Best Phone & Service Combo For My Needs?

[Bruce_Nicklin]

Saw the mention of Voicestick. Thanks for the kind words. I am the VP of Marketing for i2telecom the parent company of Voicestick.

I discovered this board a few weeks ago as I was trying to come up to speed with the needs of the international travler.

This board teaches me so much.

If I can return the favor to anyone about issue, question, or problem please feel free to get with me. Either an email bnicklin@i2telecom.com or just post something.

Again, thanks to all of you. I will get smart about your issues faster then I could have hoped for.

Bruce Nicklin

[TheMadBrewer]

I am another (happy) user of voicestick. I used to use VoipBuster but I found I couldn't use all the time before it expired. I bought the "stick" but haven't had a change to use it much as all the public PC's I run across since then haven't let one use a usb port.

I guess this is off topic, but what the hey

[lmernal]

I'm new to this site, so if this is not the right place for my question, please let me know, or repost it elsewhere. I've read through this and several other posts, and I am unclear about a few things, which perhaps I overlooked in my reading.
1) Callbackworld seems the cheapest way to go for international calls. If I understand correctly, for someone to call me from the US, they use the toll-free number and pin. If I call the US, I can use the callback feature. But, I will be in Portugal and France, both of which have toll free numbers. So, is it best to call those toll-free numbers to call the US? How about to call within Portugal or France, or between them?

2) SMS does not appear to be covered by any of the callbackworld options. Is that correct?

3) Is there any particular reason to use United Mobile with Callbackworld, as opposed to one of the other international cards? GeoSim appeared to have better rates for direct calls and SMS, with no setup charge, though perhaps a bigger initial outlay. Does CBW work w/ any of them?

4) Sometimes I think I'm obsessing endlessly over what will turn out to be maybe $100 out of a several thousand dollar vacation. But, it's entertainment!

Thank you for any help.

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by lmernal

I'm new to this site, so if this is not the right place for my question, please let me know, or repost it elsewhere. I've read through this and several other posts, and I am unclear about a few things, which perhaps I overlooked in my reading.
1) Callbackworld seems the cheapest way to go for international calls. If I understand correctly, for someone to call me from the US, they use the toll-free number and pin. If I call the US, I can use the callback feature. But, I will be in Portugal and France, both of which have toll free numbers. So, is it best to call those toll-free numbers to call the US? How about to call within Portugal or France, or between them?

2) SMS does not appear to be covered by any of the callbackworld options. Is that correct?

3) Is there any particular reason to use United Mobile with Callbackworld, as opposed to one of the other international cards? GeoSim appeared to have better rates for direct calls and SMS, with no setup charge, though perhaps a bigger initial outlay. Does CBW work w/ any of them?

4) Sometimes I think I'm obsessing endlessly over what will turn out to be maybe $100 out of a several thousand dollar vacation. But, it's entertainment!

Thank you for any help.

Suggest you review the Americans going to Europe thread under EUROPE. You might consider national cards for the 2 countries -- unless you have already invested in an international card.

Are you COMPELLED to use a cell phone? Land line calls are almost always less expensive.

Now, on to your questions....

I believe CBW also work swith 09, the Icelandic carrier and the rates are cheaper than the UM cards from Liechtenstein. 09 also has free inbound.

Yes, you care correct about giving out your PIN2DEST PIN and a US party calling you.

I don't think the toll free #s in FR and PT are cheaper FROM YOUR CELL PHONE. As long as you have free inbound, the UM rate is 14 cents and the the 09 rate is 12 cents (I believe), so WITH THE CELL, I believe that will be cheaper IF THAT IS ALL YOU USE.

CBW does not deal in SMS messages.

I would imagine CBW will work with any international card; you must have FREE INBOUND however to take advantage of the low rates. Do the Isle of Man cards have free inbound in FR and PT? I don't think so.

You might be obsessing..... How many minutes of outbound and inbound calls as well as SMS messages do you think you will use while in Europe and what will that cost you? Tally that up at US roaming rates and that is the MAX you would spend. If you don't already have some kind of international SIM, that will be an initial $50 investment or so PLUS any CBW calls and any top ups you need AND don't forget the regular calling cards. Compare.

It is always good to have a PLAN B. My US (ATT, MCI, etc) and German toll free calling cards DID NOT WORK AT ALL in the hotel we stayed in (total 10 nites).

Stan

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by snaimon

Now, on to your questions....

I believe CBW also work swith 09, the Icelandic carrier and the rates are cheaper than the UM cards from Liechtenstein. 09 also has free inbound.

The CBW rate from USA to "Iceland Celluar" (which is the numbering range of 09 SIMs) is 15 cents whereas to all Liechtenstein numbers (thus UM too) is 14 cents. 12 cents/min is offered in some tariff plan from a company (similar to CBW) named Enlinea. Anyway, the CBW rate is still a good deal, I think.

Originally Posted by lmernal

1) (...)If I call the US, I can use the callback feature. But, I will be in Portugal and France, both of which have toll free numbers. So, is it best to call those toll-free numbers to call the US?

As to rates for toll-free access numbers versus those applicable using callback, the following seems to be true (at least in Europe):
1) the cheapest is callback when using a landline;
2) next is the toll free access number;
3) the most expensive is callback when using a mobile phone.
Using toll free access numbers is convenient when you travelling, because you don't have to predefine to which numbers callback should go. Problems may occur because those access numbers may not be available, and, even if available, not free from payphones, mobile phones or hotel phones.

Originally Posted by lmernal

1) (...) How about to call within Portugal or France, or between them?

Of course, you can also make calls via CBW to the country you're in or to any other country, but rates are always higher than for calls from the same location to USA. It's because CBW is USA-based and all calls are (at least from the "pricing" point of view routed via USA).

Originally Posted by snaimon

I would imagine CBW will work with any international card; you must have FREE INBOUND however to take advantage of the low rates. Do the Isle of Man cards have free inbound in FR and PT? I don't think so.

AFAIR, most Manx cards has free inbound calls in the entire EU. However, I don't think it's a good idea to use Manx cards together with CBW since the CBW rate USA->UK Cellular is as much as 40.4 cents.

Originally Posted by snaimon

It is always good to have a PLAN B. My US (ATT, MCI, etc) and German toll free calling cards DID NOT WORK AT ALL in the hotel we stayed in (total 10 nites).

Why? No connection to the access numbers, no tone dialing or so?

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by Przemolog

QUOTE (snaimon @ Aug 27 2006, 02:01 AM)

It is always good to have a PLAN B. My US (ATT, MCI, etc) and German toll free calling cards DID NOT WORK AT ALL in the hotel we stayed in (total 10 nites).

Why? No connection to the access numbers, no tone dialing or so?

Most german hotels block 0800 access because they earn a fortune with ridduculous phone rates and want to prevent the use of calling cards.

Chris

[MATHA531]

Actually, all my calls on O9 via enlinea to the USA have been billed at 10? us per minute rounded of course in 6 second intervals.

[prion]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

Actually, all my calls on O9 via enlinea to the USA have been billed at 10? us per minute rounded of course in 6 second intervals.

yes with one minute minimum and then six seconds! Excellent rates!

[jhanlon]

To give Karen some actual data:

I just spent a week in Netherlands/Belgium/France with a UM SIM card and used Callbackworld for calls.

Total 109.1 minutes of calls in Europe and to the USA.
Total cost $15.21 for Callbackworld
Total cost $0 for UM

Average cost per minute = $0.14

Jim Hanlon

[Bossman]

That's very impressive! Majority of those minutes are probably incoming minutes which are not charged to you but the caller. For calling back to the USA, UM via CBW cannot be beat. I would have to think most of your outgoing calls were back to the USA. Since it will definitely cost a whole lot more to call anywhere else.

Having said that, hopefully the people that called you used a calling card with good rates.