Make cheap phone calls online

Once connected the phone will ask the user to sign into an account using the handset and store the details.

Users will be asked for their user name and password and then every time the phone is used, the call can either be diverted online using VoIP or sent via traditional phone lines.

But there’s more to this than making calls. Most phones will also allow you to download your contact numbers from internet accounts or mobile phone SIM cards.

A good phone should store a few hundred numbers itself and be able to access other numbers stored in your VoIP service account. It should also be able to access your online voicemail and more expensive models should have a standard answerphone for telephone calls, as well as extra features such as caller ID or call waiting.

At the lower end of the scale there are simple handsets such as the Dualphone, which for £45 will give you a no-frills setup that connects to the phone line and to a computer using a USB cable. The Dualphone is integrated with the Skype service and you can store a reasonable amount of information on the handset. It has no answerphone or speakerphone but it’s a good basic model.

Further up the scale is the Netgear SPH200D, which costs around £90. Unlike the Dualphone, it plugs directly into a router and allows you to use your computer to add numbers and set up the phone to take Skype calls.

At the top end of the price range are phones such as the Siemens S675IP for around £110. This comes with a built-in answerphone for standard phone calls, as well as better software for improving the quality of internet calls. The purchase price also includes a well-designed handset with a colour screen, full support for Skype for VoIP calls and instant messaging software built in.

With any handset, make sure you check if it is tied to a broadband provider and that the phone can store information such as contact numbers and calling history.

There is a growing number of these handsets to choose from and using one can save you serious money if you are making a lot of calls, particularly to friends overseas. With all these savings to be achieved, combination phones such as these could almost be considered an investment, not a purchase.

Internet telephone providers
Now that internet telephony is taking off, there are a variety of online options. Skype, for example, will allow free person-to-person calls to other Skype users, or paid calls to other lines using the Skype Out service, which can be topped up with credit. Skype is increasingly being integrated into handsets but the majority of users call using a headset attached to a PC.

Some companies are offering their own services, such as BT Fusion, which manages all telephone and internet calls automatically. While this can be handy, it does mean you’re tied to one supplier, as BT’s equipment doesn’t work with other broadband lines.

Some providers, such as Vonage, offer a variety of payment packages, and some innovative hardware, such as the V-Phone, which turns a special USB stick with headphones into an online phone capable of making and receiving calls.