Hi there,

My last two monthly ntl bills have come in at £40 which is much higher than usual for us.

The reason being the number of mobile phone calls we make, be it just to find out where someone it is or for a long coversation. We don't have mobile phone contracts with free minutes and so forth so we use our landline for all outgoing calls.

I am now considering VOIP as a cheap alternative.

Which one should I go with for cheap mobile rates (in particular o2) and free calls to landline would be a bonus too.

The only disadvantage of course is I have to make calls via the computer (I have the headset so not a problem, but not the same as using the actual landline).

Is there any prefix style companies which will fulfil my needs just as well?

If so which?

Prefix on landline would be preferred..

And if I go for this, who has the cheaper basic line rental, BT or ntl?

Thanks.

You don't have to use the PC for VoIP - I don't.

I have a device that plugs into my router and my standard phones are connected to it, so I make and receive calls just as if it was a standard phone line. I now pay no line rental, and pay nothing for calls to landlines in the UK and many other countries 24/7.

However you can't really beat the deals from a landline for calling mobiles, which doesn't matter to me, as any mobile I call I do make is infrequent and very short.

With BT line rental is £11 by DD, get free caller display (via www.bt.com/btprivacy) and free 1571 (If you use it).

Then CPS your line to JDS (see the free evening and weekend thread), so you can get for no monthly fee, free calls to 01 and 02 numbers in the evening and weekend. Also with JDS you can get capped calls to mobiles in the evening and weekend.

However with a BT line, you can also use indirect carrier 18185 on their cheaper BT line rates, so you can call mobiles at 5p/min weekdays and 2p/min weekends. Their sister service 1899 you can use to get your daytime calls to landlines at 3 pence per CALL, you could use in the evening and weekends but would be pointless as you can get those free with JDS.

Though at the moment, as you have found in the other thread, you can get calls to mobiles at 1p/min via a dial-through, so would be wise to use that whilst that rates lasts, as it ain't gonna last that much longer.

Is is wise to pass 0844 calls over BT (Dial 1280 on a CPS'd line )as that way you can guarantee those calls are charged at the correct rate, and also ensure with free caller display you should place at least one call per billing period back over BT to qualify for free.

reposted. don't know how to delete. sorry.

"Then CPS your line to JDS (see the free evening and weekend thread), so you can get for no monthly fee, free calls to 01 and 02 numbers in the evening and weekend. Also with JDS you can get capped calls to mobiles in the evening and weekend.

However with a BT line, you can also use indirect carrier 18185 on their cheaper BT line rates, so you can call mobiles at 5p/min weekdays and 2p/min weekends. Their sister service 1899 you can use to get your daytime calls to landlines at 3 pence per CALL, you could use in the evening and weekends but would be pointless as you can get those free with JDS."

Can you explain the above a bit more please...

If this JDS is put on my BT line, if I was to use services like 1899 and 18185, would I need to go back through BT (using their prefix) and then ring this 1899 prefix to ensure I am charged correctly?

How does JDS' mobile capping work?

And who does the CPS business, is it automatic once I sighn up?

And what was meant by when you said "on their cheaper BT line rates,"

Cheers.

With JDS being a CPS service, when you dial a number it is automatically routed through JDS at the exchange.

To use 1899, 18185 etc, you just dial 1899 in front of your destination number, no need to dial back onto BT, as dialling 1899 or 18185 will tell the exchange to ignore the automatic routing and place the call over 1899 or 18185.

JDS mobile caps:

Calls to UK mobiles are capped at a maximum of £0.20 off-peak, £0.15 weekend for up to 20 minutes, the normal pence per minute rate then applies. Calls costing less than £0.20 off-peak, £0.15 weekend will be charged as standard.

When you sign up for a CPS carrier, they send a request to BT and within 10 to 14 days an engineer will flick a switch in the exchange which then auto routes your calls to the chosen CPS provider.

For certain calls like 0844, 0845 and 0870, BT are cheapest carrier for those calls, some CPS carriers will charge the same price, others charge more for for them. (Current exception 18185 as they offer 0870 during the weekday cheaper) So if you see a site that states dial this 0844 number for 1p/min that only guarantees it will be 1p/min from a BT line, you may find other carriers will and do charge more. So for those type of calls place them back over BT using the 1280 code this will the exchange to ignore the automatic routing and place the call with BT, in the same way as dialling 1899 places the call with 1899.

If you look at websites that guarantee cheaper calls than BT they will always have a clause like: "Exclusions apply: Non-geographic numbers (e.g. numbers starting 0845)...."