A few of us at the office have been wondering about options for using our cell phones for calls without using minutes on our plans for conference calls, etc. When I travel, I do not have a desk phone to use so the minutes add up quickly. For those that do not have a “Fav 5” T-Mobile like feature on their cell phone plan I have found that Groove IP works pretty well. For a one time purchase of $4, calls can be made using a data connection leveraging Google’s VOIP capabilities offered in Google Talk/Voice,
The application is pretty simple to setup. It is configured with your Google account credentials and then makes a connection. The application has three options for calling:
- Intercept outbound calls being made and route them though the Groove IP application.
- Prompt every time an outbound call is made, “Normal Call” or “Call using Groove IP”.
- Disabled.
Pictured below is the simple dialer that can be used for calls from Groove IP.
My testing of this application started with a 3G connection on my EVO 3D. My test call went downhill quickly and the person on the other end complained that they could not hear me. I hung-up and called back with 4G and had only a little complaint about echoing back to the person on the other end. I was worried about conference calls when I was told this and tested the mute functionality which stopped the echoing.
This solution is not perfect but will allow me to call into long conference calls without needing to worry about my usage. A decent solution as long as you have the bandwidth and hopefully Google’s call quality improves over time.
For those with a “Fav 5” or “Calling circle” calling option, if a person adds their Google Voice number to their free calling numbers, Google Voice Callback is a great solution. It allows you to make calls where Google Voice calls you back with your Google Voice number to connect the call.