TECH BYTE: How to Make a Call Without Cell Service

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Christmas day explosion in downtown Nashville caused many to lose their cell phone service for days.

Most of us can’t live without our cell phones, so if a cell network is down, it feels like the world is ending.

If you’re off the grid, you can take advantage of plenty of smartphone apps and other ways to still make phone calls.

If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer, you just need a wireless Internet connection to make a FaceTime call to another Apple user. You can do it over video, or even just make it a voice call if you don’t feel like video chatting.

iMessages work over WiFi too if you just want to write a message to someone instead of calling them.

As for apps not already included with your Apple product, you have so many to choose from to make a voice call, or even video chat.

You’re probably already using Skype or Zoom for meetings while working from home.

Facebook Messenger even lets you do voice calls. You can also video chat with anyone on Instagram – even if they don’t have the app.

Other popular ones that are good to have are Google Hangouts, and WhatsApp.

With Hangouts, you can do a group chat with up to 150 people.

Use it to call any phone number in the world, and calls to other Hangouts users are free.

WhatsApp is also great for reaching someone internationally if needed. There’s no extra charge to message them from around the globe.

If you don’t want to download anymore apps, you could always just use the WiFi calling feature on your phone.

Turn it on or off in your phone’s settings. Just make sure it’s set up with your network, and can actually work on your device.

If you’re traveling, WiFi calling does work in most international countries.

If you’ve had a smartphone for awhile, you more than likely have most of these apps already.

And the good news is if you lose cell service, most places have free WiFi if you get in a bind.