Skype service shutting down

[OnTheRun]

Hello, Microsoft is shutting down Skype (although Skype for business unaffected).

I use and rely Skype a fair bit whilst overseas, so I now find myself with a couple of issues.

The first, is that I have two telephone numbers, one UK number and the other a US number.

Skype has informed its users to port numbers in order to keep them, but I was wondering if there were any company recommendations on here from those in similar circumstances?

Secondly – I renewed these lines in January of this year, and since Skype is closing the service down and I most likely have to pay any new company to port numbers in, I don’t think I have received the service I have paid MS Skype for, so I am looking for advice in this regard as well.

Thank you

[John]

I have heard good things about A&A for UK VOIP services.

I have a related question. My only use of Skype is to call (mainly US) toll-free numbers for from other countries, or occasionally to call UK freephone numbers when outside the UK. Is there a way to do this without having to provide excessive personal information after Skype shuts down?

[yonasl]

Before WhatsApp I used https://www.12voip.com/ a lot. I think it is a German company and they open new websites under many names giving the impression there is actual competition (so you may find EasyVoip is cheaper than 12voip but they are the same guys which is a little annoying).

[Oviplokos1]

I think you can transfer Skype account, including any credit, to ms teams, I will try it next week hopefully.

[Lady London]

Skype is completely finishing in May now.
Whatsapp seems to be the most recommended replacement but unfortunately too many family are not on Whatsapp / can’t use Zoom or Teams. So these are not a full replacement for everyone you could contact by Skype before Microsoft first neutered it last December and has now snnounced finally killing Skype off in May.

Anyone know best way to contact Skype to get existing Skype credit refunded ?

I’ll be looking at switching to Linux later this year. No interest in continuing to platform on Microsoft after failure of Microsoft to communicate proactively on this in time for other plans to be made.
They suddenly made it impossible to contact family just before Christmas without any communication – it was only found out accidentally at that time when they had already done it. Hsd to keep my existing credit fot emergencies and contacting a business whilst travelling cost an absolute fortune when needed urgently while I was trsvrlling snd found Skype had done this so could not add credit.

Thanks for the interesting information on 12Voip @yonasi – they have also been recommended elsewhere as a reliable replacement.

[Aston100]

Lady London wrote:

I’ll be looking at switching to Linux later this year. No interest in continuing to platform on Microsoft

I’m confused.
Are you giving up on all Microsoft software, including Windows and Office?
Or have I misunderstood?

[Lady London]

@Aston100: coincides with things like forced upgrades at inconvenient times and other things that have made me consider moving to Linux for a while. Their lack of communication of having made this change at a sensitive time of year for needing to reach family hss finally pushed me to dump Microsoft if I can….Many have. LibreOffice is apparently quite decent now.
.

[Jon]

Just been looking into this myself. So far I’ve looked at 12Voip, Yolla, and Talk360. For my needs (mostly calling US mobile, and UK landlines from overseas), Yolla appears to have the best rates, nice clean app interface, decent call quality based on the test call I just did (NB may need to switch off your VPN first), and when you buy $x of credits, that’s exactly what you pay. 12Voip’s app feels more clunky, but appears to do the job, and you can get free minutes in return for buying credits, but they annoyed me by adding a handling fee and VAT, so you end up paying a bit over 20% on top of the actual credits you’re buying. Didn’t look any further at Talk360 as their rates are higher and Yolla seems to meet my needs, but they’ll be next on my list if Yolla screws up 😉

One thing I have with Skype that I’ve yet to find a replacement option for is a SkypeOut virtual UK landline number for other people to call me on. I assume I’ll lose that imminently, and not sure I can be bothered to jump through hoops to keep or replace it (I rarely actually need it, but it’s occasionally useful to have). But if anyone knows of an easy solution… 🙂

[qc]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Viber – we add a credit to be able to access overseas numbers etc. only £4.99 at a time.

[Alex G]

I’m amazed Viber is still around. I used to use it when it launched but few did and I switched to WhatsApp. However, I will be trying it for calls on my next overseas trip.

[Jon]

Re my question above about replacing a SkypeOut number. I use Surfshark as my VPN and it seems they have an “Alternative Number” add-on that gives you a virtual phone number (US only though) that people can call or text you on. Costs a couple of quid a month. I may give it a try. Anyone here already using it?

[qc]

Alex G wrote:

I’m amazed Viber is still around. I used to use it when it launched but few did and I switched to WhatsApp. However, I will be trying it for calls on my next overseas trip.

I’ve been using it since it launched as an add on to WhatsApp as you can add credit to make calls outside the U.K.

[slidey]

Is there anything that offers free calls to 1-800 US numbers, as skype did?

[memesweeper]

slidey wrote:

Is there anything that offers free calls to 1-800 US numbers, as skype did?

There are services that won’t charge you per minute anything for “toll free” numbers, but those services are full voip and thus typically not free of charge.

I’m going to check out “2nd line” as this also supports SMS which would be handy for me as well.

[cin3]

Jon wrote:

Just been looking into this myself. So far I’ve looked at 12Voip, Yolla, and Talk360. For my needs (mostly calling US mobile, and UK landlines from overseas), Yolla appears to have the best rates, nice clean app interface, decent call quality based on the test call I just did (NB may need to switch off your VPN first), and when you buy $x of credits, that’s exactly what you pay. 12Voip’s app feels more clunky, but appears to do the job, and you can get free minutes in return for buying credits, but they annoyed me by adding a handling fee and VAT, so you end up paying a bit over 20% on top of the actual credits you’re buying. Didn’t look any further at Talk360 as their rates are higher and Yolla seems to meet my needs, but they’ll be next on my list if Yolla screws up 😉

One thing I have with Skype that I’ve yet to find a replacement option for is a SkypeOut virtual UK landline number for other people to call me on. I assume I’ll lose that imminently, and not sure I can be bothered to jump through hoops to keep or replace it (I rarely actually need it, but it’s occasionally useful to have). But if anyone knows of an easy solution… 🙂

Thanks for this. Will it call all types of UK landlines not just geographic ones?

Literally the only thing I have used Skype for in the last 15 years is calling banks/CC companies while abroad.

[SpectroMartin]

I bought a “Hushed” lifetime subscription on Stacksocial. $24.99 for life for a USA (or Canada) number with a text and minutes allowance:

https://www.stacksocial.com/sales/hushed-private-phone-1-line-plan-1000-mins-6000-sms

It was easy to set up but I’ve not tried calling out yet.