How did i reduce spending on calls to my Home

I am Living in Singapore and my Parents are living in India. On an average, i purchase 3 calling cards a month, which came around 27 dollars. Now i am spending only 6 dollars for talking to my parents.

how did i do that? read on...

Back in 2007 pfingo launched. Pfingo is a VOIP service from Starhub, an ISP in Singapore. Once you register with them, you will get a free Singapore Virtual Number.

They were giving away following features upon signup:-

• Free Singapore Virtual Number
• Unlimited Incoming / Outgoing Calls for 6 Months (Pfingo Pro)
• 15 Dollars of IDD (International Direct Dialing) and 10$ SMS Credit
• Referral Vouchers
• Free Incoming Calls on Virtual Number

(you will fall back to pfingo Basic (12 Months validity) after the 6 months of pfingo pro trial)

That promotion got over and currently they are offering

• Free Singapore Virtual Number
• pfingo basic trial for 12 Months
• 2 Dollars of IDD and 1$ SMS Credit
• Free Incoming on Virtual Number
  

pfingo is a SIP based service and its compatible with most VOIP devices.

It was an amazing offer on itself. I registered with all the available numbers I and my dear ones had and used up that credit.

After eating up all my IDD credits, i bought a VOIP Phone (snom 300) and installed it in my home back in India. I configured the SIP Identities and it worked like a charm. For the next 6 Months, my parents where calling me for free.

Lets see how much i saved on International Calling.

Total Damage:
snom 300 :- 190 S$

Total Savings:

Calling Card Usage per Month just for the calls to my Home: 27 S$
Total in 6 Months: 162$

Expense reduced by 40% within 6 Months and that was an investment on itself.

Now i am spending mere 6S$ instead of 30S$ per month.

That was a great deal! and now i am topping up my pfingo basic account and will continue using that unless they increase the price.

Calls to Singapore, whether its landline or Mobile, pfingo charge at 2 Singapore Cents / Minute. (They where charging only 1 Cent / Minute until April 2008)

Want further Savings?

Incoming Calls are Free

• Ask your Mom to power up the phone
• Call the pfingo virtual number. Your IP phone back in India will ring and you can talk forever

Calls Between Pfingo Numbers are free

• Get another IP Phone / Use the Soft Phone

If you have broadband back @ ur home, just get an IP Phone and start saving on your International Calls.

Moreover, this service is legal. There are other SIP providers which offers cheap calls to US/Thailand/Australia and other destinations. If you have friends/relatives over there, configure that SIP in the phone and happily call them thereafter.

Pfingo SIP Settings

SIP Server: sip.pfingo.com
Username/DisplayName - Enter your pfingoTALK number (e.g. 31050000)
Password/Pin - Enter your PIn (can obtain it from talk.pfingo.com)

Configuring pfingo on

Snom 300

1) Open the Snom 300 web configuration page (eg: http://192.168.1.1)

2) Click on Setup -> Identity 1

3) Fill in the pfingo sip details

Display name: Enter your pfingoTALK number (e.g. 31050000)
Account: Enter your pfingoTALK number
Password: Enter your pfingoTALK pin
Registrar: sip.pfingo.com
Outbound Proxy: sip.pfingo.com
Authentication Username: Enter your pfingoTALK number
Display Text: Enter your pfingoTALK number

4) Click on Save

5) Click on re-register

6) Now you will see your pfingo number in the phone's LCD screen and you are ready to call.

for any further configuration reference, go through the snom 300 user manual and documentation.

Snom 300 Manual:

Data Snom300 en v130

Snom 300 can be purchased from Bymacht in Singapore, India and Dubai.

SJPhone

1. Download and Install SJPhone
   
2. Run the Application
3. Goto Menu-> Options-> Profiles (Tab)
   
4. Press New to Create a new profile. Profile Name: pfingo Leave the rest fields default and click ok
   
5. Goto SIP Proxy Tab Domain/Realm: sip.pfingo.com Check (Click/Tick) "Use Outbound Proxy" Proxy(URI):sip.pfingo.com
   
6. Goto STUN Check "Use discovered addresses in SIP"
   
7. Press OK to save the profile.
   
8. When Prompted Enter Account: 31050000 Password: xxxxxx
   
9. Press OK You will see the registration status in the dialer... When it shows registered, dial the singapore number without the country code. Or if its showing some error... "Not Registered", your firewall is blocking the VOIP session.

X-Lite

1. Download and Install X-Lite
   
2. Run X-Lite,
3. Right-Click, Sip account settings -> Add
   Display Name - Enter your pfingoTALK number (e.g. 31050000)
   User Name - Enter your pfingoTALK number
   Password - Enter your pfingoTALK PIN (e.g. 123456)
   Authorization User Name - Enter your pfingoTALK number
   Domain - Enter "sip.pfingo.com"
   For Domain Proxy settings, "check" - Register with domain and receive incoming calls
   Set Outbound Proxy via - Choose "Target Domain"
   
4. Leave the rest of the settings as they are and you will be good to go!
   

If you have any trouble using pfingo, i will be glad to assist you. Post your queries in the comment section.