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
)- iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch (for the most part, everything should work the same on all 3 devices)
- Google Voice (I'll abbreviate as "GV" in this guide) account
- 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)
- SIP account (This guide assumes you're using sipgate - some parts will vary if you are using a different SIP provider)
- 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:
- How to easily make outgoing calls
- 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 articleThe 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:
- 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.
- Free incoming calls. It should NOT matter if they charge for outgoing.
- 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
