peak times, 0.5p during evenings and 0.2p at weekends

I've just upgraded our account from a Silver Prepay plan to the new Silver Prepay which includes 1,000 inclusive minutes at a cost of £4.99 (plus VAT) per month. I reckon with the number of calls Pam makes to the UK, I should  save about £20 a year with this new plan even if she doesn't chat for the full 1,000 minutes!

The only equipment you need (apart from a spare port on your ADSL router) is a VoIP phone or a VoIP adapter to use an existing analogue phone.

VoIPTalk sell phones from £34.99 and adapters from £29. If you don't mind only having the phone available when your PC is switched on, they have a USB phone for £4.99 and yes they deliver to Spain.

You'll find their website at http://www.voiptalk.org/products/voip-guide with all the information you need to buy and setup your Internet phone.