TIPS UK calling

[atsak]

All my UK calling routes seem to be failing lately, and the only new functional ones on TelecomsXchange seem to be charging 20 cents a minute to call a regular landline in Scotland or England (there are some routes that are cheaper, but most aren't).

Does anyone know if something changed in the last couple months that drove the costs to landlines up and additionally has anyone got some suggestions of good routes that they know are working (or carriers even?). I've tried Anveo Direct (they have only one route and it does not work), voip.ms (ticket opened, but call being refused), and on TelecomsXchange I tried BVI (routes to the wrong numbers), Biesse (refused), and Viber (refused).

Any suggestions?

 

[kenn10]

Perhaps related to Brexit. I know the cellular companies stopped free roaming between the EU and the UK. I wonder if rates and routes are in the process of changing and tariffs are rising?

 

[atsak]

The cell/mobile rates all stayed OK and work fine. It's just landlines that are seemingly affected. It's really weird.

 

[kenn10]

I was just perusing the Anveo Direct rate tables, it looks like the only routes to the UK are with IDT in various colors. As you said, cellular rates are OK but it looks like all other rates are now $0.12 per minute.

 

[kenn10]

It also appears that Skyetel has some decent rates to the UK.
https://export.skyetel.com/report/b5d3acae180272e5634c99cda74d48e176148fc1.csv

Prefix	Tier	Rate	Note
44​	10​	0.01​	UK
4455​	20​	0.1002​	UK (CORPORATE RATE)
4456​	20​	0.1002​	UK (VOIP)
4470​	30​	1.507​	UK-Mob (PNS)
4472​	20​	0.43456​	UK-Mob (PNS)
4476​	20​	0.43456​	UK-Mob (PAGING)

 

[atsak]

OK .01 a minute looks not bad. That's one option I might go with. I'm actually still waiting for voip.ms to figure it out - they thought they had it worked out but still not routing the call.

 

[atsak]

Skyetel doesn't permit international calling from off net DID's so that won't work either . . . .

 

[atsak]

I figured out the voip.ms problem. Somehow I assume during voip.ms DoS issues a space crept into the trunk configuration secret line (it uses registration on this old system still). They charge 1c a minute so I'm good here. Thanks.

 

[Halea]

Give a try with Tonerro on TelecomsXchange. If it works for your call destinations then keep it as a spare. I had best luck with them lately on the UK+EU front.
Viber only connects to numbers originated on their network, so it is of very little use.

 

[atsak]

Give a try with Tonerro on TelecomsXchange. If it works for your call destinations then keep it as a spare. I had best luck with them lately on the UK+EU front.
Viber only connects to numbers originated on their network, so it is of very little use.

I tried them they refused for this number in Scotland (kinda weird). Thanks though I will keep them for other ones!

 

[Halea]

I tried them they refused for this number in Scotland (kinda weird). Thanks though I will keep them for other ones!

If you could give me the area code and a partial prefix for the region that fails with Tonerro and/or others I'll be happy to find an actual phone number similar to yours (I usually pick them from google maps while I make sure that they belong to some local administration or public venues like museums' info lines, etc.) put it in my assessment script, which calls a bunch of hand picked numbers once in a while and reports back on accessibility, completion, actual cost and audio quality for all the termination trunks that I have in my list.

There are many exchanges in the UK which are not voip friendly.
France is also on its way to become harder to reach by voip (maybe not harder to reach but certainly much costlier to reach) as their telecom administration recently allowed the local phone companies to surcharge non-EU telecom entities relaying calls to their networks. You can see that for instance on most 33-9 prefixed numbers. Some providers charge up to 7 cents per minute for what was around half a penny per minute until recently.

 

[atsak]

It's small town Scotland - 01555

I've got 1 cent a minute from voip.ms on it which is fine, but I wouldn't mind having an alternative if you have a suggestion as I don't like to have ever only ONE routable option. Anveo Direct can't even route to it. I did get Tonerro to work, but it is 27 cents a minute !

 

[Halea]

So far a penny per minute is the best I could find among the routes that I use, and that's with "CallWithUs".
Take a look at the attached screenshot showing their different rates. Their standard route is usually quite good and it always transfers CID accurately. For the same rate you can get PSTN termination too.

Hopefully this gives you a useful alternative.

Edit: Following added.

Maybe not so surprisingly "Localphone" has a better rate (6/10 of a penny) according to their cost calculator.
(Not surprisingly as it's a UK based provider)

 

[mannen]

I was able to call the The Royal Burgh Of Lanark Museum using Voxbeam Silver route @ $0.00450/min.
Telnyx also completed the call at $0.006/min.

Edit: Adding that the Voxbeam Platinum route is $0.0051/min.

 

[awair]

I've used Sipgate (UK) for many years.
Very happy with the service to landlines.
Around 1p per minute.

Also if you sign up using a UK VPN, you should get a (free) geographical DID.

 

[Halea]

@atsak : You might also want to check out this provider called VoiceTrading (Dellmont reseller). I have very limited experience with it (a little over 1 mo. and for our EU operatives only), but so far no major issues.

Dellmont is a Netherlands based company. US $ or Euro pricing. Pay as you go. Low minimum deposit (10 euro/equivalent). 3 tiers (gray, standard, premium selected with call prefix).

I don't recommend gray route as it doesn't deliver CID or sometimes delivers fake CID to just ensure call completion. Most recently for some destinations gray route has been switching to standard or premium routes anyway. So, use standard or premium to be on the safe side. They are quite competitive for this level of low commitment.

Standard Route: US $0.0073
Premium Route: US $0.0081

 

[atsak]

Thanks. I really don't want to have any more carriers if I can help it (TelecomsXchange, Anveo, voip.ms, bulkvs, Voip Innovations, Alcazar (don't use them any more though). It may be a necessary evil if the Brexit fallout continues to impact telecoms but for now for the amount it goes on the small additional premium for voip.ms is fine because I need them for Canadian toll free carrier termination anyway as some US carriers are blocked sometimes.

 

[markieb]

I'd say it's not so much a Brexit issue, but instead that, recently OFCOM have clamped down on Carriers who allow spoofed CID and calls carrying no CID/junk information.
They have allowed Carriers to start charging upstream Carriers that send them this traffic to be billed rediculous amounts when they have to complete a call with this rubbish CID/Carrier information.
Because of this, a lot of Carriers have started refusing to pass on/complete these calls, hence failed UK calls. Previously many of the Cheap Carriers were delivering Scam/SPAM calls because they didn't care. Now they are being billed huge completion fees for these junk calls, hence as @Halea stated about Gray/Standard routes etc. being ignored, these routes often don't complete calls successfully when the CID is junk..
As far as I'm aware, that's pretty much why the huge price increase and calls not connecting properly at times from outside the UK for the UK these days.

 

[krzykat]

@atsak : You might also want to check out this provider called VoiceTrading (Dellmont reseller). I have very limited experience with it (a little over 1 mo. and for our EU operatives only), but so far no major issues.

I used to use these guys many many years ago, when they were one of the only ways of getting competitive international minutes. Be careful with them though. They use a lot of Gray routes and what works today might not work tomorrow. That and they can ban you over almost nothing. They used to have $500 minimum deposits over wire and if they closed you - you lost whatever your balance was too. Just use with caution.

 

[KNERD]

I always thought it went "Vienna Calling"