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If someone wants to do the same for Android, this app comes in handy for doing sms https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
I can't speak to if this one works or not on iOS, but here https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/voip-ms-sms/id1037874743?mt=8
Ohhhhh hi! If you're on android I have a solution:
- Get a Bell data tablet plan (flex plan, $20 for 1GB, $40 for 5GB).
- Get a voip.ms account, port your phone number to them, add credit to your account
- VOIP with 911 hookup is under $5/mo, calling is $0.005/minute, SMS is free
- Get this app for SMS: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
- Either configure the default Android phone app to use your VOIP account or get a dialer app (I've been using CSIPsimple, it's so-so, wouldn't mind changing it up though).
You can also get PIA VPN for added security and it works with VOIP :)
Enjoy the nation's largest & fastest LTE network for super cheap :)
Also, WIND's network is super slow and will drive you bonkers in no time, plus they use bands with poor building penetration
Yeah, you can buy a number (a DID) or port an existing number over from voip.ms and you set it up to handle how it receives incoming calls. The google android dialer app makes it fairly easy to set up a voip connection in its settings page, and you can specify to make all calls through the voip connection. voip.ms can host your voicemail as well and email you the sound files when you get a message, SMS is a little trickier, but they do provide sms capability on mobile numbers which can be accessed in their web portal, or through this user-made app which I've been using and works pretty well https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
I pay $0.85 USD per month for the phone number, and each call is about a cent a minute, SMS at the moment is free, but they claim to be planning on charging 1 cent per text maybe sometime later next year. I primarily use Hangouts though for messaging my friends.
That said, I sometimes notice a bit of latency in voice calls depending on the circumstances so maybe it's less appropriate if you spend a lot of time talking on your phone. When you activate incoming voip calls on your phone it warns that it will use up more battery but I haven't really noticed any difference in battery life on my oneplus one, though I'm sure there is some difference.
I imagine similar results are also achievable with buying a Skype number, I've just never liked their Android app that much.
Yes. SMS is free on voip.ms right now. On android there's an app you can use to retrieve your messages. Check it out here.
For voice calls on VoIP.ms, you don't need a mobile app. Android has native SIP functionality. The base OS supports SIP calling. Here are the configuration instructions for VoIP.ms on Android. Your phone calls, both incoming and outgoing, use the same calling interface that all other Android cell phones use.
For SMS on VoIP.ms, there is an app. It requires some configuration to use. The app walks you through it when you start it up.
There is no way to get MMS on a VoIP.ms number. There is also no way to pay less than $25 since $25 is the minimum billing increment. That said, a single $25 payment should be able to last for years if you're a light user. Your credits never expire.
There is nothing else out there that will be cheaper than VoIP.ms in terms of both minimum payment and ongoing cost. Fongo doesn't require a $25 minimum payment, but the ongoing cost is $4.95 per month which is way more than VoIP.ms. Fongo's sister company freephoneline.ca has plans with zero monthly ongoing cost, but there is a $79 one-time fee.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms works well for me
In your VoIP.ms account settings you have to enable the API and generate a key and set the IP address restriction to 0.0.0.0 for this app to work, but it does and it works well.
I've just started with it, but I have voip.ms for voice calls (which I rarely use) and there's also an app that will let you text from voip.ms (they're also just in the process of making things official).
You do end up with a number with it that you could use in a pinch at $1/min.
Not much, honestly. According to my phone (S5), Zoiper (the softphone I use) has used about 125 MB total since January 31 — I also did pay for the premium version and the G.729 codec to get better compression, but on average I think it uses <1 MB per minute — and the texting app I use has used 17.03 MB since Jan 31.
Granted, I also don't talk much on the phone; I text more often than I call. Though that is currently a downside: VoIP.ms is not compatible with standard SMS apps. They use a web client (not even a mobile app) to manage everything, though you can also do it through email which is cool. That said, there is a dev that has made a texting app specific to VoIP.ms which uses their API and Google cloud services for Push notifications that I've been using and it's being working well — but it's only available on Android, so iPhone will have to stick to the web interface or email option.
*Ninjedit: Yeah, about 0.5 MB per minute.
*Edit: another bonus is that VoIP.ms is a Canadian company. And it is in their long-term plans to develop an SMS app, but the one by Michael Kourlas that I mentioned does work well. No plans for MMS support, however, but I use email or Hangouts.
As pointed out elsewhere in this conversation, there is a voip.ms text app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
It works well, but polls the voip.ms servers, so your text will only be picked up as often as every 5 minutes. Unless you are a teenager, this should probably be quick enough for most use cases :)
There's a Voip.ms-specific SMS app for Android - it was written by a McGill U CompSci student. You'll need a Node.js instance to run the matching server-side if you want the push notifications and contact-photo sync, it seems. But if you're geek enough to go data-only and full-VoIP on a cellphone that probably isn't an issue.
Very well reviewed, open source (Apache 2.0, GPLv3 compatible) and fully free despite the "IAP" tag - the IAP is a donation, which if this works as well as it says on the tin I'll be more than happy to pay.
You can use what'sapp, or kik, or whatever other messenger for your phone as long as you have a data connection. you can also use this app for android for voip.ms SMS. It is a little buggy, but works. Also, look into the new Grandstream wave app for Android; I find it does MUCH better with calling situations and better battery performance than Zoiper. While you won't have a seamless experience with these apps and voip.ms, you'll still get a good simulation of a 'cell phone' if you can deal with it.
If it's Linphone for Android, you'd do better with the stand-alone VoIP.ms SMS app.
CSipSimple is also free, and handles SMS over SIP very well.
For talk I used Grandstream Wave. I'm not sure it's "the best" one, but it's free, supports the G.722 codec (HD voice), and works well with encryption (SIP and RTP).
It will do SMS as well if you enable SIP SMS on voip.ms, but I don't use it for that. I don't quite remember why but I think it might have had something to do with not being able to set a notification tone... maybe.
For SMS I use the open source VOIP.ms SMS client for Android. It works amazingly well as it uses the Google push stuff. The author is adding MMS (picture sms) support once a few bugs get worked out with voip.ms.
VoIP.ms and this app.
Works great and it's just a couple of dollars per month. Port your existing # in for free, too.
Pay them w/ PayPal and you can be texting 10 mins from now, with a real #, no sim card needed.
It works with a bunch of apps. I'm using Grandstream Wave at the moment, and it does all the phone stuff I would expect. You can see the list of clients at:
https://wiki.voip.ms/article/Softphones
I have the same number ring my data-only cell and a home voip phone at the same time. I've made a fair number of outgoing calls and qualify has been good. I get sms but not a lot of incoming calls (they've seemed to work too though).
It's pretty inexpensive if you wanted to put in a few dollars and get a number for a month to try it. I pay 85 cents/month for the number, plus 0.8 cents/call to have a caller-id lookup, and 0.9 cents per minute (I pay for 'Premium' routing, their 'Value' one is 0.5 cents a minute.
Their SMS support is in beta, but works well for me. I tend to use this great app for it, but only because they didn't used to have support through SIP when I started. Now I get the messages both in Grandstream and that app, so I'll probably switch over soon.
There is for Android's Voip.ms SMS
Wife told me there is one for the iPhone's too.
VoIP.ms is reliable and includes SMS.
For reliable text messaging use the VoIP.ms SMS app (Android).
Consider the above post re: 2FA texts.
- Test out the Freedom SIM for performance in the areas you'll be needing reliable service. If unsatisfactory you'll want to take advantage of the 15-day return period, or you'll be on the hook for the MSRP of the tablet.
I use the android client. There is also one on the app store if you have an iPhone. Usually I just respond through email though. If you reply back to the email you get when you receive a text it will send a text from your voip number to that person
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
O cool it is open source too! It uses java+gradle so shouldn't be too hard to add on functionality if needed :D https://github.com/michaelkourlas/voipms-sms-client
Are there any other recommended apps? I'll probably just use this one as a supporter of FOSS but always like choices ;)
VoIP.ms handles SMS stateside just fine with the mobile app, but SMS for non-US/Canada numbers is non-functional. If you need SMS (which, in fairness, you didn't mention in your original post) then you'll have to get a local SIM card.
Some plans come with international texting if that's worth considering.
I'm on mobile so this is difficult for me to search. But voip.ms has low cost texting can/us. Might support the UK.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms&hl=en
Another thing some providers have email gateways for texting.
Example.
So you might be able to text each other that way.
I use messenger apps with most people i know...but i'm old now. For phone texting i use Voip SmS
It's great because if you're on vacation somewhere you can buy a local number for a dollar usually. makes it easy for people to get a hold of you.
Voip.ms is where i get my phone numbers (DID's) from.
This link to get idea http://misener.org/ditched-voice-plan-went-data/ This one works with voip.ms SMS https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms&hl=en Although SMS works only for latin1 characters.
Sorry, "conventional mobile phone" doesn't equate to a "smartphone" in my mind.
Anyways, I assume that you use the SMS forwarding feature and that's not working.
I've been using VoIP.ms SMS and haven't had any real problem with it.
I'm not getting voice through a traditional carrier anymore, using my Samsung Note 4, and I pay ~$25/mo for 5GB data on Bell's network.
Sign up for a $20/mo 1GB tablet flex data plan from Bell. If you go over the 1GB they bump you up to $40/mo for 5GB.
Port your DID/phone number to voip.ms, specify you want to retain SMS capabilities in comments. Calling is $0.005 - $0.01 per minute within North America. SMS is free. All call features are free (VM, call forwarding, call display, etc). $0.85/mo to keep using your ported phone number.
If you're using an Apple phone you have iMessage for data SMS, if you're on Android you can use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
If you're on Android you can configure the native Phone app to use SIP calling. If you're on Samsung they disabled this, but you can trick it to working or just use one of the many free VoiP SIP apps like CSIPSimple or ZoiPer, there's a bunch listed in the voip.ms wiki. Not sure about Apple, probably just a 3rd party app.
Welcome to a <$25/mo phone plan on the best network in the country.
On the Manage DIDs page, you should see a cel phone icon that indicates SMS is enabled. On the Edit DID page, at the bottom, check "Enable SMS". Try entering an address into the "SMS Email Address" field, and checking the checkbox next to it. That'll forward incoming sms messages to that email address.
It takes some time for SMS to be enabled on a number... A few minutes anyway.
Not sure what "syncing it with hangouts" means... You can't use standard messaging apps to use voip.ms' sms service.
DM me your phone number if you want and I'll send you a test message.
Try installing this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
you'll have to get an API key from VOIP.ms to get that to work, but it should "just work" as a messaging app once you enter the API key.
Can't recommend voip.ms enough. Call quality is great, ridiculously cheap, and they support SMS (for free, for the time being). I use it on my smartphone with CSIPsimple and a bell mobility tablet plan, as well as through an OBI200 at home.
edit: not sure why other responders are having trouble with SMS on voip.ms. It's pretty straightforward, you can either forward it to an email account (replying to the SMS emails will forward back to SMS), use the VOIP.ms console, or use this app on android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
On Android there's a specific app for SMS.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
I use VoIP.ms for calls and SMS. If you have stock Android, voice calling doesn't need an app. Android has built-in support for SIP accounts. For iOS or non-stock Android, any SIP app will work.
For SMS, there is an Android app which works well. However, it doesn't support MMS or texts to international (non-US/Canada) numbers.
VoIP.ms has a virtual fax service, but I've never used it. I don't know if there's a smartphone app.
Cost for the service is $8.75 (one-time) for porting your phone number, $1 per month for the phone number, $2 per month for the virtual fax service, and the usual rates for phone calls (1 cent per minute to US/Canada).
Voip.MS supports SMS. Not sure about other providers.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms&hl=en
I'm not aware of any standard services that work using just a web browser. However, any SIP provider will work with any SIP client, which can run on your desktop (as a program) or on Android (as an app). If you have stock Android then SIP support is built-in to the phone dialer and you don't even need an app.
I use VoIP.ms which is a Canadian company and can handle Canadian number ports. There is SMS support through a separate Android app (non-US/Canada messages not supported). Annoyingly, they bill in US dollars.
I travel between the US and Canada a lot. I use Fi in the US and Fido in Canada. Fi in Canada is unthrottled, but your connection still goes through servers in the US, so in practice it's not as fast as full LTE. I get 3 to 10 mbps speed on Fi in Canada depending on where I am. On Fido I get 20 to 60 mbps, which is quite a difference.
If your main reason for getting Project Fi is to use it exclusively in Canada, then honestly there are better options. Public Mobile offers 2 gigabytes per month and unlimited text/voice for $40; this is exactly the same as what you currently have but cheaper. They're on the Telus network, so coverage is actually halfway decent. If you literally don't use text/voice at all, and you're in the market for a new tablet, Fido has a great deal: buy a new tablet from them and get 3GB of data for $15 per month.
If you're dead-set on getting Project Fi and you also want to cancel Fido and you also want to keep your Canadian cell phone number, here's what to do:
- Port your Canadian phone number to a VoIP provider. I recommend VoIP.ms.
- Configure your Android phone to use your VoIP phone number. Instructions for VoIP.ms are here. Note that you don't need a separate app for this.
- Sign up for Project Fi, somehow, and get a new phone number for Fi.
Once you're done, your Android phone will have two phone numbers associated with it: your Fi number, and your old Canadian cell phone number (on VoIP.ms). Both phone numbers will be usable through the native Android phone dialer. Your costs will be:
- Whatever Project Fi costs, plus
- One-time fee of $8.50 USD+GST/HST to port your Canadian phone number to VoIP.ms,
- Monthly fee of $0.85 USD+GST/HST to maintain your Canadian phone number on VoIP.ms
which is probably as good a deal as you're going to get anywhere. Note that you will need a separate app in order to use SMS from your VoIP.ms phone number, and MMS doesn't work at all on VoIP.ms, if that matters to you.
I was planning to give this a try:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
There's one small thing about SMS-- For now, you'll have to use an app called Voip.ms SMS for best results-- that is, if you want to see threaded messages and a central app to access them in. If you prefer, you can always have SMS delivered to your email, and you can just reply to the email and your recipient will get an SMS reply! This is awesome if you don't want to have to mess with your phone all the time, or prefer to use a regular keyboard to reply, or want all your messaging to come in through Gmail or whatever.
Regarding US/Canada interactions-- If you spend a lot of time talking to people in the US (family, whatever), just get another US number from VoIP.ms and forward it to your Canadian number so your family can call for free! It'll also permit SMS from US numbers with no extra charges. Want a special number for business? A disposable number you give to, I dunno, hookups or people you're not sure you want having your main? A temporary number for some small project you're doing? BAM. Another few bucks gets you another number that you can cut off any time.
Data roaming fees are something you can't really get around, BUT your internet calling can be set to prefer wifi, so unless you're caught out of a wifi zone, you shouldn't see any problems. In fact, when travelling, you can easily get travel data accounts on a SIM (like I did when I went to Vegas in April) and you're good to go-- WITHOUT changing your number or any other such fuckery.
911 will always work on any SIM whether it's data or voice-- that's a provision of the Canadian 911 service, so you CAN call 911 through VoIP.ms, but you can ALWAYS just call through your regular SIM.
A note about Bell (versus other D4T providers)-- NEVER tell them what device it's going into ("I have a couple of devices I move it between"). They don't want you doing this- they want you using their stupid voice service, so telling them straight up that you're sticking your new D4T into a Nexus 6p will be a problem. Bell's policy is mainly one of trust (?) that you'll be using it in a tablet (though "tablet" is never defined in this context, neither by spec nor by a list of permissible devices), but I know from experience that Telus (despite likewise having absolutely no definition for what is and isn't a tablet) WILL nail you with pay-per-use data rates (which are fucking medieval in their brutality). I was using Telus on my Note 3 for ages, but when I started using my Nexus 6p, I guess they somehow caught the change and started billing me crazy amounts. I got those charges reversed after arguing the issue, but I got tired of wrestling with them over net neutrality issues ("It's like charging me seven times more for water because you found out I'm making tea with it instead of washing my ass."), so now Bell gets my money instead of Telus. Anyway, DO NOT TELL THE CARRIER (that is, the jabroni behind the counter) WHAT DEVICE IT'S FOR. THEY WILL ASK. And if they find out what you're up to, they'll tell you all kinds of shit. I had a friend go in (with explicit instructions) to do this very thing, and he fucked up and told the guy his plan. It ended super badly. That guy now carries around an iPad mini in a shoulder bag as his phone because he didn't listen and he let the Telus guy railroad him.
WOW, I wrote a lot. Sorry about that. I hope the long read yields some usable info.
This is the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
No problem, it's been a long time getting to where I am and figured if I could share some insight to save you the hassle.
Regarding Groundwire vs Acrobits, I believe the main difference between these two apps is the support for business-facing features like attended and non-attended transfers. If you're not going to be using the app to transfer calls to other SIP extensions, save a few bucks and go with Acrobits.
Not sure if you are looking to deal with SMS with whichever VoIP provider or not; if you are, a couple of notes - VoIP.ms supports SMS and MMS but it is clunky. The unoffical "VoIP.ms SMS" Android app is a simple but great app for SMS, but the VoIP.ms SMS service has trouble delivering multi-part SMS in the correct order a lot of the time and the app does not support sending MMS at this time. Shortcode SMS (like you'd get from a lot of apps/services for verification codes) do not support VoIP.ms SMS.
There are some other providers which have a more mature SMS/MMS offering and you can get away with an app like Textable, some even support some Shortcode SMS.
If you're a little more technically inclined and okay tinkering - what I ended up moving to was JMP.Chat which is a project trying to do things a little differently by bridging Voice/SMS to XMPP/Jabber. So they are my SIP provider for my personal number now and when someone texts me it arrives in my XMPP chat clients from [email protected] allowing me to send SMS/MMS via XMPP. No issues with long SMS being broken up and delivered incorrectly, no issues with MMS deliveries, and it works with most of the Shortcode SMS's I have come across so far.
VoIP.ms SMS by Michael Kourlas is a great app, I've been using it since release, very reliable.
If you go with voip.ms you can use this. Has been working great for me for about a yr now.
For reliable inbound calls on mobile data, specify TCP transport in the client, or you can use a softphone that offers Push service (eg. Groundwire). VoIP works fine on LTE, over a TCP connection. VoIP.ms is one of the few providers supporting TCP on the SIP connection. Their rates are quite reasonable.
Create a subaccount for each phone, point the DID (your business number) to a Ring Group comprised of both subaccounts. Both phones will ring at the same time, first to answer gets the call. Register the subaccounts to the same server the DID is routed to.
For SMS with VoIP.ms, the dedicated VoIP.ms SMS Android app is the way to go. Send and receive on either phone using the same number.
Tips for reliable mobile VoIP: csipsimple.sent.com > README
This is a common setup. There are many combinations that work. I use VoIP.ms with the Android phone dialer and the VoIP.ms SMS Android app.
I use Fi with VoIP.ms. VoIP.ms has rock solid phone calling. You can configure your native phone dialer to use VoIP.ms for calling -- see here. It costs $1 per month plus per-minute call charges.
VoIP.ms also supports SMS messages using the Android app. If you want phone calls and texts from your desktop, any softphone will work for phone calls, and the SMS message center lets you take texts.
Fi's data plan has always been awesome for me. There's no reason to rely on one service for both data and voice calls. Use Fi for what it's good at (data) and use something else for voice calls and SMS.
This one is made to work with their API: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
- data only cellphone plan http://www.redflagdeals.com/deal/telecom/fido-3gb-tablet-data-plan-1500month/ (look at comments/forums for details of people using these in their phones, different providers may block/charge based on IMEI)
- phone number through https://voip.ms/ (many VoIP providers out there, this is the only Canadian one that supports SMS)
- Android phone does VoIP without an app https://www.callcentric.com/support/device/android/sip_client (if these settings don't exist on your phone, your phone carrier/provider removed the feature when they "branded" your Android OS... can get it back by flashing a different/generic ROM, see xda-developers forums)
- free Android app for SMS, but no MMS (pictures via texting) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms&hl=en
All of this works over WiFi at home/work/pub/malls so the data plan is barely used. Honestly if you're not technologically-inclined/patient/basic Google-fu, it's probably not for you.
There are apps in the Play Store for SMS with Voip.ms. Try https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kourlas.voipms_sms
Yay anything goes! I've been waiting for this cause I don't know if this really breaks the rules or not...(I don't think so but wanted to be safe).
TL;DR - I want to modify an open source VoIP.ms SMS app just enough so that I can install it as a "different app" without altering the functionality so that I can have two instances running, because I don't trust third party apps to do this. Either that, or, modify the app to allow me to use multiple phone numbers (probably more difficult I would imagine)
Basically, I've gone data only on my Galaxy S5 and to do that I've chosen VoIP.ms. Prices seemed reasonable, they seem like a popular choice, good reviews and they also support SMS. The problem that I have right now is two-fold: VoIP.ms does not support SIP SIMPLE for their SMS service, so I can't use any old app (such as Zoiper, which I use for my calling). Second, I have 2 phone numbers/DIDs with them, but the SMS app that I have found (and only app option AFAIK) only allows me to use 1 number.
Because I can't use any old app, I have searched for something specific and came upon a single option: VoIP.ms SMS which, as it turns out, is open source.
I've searched on Google how to get two instances of an app installed and running simultaneously and only come up with suggestions to use a third party apk editor...because I'll be dealing with text messages, I'm slightly paranoid and don't want to run the risk of this editor injecting some code of which I'd be unaware and capturing all of that data.
The other option I have considered, which I'm sure would be much more complicated (though I would honestly prefer it), is to modify the app in order to allow me to use multiple numbers. That way I wouldn't need two instances running, and could just have the one app to handle the two numbers (or maybe more, if I ever add more numbers).
I have a basic familiarity with coding and Java, but absolutely no knowledge of Android dev, so I don't even know where to start with this task.
That's about it. If you need more info, just let me know!
Cheers!