PRO-TALK

Pro-Talk allows you to: 1. Make national and international phone calls at exceptionally low rates. 2. Subscribe to landline telephone numbers from towns and cities around the world. 3. Receive phone calls on your Smartphone, VOIP phone, tablet or computer. 4. Receive phone calls on your regular phone or mobile. 5. Make free calls between your numbers.

You will need: 1. A free Pro-Talk account. 2. VOIP device, which may be a free app installed on your smartphone, a free computer software for your PC/laptop, a VOIP phone or a regular phone plugged into a VOIP adapter. 3. An internet connection is needed in many, but not all, cases. This will depend on what you are using the service for (see below). 4. You will also need to top up your account in order to make calls and purchase phone numbers. You can do this by using either a PayPal account or your credit/debit card.

You will need an Internet connection for placing calls unless you avail of our free "Local Access" service which is available only in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Under this scheme, we will provide you with a local number (for example, a London number if you are living in London) which you can dial from your regular phone or mobile. After dialling the number, you will be prompted to enter your Pro-Talk PIN number (which is sent to you on registration). If your PIN number is valid then you will be prompted to enter the phone number you wish to call. As always, this should be enteres in its full international format.

Using this service, your Pro-Talk account will be charged in the ordinary way, using our standard low rates. However, it is important to note that you will also be charged by your own phone company for the call you make to the local number which we provide you with. Because the number is local to you, this will normally be either free or very cheap, but you need to check the cost with your phone company.

No. The numbers are only used if you wish to receive calls from the public. If you wish to use your account for making calls only then you do not need to purchase a phone number.

After creating an account, you will be sent a unique Username and Password. It is important that you do not reveal this information to anyone else. You will also be provided with a link to a secure webpage from which you can log into your online account. From there, you will be able to purchase credit, check your call history, manage your preferences etc.

In order to make calls, you will need to download a "VOIP Softphone". There are many of these available and most of them are free. We recommend using Zoiper, which is freely available for most popular brands of smartphones, and also for Windows. Once you have downloaded this, you will need to register you Pro-Talk account with it. This is simple and takes three minutes. Click here for instructions on how to do this. If you decide to us a different Softphone then the configuration will be very similar to that of Zoiper. Have a look at the softphone's websiteas most of them include detailed configuration instructions.

That's it! Once your account is successfully registered on your softphone then you are ready to make and receive calls.

Mostly probably Yes. A typical phone call with Pro-Talk only requires an Internet connection of around 150KB/s. This is many times lower than the most basic speeds available on the market today. Therefore, if you are using broadband/3g/4g then your internet connection should never be a problem. But it is important to ensure that, if you are using Wifi, that your device is receiving a consistent, strong signal. Drops in Wifi signal may cause reduced voice quality. Similarly, if your device is connected to a network and therefore shares the Internet with a number of other devices, your signal may not be as strong as advertised by your broadband provider (although this will very rarely cause issues for the purposes of making and receiving calls).

No. They will receive the call as an ordinary phone call.

Normally, yes. If you have subscribed to a local phone number then this will normally be they caller ID. Otherwise, the Caller ID will be your Pro-Talk account number.

While this depends on your particular circumstances, we recommend that you keep in mind that a VOIP service such as Pro-Talk is different in many ways from a traditional telephone provider. VOIP offers enormous cost savings and, in fact, some traditional providers have recognised the consequent popularity of the technology and started offering VOIP services as well (although their overheads remain high and, as a result, so do the costs of their products). However, it is important to remember that VOIP, unlike traditional phone lines, is heavily reliant on the Internet. This is part of the reason it is becoming so popular – as the Internet spreads and speeds up, so does the trend for VOIP products.

We recommend that you weigh up all the advantages and disadvantages before deciding to switch exclusively to VOIP. We also recommend that you use the product for some time so that you are completely happy with it. Only then should you take the leap of disconnecting your phone line.

There are two ways in which you can receive calls to your local number, one of which requires Internet access and the other does not.

The first is to receive them directly to your account. When this happens, your softphone app (we recommend Zoiper) or VOIP phone will start ringing when you receive a call and you can answer it as if it was an ordinary phone call to your device. This method is free and requires that your device is connected to the Internet.

The second method is to receive your calls indirectly bu forwading them to an ordinary phone number. Call forwarding can be done through your online account. For example, you can sign into your online account and change the settings so that all incoming calls to your local number (purchased through Pro-Talk) are forwarded to your regular mobile or landline number. In this way, you will be able to answer the calls even if the receiving device is not connected to the Internet. What is happening in this situation is that the caller is calling your Pro-Talk account which, in turn, is calling the number to which you have forwarded the call. This means that your account will be charged for the cost of the forwarded call to your number. For example, if you choose to forward your calls to a UK landline then you will be charged our standard rate for calls to UK landlines.

Once you r account is created you can log into it through our customer portal using your username and password. After logging in, you will see a "Paypal" button. Click on this to top up your account using your Paypal account, credit or debit card. You can top up by €5, €10, €20, €50 or €100 at a time. Please be aware that Paypal charges a transaction fee (currently €0.30 plus 3.9% of the top-up amount) which is deducted from your top-up and the balance credited to your account.

Yes, we are legally required to charge VAT in the same way as any business. VAT is charged at 23% unless you are a VAT registered person in a European Member State other than the Republic of Ireland. In the latter case, we will not charge VAT once we have received your VAT registration number. All other VAT-registered businesses to who we charge VAT should be able to recover the VAT from their local tax offices. Non VAT-registered businesses will be required to pay VAT.

VAT is not charged on individual phone calls or subscription to phone numbers. Instead, we charge VAT at the point of top up. VAT will be added to the amount by which you top up your account.

If you are using Pro-Talk for the purposes of your business then, in most cases, the services are considered to be business expenses for taxation purposes. However, this depends entirely on the tax rules in your country and you should check with your local tax office.