How To Make Unlimited International Phone Calls For Only $2.49 Per Month

My cell phone sucks! And it sucks, because it only works in the United States. It doesn’t have any fancy functions and besides the built in alarm clock and calculator, all it can really do is send and receive national phone calls.

In order to get a phone that works overseas I have to pay about $100 USD to get a new phone. Then I gotta upgrade my service and pay $80 more per month for the option of calling from overseas. And that doesn’t even include the actual cost of the call! Once I make a call from overseas, an additional fee will be tacked on to my bill for every minute I’m on the line.

I did the math and if I had signed up for such a service, those would be some very expensive phone calls. No thank you!

After discovering I was in cell phone hell, I quickly decided to spend my five months in Europe without a “handy” (what the German’s call a cell phone).

Instead, I signed up for a Skype subscription, which allows me to use my computer to call any landline or cell phone in the United States and Canada for just $2.49 USD per month. In addition, I can call European numbers for about 2 cents per minute.

For those who don’t know, Skype is a piece of free computer software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. The calls you make using the service to other Skype members are completely free-of-charge (as are calls to 800 numbers), and calls to landlines and mobile phones are made for a low per-minute charge (somewhere around $0.02 USD).

The service includes a number of other features as well, including instant messaging, file transfers, and video conferencing. In addition, for those who plan to make a lot of calls, there are a number of low cost subscriptions to choose from that will potentially lower your monthly phone bill by dramatic numbers.

For my trip to Europe, I chose a plan that would allow me to make an unlimited number of calls to landlines and cell phones in the United States and Canada (as this is where most of my business and personal calls end up going).

There was an option for an international calling plan that would allow me to call pretty much any number in the world for just $10 USD a month, but I knew that my calls to European numbers would be limited and wouldn’t justify the seven dollar difference in the pricing plans, so I stuck with the cheaper and more limited subscription.

So how do I make a call?

To make a call, I just turn on my computer and open up the Skype software. I type in the number I want to call (just like a regular phone) or I click on the name of the person I want to call (which I have previously programmed into Skype). Then, Skype calls that number, the person answers, and our conversation begins.

In order for this to work of course, you 1) have to be able to hear what the other person is saying and 2) need a microphone of some kind so you can talk back to the person you are communicating with.

In my case, I just listen to the caller through my laptop’s computer speakers (and sometimes through an external pair of headphones). Then, I talk back through my laptop’s built-in microphone. Most calls I make, however, I make with an external microphone, which I plug in to my laptop in order to increase the quality of my voice (highly recommended).

Best of all, the quality is really quite good. Most people I talk to have no idea that they are talking to someone half-way around the world.

While the service is cheap and easy to use, the biggest draw back is that you need an Internet connection in order to make a call. Finding Internet is usually not a problem in most big cities, but when traveling by bike, finding a web connection can be difficult, if not impossible.

In addition to needing Internet access, if you are not traveling with a laptop, you’ll need to find a computer as well. Skype has tried of offset the need for a computer by offering a number of cell phone-like devices, which takes away the need for a computer… but the necessity of having Internet access is still an issue.

That being said, the service is great for some situations and if it’s not right for your travels, it might be something to at least look into for your home. (Before leaving for Europe I canceled my home phone service and even after paying for the Skype subscription, I’m still saving close to $40 USD per month!)

I could go on and on about Skype, the different services they provide and exactly how to use them all, but I don’t think I need to do that. My goal here was to simply introduce you to a low-cost means of making international phone calls, no matter whether you are at home or traveling half-way around the world.

For more information on Skype and the various services they offer, visit: www.skype.com