[Seaside]

Hey guys.

I know there're lot of you live in US, and regulary call your friends and family outside the US. I need opinions from you.

**
My international calling company (AT&T) jacked up the international calling rate. The rate used to be a half of what they are charging now. I haven't noticed that till yesterday.

And, "You saved $2,335.66 over the last 3 months. savings are compared to standard rate."

WOW, did I save that much?
this sounds like an angel doing something good to me.
Do I appreciate it? Not at all.
they are saying their standard rate is $10/min. What is this? 1960's?

***

Ok, here's the deal.

I will keep landline, because that's the number my family abroad calls me, and for emergency use. I will keep Internet and cell phone too.
But, I don't appreciate the way long distance company is doing.

My family abroad are old people. No internet, no computer, only landline.

So, here's what I want to know.

1. Can I receive international call with my landline w/o AT&T plan?

2. What's the better way to make international call?

Thanks guys.

 

[bahamaman]

We call overseas every couple of days, and have been impressed by 10-10-987

Sounds cheesy, but it works. A thirty minute call to Germany is about $2.35.

I don't think receiving an international call depends upon having an AT&T international plan, but I could be wrong.

 

[craiglester]

X 2 for 10 10 987 we only make occasional calls to the UK, but don't want to pay a premium to the phone Co. Heck wedon't even have Long Distance on the landline.. thats what our cell is for.

 

[Seaside]

10 10 987? Thanks for the tip. I will look into that.

Sounds like I don't need AT&T plan to receive international call w/ my landline. Can someone confirm this please?

And, a friend of mine said something about skype. It's $10 for almost unlimited international call using internet. Is there any tax, fee or string attached on that? Can I reach to landline overseas with skype using my internet?

 

[RYCeT]

Where/Which country are you calling to?
We use viatalk.com for our home phone. It's a voip, it's quite cheap which its plan. Actually I prefer skype however the rate to the city I'm calling to is much higher in skype than viatalk, that's the reason we keep viatalk. Skype is very good for webcam or voicetalk pc to pc. Its international rate is not that bad either. Sound quality is allright.

Btw, skype has a plan which get you a US phone number so your folks can call you in that number and you can ditch your at&t.

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

I use 1019898 here in Ca. $.02 a minute to Australia. Sucks to have a GF 8000 miles away.

 

[socrates63]

If you're mostly calling one specific country, take a look into prepaid calling cards. Different cards offer different rates depending on the country you're calling. For local places for cards, shop around Latino grocerties or other ethnic groceries.

 

[Sony_R10]

why don't you ask the AT&T support to make sure it?
anyway, My family usually receive international call and get no charge for that.

 

[Grahame]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaside /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1. Can I receive international call with my landline w/o AT&T plan? 2. What's the better way to make international call? Thanks guys.

1. Yes
2. It depends -
you can use a 10-10 dial around number if you want to keep your current long distance provider (unlikely)

or you can select a new long distance provider with better international rates.

Which one makes sense for you depends upon your calling profile (where to, how long, how often) - look at your previous bills (itemized) to get an idea of your monthly averages - then you can use this info to compare different services.

Providers deliberately make it difficult to do an apples-to-apples comparison - a Confusopoly (Scott Adams, the author of Dilbert, defines a confusopoly as "a group of companies with similar products who intentionally confuse customers instead of competing on price". ) So look into things like monthly minimums, per second / per minute billing, call set up costs etc.

I ended up using 3U Telecom - Home of the one second billing**********(cheap long distance and low international phone rates) as it was best for my situation - land line calls to land line in the UK. Your mileage may vary.

 

[younglee200]

Or you can purchase online phonecards and have them shipped to your family abroad and they can call you using that.

From what I know, they're pretty cheap

 

[SundayDuffer]

younglee is right...Calling Cards...they have great rates..check out comfi.com

 

[SundayDuffer]

younglee is right...calling cards...great rates nowaday...comfi dot com..check it out.

 

[kansei]

I got Skype. You use your computer, calls to other Skype computers are free. Calls to landlines just about everywhere cost a few cents a minute. Others can call you on your existing landline. You also get to use a cool headset when making calls.

If that's not what you like, you can use "skype in" where you can call into the Skype network with a regular phone (or a cell phone) and connect to your speed dials. Pretty neat.

It costs me $3 a month for Skype Pro + time used. You have a lot of options for getting a #, calling just a'la carte or joining a plan, unlimited plans, etc...

I also have a cable phone but don't use the international plan because it's too expensive. I get charged 2 cents / minute to Europe where the cable company charges me 35 cents.