I already use IP telephony in Taiwan to receive/make local canadian calls via the Internet without paying long-distance fees. I would now like to know if there is a VOIP service in Taiwan which would allow me to have a local number in Taipei and use it wherever I am on the planet?
Something like Vonage but with local Taipei phone number.
I came across this the other day. Maybe it could help you. It’s a VoIP provider here in Taiwan. http://www.act-tel.com.tw/_pg/products/productItem.asp
Thanks for the link, but they only sell the hardware that makes VOIP happen. I already have a phone, what I need is the service provider. I keep looking … 
do u use comwave for your canadian service?
how much was the voip hw? I wanna buy some, but they all seem so expensive.
[quote=“webdoctors”]do u use comwave for your Canadian service?
how much was the voip hw? I wanna buy some, but they all seem so expensive.[/quote]
I am not with comwave I am with a small company called babyTel … if you want more info send me a pm with your email address.
I bought a Grandstream Budgetone for about 70$US and it is working well so far. Since it is about the cheapest hardware SIP phone you can find, don’t expect top quality, but it still does the job.
[quote=“broubrou”]
I bought a Grandstream Budgetone for about 70$US and it is working well so far. Since it is about the cheapest hardware SIP phone you can find, don’t expect top quality, but it still does the job.[/quote]
Does anybody have any idea what kind of SIP hardware is available here in Taiwan? I am particularly looking for a SIP/DSL router which I can hook up to my DSL and landline on the WAN side, and my landline phone and wireless router on the other side. The router then decides weather to use SIP or regular landline when I dial a number on my phone.
Alternatively, a WLAN SIP phone would be also interesting, but it should be able to choose different SIP providers, depending if I want to call North America or Europe. Any comments? Any ideas?
I looked at Gunghua yesterday without much success. All I found was some stupid USB phone, but I want to be able to make/receive phone calls, without turning on the computer.
Skype is a good bet.
But with Skype you always have to have the computer running, and you cannot really make local calls to foreign countries. With SIP I can call any landline in Germany for 1 Cent/minute from anywhere in the world. If I find a SIP provider in the US, I can probably do the same there. That’s why the SIP standard is the way to go, and you don’t need to boot up the computer, for just a phone call. :loco:
But with Skype you always have to have the computer running, and you cannot really make local calls to foreign countries. With SIP I can call any landline in Germany for 1 Cent/minute from anywhere in the world. If I find a SIP provider in the US, I can probably do the same there. That’s why the SIP standard is the way to go, and you don’t need to boot up the computer, for just a phone call. :loco:[/quote]
some cellphones can run skype, and than u dont need a computer or even home internet access, but u may run into high internet data charges from your Telco provider.
The hardware is available from D-Link and competitors … the problem in Taiwan will never be hardware. You need a VOIP provider, and I have yet to find one. Actually there are outbound call VOIP providers, but not full inbound/outbound (you can not have your own phone number on VOIP).
[quote=“broubrou”]
The hardware is available from D-Link and competitors … the problem in Taiwan will never be hardware. You need a VOIP provider, and I have yet to find one. Actually there are outbound call VOIP providers, but not full inbound/outbound (you can not have your own phone number on VOIP).[/quote]
You can take VoIP providers from a different country, it does not have to be Taiwan, unless you want to make calls within Taiwan of course. My provider is back home, so I can make local calls to my family and friends for just 1 cent a minute (landline). And I do have a phone number there as well, but that is not worth it, the costs per minute are too high if they would call that number. In the long run I want my family to get a SIP router as well, then it is transparent to them. All they need is pick up the phone and call my SIP number, the router uses the VoIP provider, and it is a free call.
So the idea is to get a hardware that is able to handle multiple SIP accounts. Get accounts in the countries that you want to place calls to. The SIP hardware would choose the appropriate provider, and you don’t have to worry about anything. And if someone in that country wants to call you, all they need to do is place a local call, and your phone here in Taiwan rings.
Well, I went to Gunghua the other day, but was not able to locate any SIP routers. What kind of hardware are you talking about, (SIP phones or SIP routers). I would prefer a SIP router with a socket for my analog phone, one for the land line, and a socket for my LAN/DSL splitter or such. A wireless SIP phone would do it as well, but then I have another phone that I need to use. The advantage of a router is that you can use your regular landline phone, and you don’t have to worry about anything else.
AVM has such a product, but I havn’t seen AVM devices in Taiwan yet. Just go to :
avm.de/en/
and look for “FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN”.
I was not able to find anything like that on the D-Link webpage.
For those of you interested in trying a different VOIP service provider I would like to recommend www.headcall.com. Right now it is only capable of VOIP to VOIP, they are setting up servers and doing some tests, eventually you will be able to use PSTN phones or Mobile phones to dial to their VOIP phones and vice versa. The system works pretty well, but like any VOIP phone if you are using a modem then it’s not very stable. The thing I like about Headcall is that you can use web cams and have conference calls! You are also given a phone number instead of a user name, like Skype. That phone number will come in handy in the future when they implement the PSTN/Mobile to and from the VOIP system. You choose the number you want also, they do not preassign them. I registered several numbers numbers, but only use one. I actually don’t see the need to have multiple numbers because you can only be logged in to one number at a time anyway. All you need is a microphone and speakers or one of those headsets and you can start using the system. All you need to do is download the software and you can get started immedately.
Also, when I was at Computex this year I saw a new modem product from Motorola that allows an incoming call to be transfered to another phone using your PC. The demo they did was transfering a PSTN call to a mobile phone. And what’s great is that the telecom companies are non the wiser. All that is charged is for the PSTN call. Without the modem, if you transfer your calls from your PSTN line to a mobile phone, you pay the charges and the charges are calculated by mobile phone rates not PSTN rates! I don’t think this will work for international calls though, I think their may be some added charges. I am not 100% clear with how it works on the charge issues, but the technology is very good, I will be buying one of these modems soon as they will be very useful!