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Firstly, if you have no idea what VOIP is about, check out this Wikipedia entry. To put it simply, it uses the “Internet” to make telephone calls. What does this mean for you? It’s time to stop paying monthly subscription fees, confusing IDD rates, and finally to get rid of your residential phone line once and for all. Doing all of the above must be difficult you might say…… well not with pfingo

To make it simple, we will answer the 4 Ws and 1 H.

Who?

Who is pfingo you may ask. There are backed by Starhub. This means that they are backed by an established company and is in the business for the long run. To find out more about the company, visit here.

What?

What business are they in? They are in the business of providing local VOIP services, under the moniker pfingoTALK, which is what we will be focusing at. Their services can be accessed through pfingoMOBILE on your phone, or through pfingoDESKTOP with your PC. For a more in-depth look at each of these services, visit here.

Where?

Where can I use this? You can use the service anywhere, as long there is an Internet connection and you have installed their client which can be run on a Desktop, Laptop, Smartphone, or Dect phone. In Singapore, you will be issued with a “local” number starting with the prefix number “3″. {Ex: 32335566}. However they is another service specifically targeting overseas callers known as myGlobal number. Here’s a quick run through:

Friends and family of pfingoTALK users can say bye-bye to long distance charges. With myGlobal Number, you can have a phone number from a foreign country. So when friends and family overseas call you, they only pay local rates! myGlobal Number is available in two friendly flavours.

For more details about myGlobal number, visit here.

When?

When will I need this service? When you fall into any one of these categories, consider pfingo.

• Everyone in the household owns a mobile phone - Cancel your residential line and apply for pfingo. Even in cases of emergencies whereby the power supply trips, a mobile is always nearby for backup.
• Somebody is always chatting on the phone - Subscription fee of $2/month, and outgoing calls are at $0.02/min, if the other party is on pfingo too, its totally FREE!. But that’s not all, check here for a full list of features which you are paying peanuts for. Never pay $25 for 3 months subscription to Singtel again.
• You have friends / families overseas - Their international rates are difficult to beat, especially with myGlobal number service.
• You are paying more than $50 for your broadband just for surfing the web - Do yourself a favor by utilizing what you are paying for. Dun be kind to the service provider. Suck every bandwidth that’s rightfully yours.

How?

How to start? Click on the link above and join now. After you have signed up for your account, I will suggest you buy the Dect phone mentioned above so the whole family can take advantage of pfingoTALK. If you don’t breathe a word, nobody will even notice. Otherwise you can just setup your account on any SIP capable phone, which basically includes all the Nokia E-series. However the cheapest ones you can find will be the HP IPAQ 512, running Windows Mobile, or the Nokia E51 running Symbian S60 V3. Both these phones with their onboard wifi, will allow you to use your pfingo on the move, and in particular, I have setup my E51 with a broadband on mobile plan, bringing pfingo with me everywhere I go.

This was meant to be an introduction of a simple VOIP solution for the masses, which pfingoTALK basic, together with a wifi Dect phone offers. This simple setup will enable many households to save on their phone bills, and the more people on pfingoTALK, the cheaper it is to make a call. One day, everyone should be on pfingoTALK, and we can talk for free.

If you require more details on the mobile setup or creative ways of using pfingo, drop it in the comments.