Making Free Phone Calls With Google's GrandCentral
Posted by
timothy
on Saturday May 03, @05:41PM
from the you-will dept.
from the you-will dept.
andrewmin writes with an enthusiastic pitch for Google's closed-beta call-aggregation service called GrandCentral, for which we non-beta-testers can at least reserve a number. Specifically, he's using GrandCentral in combination with Gizmo5 to make free VoiP calls. Excerpted: "Most of the time, I'm at my computer. Or near it. And if I had an internet device like a Nokia N810 or an iPod Touch, I'd have it with me 24/7. And since most of the time I'm at a place where there's a WiFi network, it makes sense for me to use VoIP rather than a regular phone line. ... I'm talking about making and receiving calls that are completely free (that is, $0.00/minute) forever (that is, no 30-day demo) for as much as you want (that is, no 30-day trial or five hour/week limit)."
Related Stories
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.

Not available outside the US ... (Score:3, Interesting)
So much for 95% of the world ...
Reply to This
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Not available outside the US ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't go to Japanese sites expecting freebies from Japanese companies for my American ass.
If it is in Google's interest to offer this product/service to <insert your country>, they will.
It's like the Japanese video game market. A ton of crap gets dumped in the Japanese market, because most of the companies are a) in Japan, b) it's cheaper and easier to test a new game in a local market - before potentially pissing away money on a failure.
Reply to This
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Could you imagine, Hey this is my new number that will be able to contact me anywhere I am at, you just have to cal
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Innovation (Score:2)
Damn it! (Score:3, Funny)
Reply to This
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Damn it! (Score:5, Funny)
PEnnsylvania 6-5000. And get off my lawn.
Reply to This
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
or reseserve (589)793-2385
VoIP+WiFi=mobile phone? (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, Grand Central may be a replacement for a land-line phone, but I think Andrew is being a bit optimistic about the adequacy of using it as a "mobile" phone.
Reply to This
Re:VoIP+WiFi=mobile phone? (Score:4, Informative)
1. Give GrandCentral all your phone numbers (Home, Cell, Work, etc.)
2. Tell GrandCentral when you will be around each phone
3. Tell all your contacts you have a new phone number, and give them your GrandCentral one
4a. Someone calls at a time which you told GrandCentral you would be at work, so your work phone rings.
4b. Someone calls when you're on your lunch break, out of the office, and your cell phone rings.
4c. Someone calls when you're at home, and both your cell phone and land-line ring.
4... Repeat for whatever configuration you have set up.
From TFA:
All your calls through a single number. Add your other numbers to your GrandCentral account and then make your own rules for how and when your phones ring.
All your voicemails in one place, saved for as long as you want. If you don't answer a GrandCentral call, your callers will be sent to your GrandCentral voicemail. You can then check messages by calling your GrandCentral number, by logging into your account, or by checking the GrandCentral notification email.
Handy features that work the same way across all your phones:
*ListenIn as callers leave you a message
* Record calls on the fly so you never have to fumble for a pen again
* Switch phones mid-call without your caller knowing
* Block annoying callers at will
* Record custom greetings for different caller or groups of callers
Later in TFA:
Also this:
Sorry for so many quotes, but if people won't look at the website they're commenting on, perhaps they'll read this...
Reply to This
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You missed one of the slickest features of GrandCentral, one which is not highly advertised...
Let's say you have your Work, Mobile and Home numbers registered with GrandCentral.
You receive a call to your GrandCentral number, which rings in your office
Re:VoIP+WiFi=mobile phone? (Score:5, Informative)
Not only VoIP, but any real-time application is useless on nearly all current implementations of 802.x due to two major reseason:
* Response time is too high irrespective of bandwidth. Lag is not acceptable in situations where you can't buffer. Your YouTube playback will not suffer because even a tiny buffer can eliminate the problem, but you can't buffer RT applications.
* Most importantly, the concept of QoS, while theoretically feasible on 802.x, is completely absent from the current implementation. I have heard but I'm yet to see a real Wifi device with QoS. Without QoS, VoIP sucks.
And then, there is also the issue of enhanced emergency services compliance, or what's in US called E911. In Australia where I live, most VoIP providers either completely block calling '000' (our emergency service number) or require you to submit a physical address for your static IP and REMAIN in that location.
To sum it all up, if you're holding your breath for VoIP on Wifi, dream on. I've tested various VoIP clients (from the top of the market Siemens and Snom IP phones with Wifi to softphones like Counter path, etc) using various VoIP servers (Asterisk, Cisco, Nortel, etc.) using various UDP protocols (SIP, AIX2, H.323, Skinny etc.) and it DOESN'T WORK(TM).
Until we have full end-to-end QoS support on wireless networks, or something like WiMAX which promises to drastically lower response time and lag, VoIP on wireless will remain a toy for geeks to play with and nothing more.
Reply to This
Parent
FreeWorldDialup, Asterisk and IPKall (Score:3, Informative)
It works great with any VOIP SW or HW or Asterisk for a fancy home answering machine.
If you need the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) world to call you, http://www.ipkall.com/ [ipkall.com] will give you a free Washington phone nuumber.
Reply to This
Re:FreeWorldDialup, Asterisk and IPKall (Score:5, Funny)
That just doesn't have the same feeling of excitement as getting up at 2am in the pouring rain, going to a telephone booth with a 555 timer chip and piezo, making freaking calls with your computer next to you plugged into the 12V socket of your car, then posting abusive messages anonymously on your favourite BBS. And all for free, man!
Reply to This
Parent
Only Free?!? PAY US for info harvested from calls! (Score:2)
so can it (very likely) continue to earn even more, eg, automatically listening-in
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Right now there is no advertising on the website or inserted into y
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Please qualify the statement... (Score:2)
He's making free phone calls to the USA. I am pretty sure he cannot call Benin or Nepal free of charge. That is the nature of the industry. Once this Google product is out, free calls will not be to every device that can receive them all over the world.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
One thing to be aware of is the prepaid cards are generally given the lowest quality of service routes. The phone compa
EPIC is coming... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
"This is Ads by Google: Is your parents' basement becoming a bit to cramped for you and your Star Wars memorabilia collection? Do you long for companionship in your life? Do you wan't to experience this sex thing people keep