Calls to India from the UK can be so painfully expensive, because of expensive international call charges. But what if you've got friends and family in India? Or if part of your business is based in India? If that's the case, perhaps you don't talk to them as often as you'd like to. You'll be glad to know, then, that new VoIP technology means that everyone can now make cheap calls to India.

Got loved ones or friends in India? Want to stay in touch with them? You probably know how lovely it is to have a long talk with someone you haven't heard from for a while. Email and letters are great, but they're nowhere near as satisfying as a phone call. Only a call can capture someone's turns of phrase, their laughter, or the nuances of their mood. And it's often only during a phone call that people begin to relax and start to talk – properly talk. In other words, phone calls help maintain relationships in a way that letters and emails simply can't compete with.

But people are often reluctant to pick up the phone, especially if it's just for a ‘chat'. They know from experience how expensive it can be.

There's no greater conversation killer than knowing that every minute is racking up your phone bill, or draining the credit from your international calling card. So people will sometimes go for days, weeks or even months without talking to their friends and relatives in India. Even when they do call, they clock-watch the whole time, unable to relax and enjoy the conversation, because they're always conscious of how long the call is taking and how much it is going to cost.

The cost of calls is a serious problem for the business sector, too. Businesses with hubs based in India simply can't afford to cut corners when it comes to communicating. With both India-based businesses and families with relatives in India, demand for cheap calls to India has soared.

Luckily, there is now a way to make calls to India that are either ridiculously cheap – or even completely free. Thanks to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, you can now make cheap calls to India and other countries that, if not free, are so cheap that you'll never again worry about your phone bill.

So what is VoIP, and how does it work? Basically, VoIP uses specialist software to use broadband to enable you to make calls, not a traditional phone line. It turns your voice into a digital signal that can travel across the internet, then back into a voice at the other end.

Here's how you could use VoIP to make cheap calls to friends, family and business contacts in India.

Computer to Computer

This enables you to make free international calls to India by using VoIP software. The software, basically, turns your computer into a telephone. You and the person you want to call in India, both need a computer, a broadband connection, and a headset/ microphone/ speaker (your computer or laptop may have these built in). And you must both be signed up to an appropriate VoIP providers (such as Skype or MSN).

This system suits many people, particularly as the calls to India are free. But it does mean that you are both need to have access to a computer. You both need to make sure your providers will be compatible. The system is also totally separate from your traditional landline service, so you can't just pick up the phone and dial any number in India you need/want to – it has to be PC to PC. You can use this to make calls to other landlines or mobiles in India, but if you do, you will be charged for the calls by the minute. And the call quality may not be up the standard you're used to.

The traditional way – Telephone to Telephone

Perhaps you'd like more flexibility – you want to be able to use your home telephone as normal, but still benefit from the cheap calls that VoIP offers. You'd rather not be tied to your PC, or be obliged to use headsets. If so, there are VoIP providers who will let you do this. With this method, you sign up to a paid call plan with a VoIP provider. The VoIP provider will send you an adapter that allows you to plug the base of your normal handset into your computer or router. This uses VoIP technology to make calls to India that are, in practice, ‘phone-to-phone', but through broadband, not through a traditional landline.

What you do in this case, once you've signed up, is just pick up your handset as before, dial the international number, and the other person's phone rings in India. They will probably not even know you're using VoIP, the call quality's that good. And they don't need to have anything like broadband or even a computer themselves.

Just think what it would mean to know that you can enjoy relaxed conversations to India, at any time of the day or night. You don't need to wait for a reason to call – you can simply call and chat about family news. After all, it's contact like this that builds relationships and bonds families and friends together.

And if you're a UK-based business with some of your operations out-sourced to India, you can easily keep tabs on work events and colleague news at that end of the business.

With so many people needing to stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues in India, but with the global economy hitting everyone's budgets, VoIP couldn't have come at a better time.