Dell Voice is a new service offered by Dell and Fongo. It’s an app for Android or Apple iOS devices and uses either 3G or 4G or WiFi to make telephone calls. Yes, you can do that with other apps such as Skype or GmailVoice but there is a difference. With Dell Voice you get your own phone number. How cool is that? Oh, it’s free. Did I mention that? Right now, it’s offered in Canada only but it may be offered at some point, south of the border.
Here’s how I got it to work on a iPod Touch.
1. Download the app here: http://www.dellvoice.ca/systemRequirements Install it.
2. Go to dellvoice.ca and register. You don’t need a credit card because it’s free, right? Just sign up for a new account. Dell Voice will send you a registration email, naturally, with a link to confirm your email address.
3. Once you click on the link, you’ll be prompted for some address details. This is for 911 service. Yes, DellVoice supports 911 service, it’s just a bit slower than a regular landline.
4. Once you get all of the details sorted out, there will be a prompt for choosing a province and a city in Canada. This gets you your own phone number. There were none in my city so I had to choose one that was close but still within the free calling zone from Toronto.
TIP: If you are lucky enough to get a number in your city, you can call that area code from anywhere in the world that has WiFi. Dell Voice uses VOIP (data) to function. Obviously if you are charged for data on a WiFi network overseas there will be charges but if you’re at Starbucks, let’s say, the calls are free to your own area code. Dell Voice calls to Dell Voice phones are also free.
5. Once I completed the registration I fired up my iPod Touch, downloaded the app and called my home number. Sure enough, it worked. The voice was crystal clear without the delay that Skype usually has. On an iPod the sound comes through the speaker, of course, so you’d need your earphones to listen in private.
Dell Voice is available here: http://www.dellvoice.ca/
The beauty of this whole thing is that you get a real phone number and calls within the Canadian calling area are free if you have an unlimited data plan on your mobile phone. If you have free WiFi then the calls are free, too. If you have unlimited data but you pay for your cell phone minutes, this is a superb option.
As far as international rates, they are frickin’ low. China, Hong Kong, the U.S. and most other well-known countries are $.02 a minute. Rates will change, I assume, but you can check what they are currently here: http://www.dellvoice.ca/ldServices
Canadians have been screwed royally by mobile phone companies. There aren’t many of us up here, only 33 million or so, and we’re strung all over hell’s half acre. Until now, Bell and Rogers et al. have felt the need to overcharge us for something as simple as phone calls and test messaging. Dell Voice should shake things up a bit. Let’s hope it stays around for a while.
TIP: If you don’t use your phone number in any 90 day period, you lose your number. If you use Dell Voice for emergencies, remember to call yourself a few times a month in order for you to maintain your original free number.
Thanks for reading!