[DracoFelis]

FYI:
Here's a new service I've been testing recently, that some of you may be interested in.

The people at http://www.voxalot.com (a new joint venture between the folks doing the free http://www.sipbroker.com service, and the public ENUM registry http://www.e164.org ) have just released their new "Web Call" service for free public beta (I was part of the private alpha testing group, as I help out with the free SIP Broker service).

This new service, lets you enter in your VoIP accounts(s) of your choice (into your Voxalot account on their secure web portal), and then make calls via VoIP rates even if/when you are not near VoIP equipment! And since the Voxalot service is fully integrated with both SIP Broker and ENUM lookups, it's quite possible that either (or both) sides of the call could be "free".

The way the service works is:

1) Sign up for a free Voxalot account.

2) Independently sign up for any VoIP accounts of your choice, and enter the details in as personal "providers" on the (secure) Voxalot web portal.

NOTE: If you only want to make calls connecting to and from the "free VoIP services", you can likely skip the commercial VoIP providers entirely. This is possible, because "Web Call" has full "SIP Broker" (free VoIP calling) dialing built-in! But if either side of the call (your phone, or the one you are calling) requires a "toll call", than you will need to supply your own VoIP account (or accounts).

3) When you want to make a web call, use the Voxalot portal to enter "Your Number" and "Provider" to call yourself, and also "Number to Dial" and "Provider" for the number you want to call. Web call will first call you, and then once you answer your phone, will call the other party and connect the two calls. Voila! VoIP (and VoIP calling rates) for those who are near a web browser and a phone, but not necessarily near VoIP equipment!

NOTE: Web Call will be free during the public beta. So by all means, give it a try, and let the Voxalot folks know what you think (via the Voxalot support forums). However, due to the bandwidth/hosting costs involved with cross-linking many VoIP calls, at some point in the future "Web Call" will probably become a Voxalot "premium service" (i.e. only open to those willing to pay a small fee to have access to this service).

Voxalot forum thread about the new "Web Call":
http://forum.voxalot.com/showthread.php?t=47

Voxalot FAQ/announcement about the new "Web Call":
http://www.voxalot.com/action/static...amp;itemOID=26

[flydr2]

I just tried this and it works really well...

Note that some providers can be used for both numbers. My provider worked for both... my number and the person I called.

This is nice if you are at a friends place with internet and need to place a voip call.