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Calling Frequently Between US/Canada and Colombia

First of all, sorry for the long technical explanation to follow, but it may be of real interest to those of us who have to call frequently from the US to Colombia and vice-versa:

Vonage is a broadband phone service that operates using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) technology to make calls over the Internet. This DOES NOT mean that you talk through your computer! You actually use a regular phone like you would buy at Office Depot or Walmart or whatever. Just a normal corded or cordless phone.

I've been using it for about 2 years now. I was very skeptical at first, having played around with the early systems using softphones, which required talking through a headset plugged into your computer. They sucked (and as far as I can tell, still do!) But Vonage was a lot different. Voice quality is very good, although not as consistent as a regular phone line. Still, completely tolerable.

The way it works is, they send you this little box called an analog telephone adaptor, or ATA, and you plug this box into your Internet router. So what you have is your cable or DSL modem... your broadband router is plugged into the modem, and your computer(s) into your router, and your ATA into your router. You then plug a regular corded or cordless phone into your ATA, and BADA-BING! You have phone service. To stress what I said earlier, this does not work through your computer. You can turn your computer off, or not even have a computer, and it will still work (but you do have to have a broadband router!)

You get to pick an area code from all over the US -- and you can even get extra numbers from different cities if you want. You can use this phone to call anywhere in the US or Canada with no per-minute charges at all. Calls to other Vonage users are always free, no matter where in the world they are.

International rates are very decent -- Calls to Colombia range from $0.07 to $0.10 depending on the city being called. Calls to cell phones in Colombia are $0.11 per minute. There are no connection or call-initiation fees -- call a Colombian cell phone and talk from one minute, the cost is a total of $0.11.

The total cost of the service is around $25 per month.

Now here's what's really cool: The thing is portable. All it needs is a broadband router and an Internet connection. It doesn't know or care what city or country you are in. Although Vonage will not sell or ship outside the US (and maybe Canada?), and they don't provide support for using their service outside their service area, I have never had any problem taking my ATA and a cordless phone with me to Santo Domingo or Colombia and using it. So, I can be sitting in Colombia with my Vonage ATA plugged in, and someone can call my Miami number, and my phone rings in Colombia! I can pick up my phone in Colombia and call anywhere in the US or Canada, and not pay any kind of charges at all! When I call someone, their caller ID shows me calling from Miami. So unless I tell someone where I am, they think I'm in Miami!

Now, imagine this... a person in Cartagena has the Vonage system with a Miami number... another person in Medellin has it with a NYC number. The guy in Cartagena picks up his phone, dials the NYC number, and the phone in Medellin rings. The guy in Medellin sees the Miami number on his caller ID. He picks up the phone, and they are talking -- WITHOUT ANY PER MINUTE CHARGES, AND WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE COLOMBIAN PHONE SYSTEM! For anyone who wants to dodge the local phone company, either for cost savings or security reasons (remember when they busted the traficantes who had the computer tied into the telco billing system???) this is a great system.

Another great advantage is that you can use this phone to make overseas calls from Colombia for significant cost savings. For example, calls to the UK (fixed lines) are $0.03 per minute. Germany is $0.03 or $0.04. I believe these rates are a lot cheaper than calls from a regular Colombian line.

For ultimate security, there is an open-source, VOIP-compatible phone system called Asterisk which can be set up to build private networks without Vonage. The system works pretty much as I have described above, but using virtual private network (VPN) technology, the calls can be made virtually untappable, with no call records being kept (if not desired). Implementing this is well beyond the average reader's skill level, but I am available as a consultant. :)

I am a networking and computing security consultant, so I am able to do a lot of my business without being face-to-face with my clients. They don't need to know where I am. The real upshot for me is that I get to spend a lot of time where I want to be while earning money in the US.

One big tip: Vonage allows you to set your phone's bandwidth usage, and it is important in Colombia, which has spotty broadband service, to set it to the minimum bandwidth level. This gives a very slight reduction in voice quality, but uses only 1/3 of the bandwidth. In my experience, the low bandwidth setting works flawlessly in Colombia, but the high setting gets you a lot of delay and echo. It is important to note than if you are using the low bandwidth setting and you call another Vonage user, that user must be on low bandwidth, too, or the system seems to ignore your low bandwidth setting. This is some kind of bug with the system. Calling other numbers, either regular lines or cellular, it works great.

You can learn more about Vonage at this link:
Vonage

Anyone who needs help with any private computing or network issues, my website is: callada.com

My phone number is 1-305-503-8072. I am always interested in projects anywhere in Latin America, but particularly in Colombia!!!

By DiegoDelNorte on Nov 9, 2004, 06:47 in Friendly Talkzone.

Mr. Hollywood says on Nov 9, 2004, 07:05:

Many of us already us it Lots of us here already use Vonage or other VOIP services. Agree with you that it's great.

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ROBCAR says on Nov 9, 2004, 08:07:

Diego.....excellent posting I was a little familiar with this system, but after reading your posting I have a better understanding of how this works. Two of my clients have similar systems. One of them uses it for businesses he does between the US and Asia, as a marketing consultant, and the other one has it because of his job as reginal director for Avaya in Latin America. And I have been wanting to implement this for my own international consulting business. Anyway, like I said great posting ....it helped me a lot and I'm sure it helped others as well!

ROBERT C
MIA & MDE

ROBERT C MIA & MDE

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DiegoDelNorte says on Nov 9, 2004, 08:45:

Rob - Please stay in touch! Rob --

Thanks for the kind response.

I'd love to be in contact with you or your friend at Avaya for any kind of projects. You can email at info at callada.com if you want, and I'd be happy to get you a resume.

Sorry to the list for for this, but there does not seem to be a method for doing personal replies off the forums.

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Bill1243 says on Nov 13, 2004, 21:27:

a great post That was a great post, and yes, it is exactly as he says. I wasn't aware of the bandwidth adjustment issue, but everything else I have experienced and it is great. Vonage is but one company offering this. In ten years, half of all traffic will probably go thru this way. I have this dream of bein' on a beach in Rio with my cordless phone plugged into a Voip device which is plugged into a broadband modem, sipping a MaiTai under an umbrella, while taking calls from the U.S....and all for just $25 a month!!

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YEP says on Nov 14, 2004, 16:48:

You must be new in business as there's no way of contacting you looking at your page.

But you posting is very usefull for those who didn't now. And the details with the setting of quality is smart.

ON the Free linux drug since SuSE 6.2 I think ;-) (sorry lost track)

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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jgcastan says on Nov 14, 2004, 17:32:

VoIP Colombia www.Ipsofactum.com Now you can call for free from PC to PC to anywhere in the world and soon from PC to phone at www.ipsofactum.com. This is a VoIP server for Spanish Speakers, developed in Colombia. Give a try.

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Lionheart says on Nov 14, 2004, 17:55:

Website Localization If www.ipsofactum.com wants their product to be used globally they should have their website localized for other languages. I do that as a profession, so you can point to me for more information. Would be a nice first job for me when I move to Colombia ;-)

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Bill1243 says on Nov 16, 2004, 20:03:

Voip---peer to peer The industry standard peer to peer VOIP service is Skype.com
It works great for talking from computer to computer. But the main problem with this type of service is that it is only between computers and not to or from regular phones. Also, most people don't have computers at their ready disposal there in Colombia. And if they do, it is often a dial up, which costs on a per minute basis.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Nov 17, 2004, 06:09:

What's the hype about skype? I don't understand the attractions of Skype when all the instant message programs like AIM and MSN Messenger also have great voice capacity? I have Vonage for the ability to use a real phone and call real phones but if all Skype does is allows P2P voice chat I really don't see the advantage over IM services.

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Bill1243 says on Nov 17, 2004, 12:27:

To Hollywood You are exactly right, with one exception. I wasn't aware that AIM offered voice, but indeed both Yahoo and MSN Messenger does. They seem to kind of hide it, but it is offered. Skype is primarily voice, with instant messaging as the backup.

The exception is this.... I have used them all, except for AIM, and Skype seems to work the best. And if you add money to your account you can indeed call to phones, but probably not a good deal what with all the cheap phone cards out there. But I have found that Yahoo and MSN screw up all the time. Even now I can't get them to work no matter what I do. It has something to do with the firewall. Skype works every time.

You are very smart to have Voip (Vonage). Did you know they now offer an international virtual number service too? This allows a person in a foreign country to call a LOCAL number and call you back to the states for free ($4.95 a month). However, so far it is limited to only Mexico, Canada and England.

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Lionheart says on Nov 17, 2004, 15:27:

Yahoo and MSN Both offer voice and webcam and it isn't hidden. Both have big buttons to turn the function on and off. I do video/voice chat with many Latin American countries every day. My partners are on dial-up and broadband internet connections. It is free. Normally at least one of the two is working well, rarely are both having problems at the same time. I have DJs in Latin America doing their radio stream to my server in the USA everyday. They suffer the same amount of power outages and internet outages as anywhere else, with exceptions like some Caribbean islands. Voip is a great idea ... I will probably use that for business purposes. For personal purposes, Yahoo and MSN are just fine (I refuse to use AOHell). Yes, some firewalls prevent p2p connections, normally there are easy settings to open them up, unless you are prevented to do so by a corporate firewall, for example.

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Bill1243 says on Nov 17, 2004, 19:25:

note good post Lionheart.

Perhaps MSN and Yahoo aren't as hard to use for audio as I said above, but it just seems that Skype works every time, while the others don't. In fact, I can't get them to work at all, and am not computer savvy enough to be opening ports to get them to work, so I gave up and just use Skype. Skype also has a lot of other neat features too.

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DiegoDelNorte says on Nov 18, 2004, 19:25:

For YEP Hi --

"as there's no way of contacting you looking at your page."

YEP, did you try the "Contacts" link at the top of every page? :)

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