London – Skype is dead. What now?
The Skype Microsoft closure on May 5 sent millions of users fighting to find an alternative to the pioneering service of the Internet phone.
Skype, which Microsoft bought in 2011, was loved by an increasing group of users who appreciated how they allowed them to make long -distance cheap calls, as well as communicate with other users through chat messages, voice or video call.
Some liked their simplicity and ease of use, an advantage, for example, when configuring a communications application for an elderly father who lives far.
Or they simply used it by habit.
Skype was founded in 2003 and was one of the first in a wave of communication services that used voice protocol technology (VoIP), which turns the audio into a digital signal.
Skype’s disappearance also inconvenient Americans and other expatriates who live abroad who enrolled because they needed a US -based number. UU. To receive text authentication codes from, for example, a bank at home. It was also useful for calling 800 free numbers, even if you didn’t live in North America.
Here is a guide for life after Skype:
Microsoft announced at the end of February that Skype was closing on May 5 and changing some of its services to Microsoft teams, its flagship videoconferencing platform and group collaboration.
Skype users can use their existing accounts to log in to equipment and have the option to automatically migrate their contacts and chats.
If you had a Skype number or a call subscription, you stopped automatically renewing on April 3.
If your account still has credit, you can access the Skype marking platform from the Web portal o Teams to make calls.
Skype numbers will not immediately expire on May 5, so you can still receive calls until your subscription expires. But you will have to use equipment or maintain the open Skype marking platform on the web portal to receive them.
If your Skype number has not expired and does not want to lose it, you must transfer it to another supplier.
Skype numbers can be carried to a telephone carrier or any number of other VoIP services. But you will have to start the process through the new supplier, not Skype.
Google users can access Giant online Internet service to make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser. You can get your own Google Voice phone number and use functions such as call forwarding and voice mail. Or you can transfer your number from another service like Skype, but will cost $ 20.
Canadian or Puerto Rican numbers are free. Rates for other countries vary.
The free version of Google Voice is only available to US residents.
“It cannot be registered in a Google Voice number while it is outside the United States,” according to a Help page. “Don’t try to avoid this using a VPN.”
Property of Rakuten from Japan, Viber was considered for a long time one of the competitors closest to Skype. A key difference is that Skype users do not need a telephone number and are identified by their user names, while Viber users need a number to register for the service.
Similar to Skype, Viber users can buy credit or packages to call telephone numbers worldwide, but it is It is no longer possible To obtain a viber number to receive calls.
The videoconference service that has become a synonym for the meetings of online companies offers a call service, a zoom phone and characteristics such as carrying numbers and the ability to send and receive SMS text messages.
Keep in mind that the zoom phone is not free. There are several call plans that imply a monthly subscription cost and additional rates for international calls.
Microsoft users have the option of making calls to the equipment, called Team Telephone. Like Zoom Phone, you must buy a subscription and pay more for international calls.
But it is not an option for regular people because Microsoft says that the equipment phone is not for consumer use and is only available for small and medium enterprises.
If you absolutely need a US number. But live abroad, register for the service with a low -cost virtual wireless operator that offers cheap cell phone plans or payment rates for use.
A supplier, Tello, offers monthly plans for only $ 5 and says that users can activate their service even if they live outside the United States.
Because mobile virtual network operators such as Tellok are essentially wireless telephone companies that want to obtain the physical network of a larger operator, you cannot use it to make calls on a computer or application.
There are a series of Skype suitors who offer phone calls through the Internet, such as Zoiper, Voip.ms, Callcentric, Mytello and Virtual Fiellline. Many are aimed at commercial users.
Some are capitalizing Skype’s disappearance. Hushed, which began as an anonymous application of calls, is invoiced as a Skype alternative. Users can buy a telephone number of the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom or Puerto Rico or carry their own number.
He warns that some of their numbers are not guaranteed that they work with third -party verification text messages.
“We do not intentionally block anyone who receives these codes, but it is common for some services to prevent verification texts from being sent to certain telephone numbers due to their own safety policies,” says Hushed on his website.
Maybe I can’t decide what call service you want to change. If you want to save your current number, there are services to park your number like Numberbran.com and Parkmyphone.com.
They allow you to store a phone number for a monthly rate while transmitting any text message sent to that number. You can carry the number to another service when you want.
Be careful, you can only transfer in the US telephone numbers. Uu. Or Canadian.
What happens to an International ESIM? They are the virtual version of the mobile phone SIM card that you can buy and add to your phone when you are on a trip to save in Roaming Rates.
They offer cheap data access rates so you can use the Internet without worrying about accumulating a large bill when you get home.
Unfortunately, you cannot transfer a number of Skype to an International ESIM due to “the fundamental differences” between VoIP services and traditional mobile networks, said Pedro Maícez, co -founder of the ESIM provider Holfly. “Skype numbers are not linked to the physical infrastructure of a mobile opponent, which makes them incompatible with mobile ESIM solutions.”
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