Cheaper (international) calls via your smartphone
Using your mobile phone for making calls to or from other countries remains terribly expensive. And yet there’s a simple and cheap solution: Internet telephony or VoIP (Voice over IP). How does it work?
A smartphone, Wi-Fi and an app
If you have a smartphone equipped with Wi-Fi, chances are that you can make phone calls via the Internet (or VoIP). Just install a VoIP application on your mobile device, configure an account and start calling. This of course only works if you have a Wi-Fi connection available. Fortunately, this is the case in most hotels, airports, public places, holiday sites, conference rooms, etc.
Wi-Fi access is often free, but sometimes you have to pay. But even then, making VOIP calls remains advantageous: if you pay, for instance, £7.50 for one day of Wi-Fi access, you will start making a profit when you call for more than 20 minutes. The quality of the calls is no problem: if the Wi-Fi connection is reliable, no one will even notice you’re calling “via the Internet”.
Skype
The easiest way to use the Internet for your phone calls is probably Skype (http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/home), which offers mobile versions for various smartphone platforms such as iPhone, Nokia (Symbian) and Sony Ericsson. Once the free application has been installed (see http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/get-skype/on-your-mobile), you only need to log in using your Skype username and password. You can now call all your Skype contacts free of charge, or at 1.4p per minute to landlines (+ a connection fee of 3.3p per call).
Tip. If you don’t have a smartphone, Skype nevertheless allows you to phone via the Internet using Skype to Go (http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/features/allfeatures/skype-to-go-number). Your contacts are given a “local” number so that you don’t need to make an international call. Skype To Go is available in a limited number of countries so far, but fortunately they include the UK and the US.
Other VoIP services
You can also install an application on your smartphone which works together with a “real” VoIP provider. Some of them, such as Voipbuster (http://www.voipbuster.com) and Truphone (http://www.truphone.com), offer their own apps. You only need to create a username and password and buy call credit via your credit card. Vopium (http://www.vopium.com) is a good alternative which runs on more than 900 mobiles and smartphones.
Apps such as Acrobits Softphone (http://bit.ly/cvqhqO - £4.99) for iPhone or Sipdroid (http://www.sipdroid.org - free) for Android allow you to select your own VoIP provider. This is ideal if you’re already using VoIP at home. In this way, you can preserve your home number when using your smartphone, whilst on your mobile device you can receive calls to your home number.
Tip. These services charge 0.7p to 3p per minute for calls to landlines.
Using an ordinary mobile phone
If you have no smartphone, try Jajah (http://www.jajah.com). When you use your mobile to call a local number, Jajah will put you through. You can also surf to Jajah in your mobile browser, after which Jajah will call you back. This is especially profitable for making calls to other countries. Jajah charges 2 to 3p per minute.
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