Prologue
After years of research and failings, I’ve finally found a way to use my physical SIM card (works also with eSIMs) via VoIP, using a softphone! If we do not have, want, or can use a SIM card, we can also bypass it and rent a phone number (DID Number). My current rate for calls to Italy is 0.04 USD per minute, charged at increments of 6 seconds, so a 5 seconds call would cost 0.004, and a 7 seconds one, 0.008 (sub cent). with no monthly costs (unless you need/order a DID). You can find the pricing for your country at https://voip.ms/pricing#improved_communications_container
This blog post will teach you how to do the same.
Prerequisites
- SIM / VoIP number / will to rent one
- document for ID verification
- softphone app (i.e. Jami, Linphone, …)
- internet connection
- 15 USD for the first recharge (credit does not expire), get 10 USD free if you register with code:
NTIyOTIx
Verification
The provider we are gonna use is voip.ms (referral link), and as a first thing we need to register to the service, here we get asked to verify our identity, and at writing time (2026-02-07) they use “Persona”, which has asked me to show an ID, and to move the face left-right while being recorded by the camera (you can use a phone, no need the computer’s webcam). You get then asked to wait for the verification result, and it took a good couple of hours for mine.. but could take several days.
International calls setup
Once we are verified, we can start configuring our account, and since I’m gonna call zones that are not Canada nor US, first thing I need to do is to enable International call by going to the Main Menu > Account Settings > Account Restrictions > Allow International Calls. Here we select Yes, and select the wanted locations, and click Apply. If you did not select them immediately, or do not get prompted to, you can edit the list at the bottom of the page by pressing Click here to manage list of allowed countries. The country is expandable, i.e. for Italy, you need to expand Southern Europe and mark the country. If the call does not go through, double check that the country is indeed selected by reloading the page, you might have missed an Apply click.
Explore the options
Next I would suggest to go through all the Account Settings, and personalize as you need. I’ve personally selected the Value routing, so calls will be cheaper for both Canada and International routing, and have not enabled extra options like voice mail, call transcriptions… check the prices before enabling anything extra, and value if it is worth it for your use case.
Routing
We now go to the Default DID Routing table of the Account Settings, and we select the ones we prefer to use. Here select the a zone that is in the middle between where you are, and where you want to call. For Italy, I’ve selected paris1. To test the delay between what you say, and what the other person hears, you might use the Sound Quality Test, number 4443.
Just keep in mind that being a ping-pong:
- if the server is closer to the receiver, the delay will be lower;
- If the server is in the middle, the delay will be the one you hear;
- if the server is closer to you, but far from the receiver, the delay will be higher.
First tests and softphone parameters
We can already start testing if everything works by downloading a compatible softphone (list: https://wiki.voip.ms/article/Softphones), and for this example I’m gonna use Jami, it’s a free open source software multi-platform: https://jami.net/
Once we have the application, we open it and expand the Advanced Features, here we now select Configure a SIP account, and the details to add are the following:
- Server: this is the one we have selected before as default, i.e.
paris1.voip.ms; - Username: you should have received it via mail, it’s digits only, i.e.
123456, you can find it onMain Menu > Account Information; - Password: This is your account’s password, but you can set a custom one (suggest it), by going to
Main Menu > Account Settings > Security > Main SIP/IAX Password. Here, you’ll need toSet Random Password and Send Email, and IMMEDIATELY change it once received, as mail is an highly insecure communication method; - TLS/UDP: select UDP;
- Personalize account: this is your
CallerID, in the format<00><nation><number>i.e. for italy (nation 39)00391234567899. for testing, you can leave it empty.
The numbers we can call to test if everything works are on the Main Menu > Account Information, and the ones we need in particular are:
4443for the quality test*225for the credit4747for the DTMF test (this to check if you can reach the phone lines, needs a linked number to succeed)- WARNING: do not test calling the police, at least the US one (911), as might cost you a lot, something like 70 USD, there was a warning somewhere on the website. You need first to enable a specific function, which has a cost.
If things do not work, test with another softphone, another valid and free one is Linphone: https://www.linphone.org/en/homepage-linphone/ Once we are sure things work, we can continue to the next step, which is to either link a SIM card, a VoIP number, or rent one from them.
Link a SIM number
Once we are sure things work, we can proceed to link a number, and in my case I’ve only tested with a SIM card so I’m gonna cover this procedure.
We go to the Main Menu > Account Settings > General, here we click on the “Click here to manage your verified Caller IDs” and start the ownership verification process for the number we want to use, which will be a call if we are not from US nor Canada. Once verified, we can check the Use a verified CallerID, and select the number from the dropdown. Don’t forget to click Apply after.
If we have already recharged the account (minimum is 15 USD at the time of writing), we can proceed to next step and start making real calls.
Will take this moment to remember you that you can get 10 USD free (after the minimum 15 USD topup) if you sign up using my referral, which is NTIyOTIx , and should be automatically applied if you signed-up with this link: https://voip.ms/en/invite/NTIyOTIx
Linking the SIM number with Jami
We open Jami, and if we haven’t already set a nickname/surname, we go to the gear on the top left (or Manage Account, or settings in general), and on the Account > Customize profile section, we add our SIM number in the format 00<nation><number>, i.e. for Italy 00391234567899.
Final tests
We can now test if everything works by searching for the number we want to call, which for the test will be 4747, and if we hear a ringing, everything works. This call I’ve found to be free. If we hear a single beep, something might be out of place, we need a ring (is rapid and subtle).
If we have someone to call, we can directly call them, but this time we “search” their number, using the international format, which is 00<int><number>, just like the one for the SIM. We can also use +<int><number> if we want, i.e. +391234567899.
Conclusion
This is all, share this guide with someone you know might need a VoIP number, I was in a particular need, as in my zone the signal is awful, and this solves my line problems, at least for when I make the calls 🙂 Also, I can call from the computer, which is a great added value ^^
