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How to Make Cheap Phone Calls – From Landlines, Mobiles and using VoIP
Most people have a landline phone, a mobile phone (contract or pay-as-you-go) and maybe also use Skype to make calls via the internet… In all of these cases you can substantially cut your phone costs with a little knowledge and without changing any phone providers or telephone numbers… here’s how.
Cheap calls from a landline phone
Amazingly, in some cases it can be cheaper to use an over-ride telecom provider to make an international call from your landline phone than it is to phone using any other method including VoIP. For example, at the time of writing, it’s more expensive to call Australia using Skype (on pay-as-you-go) than if you call from a landline phone in the UK using Telediscount!
Telediscount is an example of a UK over-ride provider. To access cheap phone rates with over-ride providers you need to dial an access number, followed by the destination phone number. You will hear a message from the provider confirming that you’re connected to their network; this message usually confirms the cost of the call you’re about to make. You will pay the cost of a local call to your landline provider (such as BT in the UK) for the connection to the over-rider provider’s network. In most cases this still makes the call much cheaper than simply picking up your landline phone and dialing, and in many cases also cheaper than using voip.
Using an over-ride provider is ideal for those people without computers and therefore unable to access cheaper VoIP rates. In many cases the over-ride provider has a deal with the dominant telecom company and the cost of your call will be included in your standard telephone bill. If not, you will need to purchase credit first in order to make a call.
If there is no over-ride provider based in your country with competitive prices, you can still make cheap international calls from a landline phone. There are phone service providers that allow you to initiate a phone call online (such as Talkety), thereby accessing cheap VoIP rates. You need to enter both your own phone number and the destination number; the online telephone provider will then connect the two numbers and call your phone. When you pick up, you’re connected.
How to Make Cheap Mobile Calls
Many of the over-ride providers that offer cheap calls from landline phones also include the same service when dialling from a cell phone – the call rates aren’t quite as cheap, but are significantly cheaper than your mobile phone provider would charge.
One of the most flexible options for making cheap (and in some cases free) calls from your mobile phone is to download VoIP software to your mobile. Services such as Vopium offer just that, and once you’ve downloaded their software, you can dial directly from your mobile using VoIP rather than your mobile network provider’s service. The software is free to download and instantly gives you access to cheap international mobile phone calls.
As an incentive, many call services give you free minutes when you subscribe. I’ve recently taken advantage of 30 free minutes of call time for signing up with Vopium.
Cheap and Free Phone Calls with VoIP
Many people have internet access and use a VoIP provider such as Skype to make international calls, and indeed, if you have friends and family who also have a computer with internet access, there is no reason why you should be paying anything to call them using VoIP – you just need to be on the same VoIP network.
Skype is the definitive VoIP application and with millions of users it has to be one of the first choices for many people. However, the secret to making cheap phone calls, even with VoIP, is to know exactly what you’re paying per minute and if there are any hidden charges.
VoIP telecom companies compete over cheap call rates to different countries, and it’s possible to shop around and find a service that offers very cheap calls to the country that you need to call on a regular basis. Remember, it’s possible to run more than one VoIP application on your computer.
Some VoIP providers give free landline calls to certain countries. The catch is that you have to purchase credit in order to make the free calls. However, if you regularly call a destination where charges apply, then it’s worth signing up to take advantage of these cheap VoIP call rates and at the same time gaining free unlimited calls to landline phones in other countries.
VoipCheap offer free landline calls to several countries including the UK. Your credit will never expire, and VoipCheap offer very competitive call rates worldwide.
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