SMOOTH TALKING

Living in a touristy area is quite expensive, but there is one thing that doesn’t have to be such as phone calls, now the caveat is where to get cheap international calls. If you are like myself who makes international calls on a regular basis, then I would want something optimal that does not require some arrangement. It costs next to nothing to send a VoIP ( Voice over Internet Protocol) call anywhere within the continental US, so most VoIP providers also offer unlimited calling within the US and Canada when you sign up for a basic package. The only reason these calls aren’t free is because you will be calling landlines or mobile phones that are hosted by different service providers, and may not be VoIP numbers.

Compare this to calling with a POTS (plain old telephone service) company where you have to pay for every type of calling: local, local toll, in-state long distance, out-of-state long distance, and international, each with their own rates and per minute charges. And you may not always be aware of what kind of call your call is before you dial, which could lead to some surprise charges when you get your bill. POTS is still pretty heavily dependent on the same old infrastructure that they have used for generations. The system has evolved and changed over the years, but much of the network has remained unchanged for many years. This reliance on the old infrastructure adds lots of cost to POTS telephony because service providers have to factor in the cost of upkeep for a large and aging system.

VoIP calls, on the other hand, can be transmitted to any IP location anywhere in the world entirely through an Internet connection.I was using skype before and it used to be an inexpensive service but recently they have increased their rates. I’ve also had drop outs with skype out to the more expensive countries. I thought it will be great to have a program which can monitor call cost and call disconnection because skype charges flag fall. The main difference between Skype and standard VoIP clients is that Skype operates on a peer-to-peer model, rather than the more usual client–server model (SIP). As I am searching for new alternatives for my dilemma, one solution a friend suggested is to use asterisk based PBX with SIP provider and one of the many prepaid applications. Asterisk even has skype connectivity, but then it’s an overkill for what I want to achieve.

I recently bought an android smartphone and came up with several new options for call app. Some are quite good like Viber, kakao, Line, Tango but it’s a user to user app, meaning both parties need to have the program installed to get connected. What I want is a straightforward, simple and dependable call app which I can use to call to VoIP and non VoIP numbers. Luckily, a friend invited me to share a new application which she is now using as a replacement for Skype. She told me she’s going to get an agent code from sharing the app with a friend. It goes like this, once the person registers through your invite, you will be emailed a code. All you have to do is just enter code to receive your promotion, you can do this in google play.

The good thing about this call app is it pretty much just gives you a flat rate per minute, and $1.50 in credit just for signing up as well as promotions where you can earn free credit for sharing with friends. It’s pretty new at the moment so I don’t think the promotion will last long.