Here is another Skype alternative. 

 

It may suit some, but not others, but an alternative none the less. 

 

Free / cheap landline calls.  Mobile calls a little expensive. 

 

https://www.voipbuster.com/dashboard

20 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

I recently signed into Skype using the web portal.  The UI is familiar and it worked fine.  Microsoft say the web portable will still be available after the 5th May.

 

I intend to leave about $0.20 credit in my Skype account to keep it alive forever.  

 

Long Live Skype.       

Following quote from The next chapter: Moving from Skype to Microsoft Teams   | Microsoft 365 Blog

quote: "After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and within Teams."   

 

I'm embarrassed to show my ignorance for what will probably be considered stupid questions, but ......

How do I sign into Skype using the web portal & what is UI?

 

2 hours ago, OneZero said:

Following quote from The next chapter: Moving from Skype to Microsoft Teams   | Microsoft 365 Blog

quote: "After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and within Teams."   

 

I'm embarrassed to show my ignorance for what will probably be considered stupid questions, but ......

How do I sign into Skype using the web portal & what is UI?

 

Instead of signing into the Skype app, you type in www.skype.com.  Then, in the top right hand corner you sign in.  A drop down box will appear and you select "Use Skype Online" and then enter your username and password. 

 

You will then be inside the Skype web portal, which Microsoft say will continue to work after the 5th May.  

 

You will notice the "User Interface" (UI) is the same as the app and what you are used to. 

 

What I am planning to do early May is uninstall the Skype app on my desktop computer and make a desktop shortcut icon for www.skype.com, and use the Skype symbol which you can download off the internet from various sources, and have it on my desktop.   So, I basically click on the Skype symbol and it takes me to www.skype.com and I sign in.  

48 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Instead of signing into the Skype app, you type in www.skype.com.  Then, in the top right hand corner you sign in.  A drop down box will appear and you select "Use Skype Online" and then enter your username and password. 

 

You will then be inside the Skype web portal, which Microsoft say will continue to work after the 5th May.  

 

You will notice the "User Interface" (UI) is the same as the app and what you are used to. 

 

What I am planning to do early May is uninstall the Skype app on my desktop computer and make a desktop shortcut icon for www.skype.com, and use the Skype symbol which you can download off the internet from various sources, and have it on my desktop.   So, I basically click on the Skype symbol and it takes me to www.skype.com and I sign in.  

Thank You very much.  I will try to do the same.

3 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Instead of signing into the Skype app, you type in www.skype.com.  Then, in the top right hand corner you sign in.  A drop down box will appear and you select "Use Skype Online" and then enter your username and password. 

 

You will then be inside the Skype web portal, which Microsoft say will continue to work after the 5th May.  

 

You will notice the "User Interface" (UI) is the same as the app and what you are used to. 

 

What I am planning to do early May is uninstall the Skype app on my desktop computer and make a desktop shortcut icon for www.skype.com, and use the Skype symbol which you can download off the internet from various sources, and have it on my desktop.   So, I basically click on the Skype symbol and it takes me to www.skype.com and I sign in.  

Everything I'm reading says Skype will close and we'll have to use Teams. I just signed in at the www.skype site and didn't notice anything to the contrary.  What am I missing?  I'd really like to keep my Skype US (landline) number for bank codes and OTPs. 🤞

20 minutes ago, Galong said:

Everything I'm reading says Skype will close and we'll have to use Teams. I just signed in at the www.skype site and didn't notice anything to the contrary.  What am I missing?  I'd really like to keep my Skype US (landline) number for bank codes and OTPs. 🤞

I cancelled my Skype account, UK landline, expires start of April.

Just got an email saying I can reactivate by paying before expiry.

Not a hint Skype was ending, so what are they up to?

 

Seems to me they want to keep our subs going, for a service they won't be offering.

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I cancelled my Skype account, UK landline, expires start of April.

Just got an email saying I can reactivate by paying before expiry.

Not a hint Skype was ending, so what are they up to?

 

Seems to me they want to keep our subs going, for a service they won't be offering.

Crikey... this isn't rocket science. If they have an alternative plan whereby we can keep using Skype they should CLEARLY say that. 🤦

2 hours ago, Galong said:

Everything I'm reading says Skype will close and we'll have to use Teams. I just signed in at the www.skype site and didn't notice anything to the contrary.  What am I missing?  I'd really like to keep my Skype US (landline) number for bank codes and OTPs. 🤞

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.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I cancelled my Skype account, UK landline, expires start of April.

Just got an email saying I can reactivate by paying before expiry.

Not a hint Skype was ending, so what are they up to?

 

Seems to me they want to keep our subs going, for a service they won't be offering.

If you cancel, they lose trying to sell you Teams, so offer Skype again to you, so you go to teams after the 5th May.

 

Trying to push a product down people's throats that they don't want will back fire.   

 

When I received the email I had a look at Teams and pretty much straight away discarded the product.   

 

 

49 minutes ago, 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.

From ChatGPT: If you have a Skype Number → No, Skype does not support receiving SMS to a Skype Number.

That's me out then. I ONLY care about being able to get bank codes and OTPs. 

Teams is of absolutely no interest to me. It's not a replacement for Skype at all!  MS drops the ball yet again. 

I haven't seen any noteworthy updates to Skype for a few years yet millions still use it. Why not keep it on life support and continue raking in a few hundred million a year? I've searched and found no viable VOIP alternative that allows you to purchase unlimited calling to cell phones worldwide for a reasonable price. A combination of GoogleFi and Wifi calling may be an option. But wifi isn't always available when you need to make a call. 

25 minutes ago, wasabi said:

I haven't seen any noteworthy updates to Skype for a few years yet millions still use it. Why not keep it on life support and continue raking in a few hundred million a year? I've searched and found no viable VOIP alternative that allows you to purchase unlimited calling to cell phones worldwide for a reasonable price. A combination of GoogleFi and Wifi calling may be an option. But wifi isn't always available when you need to make a call. 

Yeah, seriously... just raise the price.  I'd pay more for Skype.   I have a buddy who travels constantly and uses GoogleFi.  He says if he doesn't pop back in to the US periodically he'll lose it. I only visit the US every 3 or so years. When my mom passes, I have no reason to ever step foot on US soil again. 

14 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

What I am planning to do early May is uninstall the Skype app on my desktop computer and make a desktop shortcut icon for www.skype.com, and use the Skype symbol which you can download off the internet from various sources, and have it on my desktop.   So, I basically click on the Skype symbol and it takes me to www.skype.com and I sign in.  

What about a phone, iphone to be specific.  I only use Skype on my phone.    Thanks.  I was stuck at portal.  🤣

First off I have spent too much time on this. For info I use Apple products and I need a number in the USA preferably the Houston area since my mailing address is there.

 

I subscribed to Hushed lifetime offer (25.00 USD), it came with 1000 phone minutes per year and SMS which counts against your phone minutes. I have only tried it a couple of times but the phone quality has been excellent. It also has a number in Houston. I am not sure about security so I decided to look further.

 

Next up was Sonetel. Still in progress after 6 days, initially upon signing up I could make a call to the US, to get a number in the US I had to verify my identity. Once that was approved I could no longer make calls. Support has been timely but they have not been able to fix and have offered to refund all the money I signed up with. I am giving it a couple more days and then decide. The support is closed on weekends.

 

I also looked into Zadarma but didn’t sign up at this time due to id verification for phone number.

 

I have briefly look at Fanytel and this looks promising.

Once  I see what happens with Sonetel I’ll look into Fanytel a little further. I do not know about 2fa codes on any of these services since I don’t need. My banks use my Thai number and my credit cards are tied to these banks.

 

I have ruled out GV, Google Fi and Teams for various reasons.

 

Hopefully this info good or bad will help others.

12 hours ago, Galong said:

No, Skype does not support receiving SMS to a Skype Number.

I found it odd that, for some time, the Skype website said; 'Skype supports SMS however, only for US numbers when sent from either a US or Canadian number. Skype does not support identification verification services (2FA, OTP's). However, several people claimed that they received OTP's without any problem. Others said it was 'hit and miss', they received OTP's from some organisations but not from others.

27 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

I found it odd that, for some time, the Skype website said; 'Skype supports SMS however, only for US numbers when sent from either a US or Canadian number. Skype does not support identification verification services (2FA, OTP's). However, several people claimed that they received OTP's without any problem. Others said it was 'hit and miss', they received OTP's from some organisations but not from others.

That's probably due to the way in which the organisation sent the OTP.

If it was identifiable as a plain SMS, then it would get through. OTPs are a particular TYPE of SMS though not all are tagged as such. 

1 hour ago, Thailandbuckeye said:

First off I have spent too much time on this. For info I use Apple products and I need a number in the USA preferably the Houston area since my mailing address is there.

 

I subscribed to Hushed lifetime offer (25.00 USD), it came with 1000 phone minutes per year and SMS which counts against your phone minutes. I have only tried it a couple of times but the phone quality has been excellent. It also has a number in Houston. I am not sure about security so I decided to look further.

 

Next up was Sonetel. Still in progress after 6 days, initially upon signing up I could make a call to the US, to get a number in the US I had to verify my identity. Once that was approved I could no longer make calls. Support has been timely but they have not been able to fix and have offered to refund all the money I signed up with. I am giving it a couple more days and then decide. The support is closed on weekends.

 

I also looked into Zadarma but didn’t sign up at this time due to id verification for phone number.

 

I have briefly look at Fanytel and this looks promising.

Once  I see what happens with Sonetel I’ll look into Fanytel a little further. I do not know about 2fa codes on any of these services since I don’t need. My banks use my Thai number and my credit cards are tied to these banks.

 

I have ruled out GV, Google Fi and Teams for various reasons.

 

Hopefully this info good or bad will help others.

Thanks for doing the research as I was looking at some of these options. I assumed they sucked... you verified it. 🙏

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

 

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.

Tell me then how calling my airline's or my foreign bank's customer service is "decided and solved" already.

 

I'll now have to place expensive SIM card calls to customer services that claim "all our phone lines are unusually busy" all day every day. Of course such customer services are themselves part of the problem, but up to now the waiting game could be taken care of by Skype.

4 hours ago, JackGats said:

Tell me then how calling my airline's or my foreign bank's customer service is "decided and solved" already.

 

I'll now have to place expensive SIM card calls to customer services that claim "all our phone lines are unusually busy" all day every day. Of course such customer services are themselves part of the problem, but up to now the waiting game could be taken care of by Skype.

Sigh, I've added ChaiyaTH to my blocked list, which means almost nothing on this forum.

Yes, same boat... still struggling to find a reasonably-priced alternative or even an expensive option that's 100% solid. I never realized Skype was in a league of its own. I never had a reason to check as I assumed it would be around forever. 🤷‍♂️ 

34 minutes ago, Galong said:

Sigh, I've added ChaiyaTH to my blocked list, which means almost nothing on this forum.

Yes, same boat... still struggling to find a reasonably-priced alternative or even an expensive option that's 100% solid. I never realized Skype was in a league of its own. I never had a reason to check as I assumed it would be around forever. 🤷‍♂️ 

Have you looked at https://www.localphone.com/ ?

You can get a local number apparently. I don't need that but the only thing for me that is a vague question mark is reliability based on reading some online comments and memory from some time ago.

14 hours ago, LivingNThailand said:

What about a phone, iphone to be specific.  I only use Skype on my phone.    Thanks.  I was stuck at portal.  🤣

I haven't tried entering the Skype web portal on a phone.  Leave it with me. I will try it and report back.  

22 hours ago, Galong said:

Teams is of absolutely no interest to me. It's not a replacement for Skype at all!  MS drops the ball yet again. 

I agree. 

 

I looked into Teams, and when I saw paid calling was not similar to Skype, I researched no further, and will not even bother downloading it. 

15 hours ago, topt said:

Have you looked at https://www.localphone.com/ ?

You can get a local number apparently. I don't need that but the only thing for me that is a vague question mark is reliability based on reading some online comments and memory from some time ago.

Yes, I looked into it and saw some potential issues... sorry, I don't recall exactly what they were. I seem to remember something about not being able to port my US Skype number or having to change my Skype number from a landline (which it is now) to a mobile number. That would greatly decrease the chance of it being useable for verification codes and OTPs, which is my main reason for having Skype.  I have wasted so much time as I'm sure many of you have too. This sucks. 

18 hours ago, topt said:

Have you looked at https://www.localphone.com/ ?

You can get a local number apparently. I don't need that but the only thing for me that is a vague question mark is reliability based on reading some online comments and memory from some time ago.

I started a localphone account and requested and received a US phone number but it does not seem to support SMS messages. I plan to use it for calling but would have liked to have text support as well. My Skype number did not receive bank OTPs but in the past my banks would do an automated voice call so this may still work for me.

 

I have also ordered a US Sim so hope to have 2 phone numbers to replace my Skype number in the near future.

39 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

I started a localphone account and requested and received a US phone number but it does not seem to support SMS messages. I plan to use it for calling but would have liked to have text support as well. My Skype number did not receive bank OTPs but in the past my banks would do an automated voice call so this may still work for me.

 

I have also ordered a US Sim so hope to have 2 phone numbers to replace my Skype number in the near future.

LocalPhone only supports SMS for United Kingdom numbers. https://www.localphone.com/help/global_sms

21 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

LocalPhone only supports SMS for United Kingdom numbers. https://www.localphone.com/help/global_sms

I must have missed this I only read the following on the same webpage you have and figured it was worth a try but when I requested the number I forgot to look for the *.  My mistake.

 

Can I send SMS messages to my Local Numbers?

This feature is currently only available for our UK and US * access numbers. When you send an SMS to your Local Number we will forward it on to the corresponding contact at our normal SMS rates.

* Not all of our US access numbers are SMS-enabled. If you change “Your Location” those locations that are SMS-enabled will be marked with a *.

10 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

I must have missed this I only read the following on the same webpage you have and figured it was worth a try but when I requested the number I forgot to look for the *.  My mistake.

 

Can I send SMS messages to my Local Numbers?

This feature is currently only available for our UK and US * access numbers. When you send an SMS to your Local Number we will forward it on to the corresponding contact at our normal SMS rates.

* Not all of our US access numbers are SMS-enabled. If you change “Your Location” those locations that are SMS-enabled will be marked with a *.

It isn't clear at all. I use 'Vyke'. Have done so for 4 years. Incoming mobile (only) numbers are available for; US, UK, Canada, Australia, Israel, Finland and Mexico. OTP's work perfectly for me with a UK number. However, I know that US banks and other financial institutions are nervous of sending OTP's via VOIP services so you might not be as lucky.

8 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

It isn't clear at all. I use 'Vyke'. Have done so for 4 years. Incoming mobile (only) numbers are available for; US, UK, Canada, Australia, Israel, Finland and Mexico. OTP's work perfectly for me with a UK number. However, I know that US banks and other financial institutions are nervous of sending OTP's via VOIP services so you might not be as lucky.

I did some looking into why I could not get an OTPs on Skyp and other people had no problem. I came to a point where I assumed it depended on the exchange that the number was in and the * numbers seem to follow this logic. US banks use short code SMS messages for OTP and I think some VOIP exchanges do not support short code SMS. I selected a number in Las Vegas and it did not have an * but Reno does so I guess I could change but think I will wait and see if my US Sim will work.

 

One thing I forgot to say in my other message I also had a problem with the initial setup of localphone. It asked me for a number to verify and my Thai phone number never received a call. I used my Skype number for the initial verification and that worked without a problem. 

 

I did not want to transfer my Skype number over but I did not see that as an option. I want to keep the Skype number working until I have added a new number to all my accounts and then later remove the Skype number.

On 3/9/2025 at 10:14 AM, Thailandbuckeye said:

First off I have spent too much time on this. For info I use Apple products and I need a number in the USA preferably the Houston area since my mailing address is there.

 

I subscribed to Hushed lifetime offer (25.00 USD), it came with 1000 phone minutes per year and SMS which counts against your phone minutes. I have only tried it a couple of times but the phone quality has been excellent. It also has a number in Houston. I am not sure about security so I decided to look further.

 

Next up was Sonetel. Still in progress after 6 days, initially upon signing up I could make a call to the US, to get a number in the US I had to verify my identity. Once that was approved I could no longer make calls. Support has been timely but they have not been able to fix and have offered to refund all the money I signed up with. I am giving it a couple more days and then decide. The support is closed on weekends.

 

I also looked into Zadarma but didn’t sign up at this time due to id verification for phone number.

 

I have briefly look at Fanytel and this looks promising.

Once  I see what happens with Sonetel I’ll look into Fanytel a little further. I do not know about 2fa codes on any of these services since I don’t need. My banks use my Thai number and my credit cards are tied to these banks.

 

I have ruled out GV, Google Fi and Teams for various reasons.

 

Hopefully this info good or bad will help others.

An update to my post above. Sonetel fixed my calling issue. and I have decided on them to replace Skype. Their support was top notch although it to several days to get where I could make a call. During the process they always kept in touch and at one time offered a refund if I wasnt satisfied. I will keep Hushed as a backup since its lifetime.

 

I made a couple of calls with Sonetel, the quality was at least as good as Skype if not better.

 

Also Fanytel had its problems and their support was terrible. I never got an answer or fix to my problem.

9 hours ago, Thailandbuckeye said:

An update to my post above. Sonetel fixed my calling issue. and I have decided on them to replace Skype. Their support was top notch although it to several days to get where I could make a call. During the process they always kept in touch and at one time offered a refund if I wasnt satisfied. I will keep Hushed as a backup since its lifetime.

 

I made a couple of calls with Sonetel, the quality was at least as good as Skype if not better.

 

Also Fanytel had its problems and their support was terrible. I never got an answer or fix to my problem.

Thanks a lot for the feedback on the various programs. 

I wonder if my Skype number can be ported to Sonetel as a landline? 🤔