Q: Can I get Internet based VoIP phone service for free in the US?
A: Kind of if your needs are modest.
You can get an OBi110 Service Bridge and VoIP Adaptor which allows you to place and receive
Google Chat calls directly from a regular analog phone (DECT cordless phone are especially
convenient). No other phone service is required.
You can get a free Direct Inward Dial (DID) number from sipgate.com that works with standard
SIP phones or VoIP telephone adaptors. By combining this with Google Voice for outbound
dialing you can effectively have nationwide phone service with no monthly charge. You must
provide your own Internet connection and will need a cell phone to sign up. The sipgate service
is offered AS IS for single line residential use only, and may be withdrawn at any time.
If you're looking for a more capable home office telephone serivce, I've been pleased with
CallCentric which costs a few dollars per month and under 2 cents per minute. CallCentric is a
major ISP colacated with a major telephone facility. This combination of internet bandwidth, low
cost, and peering agreements makes for exceptionally robust and affordable service. Internet-to-
Internet calls are free (similar to Skype), you only pay for access to the PSTN.
For a business phone system, PhoneBooth offers hosted PBX service for $20 per user per month
which is significantly less than the cost of installing your own PBX and paying a traditional phone
company for service.
Q: Did you mis-spell "Amigo" in Phone Amego intentionally?
A: Yes, I wanted a unique name that was easy to recognize.
Q: Can I help test Phone Amego and get a discounted license?
A: Yes, Phone Amego is still under development as I work to test it with different phones and
add new features. If you test Phone Amego and report bugs that lead to a working solution, I'll
give you a $10 discount toward your registration. Use the log window (Control+Phone Amego)
to see how the program is working.
Q: I notice Phone Amego is available on your website AND on the Mac
App Store. Is there any advantage to getting it one place over the other?
A: The web site version is often a little ahead of the Mac App Store version and offers more
interactive customer support. If you encounter a problem or have a feature request, I can send
you a test version directly. If you are using the trial version from my web site and it's working
for you, registering it on my web site will let you keep using the software that is already installed
and working on your system.
The advantage of the Mac App Store is transparent (and less frequent) product updates. The Mac
App Store does not allow beta test versions and requires a more rigorous submission and review
process. Some features don't meet Apple's guidelines so need to be disabled (but you can
download and install them manually yourself if desired). A Mac App Store receipt only unlocks
software downloaded through the Mac App Store.
The Mac App Store allows you to download your purchased software anytime you like, and use
the software on more than one computer within a family household by unlocking it with the
same Apple ID.
I offer a choice to gain the exposure of being in the Mac App Store and let users decide what
works best for them.