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Riverturn Support • View topic - Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Learn how to perform specific actions using VoiceCentral as well as how to use it with other apps/services.

Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby jongpie » Wed Aug 25, 2010 1:23 pm

Current Tutorial Version: 0.01

Disclaimer: I (and maybe the Riverturn team) will definitely make revisions to this tutorial. This is the first tutorial being posted on here, so we may adjust the formatting. I will also work on adding more details & screenshots, as well as addressing any questions people have.

The Goal
Free incoming and outgoing calls on iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch

What You'll Need (some things, like a Google Voice account, are obvious ;) )
  1. iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch (for the most part, everything should work the same on all 3 devices)
  2. Google Voice (I'll abbreviate as "GV" in this guide) account
  3. VoiceCentral (Google Voice's mobile site seems to only use direct outbound, which means you can't send a call to anything other than your iPhone)
  4. SIP account (This guide assumes you're using sipgate - some parts will vary if you are using a different SIP provider)
  5. SIP app with push notifications - Fring seems to be the best free app (I use Acrobits Softphone, but I would strongly recommend using Fring/another free app at first to make sure you're happy with the results before spending $7.99.)

Overview
The big hurdle we have to overcome with Google Voice has two parts:
  1. How to easily make outgoing calls
  2. Make the outgoing calls free

Using VoiceCentral, you can make outgoing calls - that part is easy. But to make the outgoing calls free, we need to use a SIP account. Essentially, SIP enables telephony over the internet - it is the digital equivalent to a traditional landline. (For the geeks who disagree, this is just my oversimplification of SIP :) ). For more info on SIP accounts, check out the Wikipedia article

The End Result
Once we're done, here's what the setup will look like.

VoiceCentral -> Google Voice -> sipgate (seen as an incoming call) -> Fring/other SIP app (sends push notification) -> free outgoing call

The Trick
If you use Google Voice (in this case, VoiceCentral) to initiate a call and have it ring a SIP number, the SIP provider thinks it is an incoming call. Since incoming calls are free, the outgoing call becomes free.

Choosing a SIP Provider
For our SIP provider, it needs to offer a few key features:
  1. Free SIP account (no monthly/yearly/etc. charge). Most do not have a fee just for having an account (instead, you pay for the minutes), so that shouldn't be a problem.
  2. Free incoming calls. It should NOT matter if they charge for outgoing.
  3. Free phone number. Similar to GV, your SIP provider will give you a US phone number. Some will let you pick what your number is, but it does not matter - no one (other than you) will ever need to know this number exists.

I personally use a sipgate one account (http://www.sipgate.com/one). It offers all of the above features and seems to work well, but others are available as well.


Integrating with Google Voice
Add your new SIP number as a phone in GV and set the phoe type as mobile. (I've had some odd issues when I set it as one of the other types).


Connecting to sipgate with iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch
Add SIP account to Fring app (or other preferred SIP app) - use your sipgate SIP credentials (this is different from your login info for the sipgate website). To find your SIP credentials, login to sipgate and go to settings (top-right corner). You should see an image of a phone in the middle of the page. Hover over the phone image and click "SIP Credentials" - it will display the information you need to enter into Fring.

To add this info to Fring, open Fring and go to the "More" tab, then select "Add-Ons." You should see an option labeled "SIP." They do not have a preset for sipgate, so select "Other" at the bottom of the list. Enter your SIP credentials' username, password & proxy. If everything worked, Fring will display a checkmark on top of the SIP icon.
Double check sipgate's site to see if it your SIP phone is online (sometimes there is a delay)


Receiving a Free Incoming Call
To receive incoming calls, you should be all set if you are on an iPod or iPad. If someone calls your GV number, you should receive a push notification from Fring to let you answer the call.

If you are using an iPhone, you'll need to make a choice on how you want it to work. The issue is that if you have GV sending calls to your iPhone's number and to your new SIP number, then your phone will try to alert you of calls on both. If you leave it like this, the "standard" phone call will come first - you generally won't see the Fring notification until you either answer or decline the call on the phone.app. If you want to make GV calls 100% free, then I would suggest disabling your iPhone's number in GV.

Another alternative is to use your iPhone's minutes for receiving calls, and use the SIP account for free outgoing calls. Of course, this still uses your minutes, but might help cut down on how many minutes you use.

Making a Free Outgoing Call
To make an outgoing call, there's one option you'll need to change in VoiceCentral: your call back number. I set mine to "ask every time I dial" so I can decide if I want to use my SIP account, or my standard phone minutes. After making this change, simply dial someone and select your sipgate phone number when VoiceCentral prompts you. After a few seconds, you should get a push notification from fring. Answer the call and Fring should launch. Enjoy the free phone call :-)
jongpie
 
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Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:06 pm

Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby applesinafton » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:09 pm

Hey there Jongpie.......thanks so much for the tutorial.......I've read it and will read it a few more times........sounds fairly straight forward to set this up..........thanks again and will post when I'm up and running....... :P

Regards
applesinafton
 
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Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 1:35 pm

Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby jongpie » Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:09 am

Hi applesinafton - please let me know if you run into any issues. I made several revisions to the tutorial before I posted it, and I'm sure I overlooked some details. Just let me know how it works out for you and I'll make any necessary revisions.
jongpie
 
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:06 pm

Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby mph66 » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:43 pm

Good tutorial, but sipgate.com requires one to have a cell phone in order to get an account. I wouldn't be here at VoiceCentral if I had a cell phone, so... I went to Google Voice help and tried to search help for "sip" and Gizmo5.com came up. They've been recently acquired by Google and are not accepting any more new accounts. So that's out. Anyone have any suggestions? I've got Fring d/l'd to the iPod Touch. I've got the premium VoiceCentral account, but without sip, it's no joy. Help?
mph66
 
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Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby rick » Sat Sep 11, 2010 3:03 pm

You can get a Gizmo 5 account with some regularity on ebay: http://tinyurl.com/27ylahk
rick
 
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Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby drewdoms11 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 1:18 am

Hey, is this legal? I mean will Google penalize me if they caught me receiving lots of voice phone calls? Anyway, I'm glad you shared it with us. Keep us posted for additional information dude.
Last edited by drewdoms11 on Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
drewdoms11
 
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Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby ebilflindas » Fri Sep 24, 2010 4:52 pm

This is great. I'm pretty sure I got it working. Not sure I understand how the work-around, uh, works, but it seems to!
ebilflindas
 
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Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby Wooderson » Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:59 am

I've read the VC FAQ, and this tutorial, and I'm still not clear on how VC works.

Do VC/GV calls use AT&T data or voice?

How are VC outgoing calls not free without these steps? (-or-"Why are these steps required?")

Thanks!
Wooderson
 
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Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:49 am

Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby rick » Mon Sep 27, 2010 9:56 am

This tutorial explains how to use VC with GV and a SIP provider so that you are not using minutes on your phone plan. All calls made using this method are either over a WiFi connection, or your phone's data plan. I personally do not own a cell phone, and use this method to make and receive calls on my iPod Touch.

If you do not use the steps in this tutorial, then you will use minutes on your cell phone plan. If your phone plan has unlimited minutes or if you never exceed your minutes, I think that there isn't an advantage to this - the real feature is that it does not use minutes when placing or receiving phone calls.

VC is simply a superior alternative to the Google Voice interface that is available in web browsers. If you don't like the GV interface and want an easier way to access your GV account, then VC is for you. It's the best interface for the iPhone and iPod Touch, hands down.
rick
 
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:45 am

Re: Make/receive free Google Voice phone calls

Postby revenant » Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:52 pm

i followed the instructions, but i cannot make a call on wifi- when the person answers on the other end they get my voicemail. i just want to make calls on wifi- i do not understand how people are doing this on their ipods, i cannot do it on wifi on the phone. is there a more detailed instructions? i feel like i am missing something.
revenant
 
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