If you are going to be phoning abroad it may be advisable to get a package with free international calls.
An alternative is to use international phone cards. EKit.com enables you to make low cost international calls at home and while you are away. The card also features a voicemail facility allowing family and friends to leave you voicemails completely free of charge. They simply dial a local freephone number, enter your account number and then they reach your personal voicemail box.
Override providers are another great way to save on international calls. These are companies that provide extra cheap calls via a normal home phone. You dial a UK number and then dial abroad in the same way as a phone-card. Instead of using your phone-card credit, the amount gets added to your bill. Usually all that is required is a £10 balance which is often the cost of the card itself.
Talking over the internet is completely free and becoming much more common as an alternative to landline phone-calls. The best known package is Skype. If both parties have the download the conversation is completely free. There are a number of competitively priced all inclusive packages, most on a monthly tariff, available from Skype. For example there are packages called Unlimited U.K., Unlimited Europe and Unlimited World available allowing users to make as many calls as they want for a fixed price.
If you prefer phoning from a real handset but want the low-cost calls available on the internet then JaJah may be perfect. All callers have to do is enter their phone number and the number they are dialling on the website. Your phone will ring and when you pick up, the number you are calling will begin to dial. It is completely free if both parties are signed up, and residing in specific countries. The account has to be kept active by being used at least once a fortnight and operates under a fair use policy (no more than 5 hours in a working week).
The market in this area has continued to grow and there are now a wide range of internet only phones available from as little as £10 – allowing you to make free phone calls on a “real” phone if both parties have a handset. Certain models even feature caller ID and ring in the same manner as traditional handsets. A percentage of the available handsets are linked to one communication package, such as Skype, but in most instances these can be used for other packages – check the advice from the manufacturer.
