Score:5

Make phone calls from desktop computer

kp flag

I have a microphone and camera on my desktop system.

I would like to be able to make phone calls using the computer.

I use zoom, so it seems like it should be doable.

Is it possible using Ubuntu Mate?

us flag
Did you check out the answers in https://askubuntu.com/questions/1307526/is-there-a-way-to-answer-phone-calls-from-my-ubuntu-20?rq=1
fixit7 avatar
kp flag
Yes, Archisman Panigrahi. I did check them and did not find something that would work for me. @Archisman Panigrahi
ar flag
Now that @ArchismanPanigrahi has turned his comments to a full answer, you may accept his answer as correct and delete your answer.
Score:7
us flag

I use Google Voice: https://voice.google.com

Works great & easy sign up. This is for phone calls but you can also receive text etc.

fixit7 avatar
kp flag
@Thanks raddevus. I have bookmarked this page in case Google Duo is not quite what I need.
justhalf avatar
fr flag
@fixit7 for something closer to phone call, Google Voice would be it. Google Duo (now Meet) is basically Zoom.
ar flag
Getting Google voice involves getting a separate "mobile" number for it. The advantage is you can call any phone number (you may need to add money to make international calls). The downside is the person you call will see the Voice number in their callerID, and may not know it is you who is calling.
Score:3
us flag

You can use Google Duo (https://duo.google.com) from your web browser.

First you need to connect your phone number to email account with Google Duo using its mobile app (note: Recently the mobile phone app of Duo has been renamed to Meet).

You should be able to see all your contacts (assuming they are synced with the Google account) when you open Google Duo in the computer.

However, in this method, the recipient also needs to have google duo installed in their phone.

If you want to call phones which are not connected with google duo, you need to get a skype number and use Skype. But this is not a free service.

us flag
Or get Signal and use Signal. Or Whatsapp, or Zoom, or Teams, or Slack, or Discord, or… But none of those are actual phone calls. The other party must also have the app, you cannot call a fixed line for instance.
Score:1
in flag

If you're looking for something outside of the Google ecosystem, you may want to consult the discussion of options here. If/when TextMe gets Ubuntu support (can't tell if there's a web app), that looks like a great way to go. The other options cost at least a little.

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

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Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.