Using Dell Voice overseas

[fongian]

Hi everyone,

I'm moving overseas soon. Will I still be able to be logged into Dell Voice, and receive calls to my Canadian number?

[FONGO_mike]

Hi fongian (hmm, may be a good name to refer to Fongo users ) Yes, when in China, if you logg into the soft phone it should function the same way. We can not guarantee however, that it will always when outside of Canada (due to laws/restrictions in certain parts of the world which may prohibit VOIP use).

[TheHardy]

I'm moving overseas soon. Will I still be able to be logged into Dell Voice, and receive calls to my Canadian number?

As Mike officially stated, more or less YES. The only caveat would be if you are calling from somewhere that MAY block traffic on certain ports -- IE from a HOTEL or a public WIFI hotspot or something. If you are using a WORK or HOME direct internet connection, you should be OK.

I used FPL software on the road on my laptop down into the USA, and only a few times in HOTELS did I have some problems. Messing around and changing port numbers seemed to do the trick and I was calling in and out quite well.

There are some known places overseas that limit traffic on certain ports. I do not know if it is nationwide or what, but there are always work-arounds for that as well.

A quick GOOGLE search with your destination country and VOIP and ports should help you out if you encounter a problem!

[bylo]

There are some known places overseas that limit traffic on certain ports. I do not know if it is nationwide or what, but there are always work-arounds for that as well.

There are some national carriers that restrict VoIP on their cell network. I believe that none of the NA and EU ones still do this, but I imagine there may be some elsewhere. (And of course, even in Canada, Robbers via MVNO ztar (SpeakOut, Petro Can Mob), restricts VoIP ports under their "Unlimited Browsing" offering.)

What workarounds do you have in mind?

In a related vein, some smartphones may not do VoIP in certain countries over the cell network because they lack the needed HSPA bands. Low-end smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Ace/Gio or LG Optimus One that have only 850/1900 fall into this category. Overseas they can only do 2G which won't be fast enough for VoIP.

[TheHardy]

I guess I did forget to question (now) whether the OP planned on using DV on a smartphone or via computer app! Valid point, and one that would best be answered so we can give appropriate advice!

[fongian]

Hi all, thanks for your replies. I'm moving to a country in west africa. They have no VOIP restrictions, and my family uses Skype and other services all the time. However, I asked my brother to search the Android market on this phone for the Dell Voice app, and it would not show up. So, downloading the app itself appears to be region restricted. Using the app, however, might not be, and that's what I'm trying to figure out. But in any case, it will be very risky for me to base all my personal and business contacts on this DV phone number, seeing as the app is unavailable. If it were to uninstall at any time, I'd be stuck and out of luck.

Thanks again for your responses.

[bylo]

it will be very risky for me to base all my personal and business contacts on this DV phone number, seeing as the app is unavailable

I don't think so. If you can download the app in Canada but run it worldwide as others have stated then there's nothing inherent in the app that will prevent you from using it. The restriction on downloading is made by Google's Android Market, not by DV/Fongo. There are ways around that restriction, e.g. by using a Canadian or US proxy like http://www.nuip.net/

If it were to uninstall at any time, I'd be stuck and out of luck.

Likewise if your phone was lost/stolen while out of Canada and you bought a new phone. Perhaps Fongo should put DV APKs on their server so that people who aren't located in Canada can download them. (If server load is a concern they could even restrict this service to IPs outside of CA and US.)

[Jake]

Fongian, I sent you a pm of where your brother can get the apk file from.

[bylo]

For people who are concerned about losing their DV/Fongo app while travelling outside Canada or who want to help someone outside of Canada who can't download the app off Google Play (Android Market):
1. install Titanium Backup on your phone
2. run a backup of at least the Dell Voice app
2. go to the TitaniumBackup directory on your SD card and look for a backup file named something like this: com.fongo.dellvoice-52f582a6affb2d376d6ec3a4046d49f7.apk.gz
3. inside the .GZ file you'll find a file named something like edited as apk is recommended by Fongo which I presume is the required .APK

Notes:
1. The free version of TB is sufficient.
2. You'll need a rooted phone to run TB.
3. If you can't unzip a .GZ file on your phone, copy it to a PC, unzip and then copy the .APK back to the SD.

[TheHardy]

Hi all, thanks for your replies. I'm moving to a country in west africa. They have no VOIP restrictions, and my family uses Skype and other services all the time. However, I asked my brother to search the Android market on this phone for the Dell Voice app, and it would not show up. So, downloading the app itself appears to be region restricted. Using the app, however, might not be, and that's what I'm trying to figure out. But in any case, it will be very risky for me to base all my personal and business contacts on this DV phone number, seeing as the app is unavailable. If it were to uninstall at any time, I'd be stuck and out of luck.

Thanks again for your responses.

The computer version would be a reasonable "backup" solution ... albeit not MOBILE -- does scanning the QR code off the DV or Fongo site work at all or does that just send you to the And-market site (pardon the stupid question, but I do not HAVE a smartphone!).

I would think that there would be a legitimate way to be able to re-download the app -- and there have been a few suggestions posted here for how to do so ...

I agree that it is not a Fongo/DV restriction, and there must be a way that you can get your hands on the app and get it into your phone again.

Addressing the query directly to a Fongo rep (Steve, Mike, Kris) may yield you an OFFICIAL answer as well, straight from the "horse's mouth" so to speak!

Relying solely on VOIP under ANY circumstance for CRITICAL communication would be a risky endeavor, IMHO. But you should be able to get something pretty reliable going, and still have a "back up plan" to reinstall should it fail ...

Best of luck, and please keep us informed how things work out from abroad!!