Cut the cost of international phone calls
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Communicating over the internet isn’t limited to sending emails, instant messages or updating your Facebook status – thanks to Voip (voice over internet protocol) it’s possible to make free phone calls via your computer all over the world.
Several companies offer Voip services, but the best known is Skype – it has over 100 million accounts worldwide.
All you need to use Skype is an internet connection and access to a microphone and headphones – then, simply download free Skype software and you’re ready to go.
If the person you are calling also has Skype, then your call won’t cost either of you a penny. You can speak as long as you like, whenever you like, wherever you like.
It’s also possible to call landlines and mobiles using Skype – although this will cost you. You can either do this by buying a monthly subscription, which includes unlimited calls to landlines in selected countries and regions, or by pay-as-you-go credit.
However, Skype might not be the cheapest way to call landlines and mobiles so it’s worth comparing the costs with your landline and mobile first. You should also compare costs to other Voip providers, such as Sipgate and Yahoo.
Bear in mind that you can’t call the emergency services over Voip.
Other ways to call abroad
Voip is particularly popular with people who want to call friends or family living overseas and (as long as both parties have access to the internet) it’s completely free.
However, there are other ways you can call abroad. For example, website Jajah.com allows you to call phones in Europe and Africa either online (for free) or from your phone at cheap rates.
Rebtel.com, meanwhile, offers international calls at local rates. You sign up for a free account with your phone number, then enter the number you wish to call. You’ll receive a unique local number back, which is charged at local rate.
You could also use the services of what are known as simply dial providers. In short, these temporarily override your landline provider and charge you at a reduced rate.
While these can cut the cost of calling abroad, some providers require you to set up an account and most start charging you from the minute the phone connects – rather than when the recipient of your call picks up.
Examples include Simply-dial.co.uk, Telesavers and 18185.co.uk. If you’ve used this type of service, share your views and tips in the comment boxes below.
Mobile phone calls
When you're travelling overseas, then you'll have to pay to receive and make calls on your mobile phone. This is because you're UK network has to pay the foreign network to put calls through - this cost is passed onto you rather than the person dialling or picking up in the UK.
Pay-as-you-go mobile phones tend to cost more than calls made through a mobile phone contract. You should always try to find out how much it will cost to call home before you head off overseas - it may surprise you. Calls, texts and mobile phone internet access made while abroad are rarely included in your free minutes.
Moneysupermarket.com offers a table of the cost of calls from different networks, so it's worth looking at this first to see how the cost compares.
While new regulations on roaming charges mean mobile phone providers have had to reduce the cost of oversea calls, it can still be pricey.
If you are calling home while abroad then there are a number of ways you can cut the cost.
Mobile phone users should remember that it costs more to make calls than to receive them. It’s also free to receive texts, but not to send them. Within the EU, the cost of sending a text can be no more than 11p per text sent.
A trap that many people fall into is to leave their voicemail on while they are abroad – this is an expensive mistake as most networks will charge you for receiving the call, whether your phone is on or off.
Either switch off your voicemail or change your message asking people to text instead or only leave a short message if absolutely necessary.
You could make cheaper oversea calls while abroad by going online. But if this isn’t possible, then there are other options:
* Buy a local SIM card – compare prices on websites such as UK2Abroad.com, 0044.co.uk and Sim4travel.com
* Buy an international SIM card or ask your provider if it can offer you a mobile roaming add-on bundle
* Remember, in order to use a different SIM card, your phone must be unlocked. You will also need to pass on the new number to people who might wish to get in touch
* Use Vyke Callback – this claims to cut the cost of international calls by up to 75%
* Purchase a phonecard for calling home – this is usually cheaper than using your mobile
* Use a payphone - it may seem a little old-fashioned, but it might well be cheaper
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You can keep an account with Alpha telecom and call overseas cheep they give you a pin nomber so you can dial cheep .
18185 are good,
BUT,
there's a connection charge every time (5p I think?)
AND
Calls on a Virgin line are still +1p per minute (0p per minute on my BT line)
I have used www.18866.com for several years, low rates especially calling abroad, very reliable.
I use vodafone and you pay £20 a month whenever you want to use the service and for that month your minutes and text allowance can be used anywhere in europe. no charge to receive text and messages either. brillant service.
Am having to switch from Tiscali to TalkTalk and have heard you can't use override providers with TalkTalk. Anyone know if this is true? Any ideas for cheapest way to call Swiss landlines?
I use 18185 and have done for a couple of years now, yes they charge a 4p connection fee or 5p if calling in the UK but who doesnt? I think all phone providers have this somewhere in their small print. I call my brother in Canada for 0.5p a minute which is superb value for money. If you are on BT for line rental you can use 18185 to make your calls during the day and it's 0p per minute, other line rental users (like me) can still use 18185 but I pay 1p per minute for daytime calls but it's still saves me on what Talktalk would charge. 18185 are much cheaper to call mobiles and 0844 0870 numbers not that I call these numbers if I can find an alternative on the website Say no to 0870, give it a try and save yourselves a bundle.
www.18185.co.uk
www.saynoto0870.com
Hi Rob Crawley,
If you call abroad check out www.18185.co.uk as you might find them cheaper. I just did a check on your recommendation as I call my brother in Canada for half a pence per minute on 18185, 18866 is 2p so you may be paying more than you have to if you do call abroad.
In addition to the UK2Abroad SIM for receiveving and making cheap calls when abroad, I'd recommend their Call2Abroad Euro service also - http://www.call2abroad.com/euro
It's a bit like a phone card - you just dial an access number from any local phone - but it works from 10 countries for calls to anywhere - so great for travellers - and is often cheaper than services like SkypeOut. I use it when travelling across Germany, Spain and Italy for cheap calls home.
A few years ago I used to ring my family in Oz around once a week, I was with BT at the time. A friend explained to me about Telediscount and I gave them a go, just once, to have a comparison on the same bill.
My half hour with BT came to £5.32 whereas my total Telediscount bill came to just £0.30.
Since then I have changed my telephony provider but still regularly use Telediscount. I particularly appreciate that there are no hidden charges, no sign-up fee, no account to join...nothing. You have to check their website for the code to dial for the counrty you want but these days the code seems to change less. For Oz and the USA (family in both) it hasn't changed for over a year.
One tip though...dial the number you want reasonably briskly. If you are careful and cautious it may well not be recognised. Don't be put off, just dial again - only quicker!
The cost of your call shows up on your telephone provider's invoice as a special number but the rate - for me with Virginmedia - has always been nothing other than a local call. How on earth can anyone beat this for either service or value?
Telediscount don't seem to advertise. I think they rely upon word of mouth to expand their business and I tell everyone I come across who has family / friends abroad. To date I have made a lot of people very happy and am delighted to tell more of you via this board.
Here's the link for you:
http://www.telediscount.co.uk/index2.php
Whizz
Skype is not the best way, its just one company and found it to be the most expensive..
use www.loiol.co.uk to check the best rates to call abroad, the site is updated regularly and you well surprised with the rates...
Has anyone tried Planet Talk? It sounds promising but I haven’t tried it yet. We have a son in Ireland with only a mobile for contact, any suggestions please? We are with Talk Talk. It’s cheaper than BT to phone a mobile in Ireland, but still adds quite a lot to our phone bills.
Has anyone tried Planet Talk? It sounds promising but I haven’t tried it yet. We have a son in Ireland with only a mobile for contact, any suggestions please? We are with Talk Talk. It’s cheaper than BT to phone a mobile in Ireland, but still adds quite a lot to our phone bills.
A few doors down from where I work is a company called Localphone.com that set up our office VoIP system. They also do a service to call from your mobile like Rebtel (who I used to use, but have siwtched over to Localphone as they’re a lot cheaper to the couple of destinations I call).
I tried one of the companies that advertises cheap calls abroad from uk what a mistake I made. The number they give you to call first turned out to be a premium number and I ended up with the biggest bill I ever had, be careful.
You can also get a Skype To Go number - this gives you a local rate number to call (ie: 0208...) on your mobile, and it puts you through to your Skype account. You can choose a list of speed-dial contacts and the connection is usually really good. You have to have a positive balance on your Skype account, but it only costs 1p a minute (to call North America) compared to calling directly off your mobile which is far more (o2 used to charge me £1 a minute to dial directly from England to Canada - I only made that mistake once!).
I always use 18185 for daytime calls, whether geographical or non-geographical, as they are much cheaper than anyone else. As regards international calls, calling the United States, as I do sometimes, only costs 0.5p per minute, which is very cheap indeed. However, I have had problems when calling both Gibraltar and Malta. Even though these countries are listed on 18185's website and state the charge per minute, when you try to ring the appropriate number, you are told that the service is unavailable at that time and are given another number to call, which is far more expensive. I had to do this in July when I rang a Malta number and that cost me 15ppm (via another company), as opposed to a supposedly 8ppm with 18185. The year before, ringing Gibraltar was supposed to cost me 3ppm, but again it ended up as 15ppm. They really need to remove these countries from their website, or at least state that a 15ppm charge will apply.
great!
You can try FlyNumber as well for
Virtual numbers all over the world. I use it for family in the motherland. They dont have much money so its easier for them to call me local.
I use Sky Talk. For £5 a month I can get unlimited 24/7 (up to 1 hour at a time) local/national and internation calls to up to 20 countries. It is excellent value and can use my landline to dial direct. Just make sure you hang up and redial before your hour is up.
Try www.budgetcom.co.uk - they use 0844 numbers mainly but I phoned Australia recently for 1h 15m, the cost being 51p which included BT's connection charge of 12.5p. Check TalkTalk's tariff list for 0844 numbers - I think Switzerland costs 1p per minute + connection fee.