If you are interested in calling Europe (long distance, unless you are already there), then there are ways to save money on this. There is a website found at www.strive4impact.com where you can find friendly advice. “Jonathan’s Advice Top 10” will give you some good tips to start with.
The first advice given here is how to make that international phone call in the first place. Jonathan advises dialing the international calling number (011 from the U.S.) first. Then you need the country code, followed by the city code, and then the phone number. Also stated here are further instructions. Reach the AT&T International Operator by dialing “00”. But if you need to reach a country with the country code of 808 or 809, do not dial 011, dial 1. It is advised here, though, to be aware that you can use an international long distance routing number or a calling card to save money. This is a helpful website. There is the “best rate calculator” that will help you out. Put in the number that you intend on calling and this calculator from strive4impact.com’s Cognigen site will discover for you the best rate. I put in a number and got a list of rates so I could compare. So remember, use “inexpensive international calling cards, plans, and a variety of dial around numbers like 1016868” when calling Europe. When you use the dial around plans to save, find the one that is best for the country you are intending to call.
Find good calling cards from different search engines. For calling with the dial around plan, go to one of the links and do a country search. Find out who offers the best rate for that country. Or you can use the calculator. Spend a few minutes to get your good rate for calling Europe. Some of the links here are Cogniworld long distance service, CogniDial, KallCent, AccuDial, PNG Communications and Global Direct.
If you want to use an international calling card when calling Europe, there are several. Jonathan, from this site recommends the company Noblecom for a good card that works consistently. Watch out for some international calling cards that might seem really cheap; they could be a scam.
If you look into Kall8 you can set up a 1-800 number to save money. Find deals this way. Here’s a good idea: e-mail people! It’s one good way to keep in touch without worrying about the phone bill. Students especially might appreciate this one. Drop your family or friends regular notes without going broke. There are free e-mail providers out there.
There is SMS (short message service or phone to phone instant messaging-cell phones). You could consider instant messaging for real time conversation via the Internet. There is more good advice on this page; the creator obviously went through a lot of trouble to gather all of this information. If you want more ideas or elaboration on the ones presented here, you should have a look at different long distance sites like www.ziva.com.
By Laura Hogg