Communication is one of the most crucial of the human kind’s needs and requirements. People often refer to breathing, eating, and drinking water as the most prominent ones, but being able to interact with its peers is what gives life meaning for our species.
First, we invented languages so each community and location had a way to speak and be understood. Then came telegrams, notes, and the written word, which preceded the invention of the phone to make calls from incredible distances. The radio and the television represented fantastic developments in the field, too.
Internet: the king of the jungle
Internet, however, has been the most important invention of all. Our current society gravitates towards the World Wide Web, and numerous crucial things, such as transactions, news reading, online gaming, streaming, communications, business, blogging, marketing campaigns, social media, and more, are conducted online.
Internet and communications are a perfect combination. With the former’ seemingly endless resources and tools, the latter is performed smoothly through dozens of channels. Instant messaging apps are immensely popular, as are VoIP services.
VoIP services: what are they?
Imagine that you relocate to a different country for work reasons. You leave your friends and family behind, but that doesn’t mean that you stop chatting with them altogether: you do it on occasion, as there are numerous tools, apps, services, programs, and resources to do it.
Some of these apps and services are well-known to the average Internet and mobile phone user: WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype, Viber, Facebook Messenger, and more all exist with the intention of connecting people that may be as close to next to each other in the same room, or as far as thousands of miles away.
All you need to activate and use those services is a mobile device (sometimes, a desktop computer may work, too) and an Internet connection. Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services allow you to chat with your loved ones, send videos, pictures, files, and virtually anything you want.
Internet-enabled phone calls
These apps basically use the Internet to enable phone calls. It is also known as Internet Telephony. It is highly convenient, as you can make international conversations without having to pay enormous phone bills to your carrier: just by activating a Wi-Fi network, you can use these tools.
VoIP services represent an upgrade over the old phone because you don’t have to pay anything and you can even see the other person if you activate the video chat feature. However, a handful of countries are blocking these apps because various reasons: censorship, prioritizing national phone companies, and others.
- WhatsApp: One of the most famous and widespread VoIP services is WhatsApp. In fact, it is categorized as an instant messaging app, but since it has the option to make voice and video calls, it can also be called a VoIP feature. With it, you can write texts, send pictures and videos, organize groups, change your status and profile picture, configure your privacy settings, and much more.
- Facetime: It is a voice-over IP service destined to Apple products: Mac computers, iPod touch, iPads, and the powerful iPhone. It lets users of this operating service make and receive video calls while operating with Wi-Fi technology and 3G and 4G networks. It was created and introduced on June 2010 to be used by iPhone.
- Skype: Another useful VoIP service, Skype lets users have chats over written texts, voice, and even video. Originally created for desktop computers, the app now functions on several platforms, such as Symbian, Mac, Chrome, Linux, Android, Windows, Blackberry, and iOS. It is arguably the best and most widespread VoIP app in the market. It offers HD voice, screen sharing, file sharing, conference calls, and other excellent features.
- Viber: Sending messages and having text, voice, and video chats are all possible occurrences via the Viber service. It has HD quality connections and requires absolutely no registration or fees. It has the particularity of offering users the chance of “pasting” stickers in the conversations. Games, public chats, and calls to non-Viber users are possible and available, too.
Qatar and the VoIP ban
Without any previous warning and giving no explanations about what was behind the measure taken, Qatar authorities blocked Viber, WhatsApp calling, Skype, Facetime, and all VoIP services and apps recently.
Qatar is a wealthy, Islamic nation in the Middle East. It bases most of its economic ventures in oil and its products, providing more than enough resources for its more than 850,000 people. The VoIP services block occurred during the Eid weekend, which is a relevant Muslim holiday.
Since the government hasn’t said a word about the block, many people directed the blame to Internet service providers. But that doesn’t seem to be the case: Ooredoo, which is the biggest telecom company in the country, recently stated that the problem “is not with our Ooredoo Supernet.”
Whose fault is it?
At a later date, Qatari government announced that there are no laws prohibiting the use of VoIP technology, but it is, in fact, illegal for any person to provide telecommunications services to the public for a direct or indirect fee without a license issued by ictQATAR for that purpose.
While the whole background and scenario remains unclear, the fact is that if people in Qatar want to video chat or make a voice call, they will have to pay considerable fees for international conversations, because services and apps such as Viber, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Whatsapp, and Facetime, are currently blocked in the nation.
Use a VPN to avoid the VoIP ban in Qatar
However, don’t lose hope if you are one of those people! If you hire the services of a VPN provider, you won’t need to pay incredibly costly fees because you will be able to unblock WhatsApp calls, Facetime, Skype, Viber, and all VoIP services in Qatar.
A VPN, which means Virtual Private Network, is an online encryption service that hides people’s IP address and generated online content with the intention of dodging all external agents and prying eyes on the web.
A VPN can make you invisible for hackers, unauthorized cryptocurrency miners, annoying advertising messages, government surveillance, and even your regular ISP. Since you will be gaining a different IP address than your normal Qatari one, you will be able to unblock VoIP services in no time.
The VPN technology implements technologies or protocols to reroute all your information and traffic through privately-owned servers, hiding it all from your ISP. That is why, when you are connected to your VPN company and one of its servers, Qatari authorities won’t prevent you from calling your friends and family with a VoIP app.
The use of VPN in Qatar
Is VPN technology legal in Qatar? The answer is yes. While many Middle East countries block VPN brands, Qatar only prevents obscene or Islam-critical content. They leave the responsibility of managing what is allowed and what isn’t to ISPs.
Although there have been documented cases in which sites that don’t break the ethical code of Qatar have been blocked, the use of VPN in the nation is perfectly legal and you won’t get in trouble if you implement one… so far.
How to access VoIP services in Qatar
- Hire the services of a quality VPN provider. Choose one with numerous servers and countries and, especially, with reliable encryption, since the idea is to bypass government censorship of these services.
- Go to the VPN website.
- Sign up for the VPN service. You may need to provide personal information (usually your name, email address, country, and a payment method.)
- Download the VPN app or client in the device you will use to make voice or video calls.
- Install the client or app on the device.
- Launch the VPN app.
- Sign in with the username and password you created in the sign-up process.
- Connect to a server from a country different than Qatar, earning the ability to hide your real, Qatari IP address.
- Open WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, Facebook Messenger, Facetime or any other VoIP service. You should now be able to make calls with no hassle.
Best VPN to access VoIP services in Qatar: TorGuard
Of the dozens, even hundreds of VPN brands available in the market, the one that offers robust enough encryption to guarantee that your IP address won’t get leaked by the Qatari government is TorGuard.
It has AES 256-bit encryption and multi-protocol support: it implements the best measure to protect people’s online identity and data privacy, which is OpenVPN. On top of that, it allows five simultaneous connections, it has 3,000+ servers in 55 nations around the world, and it has an excellent live chat feature.
In conclusion, VoIP services are the bread and butter of today’s communication systems. They are free, they are easy to use, and they are full of tools, settings, and resources to connect you with your loved ones, no matter the distance.
However, several countries have been blocking these services as they represent a huge threat to national telecom companies. One of those nations is Qatar, although the reasons behind the ban are not yet clear.
Fortunately, VPN technology is available to help you unblock VoIP services in Qatar. Hiding your Qatar IP address is the best way to ensure that you can use these apps, and TorGuard is by far the best brand in the market.
