How To provide pseudo-SIP support to Google Talk client using iNum [Video Tutorial]

By Alok Saboo on August 5th, 2010

In one of our earlier articles, we talked about the various ways to access VoIP. It’s ironical that most alternatives to access VoIP require either special software (read SIP clients or softphones) or hardware (e.g., ATA). Given the ubiquity of instant messengers and the fact that instant messengers already support voice chat, it is natural to think that instant messengers should be able to provide a convenient way to access VoIP. We have already talked about a workaround to provide SIP capability to Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN Messenger – Gtalk2VoIP. However, there is no native support for SIP in any of these instant messenger and there are good chances that Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo may never provide SIP support.

Today, we discus a nice little trick to provide pseudo-SIP support to Google Talk. You will realize why it is “pseudo-SIP” shortly. This trick makes use of the iNum calling feature, recently introduced in Google Talk.

Make free calls to iNums using Google Talk

What is iNum?

iNum stands for international Number. It is a virtual number that is not tied to any particular country or geography. iNum uses the +883 global country code, newly created by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and is valid all over the world.

iNums are special as the same iNum can be used all over the world. Moreover, lot of VoIP service providers (VSP) provide FREE calling to iNums. Most importantly, you can get iNums for FREE from various providers. However, chances are that you already have an iNum. If you have Voxalot (even a free account), BlasterPhone, or even Gizmo5 account, you already have an iNum. For example,

If your Voxalot account number is 123456, then your iNum is +883 510 004 123456

If your Gizmo5 SIP number is 1-747-555-XXXX, then your iNum is +883 510 07 555 XXXX.

Since iNums are virtual numbers, they almost invariably support SIP, so that they can be configured and used on a SIP device (hardware of software). Also, Google Talk has introduced this feature wherein you can make calls to iNums directly through the Google Talk client (both the in-browser and the desktop clients work). Thus, by bringing these two features together, we can basically make calls to lot of SIP accounts for free. Read on for a step by step guide…

How to make iNum calls from Google Talk?

This tutorial assumes that the iNum that you want to call is configured and ready to receive calls. Configuring iNums, basically involves configuring the SIP client or ATA with the appropriate SIP settings. You can read our step by step tutorial on how to configure Voxalot or any other SIP provider in x-lite or watch the detailed video below.

To make calls to the iNums, you first need to add the iNums as contacts in your Google Talk. Add the iNums in the format iNum@inum.net as your friend.

Add iNum@inum.net to Google Talk

Once you see the the iNum contact online, you can call the iNum like you would call any other contact.

Make iNum calls from Google Talk

Please note that iNum does not support video (yet), so only voice conversation can be carried out for the time being. Here is a detailed video guide with a live demo. I am using the in-browser Google Talk client, but you can use the desktop version.

This is a nice little trick and can be very handy if you do not have access to any SIP devices. To make this even more useful, you can configure your ATA with any of the VoIP providers that support iNum (Voxalot is a nice choice) and any of your friends and family can call you on that for FREE from all over the world.

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Docknden

Hi Alok thanks for the wonderful tip, I tried inviting a inum contact with the format 883xxx@inum.net but unfortunately whenever i try to add the inum is not accepting the invite is there any setting that i am missing, Kindly help
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

That is interesting, I tried it on both Google Talk client and inside Gmail and worked flawlessly for me. Which iNUM provider are you using? Can you try it with some other provider?
Docknden

Alok i am using INUM provided by voxlat which when used for psuedo SKYPE works flawlessly but unfortunately with GTALK the invited is not being accepted by INUM, As per your advice i’lltry to use the INUM provided by GIZMO5 and will get back to you soon.
Docknden

Just tried to invite the INUM provided by gizmo in the format of 8835100xxxxxxxx@inum.net the result being the contact get invited but the invitation is not being accepted by the INUM server and when i try to call this contact the following message appears ” 8835100xxxxxxxx has not yet responded to your invitation to Google Talk. You can close this window and use it after they respond.”
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

I tried another iNum today and it worked perfectly for me. Wondering what is wrong with your iNum. If you prefer, you could send me your inum on admin@truvoipbuzz.com and I can try adding it at my end.
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

I guess, you are entering the iNum incorrectly. Try 88351007XXXXXX@inum.net, where XXXXXXX are the last 7 digits of your Gizmo5 SIP number. Let me know if it doesn’t work…
Docknden

Hi Alok thanks a lot for all that help, I deleted and recreated the invitees again and this both of them has been accepted by the INUM server and a was able to call them without any hitch.Once again thanks for the help and the wonderful article.
Docknden

Hi Alok is there any way by which i can call a google contact like the one you showed for the skype contacts.
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

I am glad it worked out for you in the end….did you change anything or was it the same way as you did earlier?
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

I am not sure if I completely understand your requirement. Do you want to call a Google contact from Skype?
Docknden

I am looking for a way to call a google contact from my SIP hard phone, Similar to one you should you showed in your another trick to call SKYPE contact from a SIP hard phone through REBTEL.As to how the INUM started working from GTALK all i did was to send a mail to INUM support to which they said that they fixed the issue after which things were fine.
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

Let me think a little bit about your question. I think it is an interesting question and I hope, we can figure something out
Docknden

Hi Alok,
I did find a solution for calling a GTALK contact from a sip phone which might be one of many solutions and hope to see a better one from you, following are the steps to place a call from a sip phone

1) Open your GoogleTalk and invite new recipient whose user id is service@gtalk2voip.com.

2) To make SIP calls to Google Talk your participants must replace a domain part of your GoogleTalk ID with gtalk2voip.com
Ex:- mygtalkid@gtalk2voip.com

3) Since most sip phones or phones connected to VoIP ATA’s can’t dial SIP URI’s directly. So, the work around would be to use CallCentric’s phone book Speed Dial or Click2Dial features.

Hope this might be of some interest,kindly update us with any new tips & tricks you have.
Avinash

can u please help me configure my inum number on SPA200 ATA.
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

Configuring iNum on an ATA is not different from configuring any other VoIP provider on an ATA. You can find the instructions on how to configure SIP accounts on ATA here. Also, look at the video in this post for settings for various iNum providers.

Use these to configure the iNum provider of your choice on the ATA. Let me know it it does not work for you.
http://truvoipbuzz.com Alok Saboo

Thanks!! Will keep looking for some other ways
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