Mobile phone free VOIP call service leaps forward

GIVEN THE general flakiness of the original release of this VoIP/internet telephony package, the lure of a new and improved version - 3.0 - merited a look.

This time the voice calls worked reliably but some of the more attractive features proved recalcitrant. This particularly applied to the 'Presence' feature.

Truphone is, of course, built around the industry standard SIP protocol so it should be possible, via Presence, to see which of your contacts are presently online so that you can contact them.

Despite several brave attempts to get this facility going, the INQ eventually gave up. For those who are successful, it will prove a very useful feature indeed.

A far bigger attraction than Presence, however, is the lure of free text messages. Technically known as SMS over IP, this facility could literally save consumers a fortune.

All you need to do is get all your mates to sign up to Truphone and you'd never have to pay for a text again. A frightening prospect for the mobile network operators.

Another neat feature - which we weren't able to test - is support for multiple SIM cards.

The idea here is that you take the handset on holiday; insert a local SIM card (from a Spanish operator, for example) and the software is clever enough to work out who you are and still re-direct calls to your Truphone number to the phone.

Truphone (although technically the supplier is SCN) claims that this version of its software client is much simpler to install than before.

That's absolutely true. Gone is the necessity to set up different profiles for home/work/ and travelling. Which is brilliant.

However, upgrading to the latest version of the client isn't straightforward. The INQ recommends you read the instructions very, very carefully.

Part of the reason why we struggled so much to get version 3.0 working is because we assumed that selecting the application manager app and uninstalling would work.

Don't do it. Follow the instructions on the web site. Curiously, Truphone is extremely fond of supplying help guides via videos posted on Youtube. They're essential watching.

The list of dual-mode handsets on which Truphone can run is growing steadily but in essence it boils down to about nine handsets.

The good news is that the software works in the USA as well as in Europe. The web site glosses over the fact that it doesn't work on Nokia N95s supplied by Orange and Vodafone UK.

For the determined mobile phone freak, installing Truphone 3.0 will save you loads of money. And since the app itself is free, that ain't bad. ?

Good
Unlimited free texts with your mates
See who's online before calling

Bad
Software installation is very quirky

Ugly
Spend hours trying to get all the features working

Barwench's verdict

See Also
We see the future and it's flakey
VoIP functionality in N95 disabled