· QuikRing team
How calling a phone from your browser works
What happens between your microphone and someone's phone when you call from a web page: browser audio, encryption, the hand-off to the phone network, and what decides call quality.
A browser call has two halves. Your voice travels over the internet, encrypted, from the browser to a calling provider. There it is handed to the ordinary telephone network, which rings the other person's mobile or landline like any other call.
Half one: the browser
Every current browser includes WebRTC, a web standard for live audio and video. When you press Call, the page asks for your microphone once, the browser compresses your voice with the Opus codec, and sends it in small packets to the provider's media server.
WebRTC requires encryption, so this half of the call is always encrypted in transit. Nothing is installed: the dialer is a web page, and the audio engine is part of the browser itself.
Half two: the phone network
The provider's server converts the packets into a regular phone call and passes it to telephone carriers in the destination country. From that point it is the same network an ordinary call uses, which is why the person you call needs no app, no account and no data connection.
That leg is a normal phone call, so it is protected the way phone calls are, not end-to-end encrypted like an app-to-app call.
What decides the quality
Most audio problems come from the first half, on your side:
- Connection: a stable 100 kbps each way is plenty; drops and jitter matter more than raw speed.
- Wi-Fi: a congested network or a weak signal causes choppy audio more often than anything else. A cable or a stronger signal helps.
- Headset: wired or Bluetooth earphones stop the other person hearing their own echo.
- Other tabs: a large upload or a video stream on the same connection competes with the call.
What the person you call sees
An incoming call from a phone number. Calls go out from a shared number. After your first top-up you can verify your own mobile as caller ID, and on routes that support it the other person sees your number.
If the browser never asked for the microphone, or you blocked it, allowing microphone access fixes it without reinstalling anything. More on how QuikRing protects calls and accounts is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
Is a call from the browser encrypted?
The browser half is always encrypted, because WebRTC requires it. Once the call reaches the phone network it is an ordinary phone call, protected the way any phone call is.
How much internet speed does a browser call need?
About 100 kbps each way. Stability matters more than speed: a steady connection sounds better than a fast one that drops packets.
Does the person I call need an app or the internet?
No. Their phone rings as a normal call on the mobile or landline network.
Which browsers work?
Current versions of Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, on a computer or a phone.
Call any phone abroad from your browser.
No app or contract. Charged per started minute; sign up and your first minute is free to select destinations.