Viber as an alternative to voice & SMS roaming?

In the next 3 weeks, I will be in Europe for some business and personal vacation. Since I was granted a 30-day Schengen visa, I thought I do some side trips before going home (it’s Germany for official business and France and Italy for a little bit of travel).

I’ve been to Germany twice before so I know how much I spent for international roaming (and it was expensive) so I thought an extended stay will be disastrous to my phone bills (last time it was around Php30k for the two weeks).

Several months ago, I tried Viber. I also knew about WhatsApp but I liked Viber better because it supports voice calls and SMS over IP. The tight integration between my GSM contacts and the App was also a good way for me to consolidate contacts (meaning, only those that are already listed in my SIM contacts are automatically seen and added).

Since Viber is supported on a lot of iOS and Android devices, I’m pretty sure a lot of my contacts can also use it. So it’s only a matter of just telling them to use it to contact me while I’m out of the country.

The only other issue is for me to be able to find internet connection while I’m abroad. I’ve got my pocket WiFi with me and I’m just checking out which mobile 3G network in Germany is best to use for data.

And of course, there’s Facebook, Twitter and Email.

Note: This is where I’m telling you to install it now if you want to reach me in the next 3 weeks.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

23 Comments

Noel Bautista says:

13 years ago

I also installed viber recently on my android phone. It looks good. texting works great. Voice, not that much though although it all depends on both the caller/receiver’s wifi signal. But it looks very promising. I haven’t tried doing extensive voice tests yet but I think this would be a keeper.
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Remoquin says:

13 years ago

Wow! Happy trip Sir Yuga!
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thea says:

13 years ago

i already installed viber and its a great app. The connection is very clear for voice calls . :-)
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Eizan says:

13 years ago

Been using both Viber and WhatsApp since last year. I use Viber mainly for calling some friends overseas; Whatsapp for texting (since it supports a wider range of handsets like BB and even those running on Symbian).
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reader says:

13 years ago

What’s the difference of this app from skype? Gtalk?
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Augustus says:

13 years ago

Try also Click VoIP its same like viber but you get a Philippines number for free starting with 0819.
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benchmark says:

13 years ago

Ingats sir abe! Yep, ive been using viber since…and it was great! :) but it is dependent on internet.

TALK built in app in Android in my opinion is a counterpart of facetime in apple. :)
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Pepito says:

13 years ago

Indeed viber does sms and calls but its limited to android and iphones. So for sms i do go with whatsapp since iphones, android, blackberry and even nokia has it lol

and you can send files using whatsapp, you can even see who is online, when they was last online, you can even check to see if your message was recieved by them so you know who is ignoring you lmao!
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mj says:

13 years ago

i did use viber when i went on a 8 day solo backpacking trip in thailand, cambodia and malaysia to contact my family.
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Jay Ermitano says:

13 years ago

a little par with skype but leaves a nasty partial wakelock after use (same as with skype and facebook for android devices…drains battery as a background app)…ios version much better…
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JC says:

13 years ago

Peeps try the Vonage Mobile Apps much better compare to Viber.
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mel says:

13 years ago

yeah, viber rocks, sms on int’l contacts are fast and voice calls are pretty clear to be honest
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showbiz says:

13 years ago

Viber is really nice. I am reading a lot of good reviews about the it.
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arlie says:

13 years ago

yup! kudos to the viber creator. i was able to call & text my friends in other countries. only wifi is needed and it’s free.
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killerfillers says:

13 years ago

Been using viber ever since I got here in NYC. So far text is A-OK, calls are somewhat not that clear but I think it depends on the connection.
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killerfillers says:

13 years ago

I’ve been using Viber ever since i got here in NYC.So far the text is AOK but the voice seems to mess up which is dependent on the connection.
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Viber says:

13 years ago

Hi,

This is a member of the Viber Development Team!
Thanks for writing about Viber!:)
We are always delighted to hear about users’ experiences.

@Pepito- Viber for Nokia and Blackberry is currently under development! You will be able to use Viber with Nokia and Blackberry very soon!

@killerfillers- For more information regarding connection and audio issues please check: http://helpme.viber.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/25/0/iphone-viber-connection-issues Thanks! :)

Please feel free to let us know your thoughts, questions and comments, we’d be happy to hear from you.
Viber Team
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gitow says:

13 years ago

i use fring :)
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Abe Dumlao says:

13 years ago

Best Apps i have in my iPhones … add my Viber numbers 091752***** 092245*****
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kara says:

12 years ago

hi..

I installed this on my iphone 3g.. i can use it if i connect via wifi.. but when i am using 3g network.. cannot connect daw :(

i am a postpoid subscriber sa globe.. pashare naman how you use it sa iphone 3g niyo via globe internet

thanks.
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Willieam says:

12 years ago

hey dude..!! thnx for the discussion i really appreciate it but not only our support and comments made this efforts, your also own efforts helps you.. see you on boards dude..!

cheap bulk sms , bulk sms india
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billigfluge says:

5 years ago

this app very popolare now and help a lot to send deal to customer we use the for support when any travelers booking airline tickets and flight not flying at time
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