Alternative to Google Voice

[Parasaurolophus]

For years now, I've used gmail's phone feature (formerly Hangouts, I guess?) to call people, because my reception at home is terribad (calls often drop immediately) and I don't have a landline (because who does?). (Strangely, it works much better for my partner, who has the same provider but a different brand of phone.)

Unfortunately, Google seems to have terminated that feature. Or, rather, ported it to 'Google Voice', and restricted it to the US. So now I need another workaround for calling people when the need arises. I have no idea what's out there, however. So: what's out there?

[eigen]

I have horrible reception, but my iPhone can tie to my apple ID and let me make calls from my number via my computer directly via wi-fi or ethernet. I use it quite a bit.

It does require that you're an iphone person though, and have a mac.

[Morden]

I think you can still use google meet to phone people--you just invite the phone number. I don't know if they can call you.

[Hibush]

My internet provider offers phone service for an additional $10 per month. That includes unlimited calls to North America. Calls to many European countries cost 0.4 c/minute. (Yes, I wrote that correctly.) Also voicemail, spam-call filtering and caller ID.

[mamselle]

You can Skype-call phone numbers, I call my cousin in Belgium from the US all the time.

M.

[AvidReader]

You can Skype-call phone numbers, I call my cousin in Belgium from the US all the time.

M.

I also use Skype for overseas calls. I believe they also allow you to buy/register a phone number that others can call, if that would be useful to you.

AR.

[Tee_Bee]

You can Skype-call phone numbers, I call my cousin in Belgium from the US all the time.

M.

I also use Skype for overseas calls. I believe they also allow you to buy/register a phone number that others can call, if that would be useful to you.

AR.

I have a yearly subscription on Skype that lets me call nationally and it gives me an inbound number. It's handy, because it gives me a local phone number because my cell phone number is from a different area code and I am not going to change it. I rather love Skype.

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I think Skype might be the answer, since I don't have Apple products, Google doesn't want you to call if you don't have an American number, and our internet is provided by the landlords (and thus not bundleable).

[downer]

I use WhatsApp for a lot of my calls. But the other person needs to have it too.

I used to use Skype but it app always seemed so big and slow and it would want to update just when I wanted to use it. And when Microsoft bought it, it seemed to get harder to log into. But maybe those problems are all a thing of the past.

[Parasaurolophus]

I used to use Skype but it app always seemed so big and slow and it would want to update just when I wanted to use it. And when Microsoft bought it, it seemed to get harder to log into. But maybe those problems are all a thing of the past.

Definitely not. It's clunky AF.

[jerseyjay]

If I understand the question, it is how to make long-distance calls without relying on cell phone reception.

Both my current iPhone and my previous Samsung allow for making calls over WiFi, including international calls. Quality varies.

I, too, use WattsAp;  both parties need to have it, but my experience is that outside of the US, and among many immigrant groups in the US, its very common. I also use Signal. For both of these quality depends on the strength of the WiFi connection.

[Parasaurolophus]

Oh, I mean local calls too. Reception here is such that my phone doesn't function properly as a phone, period. It struggles to even relay my messages.

[jerseyjay]

Well, I think that any option for long distance calls will also work for local calls. Of course, it depends on other people having the various apps. So you probably cannot use WatsApp to order a pizza (although in some countries many business do have WatsApp). If you use your phone's WiFi calling you should be able to call any number. I have used this feature when I am travelling and do not want to use roaming.

[mamselle]

I used to use Skype but it app always seemed so big and slow and it would want to update just when I wanted to use it. And when Microsoft bought it, it seemed to get harder to log into. But maybe those problems are all a thing of the past.

Definitely not. It's clunky AF.

I agree it's less elegant than it was in its pre-MSoft days, but it does still work, and for less than $0.01 per calling minute, or something on that scale.

M.