Whether you are living or simply visiting overseas, there is a high likelihood that you will be wanting to make calls overseas to back home. To reduce overseas phone bills, especially if you are staying in a hotel, buying an international calling card may be the best way to go. If you don't have a landline and use payphones a lot, a calling card (domestic or international) can greatly reduce the cost of placing calls, locally or internationally.
Benefits
If you are a business person or a person living overseas away from home, buying an international calling card can really help save money if you make a lot of calls overseas. It helps reduce and sometimes eliminate the surcharges that phone companies charge on long-distance calls.
Also, it helps you budget for your international calls. You prepay for the balance on the card, so you know exactly how much you will be spending, rather than being shocked with a massive phone bill at the end of the month. Calling cards are more private than a land line, too, because individual call details aren't monitored.
Use
In general, to start using your calling card you have to first dial an access number from whatever phone that you're using. This access number will usually be written on your card. It is typically a toll-free number, but there is a possibility that it is just a local number, as well.
Once you have dialed this number, you will have to enter the PIN that you were given at the time of purchasing the card. After entering the correct PIN, you will be connected to the carrier service that you bought the calling card from and will be able to make international calls using the balance on your card. After connecting to the carrier, dial like you normally would dial an international call--country code, area code and telephone number.
Calling Card Selection
All calling cards have different features, and the one that is best for you will depend on your calling behavior. Calling cards differ in their expiration date, rate per minute and connection fee. Therefore, you should consider how many calls you are likely to make and how long the calls you make will be on average before you choose the calling card to buy.
If you make many short calls, you will be after a calling card that has no connection fee and make up for it with a slightly higher rate per minute. This is because the flat rate connection fees can really stack up if you make many calls. On the other hand, if you only make a few long calls, you may decide to pay the connection fee in exchange for lower rates per minute. Whichever card you choose, be sure that you will be able to use up the balance before it expires or you will be wasting money.
Tags: calling card, access number, buying international, buying international calling, calling card, Calling cards
