We recently asked readers to tell us how they contact their relatives who remained in Russia from abroad. Many admitted that due to the ban of popular applications and the regular shutdown of the mobile Internet, this has become increasingly difficult to do so. These issues are of particular concern to those with elderly relatives who have difficulty understanding the new messenger (especially setting up a VPN or proxy). In such circumstances, a proven but forgotten by many method can help – calling a regular phone number. Furthermore, it is not necessary to do this via standard international connections; You can also connect through special applications. It works over the Internet and allows you to call even a home phone in Russia. Meduza talks about similar services and how to save calls from abroad.
Yes, you can still contact your relatives on unblocked apps. But there are fewer and fewer of them left
It should be noted right away that there are still a lot of options to stay in touch with your loved ones. First of all, we are talking about alternatives to WhatsApp and Telegram, which have not yet attracted the attention of Roskomnadzor and continue to operate fully in the country. American Imo, Turkish BiP, French (with Bulgarian Roots) Jitsi Meet, Chinese WeChat, Korean KakaoTalk – all these services allow you to communicate with your relatives and you do not need a VPN yet.
The most popular video conferencing services, such as Google Meet and Zoom, also continue to operate in Russia. However, judging by user reviews, problems have arisen with them recently. For example, Google Meet experienced serious glitches at the end of last summer that only affected residents of Russia. In addition, all of the mentioned applications have a serious drawback – they become useless when the mobile Internet is completely turned off.
To some extent, Russian services can help during the lockdown. And this is not necessarily Max messenger, which many Russians who have traveled abroad do not want to install in principle. For example, you can call via Yandex Telemost, which is whitelisted. But it should be noted that its servers (like all major Russian services) are located on the territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the application is suitable for normal daily conversations, but it is better not to touch on sensitive topics there.
Of course, it is still possible to call a regular phone, but this option can not always be called available. Much depends on the country, operator and selected tariff. If calling from neighboring countries is relatively inexpensive, then the cost per minute in EU countries can increase several times.
For example, calls from Georgia or Armenia – Two countries popular among Russians in the field of mobility – On average, it will cost about 20-40 rubles per minute at the current local currency rate. And if you call from a mobile phone, for example, from Spain (a popular destination among “digital nomads”), you will have to pay 90-140 rubles per minute and another 60-90 rubles for the connection itself.
Previously, the Skype service helped in this situation, allowing you to call regular phone numbers at much better rates. This was often cheaper than calling from a mobile phone to a landline within the same country. However, a year ago, Microsoft closed Skype, invites all users to switch to its other service – Teams.
Turns out the replacement wasn’t equal: Teams is an enterprise service (like Slack, for example), and it’s too burdened with functionality that the average user doesn’t need. For example, there is a calendar, or the ability to create communities, or artificial intelligence everywhere. Teams is suitable if you plan to primarily communicate within the app. But to make calls to regular phone numbers, you will have to deal with several subscriptions and licenses, and the call itself may become more expensive than on a mobile phone.
What are the remaining alternatives?
Let us remind you that in Russia the so-called. This means that no matter which method you choose to call a regular Russian phone, it is still not secure. Regardless of the protection measures provided by the service itself.
Skype was the most popular service, but it was not the only phone service. There are other applications that allow you to call mobile and landline numbers over the Internet, while at the same time significantly saving on calling costs.
For example, calls to Russia through the Yolla, Talk360 or Rebtel applications will cost users on average about 15-30 rubles per minute. However, it does not require a separate connection fee. In Yola’s case this is separate described On the site. The other two services do not mention such write-offs in their definitions.
The Rebtel app stands out from its competitors because it uses a hybrid contact model. To make a call, it automatically chooses between Wi-Fi, mobile data, and a regular local phone line. On the site maleThis approach allows Rebtel not to depend on stable Internet.
In the App Store and Google Play app stores, all of these services have fairly high ratings – ranging from 4.4 to 4.7 points out of five. At the same time, in the comments (in particular, Yolla and Rebtel), you can find negative reviews from users from Russia who were not able to connect through the application, or simply register in it.
It is important to emphasize that these services are primarily suitable for those who want to call regular phone numbers in the Russian Federation. They can hardly be called an alternative to WhatsApp and Telegram, which allow you to exchange calls directly in the application. Simply because all the listed VoIP apps in Russia either cannot guarantee high-quality connections due to numerous bans, or they are not available at all.
Sometimes, when searching for “cheap calls to Russia”, you can find services aimed at tourists, for example, Roamless or Bnesim. First of all, they are needed to access inexpensive mobile Internet using a physical SIM card or eSIM. But many of them also offer low-cost phone services.
Calls to Russia through them can sometimes be cheaper than through specialized applications. For example, in Roamless, a minute costs 18-25 rubles, and in Bnesim it costs about 10 or even less, depending on the chosen tariff plan. But there are some important details to consider.
Firstly, we are talking about the same VoIP phone (for example, the Roamless service has this directly). Shown on the site). Therefore, the user does not need the SIM card itself – calls are still made through the application. Second: Some services provide phone service in addition to mobile Internet, which is not needed in this case (but may be included in the subscription and increase the total cost).
Finally, these services do not consider calls as an essential service, so it is often very difficult to find information about tariffs. It is easier to use specialized applications for international communications, especially since they work using the same technology.
Another way to contact loved ones in Russia is to use technology, namely Wi-Fi calling. It is very easy to do: you need to make sure that your operator supports this function and activate it on your phone. Detailed instructions for iOS and Android are available on the websites apple and Google.
In this case, all calls will be identified as calls from the Russian Federation, regardless of the user’s physical location. That is, you will need to pay according to standard, not international, tariffs, even if the person is officially touring.
But there are several nuances that you should know in advance. First of all, you must have a SIM card from the Russian operator. Therefore, the solution is not suitable for those who left Russia and gave up their old phone number, or simply cannot pay for communication services in the Russian Federation.
There is another problem: although Wi-Fi calling is officially supported by at least the Big Four (MTS, Beeline and Megafon), it is not available on all devices. Apple Inc limited Support for this function for Russian mobile operators in 2022. Therefore, VoWiFi does not work on iPhone 14 and later models.
There are no such restrictions on Android smartphones. Although it is better to check in advance the list of supported devices on the website of a particular operator and make sure that this function is available. So, owners of Android devices or old iPhones have a viable option to save calls to Russia.
Lockdowns in Russia are becoming stronger. Closings are regulated for any reason. “Medusa” is still nearby! 👾We will continue to tell you how to stay in touch with the outside world. For example, what to do if It doesn’t work VPN, how Transgression Whitelists using Delta Chat messenger and how to He attends Internet outage. To learn all of this, it’s important to maintain access to Medusa – which is easy! download We asked, save Magic link and Subscribe To the SOS newsletter.