When Apple released OS X Yosemite in June 2014, I was really excited about all the new Continuity features. One of the ones that caught my attention quickly was the ability to make and receive phone calls on my Mac using my iPhone. When I'm at my computer and someone calls my iPhone, my computer (and iPad) ring alongside my iPhone. It gives me the flexibility of answering the call on any device, and turns my Mac into a speaker phone.
As much as I love using this feature, there is one problem... Apple didn't include a dialer app to go along with it! Sure, you can answer any incoming call, and you can even place calls to people who have an entry in your Contacts app, but if you need to dial a random number... forget it! Unless you have a third-party dialer app, and here's a recommendation for my favorite one of all.
As a quick refresher, let's run through how to place a call using Contacts. To place a call from your Contacts app, simply locate the person you want to call, and click the small icon that looks like a phone receiver to the right of the phone number, as shown below:
This will place a call to your contact using your iPhone's cell service (you can also place a FaceTime or FaceTime Audio call using those respective links).
As mentioned above, calling a random number (someone not in your Contacts app), is a little more difficult, since OS X Yosemite doesn't have a built-in dialer app. That's where DockPhone comes in to save the day.
DockPhone is a $0.99 app (available in the Mac App Store here) that mimics a phone dialer. It still uses your iPhone, so that requirement doesn't change. This simply allows you to dial any number you want.
Once you have installed and run the app for the first time, it will be available on your Dock as well as in your menu bar.
Now, just open the app and start dialing the number.
Bonus Feature
You'll also notice a small microphone to the left of the number entry area. Clicking this will enable voice dictation, which allows you to speak your number instead of typing.
