Why do people pay for international phone calls when free internet calling exists?

[tehx]

I just don't get why people still make international phone calls through their mobile network and have to pay when they can just use the internet to call someone internationally for free or is there a catch?

[Jurrunio]

most likely uninformed

[manikyath]

because sometimes.. its just easier. if just for chatter.. hell no, but if you need to reach someone quickly and the VOIP tools are not being happy today, just a quick ring can be well worth the money, especially if you're talking corporate "counting money by the hour" environments.

[tehx]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

most likely uninformed

so if everyone was informed telephone plans would go out of buisness as people would only ever need mobile internet for making calls with things such as skype which is free whereever u are

[GoodBytes]

7 minutes ago, tehx said:

I just don't get why people still make international phone calls through their mobile network and have to pay when they can just use the internet to call someone internationally for free or is there a catch?

Internet is not free. You pay a plan to have Internet.

In many regions, you have limit on how much you can use (total download/upload limit). Those without limit, still have limits if you read the fine prints. You have a certain amount using LTE, and then anything after, it goes on slower speed like 3G.

 

Also, in many regions in the world, using internet is not as reliable than using voice when they are out.

[GoodBytes]

Just now, tehx said:

so if everyone was informed telephone plans would go out of buisness as people would only ever need mobile internet for making calls with things such as skype which is free whereever u are

Voice service is indeed dying.

[tehx]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

Voice service is indeed dying.

So do telephone calls use a seperate network from the internet?

[PlayStation 2]

Sometimes, it's a lot easier to make an international phone call than it is to use Discord or the hell known as Skype.

In my situation, I'd be fucking shocked if I needed more than 2 hours worth of phone calling a month, but for a lot of people, it isn't like that, especially if they're deployed.

[manikyath]

24 minutes ago, tehx said:

So do telephone calls use a seperate network from the internet?

yes and no.

 

but especially in remote regions a reliable phone line is easier to come by than a reliable internet line capable of decent VOIP.

[GoodBytes]

26 minutes ago, tehx said:

So do telephone calls use a seperate network from the internet?

Yes and no. Voice uses time space multiplex (unless it uses VoIP with LTE, which is packet base, but VoIP isn't actually wide spread at the world wide level. your carrier might have it between you and them, but the back-end network that communicate between other carriers might not be), but even then on the back, it is 2 different networks. While both share some components (antenna, some routers and other equipment, the database to find your subscription, where you phone is to know on which antenna to route the traffic, etc. the rest no)

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, handymanshandle said:

Sometimes, it's a lot easier to make an international phone call than it is to use Discord or the hell known as Skype.

In my situation, I'd be fucking shocked if I needed more than 2 hours worth of phone calling a month, but for a lot of people, it isn't like that, especially if they're deployed.

at work we sometimes make phone calls to the US to troubleshoot skype for business issues.. funny in a sense

[GoodBytes]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

at work we sometimes make phone calls to the US to troubleshoot skype for business issues.. funny in a sense

Don't worry. in April the plug is pulled on Skype for Business (aka: Lync).

At work we transitioned to Microsoft Teams, which, so far, has been running wonderfully.

[manikyath]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

Don't worry. in April the plug is pulled on Skype for Business (aka: Lync).

At work we transitioned to Microsoft Teams.

in april already? good luck to our Tier2 team for moving said client to teams in that time.. it usually takes 3 months to kick the freakshow back into propper life if the servers take a dive again.

[Brooksie359]

Have a friend who lives in South Korea and I usually talk to him over discord all the time. I never really felt like it was a replacement to phone calls because it's usually me and most of my close college friends in discord and not just a 2 person conversation.

[GoodBytes]

Just now, manikyath said:

in april already? good luck to our Tier2 team for moving said client to teams in that time.. it usually takes 3 months to kick the freakshow back into propper life if the servers take a dive again.

Well, Microsoft announced that mid-2018.