Ether VOIP Hack for Free Calls

We just heard over at the Tipsity forums about a new service which will let you make free calls to many countries including UAE. All thanks to Satphoneguy for finding this new service.

The service is run by AT & T and its called Ether. However don't get misleaded by their homepage. Ether is actually a paid to talk service, where experts can charge people to talk to them. Like for example, I can setup a account on Ether with the following description.

Listing Name: VOIP Expert
Tags: Setting up VOIP phone, SIP networks, Telephony, VOIP
Pricing Plan: Free until "*"; $0.01 per minute; Repeat

That means I can help you setup your VOIP at your home or business. If you want to contact me, just dial my ether number 1-888-MY-ETHER ext. 02703XXX. So consider you live in Michigan, have a old sunrocket gizmo and want to hook up a SIP service with that. However you have little or no knowledge about SIP or VOIP, of course you have no clue how Sunrocket Gizmo can be unlocked. There you need some expert help, so you can contact me and I will charge you 0.01 cents per minute. Ether takes 15% commission.

Now this is all what Ether told you right. Now here is the ultimate hack to convert this to a totally Free Calling Haven. Lets see how we do it.

1) Go to Ether and register.
2) Add a phone number. currently Ether offers about 20 odd countries. No India sorrry. UAE is accepted which is extremely surprising.
3) While you add a number, rememeber to chose the option,
Allow customers to start the call for free. The rate below will begin when you press *.
Now this is the hack. Remember this.
4) Now Ether will assign you a extension number like 1-888-MY-ETHER ext. 02703XXX.
5) If someone wants to talk to you, give them this number, 1-888-MY-ETHER (1-888-69-38437) and ask them to enter your extension at the prompt.
6) your call will be connected but remember dont press *, coz that will trigger the billing :-)

Talk as much as you want, its all FREE. The only worry is it's a USA number, however they are various ways to call USA number for Free. You can use Earthcaller, icall or Truphone to make calls to that Ether number.

Satphoneguy has tested the service have successfully called up UK Mobile, Germany and USA. UK Mobile is never given away for FREE. This is a great opportunity to use Ether to make free calls.

Let us know where you made Free calls with this Ultimate new way.

Will truphone extend free voip calls offer ?

Its already 29th February in Singapore but till now, there is no official news on whether Truphone will extend their "successful" FREE VOIP Calls to over 40 countries offer.

The question remains open as we slowly wait for Truphone to update their website or officially declare in a press conference or release. I myself have been using Truphoe on N95 for about 3-4 months now. It's seriously the best mobile voip provider (Fring is still the best movile voip application developer, also see talkonaut)when it comes to giving away free calls. Great voice quality and FREE. Two things you typically look for in a VOIP provider is given to you by Truphone.

Now the big question is "is the honeymoon over?". Just for knowledge sake, let me educate some readers here about the "Free VOIP Calls" gimmick. People always complain about providers not offering free calls to their favorite destination and wonder why.

There are actually no "Free Calls". If a provider is offering you free calls, he is taking the hit. He has to pay for the calls but instead offer you the service for FREE. Whats the benefit of offering such service? Basically brand building and those who buy credits might help maintain the free service.

Truphone i suppose works mostly off the "VC funded" money. However, there is always a limit to what you can spend. It would be interesting to see if truphone has already spent that limit and going to stop the service.

For truphone as a company, it would be beneficial to offer cheap rates and not free calls anymore. However for users, it could be just another start to find their next FREE Mobile VOIP provider.

Life goes on and with our blog around the corner, you don't have to worry too much about finding a new mobile voip provider. We will however wait till Truphone announces their plans.