New App Offers International Phone Calls For Free

DENVER (CBS4) - Those who have friends or family in Mexico or Montreal or some other distant place who say they don't call enough should try a new app that lets them reach out for free.

4 On Your Side Money Saver Suzanne McCarroll has been trying it out by calling all over the world.

Alice Desmoulins spent the bulk of her childhood in France and most of her relatives still in other countries. She was spending a small fortune to keep in touch with them until she found Viber, a free app.

"You click on the Viber and it will bring you to your contacts," Desmoulins said.

Calling and texting are free.

"I started Viber as a user; as somebody who wanted to make phone calls and communicate," Viber CEO Talmon Marco told McCarroll.

McCarroll talked with Marco by computer. He's based in Israel.

"We launched Viber about a year and a half ago," he said.

It now has more than 100 million users. McCarroll decided to join up and from a CBS4 News car she called her daughter Kelley and her roommate, Kaylie Hodge, who are studying in Italy.

"We just made ourselves a nice Italian meal," the girls said.

McCarroll was amazed at how great the connection was.

Viber assured McCarroll that users' information is kept private.

"I haven't gotten one advertisement or soliciting," Desmoulins said.

It's a cheap and easy app and a great way to stay connected.

Viber says in the future it will offer more elaborate apps that there will be a charge for, but calls and texts will remain free of charge.

UPDATE

In response to viewers' inquiries about whether Viber is available to soldiers serving in the Middle East, here is Viber's response and suggested set of instructions for use:

Generally speaking, Viber works everywhere there is 3G or WiFi. Specifically in Afghanistan, all operators seem to work decently with Viber.

In order to activate their Viber account, the users will need to receive an activation code to their US number via SMS.

Deployed soldiers, wishing to activate via their US number, should insert their US SIM card when activating (if they are on GSM) in order to receive the activation SMS. If they are on Verizon/Sprint and cannot roam on thr Afghan network they should have someone in the US (if their phone is in the US) turn on their phone and let them know what is the Viber activation they received via SMS.

LINK: Viber