Build your Mini Mobile VoIP Gateway and $ave

Following my post about iSkoot yesterday, a number of Treonauts emailed me wondering if it was really worth the effort and cost to setup.  My answer is a categorical ‘Yes, yes, yes’ as you could save yourself quite a bit of money by using (as I’ve now done) iSkoot with Skype as a simple VoIP gateway to call a single (for now) but frequently used international long distance number.

Let me give you a couple of specific examples about the cost savings that I have been able to calculate with iSkoot and Skype that I hope will help to illustrate my point.  For comparison purposes I will be using Verizon’s standard International Dialing and International Long Distance Value Plan.  I will also assume that you have at least one international number (landline or mobile) that you call frequently on your Treo in a given month – I will use the UK as the destination country that you’re calling to.

Scenario 1: How to save over 98% off the standard Verizon International Dialing rates.

• Using your Verizon Treo the cost per minute of a call to:
• a landline or mobile number in the UK is $1.49.
• Using iSkoot and Skype the cost per minute of a call to:
• a UK landline number is $0.022 – 2.2 cents.  You save 98.5%.
• a UK mobile number is $0.262 – 26.2 cents.  You save 82.4%.

Scenario 2: How to save over 89% off Verizon’s International Long Distance Value Plan

• Using your Verizon Treo the cost per minute of a call to:
• a landline or mobile number in the UK is $0.20.
• Using iSkoot and Skype the cost per minute of a call to:
• a UK landline number is $0.022 – 2.2 cents.  You save 89%.
• a UK mobile number is $0.262 – 26.2 cents – but surprisingly here Verizon’s International Long Distance Value Plan with a flat rate to either landline or mobile of only $0.20 (as long as you are in your coverage area and not roaming on another carrier’s network).

Let’s assume that your most called international long distance number is to a landline in the UK and that you’re currently spending $10 per month on calling this number alone then you could either save $9.85 on the standard International Dialing Rates or $8.90 with the Value Plan.  Thus the first option would cost you only $0.15 and the second $1.10 instead of the $10 that you were spending before.  [Please note that it is not my intention to pick on Verizon’s international calling rates as other carriers’ are similar.  Also, savings outside the US are likely to be even higher.]

If you find the above a compelling argument to take a closer look at the iSkoot and Skype combination then please read my earlier post regarding requirements and installation – you must also buy a SkypeIn number.  Trust me when I say that it is an extremely simple and straightforward process which should take you no more than 15 minutes to complete.

You should now have Skype and iSkoot installed on your PC and also have SkypeOut (which allows you to make outbound VoIP calls to standard and mobile phones) and SkypeIn (which allows you to receive inbound phone calls) enabled.

Below are the small additional settings to make your personal VoIP gateway fully functional:

1. iSkoot: double-click on the tray icon and set your ‘Receive’ number to whichever international long distance you want and tick ‘Enable’.
2. Skype: go to Tools > Options > Voicemail and set the ‘Send caller to voicemail’ to 60 seconds.
3. Treo: add the SkypeIn number that you have set up either as a new separate contact or as an additional number for the existing international long distance contact that you entered in iSkoot Receive.

You’re now completely set to go.  In my case:

• from my Treo (using a BT headset) I dialled my local SkypeIn number while out of the office
• then after three or four rings iSkoot started the forwarding of my call using SkypeOut’s service to a landline number in Switzerland that I had set and
• within 15 seconds I was connected!!! 

I’ve now tested this by calling a few people across the globe and aside from one instance everyone told me that they could hear me loud and clear – if it wasn’t for the fact that I told them that I was using Skype I don’t think they would ever have known that I was calling them on VoIP.

As I mentioned at the beginning, currently this setup will work to make calls to only one number (changing numbers can be done manually in iSkoot though) but I have no doubt that this will change in the near future as Skype and iSkoot get updated.  In the meantime, I’ll be very happy to have at least one of my regular international calls costing me a bundle less.

Treonauts always look for better, faster and cheaper tools…