problems with PSTN inbound number to French Landline

Techno' virgin alert ! (forgive my terminology, but I really haven't got a clue). Just moved to France to work but ADSL is not available in my area. I'm using an orange 'Livebox' which gives 100.00mbps connection speed which is fine for the access I need, the problem is phone communication. I need some way of collegues/clients in the u.k contacting me without having to dial my French Landline number (& pay the international charges). I have tried setting up the redirection service from this site and have been given an 0844 number which I've redirected to my landline. However, everytime anyone tries to contact me they get a message saying 'this number does not accept incoming calls'.I have also tried dialing out to an 0811 number to access a 'cheap international calls' website but I get a message saying I'm 'not authorised to dial this number'. Help ! Is it because my phone goes through orange's modem (Livebox)and what, if anything, can I do about it ?

Thanks

Keg.

Hi Daleside and welcome to Voipuser

Several ideas occur but first thing to try would probably be Skype to see if it gets through, its fairly resilient to slow connections and it may just work. (There may be issues with Orange blocking VOIP so this will be a good test)

If it does and you want a bit more flexibility then we could try XLite Softphone and set it to a high compression codec - give the first idea a go and let us know how you get on.

Skype is a free download from its .com address

Also, is the 0844 in question pointing directly to a french landline?

Is it being dialled from the UK, or are you trying to test by dialling it from France?

Dean

Thanks Gray & Dean, your replies are much appreciated. The 0844 was redirected to a French landline number and a friend from the u.k tried calling to test it. I did wonder if that could be the problem. The 'landline' number that I have differs from the normal French numbers (presumably because it comes in via the 'Livebox' router ?) as it starts with 09 as opposed to the usual 05 or 06. Perhaps by asking the 0844 number to redirect to a 'landline number' I'm giving it mis-information ?. Should I be telling it to divert to another kind of number ?. Failing that I'll try the Skype option.

Thanks again

Keg.

Did you find out if regular voip is actually blocked? Did you get anywhere with X-Lite or perhaps Gizmo soft phones? I looked at the provider website and a few other places and it seems that voip is probably blocked. If voip is really blocked, can you find another provider?