Best practice international GSM setup

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by HappyCamp

When I was reading things originally I could not figure out why you thought OneSimCard was so good. Not until it became clear that the VOIP provider was needed did it become clear. And it does seem like a very cool solution to do this.

I'd just like to mention that in the past whenever we have found some incredible bargain on calls to premium rate numbers, the deal has only lasted for a while and then either the rate went way up or it quit working. This happened with calls to UM and a number of other premium rate services. So, my advice to MBK is to keep a close watch on the system he has chosen, make sure it actually works and have a backup plan.

[MBK]

Originally Posted by HappyCamp

MBK, actually I appreciate your comments. It is interesting to learn about different options. I'll be honest and admit I likely will not use your technique of a +372 SIM card plus a VOIP provider. But reading about it, it does seem like you can get pretty cheap rates using it.

I think myself and other people see the steps to enable this and think it appears substantially more complicated than just purchasing a SIM card and using it. But I may get motivated to investigate it more thoroughly before my trip.

I do think though to state OneSimCard is better than XXXX, is a bit disingenious. Now saying that you think OneSimCard when used with a VOIP provider (e.g. hotvoip . com ) and then something like callcentric can be the most cost effective solution you know sounds correct. When I was reading things originally I could not figure out why you thought OneSimCard was so good. Not until it became clear that the VOIP provider was needed did it become clear. And it does seem like a very cool solution to do this.

Thanks again!

Yes, absolutely. We all have our different use cases or preferences and all the options offered in this thread are valid.

Keep in mind that the callback system I was referring to can be used with any phone. If you want you can make a trial callback call here (one of the betamax clones - warning this one is cheap to some destinations and expensive to some others - but its a good trial as all of them are using the same platform):

(registration is free, you don't have to pay anything for the trial).

http://www.voipdiscount.com/free_trial_call


Yes, it seems I wasn't clear enough in the beginning. My bad.

Thanks for the nice comment!

[MBK]

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

I'd just like to mention that in the past whenever we have found some incredible bargain on calls to premium rate numbers, the deal has only lasted for a while and then either the rate went way up or it quit working. This happened with calls to UM and a number of other premium rate services. So, my advice to MBK is to keep a close watch on the system he has chosen, make sure it actually works and have a backup plan.

Yes, you are right. I also had the issue with Jersey numbers suddenly switching from €0.02 to €0.11.

The many free and other low rates have not really changed in 7 years (they are always going down), so I am not worried about them. But regarding the +372 rates, the betamax clones seem to be stable for more than a year now, adding more and more clones at the lower rates as time passes.

But of course this can change. What will I do if this happens?

• I'll still keep the +372 as primary number (free incoming/forwarding in 154 countries)
• and only trigger the callback on the 2nd local/regional SIM in the dual SIM phone.

[MBK]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

airbaltic also offer free uk mobile number +4475207prefix with surcharge of only 0.15eur.per call!

I can't find any mention of this on the website. Are you sure this is still valid?

Originally Posted by MBK

Validity:

• Travelsim: no credit expiry, active 2 years after last recharge
• Airbaltic: no credit expiry, active 2 years after last recharge
• Onesimcard: credit expires if not recharged after 10 months, the SIM remains active for 2 years even if not recharged. Accepts incoming calls for free even with 0 credit.
• XXSIM: expires 12 months after last reload (credit and number is lost).

So, the worst regarding validity seems to be XXSIM.


There are several other differences (too many to list?). Example:

• I think XXSIM is the only one of the bunch to offer a 0800 toll free access number in Switzerland.
• onesimcard is the only one with US based support.
• email-to-SMS is onesimcard only (You can send SMS for free to a onsimcard by email at 372xxxx@sms.onesimcard.com)
• XXSIM offers the US PEN for free (the others charge a yearly fee, not sure if Travelsim and airbalic charge for it or not)
• Onesimcard offers 3 android/iphone apps (VOIP, etc...). Travelsim does too (they are the ones that make them in the 1st place). Not sure about airbaltic and XXSIM.
• Travelsim as the backend sets the new rates and new free incoming countries first. Onsimcard is the 2nd to get them right behind (usually on the same day as Travelsim as they announce them in advance). XXSIM and airbaltic are slower to activate new rates / free countires.
• Travelsim has worldwide WIFI support (charged from SIM credit)

Update:

• Airbaltic: free UK number +4475207prefix
• XXSIM: free US number (30 days only or no expiry?)
• Onesimcard: free US number 30 days only (can pay to keep the same number)
• Onesimcard: is the only one to offer local numbers in 35+ countries
• Travelsim & Onesimcard are the only ones to offer EU data packages (10Mb, 100MB, 200/250MB, 500MB) The travelsim packages seem to be a little cheaper.

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by MBK

I am paying for my calls, how much other people pay for their calls in not my concerns (friends/family I give my local dual-SIM number).

I think this is where many of us differ. We do care about how much it cost other people to get a hold of us.

The many options and variants you have described are a valid addition to the knowledge base here.
In fact, I can think of no other place on this planet where these would be more useful and likely to be used by some of the users than here.

Thank you also for your research on the +371 using group of providers.

[ckh]

Originally Posted by rfranzq

I think this is where many of us differ. We do care about how much it cost other people to get a hold of us.

Hello MBK,

I must agree with rfranzq on this aspect. Nevertheless I'm still very interested in xxsim. The main reason is 'best of both worlds'.

Great worldwide coverage and a normal US number for free, permanent.
So for 15 eurocent I'm done. Or even lower in combination with VOIP.

2 additions to the KB on travelsim providers:

- Why not directly at travelsim? They do not offer extra numbers
- Is the US number at xxsim permanent and free. Yes, you can even get more additional number for free such as germany and united kingdom.

At all readers:

I would like to connect my international sims to Google Voice. The issue (as decribed in the thread) is however that Google Voice goes to voicemail after 25 second and building up the connection international can sometimes take long.

So I have 2 options:
- Rebuild the whole Google Voice setup myself at Anveo (which offers US numbers with SMS and can forward sms to all numbers worldwide, for 2 dollars a month) - but then with voicemail picking up after 60 seconds.
- Have a VOIP provider "pick up" the line on time, provide a notification and then try to connect to multiple international sims - and thus bypassing voicemail.

Does anyone have experience with these kind of setups? Or suggestion for easier anternatives?

[MBK]

Originally Posted by rfranzq

I think this is where many of us differ. We do care about how much it cost other people to get a hold of us.

I think I now understand your problem. Your issue was at first difficult to grasp for me, this is why:

I have been living in parts of the world (including European countries), where mobile phone calls were charged ~$0.70 ten years ago, progressively dropping to ~$0.30 today.

We see it like this: (notwithstanding the fact that we see +372 as expensive, and still prefer our loved ones to be calling us for cheaper)

• when we take our car to go visit someone, we don't expect our host to pay for gas for us
• in the same way, when we take out phone to call someone we don't expect them to pay for the call for us (doing otherwise doesn't really make sense to us - other than being a courtesy, like the car point above)

But for you in the States:

1. Regulations have imposed the same rates for local and mobile calls. So as I understand, the called party is paying for the mobile call.
   
2. Furthermore, most US companies are handing out 0800 toll free numbers (whereas in our parts of the world, even the US companies' subsidiaries are less inclined to handing out 0800 numbers - they tend to be mostly offering 08xx local rate numbers - some even charge customers for high rate 08xx numbers, this makes us angry).

These 2 points seem to be the foundation of your habits of the receiving party paying for the call.

Knowing this, I can understand that people could get frustrated (even more so business contacts), having been used to calling the mobiles at landline rates forever.

So, you need a different option, of course.

Thanks for your feedback!

[MBK]

Originally Posted by ckh

Hello MBK,

I must agree with rfranzq on this aspect. Nevertheless I'm still very interested in xxsim. The main reason is 'best of both worlds'.

Great worldwide coverage and a normal US number for free, permanent.
So for 15 eurocent I'm done. Or even lower in combination with VOIP.

This is what I am thinking as well.

Originally Posted by ckh

2 additions to the KB on travelsim providers:

- Why not directly at travelsim? They do not offer extra numbers

Oh, right! (unfortunately I can't edit the comparison post anymore).

Originally Posted by ckh

- Is the US number at xxsim permanent and free. Yes, you can even get more additional number for free such as germany and united kingdom.

This is a great option, indeed!

Originally Posted by ckh

At all readers:

I would like to connect my international sims to Google Voice. The issue (as decribed in the thread) is however that Google Voice goes to voicemail after 25 second and building up the connection international can sometimes take long.

I am surprised you can't change this in the GV settings, but so be it.

Originally Posted by ckh

So I have 2 options:
- Rebuild the whole Google Voice setup myself at Anveo (which offers US numbers with SMS and can forward sms to all numbers worldwide, for 2 dollars a month) - but then with voicemail picking up after 60 seconds.

The Callcentric delay is also 60 seconds.

I have been looking at the SMS issue and have tested several providers. I haven't tested Anveo enough with SMS, but to me it seems to be the only one that might be able to do it properly. All the others I tried had issues delivering messages to certain countries.

Please report back with your findings.

Originally Posted by ckh

- Have a VOIP provider "pick up" the line on time, provide a notification and then try to connect to multiple international sims - and thus bypassing voicemail.

Anveo, Voip.ms and callcentric all can do this, and divert back to voicemail after everything else fails / doesn't pickup if you don't press a defined key to answer the call (i.ex: you hear :"Incoming call from number xxxxxxx, press 1 to take this call". If you don't press 1 it goes back to voicemail, or continues ringing other phones, as you wish).

The simplest and most convenient to use, while also being one of the top quality voip providers with highest reliability is callcentric (look for the "call treatments tab" which does what you want).

Callcentic offers less options and fine tuning than Anveo or Voip.ms, but I think it has the best interface as is easier to use for most users. (it doesn't handle SMS incoming though, but can send SMS alerts i.ex on new voicemail).

Summary: if GV is really limiting you at 25 seconds, and if you need incoming SMS forwarding, Anveo is your only reliable (?) and (relatively) simple option as far as I know.


Please come back to tell us how it works out.

[fsotirop]

Mbk do you have a web link of travelsim data packages?
Update:
Just found it.
Just tried and the 250mb package also work on my airbalticcard sim, greatt

Please note that the 4475207 free UK number that airbalticcard offer has only 0.15eur. per call surcharge!not per minute as onesimard pen numbers or xxsim incoming numbers

[MBK]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

Mbk do you have a web link of travelsim data packages?
Update:
Just found it.
The 250mb package Also work on my airbalticcard sim, great!


Please note that the 4475207 free UK number that airbalticcard offer has only 0.15eur. per call surcharge!not per minute as onesimard pen numbers or xxsim incoming numbers

Great! Thanks for the feedback.