|
Unlimited Anytime Minutes |
|
|
|
Written by MrNutz
|
|
Wednesday, 16 February 2005 |
With the advent of VoIP services, a whole-new realm of communication possibilites have become available to the average High-Speed Internet consumer. Most importantly, the ability to have unlimited long distance minutes from your home phone!
So the question is... I've got a mobile phone, why can't I have unlimited mobile minutes just like my VoIP package?
Answer: You can! Using VoIP services, mobile calls can be routed to your intended callers using your Mobile-to-Mobile minute plan.
NOTE: Before reading any further, this is purely a P.O.C. (Proof Of Concept) and I have not tested this, nor do I condone circumventing the call procedures that mobile phone carriers expect consumers to adhere to. Also, due to the costs of extra hardware required, this would only be economical to people that require very high minute rate plans.
1 First off, this entire concept relies on having an Unlimited Mobile-to-Mobile plan with your mobile phone service provider. This will be the basis for all of your incoming and outgoing calls, so purchasing the cheapest plan available with this option is desired.
2 Now that you have your Unlimited M2M rate plan, you will need another mobile phone to call. This phone's purpose is to relay outgoing calls to your VoIP service and forward incoming calls to your main mobile phone. So any cheap phone that works with your service provider will suffice. For call clarity, make sure it can recieve calls with a fairly good signal near your High-Speed Internet connection. Also, make sure you add some type of Family-Talk plan option to your mobile phone package.
3 Mobile-to-Mobile is set. Now you need a VoIP provider. Since we are trying to do this as cheap as possible, I would recommend SunRocket. They will let you prepay $199 for the entire year which locks in a rate of $16.58/month. If you use the promo code WBFOGQ, you get two (2) FREE cordless phones.
NUMBER PORTABILITY:
Most VoIP providers give you the option to have a main number and a second virtual number. I would recommend that you port over your current mobile phone number to this second virtual number so your friends will call your VoIP. (See below on how that call gets forwarded to your mobile phone.)
4 Communications are setup, now we need the interconnect hardware. We need to take the mobile phone call data to analog POTS data before our VoIP can use it. To do this, you will need a Dock-n-Talk Cell Phone Station or something similiar.
5 Finally, we need to control were our VoIP call will go. So when you call your 2nd mobile phone using M2M, you need to redirect the call to your intended destination.
The Sipura SPA-3000 was designed specifically with this in mind. When it receives an call from you, it then asks you were you would like to redirect it. (Very similar to using a calling card.)
Well, that's the conceptual part... Let's see some diagrams:
FYI:
Wow. That sounds great... So why doesn't somebody try to profit off of this?
Actually, there is a company that provides this service in two forms:
1 For $9.99/month, Xcelis will provide this service without the extra hardware. Similar to the DIY method I descibed, Xcelis provides a number to call before making an outgoing call. (This number uses your M2M minutes.) After connecting, you are prompted for your friend's number. Xcelis will route your call over VoIP using their facilities.
Sounds great, but has a couple of red flags. First, you are trusting them with your decrypted phone calls. Most people have been hesitant to sacrifice call security for this service. Also, service providers won't be very happy that this company is cutting their profits. That leaves the possibility that Xcelis numbers may be blocked soon.
|
|
Pros:
Cost
Easy to Setup
No Extra Hardware
Required
|
|
|
Cons:
Security Concerns
Outgoing Calls Only
Xcelis numbers may get
blocked by providers
|
|
2 For $249, Xcelis sells a device which communicates to your second phone using Bluetooth. Then redirects your call similar to the Sipura SPA-3000. The problem here is that picking up an extra Bluetooth-enabled phone to sit at home is not as enticing as finding a cheap phone you can just plug into a Dock-n-Talk Cell Phone Station or something similar. Also, the cost of the Xcelis device is more that the cost of the devices I mentioned earlier.
|
|
Pros:
Security
Easy to Setup
Incoming and Outgoing Calls
|
|
|
Cons:
Cost of Xcelis Hardware
Second phone must be
Bluetooth enabled
|
|
Happy Hacking,
MrNutz@REMOVEmylinspire.com
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 February 2005 )
|
Cell / Phone 
