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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Blog has moved to ----> mgw.dumatics.com


This post can now be read at HERE


Second post in succession on the topic but believe me when I get a new gadget I try getting all information and then once I have had the stuff working I have to make a post right away or I will forget and hence this post. This post also overrides the previous posts.

Right then, let's get down to business.


What do we aim to do?

We aim to make free international calls and there is nothing illegal in this set-up, not to my knowledge.

How?

Google has introduced Google Voice and allows free calls to all US numbers. This can be done using their google talk plugin in the gmail browser.

Pre-Requisites:

  • Gmail account - Preferably a new one and not the one you use for your day to day usage.
  • Ability to install X-Lite 4.0 which will require a machine running Windows PC directly or on virtualbox.
  • Ability to install Hotspot Shield if residing outside of USA.
  • An Android device at both source and destination of the call.
Steps:


1. Get a SIP number.
  1. If outside of USA, install hotspot shield on windows machine by going to this site - http://www.hotspotshield.com .I am not sure how safe this is from spyware and all security perspective.  I am not really worried about it as I carry out these things on virtualmachine using virtualbox and there is no real threat to my actual machine which runs  on Linux. So if Windows is your primary machine you do it on your own risk.
  2. Once installed, open the site www.sip2sip.info.Register on sip2sip using your new gmail account. Ensure that you select US Central as your region.
  3. You will get an email from sip2sip on the new gmail account giving your login details which will be something like:
      • SIP address: 2233xxxxxx@sip2sip.info
      • Password: abcdabcdabcd
  4. Open the email and click on the link provided for lgging in. Enter the login details provided and goto settings tab (3rd from left). 
  5. In the first field under SIP Account, enter a new easy to remember password and click SAVE.
This completes Step 1 and you have successfully created SIP number for yourself.

2. Get a US phone number using ipkall.
  1. Go to the website http://www.ipkall.com and click on sign-up.
  2. On the sign-up page complete the following details using the email from sip2sip:
    • SIP username:  2233xxxxxx
    • Hostname or IP address: sip2sip@info  
    • Email Address: Preferably the email address you used to register at sip2sip
    • Password: Prefereably the same password as what you changed on sip2sip in Step 1-5.
  3. Enter the human verification codes and click "Submit".
  4. You will receive a mail with in your email account with a new US number with text of something to following effect: 
      • Thank you for signing up. Your IPKall phone number is: 253-XXX-XXXX.
      • SIP Phone Number: 2233xxxxxx
      • SIP Proxy: sip2sip.info
      • Email: abcdefg@gmail.com
      • Password: qwerty
This completes Step 2. You have now received a US phone number that is linked to your sip2sip account.

3. Set-up Xlite / softphone to receive calls made to US phone number.
        1. In order to activate Google Voice account, it is important to be able to receive call on the new phone number that we have created in Step 2 so install Xlite v4.0 from here - http://download.cnet.com/X-Lite/3000-2349_4-10547103.html 
        2. Once X-Lite is installed, open it and click on Softphone -> Account Settings.
        3. Now fill the following fields:
          • Account Name: Fill your gmail username.
          • User ID: 2233xxxxxx
          • Domain: sip2sip.info
          • Password: sip2sip password (qwerty for this example)
        4. Click OK at the bottom of the window.
        This completes Step 3.

        4. Activate Google Voice for this Gmail account.
        1. Log into the google voice account - https://www.google.com/voice.
        2. Provide a user pin to retrieve voicemails
        3. Now provide the US phone number obtained in Step 2-4 (253-XXX-XXXX)
        4. A window will be shown with two numbers and a button call now.
        5. Click on Call Now and you should receive call on Xlite phone.
        6. Accept the call on Xlite and enter the two numbers shown in google's window.
        7. You will get confirmation that the numbers are correct and will be asked to set-up voice mail greeting or hang-up.
        8. Hang-up now as you can set this up later.
        Google Voice account is now set-up.

        5. Configure Android to receive calls using Google Voice.
        1. If you are using nexus S, good news, it has inbuilt capability to get the SIP calls though this can be also be done using SIPDROID on other android devices. For Nexus S you can follow the steps below:
          1. Goto Settings -> Call Settings and under Internet Call Settings click on "Accounts". 
          2. Untick receive calls.
          3. Click on Add Account.
          4. Now in username enter the 2233xxxxxx provided by sip2sip
          5. Enter the password used for sip2sip account in password field. (qwerty in this example)
          6. Enter sip2sip.info in server.
          7. Untick the "Set as primary account" field.
          8. Click on Optional Settings and in Outbound proxy address enter proxy.sipthor.net
          9. Press back button till you are back to call settings. Now under Internet Call Settings click on "Use Internet Calling" and select "Only for Internet Calls".
        2. For  SIPDROID once you have downloaded and installed it from android market, follow the steps below:
          1. Open SIPDROID, and goto Settings ->SIP Account.
          2. In Authorization Username enter: 2233xxxxxx@sip2sip.info
          3. Enter the password used for sip2sip account in password field. (qwerty in this example)
          4. In Server or Proxy enter - proxy.sipthor.net
          5. In Domain enter sip2sip.info
        3. Now save and exit. SIPDROID will register the VOIP and turn green.
        4. Now from gtalk plugin in the browser from some other gmail account try to call US phone number obtained in Step 2-4 (253-XXX-XXXX). Your phone should ring and so should the Xlite.
        If step 4 did not happen as expected, you need to review the configuration and once it does happen as expected, your set-up to recieve calls is completed.
                      6. Configure Android to make calls using Google Voice.
                      1. Download and install Google Voice Callback on android device - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.xinlu.gvdial&feature=search_result
                      2. Provide the gmail credentials for the application. This will perhaps explain my recommendation for a new gmail account. You will be giving login credentials to a third party application but since it's a new account with no confidential info, it should really be safe.
                      3. In the settings for when to use callback select "Ask Everytime" if you are outside of USA.
                      4. This is it. Try calling one of your USA contact and this application should make a call back and you should be able to talk for free to your US friends.
                      This is happy ending for those who don't have sight of our aim - make free international calls. For free international calls though you have reached a point where you will have dependency on person you are calling. Following 3 options will be possible:
                      1. If the person you are calling also has android device and they follow this tutorial they will have a US number which you can then store in your contacts against that person's name and from thereon you both can call each other absolutely free.
                      2. If your friend has a SIP enabled device, they can follow this tutorial and replace the set-up of Android device to setting up their own SIP device.
                      3. If above two are not viable options, you can ask your friend to call you on your international number through googletalk plugin in their web browser. Unfortunately this takes away the flexibility of you being able to call them but given the constraints this may still be a good option to talk for free.
                      Final words - I know it's a long post and looks complex but believe me if you do it right it takes roughly 20 minutes.

                      Hope you find the post helpful.

                      - Ankit.

                      28 comments:

                      1. Hi Ankit,

                        Thanks for this tutorial. Can you please confirm if nexus s settings work on 3g for you?

                        ReplyDelete
                      2. Good article for newbies. I'd like to add that instead of using GV to make outbound calls, you can make a direct call to your friend if he/she has setup a sip2sip account on his Android as well. Calls between two sip2sip accounts are free and can be accomplished by simply dialing their sip2sip number (2233xxxxxx). This serves as a good alternative should Google discontinue GV in near future.

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                      3. Sorry for the late reply but no I am not able to get this work on 3g, it only seems to work on WiFi.

                        ReplyDelete
                      4. hi Ankit. thanks for the great tutorial. Lets say you have a friend in india with nexus one and you have nexus s. He installs sipdroid and makes a sip2sip.info account.. and you do the same. Can't you just call his @sip2sip.info address using gingerbread bypassing the need to do ipkall or pbxes.org or google voice setup?

                        ReplyDelete
                      5. I have found out another method who want to take calls each other free. So visit my blog to see the detail information.

                        http://freesipcalls.blogspot.com/

                        ReplyDelete
                      6. Uday, first of all apologies for delay in replying. I have been catching up with some garden work and spring cleaning in between office so did not get a chance to check comments.

                        Now to your query, I am sure by now you would have found the answer but for the sake of completeness, you can bypass ipkall, pbxes and google voice but as nexus 1 does not have inbuilt SIP capability so the nexus one user will need to set-up sipdroid or some similar client but apart from that it is completely possible to do what you are asking for.

                        Hope this helps !!!

                        ReplyDelete
                      7. This has been a very significant blog indeed. I’ve acquired a lot of helpful information from your article. Thank you for sharing such relevant topic with us. I really love all the great stuff you provide. Thanks again and keep it coming

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                      8. XLITE-4 SETTINGS NOT WORKING..TESTED

                        ReplyDelete
                      9. XLITE-4 settings are working for me...but if they are not for you then I think you will need to re-enter the configuration or maybe you can try some other VOIP client. Unfortunately, you have not given any details so I can't be of much help.

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                      10. do u not have to put any thing in authentication username?

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                      11. awinas - which step are you referring to?

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                      12. Hello, I'm using iphone 4 so hopefully no one here minds too much. I set up GV, IPKall, and signed up with Sip2Sip and am using Fring. BUt when I call int'l #, google voice calls me back and says I need credits? I thought getting the free IPKall incoming # lets you make free outgoing int'l calls. Am I missing something? Thanks for any help

                        ReplyDelete
                      13. Hello iphone user - I think there have been some changes in google voice recently which allows US calls for a cost from outside US which perhaps makes this post a little outdated. There will be an additional step - Create the new gmail account using Hotspot shield in US domain or alternatively in your gmail change your language setting to English US and you should be good to go.

                        If it works, may I request you to place a quick comment here please.

                        Regards,
                        Ankit.

                        ReplyDelete
                      14. how can we use it for PC

                        ReplyDelete
                      15. I am not sure what you mean by using on PC? I assume you are asking how to make free calls using PC...that doesn't require any complicated set-up. Just login your gmail account and call the phone number in US through the gtalk extension...

                        ReplyDelete
                      16. This is extremely valuable! Great job! I do have 3 questions for you.
                        1. I am already currently using google voice, which is step 4 So what do I need to do with my sip2sip number to associate it to ring on XLite?
                        2. I have already configured my android to make calls using Google Voice, which is Step 6. Is there any modification I need to make?
                        3. With all the above steps, will I be able to make free international calls to any country?
                        Thank you once again for all your effort!

                        ReplyDelete
                      17. umm...I don't think you need to do any of these steps if you already have a google voice set-up because essentially these steps are a workaround for those who are outside of USA. I am assuming that since you have a working google voice you should already be able to call anyone in US for free.

                        ReplyDelete
                      18. Hi ankit, I have a gv account and also pbxes account. I successfully configured sipdroid on my tablet. I created an extn on pbxes so that I could configure sipdroid on my nexus s as well. Unfortunately, it gives registration failed (401 unauthorized) error. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, ajay

                        ReplyDelete
                      19. Hi Ajay,

                        unfortunately I am not sure of sipdroid and pbx set-up. What I have told here is quite different from the usual sipdroid stuff.

                        Having said that if you managed it on tablet but are stuck on nexus s my guess would be that its nothing wrong in what you are doing but perhaps at pbxes end...worth checking with them.

                        Once again apologies for not being able to help...hope you find the solution.

                        Regards,
                        Ankit.

                        ReplyDelete
                      20. Hey I'm using iPhone 4s & I follow all the instruction u post and it worked good for usa use only but when I'm tryin to call outside USA it ask me to add account can u say somethin about it

                        ReplyDelete
                      21. Hi iphone user, I am afraid calls outside of US or Canada are charged by google so the only way it can be done is by following one of the three points at the end of the post. Direct dialling of numbers outside of US will require account and incur cost.

                        ReplyDelete
                      22. hi ankit,

                        I have setup on ICS with the SIP settings correctly installed. However when I use the google call back, I actually get 2 calls in bound that makes the phone hang.

                        I get one from xxx-xxx-xxxx@66.54.140.46 and xxx-xxx-xxxx. The calls come in almost simultaneously but the IP call comes in first. As soon as I answer, I dont hear anything. I test by calling into my own number so it should go into voicemail. After about 30seconds, the call fails and receive a notification that I received voicemail. When I check my voicemail, i hear the ringtone so the call is coming, I just can not prevent 2 calls coming in.

                        What is the problem and how do I resolve?

                        thanks

                        ReplyDelete
                        Replies
                        1. I am not sure I follow the whole thing. It appears to me that there is something messed up in redirection of your calls and you should check your ipkall settings.

                          I must admit at this stage that I have stopped using this set-up and simply rely on GrooVeIP which is a simpler way to make free calls to US. :)

                          Regards,
                          Ankit.

                          Delete
                      23. I am having difficulties getting this set up. :/

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                      24. Great post. You should probably include that you are using callback app in your Title (article heading).

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                      25. Thank you so much for posting this!

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                      26. hey i tryed to follow but cant even get sipdroid to register, keeps turning red, email me at me347042@yahoo.com subject sipdroid please help me

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                      27. I am living in Australia But mostly I use to make international calls for my personal as well as for business purpose. So can anyone suggest me how to make Cheap international calls It would be help full for me.

                        ReplyDelete

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