Skype to be shutdown in May

[JackGats]

This is from the leaflet of an "AIS Lucky Tourist SIM". I have no idea whether my AIS number belongs to this caterogy. Anyway, it seems people needing to call a German landline have little to worry about.  Calls to the US are 2.5/minutes for both landline and mobile. Calls to the UK (5/minute) are on the expensive side. P.S. I now realize AIS have made it impossible to find out online how much such a call will cost with the particular SIM I happen to own. I'm in for another queuing session at the overcrowded AIS shop.

 

 

[KhunHeineken]

11 hours ago, JackGats said:

This is from the leaflet of an "AIS Lucky Tourist SIM". I have no idea whether my AIS number belongs to this caterogy. Anyway, it seems people needing to call a German landline have little to worry about.  Calls to the US are 2.5/minutes for both landline and mobile. Calls to the UK (5/minute) are on the expensive side. P.S. I now realize AIS have made it impossible to find out online how much such a call will cost with the particular SIM I happen to own. I'm in for another queuing session at the overcrowded AIS shop.

 

 

Many companies will not send an OTP to a foreign number. 

[Yellowtail]

People should make sure their Thai phone account is set up to make and receive international calls and texts. 

 

This was an issue with my wife's phone and her Fidelity account. 

 

Before I retired, a few years ago. I used my AIS post-pay account and iPhone for all my banking and brokerage stuff without any difficulty. 

[VBF]

22 hours ago, JackGats said:

< snip>

P.S. I now realize AIS have made it impossible to find out online how much such a call will cost with the particular SIM I happen to own. I'm in for another queuing session at the overcrowded AIS shop.

 

If you call 1175 from your AIS phone, select English, you will connect with an English-speaking operator who will answer such questions. I've found them very helpful (as recently as last month)

They knew my name so presumably knew what SIM I have.

[Hamus Yaigh]

23 hours ago, JackGats said:

Anyway, it seems people needing to call a German landline have little to worry about. 

You can get much cheaper rates (up to 10x) than those using an app like Mytello which to take your examples charge 0.34THB/m to either Germany, UK or USA.

[Galong]

Has anyone successfully migrated to Google Voice? Did you have to have help from someone in the US with a mobile phone for verification?  I'm thinking of having my brother help me set it up.

Google Voice seems to be one of the better options as ChatGPT said it 'usually' works with OTPs and bank codes. I rarely need that.

Alternatively, has anyone used AIS and the 003 prefix to call the US (or another country)?  It says 3 baht per minute. I can live with that. 

[Iamloki]

Hello all. I have read a lot of the responses but am not seeing what I'm looking for. I have had several Skype IDs for different texting purposes for a long time. I have ONE Skype number that is funded, also for a long time, that I use to make international calls from Thailand.

 

1. My Skype number is a USA number.

2. I only use Skype on my pc. (never on the cell phone)

3. I use a VPN to log into a US server, and then open Skype on my computer.

4. I then dial the toll free number to whatever company/government department I need to talk with.

5. The charges I pay are the monthly fee to Skype of $6.50... never a charge for the toll free number.

 

Has anyone run across a service that would offer what is outlined above?

Thanks!

[Rampant Rabbit]

On 3/3/2025 at 7:53 AM, ChaiyaTH said:

Untrue, you can also use it as VOIP, and this will be easier once they shutdown Skype. What you think? That they are stupid and would shut down a functional Skype with paying customers without having the full functional replacement? Get real... 

 

Microsoft Teams Phone supports VoIP phone calls to anyone, whether they’re using a landline, mobile phone, or the Teams app. By default you obviously can only call other people in Teams, that is the same as it is with Skype too. Alternatively you could always use Google Voice for this too.

except theres no prepaid credit its sign up and pay per month and THATS the big difference and precisely what I DONT want. Or  does TEAMS let you have prepaid credit? I dont think so

[Rampant Rabbit]

On 3/8/2025 at 9:30 PM, KhunHeineken said:

The below is a cut an paste from the email Microsoft sent me.   This tells me both will work after the 5th May, but I will not even bother downloading Teams. 

 

 

• Skype Dial Pad: After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and Teams, where you will continue to be able to use your subscription or Skype Credits.

 i think you can use "remaining" skype credits until they expire but cant buy new only a monthly subscription from now on......erm no thanks

[Rampant Rabbit]

On 3/5/2025 at 6:39 AM, ChaiyaTH said:

This is no issue at all, that will already be provided within Teams when the transition takes place, as I mentioned twice before in this topic. Same this is already available on Google Voice alternatively as well. Nobody else needs VOIP, this is some old people chit chat talk. People use simply Whatsapp or FB call for that.

 

Seems some people and many people here are so bored in life that they want to discuss and debate small things that are decided or solved already.

God youre  a  dick aint ya, someone like me wants to have a prepaid  amount to call ANY number mobile or lanline in ANY country from my computer only

[JackGats]

16 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

 i think you can use "remaining" skype credits until they expire but cant buy new only a monthly subscription from now on......erm no thanks

I still have 60 euros in Skype credit. Does this mean I can still be using Skype for many months to come as I typically use up a few euros per months on average? From ChatGPT:

 

"However, automatic top-up services for Skype Credit will no longer be available starting April 3, 2025. Additionally, please note that remaining Skype Credit cannot be refunded."

[Rampant Rabbit]

1 minute ago, JackGats said:

I still have 60 euros in Skype credit. Does this mean I can still be using Skype for many months to come as I typically use up a few euros per months on average?

send me some as a  gift you can still do that, Ill buy them off you..............as  far as I remember if you dont use them for 6  moths they "turn them off" and you have to reactivate it.

[JackGats]

7 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

send me some as a  gift you can still do that, Ill buy them off you..............as  far as I remember if you dont use them for 6  moths they "turn them off" and you have to reactivate it.

I think I was optimistic. What will happen is that you can use your remaining credit in Teams, which does not allow phone calls.

[Galong]

2 hours ago, Iamloki said:

Hello all. I have read a lot of the responses but am not seeing what I'm looking for. I have had several Skype IDs for different texting purposes for a long time. I have ONE Skype number that is funded, also for a long time, that I use to make international calls from Thailand.

 

1. My Skype number is a USA number.

2. I only use Skype on my pc. (never on the cell phone)

3. I use a VPN to log into a US server, and then open Skype on my computer.

4. I then dial the toll free number to whatever company/government department I need to talk with.

5. The charges I pay are the monthly fee to Skype of $6.50... never a charge for the toll free number.

 

Has anyone run across a service that would offer what is outlined above?

Thanks!

I've been looking ever since Skype made the announcement... NOTHING compares to Skype. I wish they would have just raised their prices or something. 🤦

My wife talked to AIS today. Calling the US is 15 baht per minute. 😲  This is for 800 numbers too. I was on Skype last night for at least an hour with one of my pension suppliers. That would have been 900 baht if I had used AIS. 

[riclag]

I just noticed this thread .

I haven’t used Skype since 2019. I have many other options other than Skype .

That being said I still have Skype Credit . Looking into clawing it back unfortunately I just discovered my $21

 Credit balance is nonrefundable . Your 

welcome Microsoft.

[Rampant Rabbit]

1 hour ago, JackGats said:

I think I was optimistic. What will happen is that you can use your remaining credit in Teams, which does not allow phone calls.

 If you have remaining credit from Skype, you will continue using Skype to call, or after May, you can use the dial pad from Skype web portal, or you will find the dial pad in Teams for you to use your remaining credit.

[Rampant Rabbit]

6 minutes ago, riclag said:

I just noticed this thread .

I haven’t used Skype since 2019. I have many other options other than Skype .

That being said I still have Skype Credit . Looking into clawing it back unfortunately I just discovered my $21

 Credit balance is nonrefundable . Your 

welcome Microsoft.

you can gift it to another skype member

[Thailandbuckeye]

I finally came down to two: Sonetel and Callcentric. Callcentric uses Zoiper which is free and easy to set up. Both will accept my Skype number to be ported in. Not sure which one I will end up keeping but Callcentric seems to be better than Sonetel. Not using either very much since I am using up my Skype balance before porting in.

[ukrules]

3 hours ago, Thailandbuckeye said:

I finally came down to two: Sonetel and Callcentric. Callcentric uses Zoiper which is free and easy to set up. Both will accept my Skype number to be ported in. Not sure which one I will end up keeping but Callcentric seems to be better than Sonetel. Not using either very much since I am using up my Skype balance before porting in.

 

Zoiper is just a generic SIP client, there's loads of them out there, I made a separate thread about this. I purchased Zoiper Pro but it's useless to me due to saving the phone call in WAV format only, so I settled with the free MicroSIP - any of these 'software phones' will work with any of the SIP / VOIP services.

[JackGats]

Someone suggested call.com. There's a yearly fee of 23 euro for which you get a virtual number. Then calls to landlines would typically cost 1.8 cents/minute.

[Serenity_Now]

14 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Someone suggested call.com. There's a yearly fee of 23 euro for which you get a virtual number. Then calls to landlines would typically cost 1.8 cents/minute.

For many Skype was a way to  call banks nd government agencies that leave you in queues
Also many want a number that can take OTP from banks

Not sure if this is going to tick those boxes

Your skpe credit gets transferred to teams, so i will wait it out and see if my credit is working on that before i seriously look for alternatives.
With Skype it was just credit these new app are subscription which most do not want if they are only using Skype once or twice a year