Tips For Choosing a Cheap International Call Provider

There are a lot of reasons you might be looking to make a cheap international call. Why spend more money than you have to, right? Whether you expect to make a lot of calls to the same foreign country or just want an option for the occasional call you do make, you will find better options than those offered by your local telephone company. It just takes a bit of research to save a lot of money.

Bulk Rates

Some long distance companies offer discounted rates because they buy a lot of minutes in advance and that's how they extend discounts to their customers. There are other and often more effective options as well, such as VOIP.

VOIP Calling

Voice over IP (VOIP) is increasingly popular and the quality is better than ever. When VOIP was first looked at, a lot of people hated the tinny sound and the delays. But today, those who have VOIP don't just save money; they have service that is as good as or that's even better than traditional phone service. You can sign up for it for your regular phone line or use it when you need inexpensive international calls.

When searching for a cheap international call provider, here are some things to keep in mind:

• A service may or may not require pin numbers and calling cards. Look for something that's convenient for you
• Some services require subscription fees along with their calling rates. Shop around to look for the lowest option. You'll find options that don't charge you hidden fees on top of your calling rates
• Look for a service that offers multiple payment options. Maybe you don't have a credit card, for instance, and would prefer to buy international calling time with your PayPal account.
• Is it important for you to be able to make long distance calls via PayPhones? If so, be sure that this won't be a problem
• Some options include dialing a number from your PC so if you don't have a landline, you'll want to be sure that won't be a problem.
• Some services expire after a specific number of days. Make sure that if you are spending money to make international calls, you can find a service that won't expire quickly --- or better yet: that won't expire at all.

When searching for a provider to help you save money making a cheap international call, another area to investigate is whether or not there are minimums. You may only want $5 worth of calling time. Some services have much higher minimum orders so keep this in mind as well when investigating long distance providers.

If you want to make a cheap international call, Simple Call has plenty of features and options to make it easy and cost effective for you to call another country. You can even buy international minutes with your PayPal or Moneybookers account. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Jenkinson

VoIP - Who's the Best Provider?

It is a known fact that Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is the cheaper alternative to traditional phone lines. It costs less, and it is more versatile in such a way that it can communicate with both other VoIP users and even the traditional phone lines themselves. However, with so many Voice over Internet Protocol providers readily available, how can the average person determine which VoIP provider best suits his or her needs? How can the consumer choose between so many VoIP providers that offer more or less the same price range with the same services, maintenance cost, customer service, quality of phone calls and features?

First of all, there are many factors that have to be considered when you're looking for the best VoIP provider. One of these is how easy it is to sign-up for the services of the provider. This includes start-up, activation and shipping costs, as well as monthly fees, quality of phone calls, other features included in the package, quality of customer service, how easy it is to set it up, money back guarantees, and of course, termination fees or penalties.

Considering all of the factors stated above, here is a list of the top five Voice over Internet Protocol providers. In number five is VoIP.com. It is a website that offers great service at a great price. It has one of the easiest sign up pages, and it also has great enhanced telephone features included. The user is only charged $199 per year for unlimited local and long distance calls. Number four is Lingo, which is known as a very respectable service provider. They only charge $19.95 per month for unlimited local and long distance calls not only for the United States and Canada but for Europe as well. Although Lingo's start up package is slightly higher compared to others, it is safe to say that it will be worth it.

In number three is Vonage. Vonage has the most experience in the VoIP world, with over one million customers as of March 2005. Although it is a little more expensive than some other providers with a rate of $24.95 per month, the call quality offered by Vonage is as excellent as their customer service. Number two is Packet8, which offers the lowest monthly fee of only $19.95 per month. In number one is ViaTalk, the least expensive of all services to date. The monthly fee is only $16.58 per month, and the quality of calls is good, and the customer service is extraordinary.

Out of the five Voice over Internet Protocol providers, ViaTalk came out first because, as the factors show, it ranked first with how easy it is to sign-up. Aside from this, ViaTalk had the least start-up, activation, shipping and monthly costs. Furthermore, it had one of the least expensive yearly package of only $199 per year. It also had the best quality of phone calls, and the widest range of features, and all in all, the ViaTalk package was a great deal.

Tina L. Douglas is a well established author on the topic of voip service. For more advice and information on top voip service, just click on the link. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tina_L_Douglas

Tips For Choosing The Best Business VoIP Provider

Many companies offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. A business VoIP provider changes the analog audio signals coming from a phone call into digital data, which is then transferred via a computer. While various vendors offer these services for companies and organizations, they are not all the same. Some charge a la carte for each benefit, while others offer one low monthly fee. To compare business phone systems, it's important to understand the different features and expenses that go along with each one.

Phone Solutions That Give More But Cost Less

After doing research to compare business phone systems, chief executive offers should sign up with a business VoIP provider that only charges one low monthly fee. With that fee, the vendor should offer an all-inclusive package, like unlimited local and long distance calling, unlimited auto-attendant service, free business phone numbers, limitless voicemail transcriptions, and free bridges. This type of provider can be found, but it's vital to check all features and fees before signing up for any plan. Some vendors charge up to $25 or even $50 a month for local and long-distance calling, an extra charge for an auto-attendant, $2 to $5 per month for each number, a fee for each transcribed voicemail message, and another $10 to $40 per month for bridges.

In addition, many service providers only allow for up to three groups to be assigned to a company's system, such as the sales team, tech support, or secretaries. However, a vendor that includes unlimited grouping can be discovered and will make communicating between these groups much easier. Unlimited conferencing is another important benefit that should come with a plan at no extra cost. If an owner has to pay each time he needs to conference call either traveling team members or out-of-state clients, he or she will be extremely unhappy when the bill arrives at the end of the month. Most importantly, a supplier that doesn't require a company to sign a contract will stand out as a jewel among others that typically force clients to commit to at least a year or two.

Compare Business Phone Systems: Helpful Features To Look For

When trying to find the best business VoIP provider, managers should ensure that the services include toll free numbers for nationwide customers as well as a local number. Having local numbers in the cities that a company wants to increase their presence will boost credibility and a customer's trust.

Besides local and toll free numbers, a supplier that give each employee one number to be reached at, whether they are in the office or away, takes the hassle out of communicating. Instead of a receptionist having to take messages or tracking down the employee to receive an important call, the auto-attendant automatically calls that person when a caller pushes the corresponding number from the pre-recorded menu. With the option of forwarding that same number to a staff member's cell when they are traveling, they'll always be reachable, and customers will feel like they are top priority.

Unlimited Conferencing Increases Productivity

Another feature to look for in a vendor is conferencing without a limit or extra fees. With this benefit, employee productivity is sure to increase because staff can share information instantly. Decisions are made much faster, since everyone involved is all connected at once. Conferencing serves as an extremely helpful tool, especially for larger companies. In today's global world, individuals might be working together on a project, but located in several parts of the country or even world. Also, in cases of a staff member being away from the office to care for a sick child or parent, they don't have to worry about leaving their loved one to get to a crucial meeting on time. Saving money is probably the top advantage of boundless conferencing.

Instead of a chief executive officer having to pay an extortionate amount for 10 people to attend a meeting, including airfare, car rental, hotel, and food costs, those same 10 people could collaborate through a conference call at a huge savings. Along with helping employees stay in touch, conferencing also improves customer relations, since these services can also be used to better serve a client. A provider that offers limitless conferencing keeps a client from having to depend on email to get their questions answered. This feature lets the staff member go over all documents with the customer during the conference to make sure they understand all of the details.

Chris Harmen is a writer for Phonebooth, a leading business VoIP provider. She shares how tocompare business phone systems to get the best features for the lowest price. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_A._Harmen

Learning the Basics of How to Make a Conference Call

Don't know how to make a conference call? No worries - for the most part, conference calls are easy to work out. And once you've done it, it's almost muscle memory; you need not worry about botching the job the next time you have to set one up.

Different call providers might have different routines for logging into their conference service, but the procedure is essentially the same. Once you've selected a carrier, ask them directly for instructions. Your provider ought to be able to walk you through the process even if you don't have the first idea yet how to make a conference call.

There are so many conferencing providers out there -- how can you tell which ones are best? Well, pricing is one of the first criteria. Look for a provider in your area that offers cheap long distance connection rates. Sometimes, having to connect to individuals based in other parts of the world can be trickier or more expensive than initially assumed. The nearer the provider is to you, as the initiator of the call, it is assumed that the sharper your reception will be. Anticipate problems with reception if some members of the conference are on the go or too far away.

Have a good idea of the number of people who will be accessing the conference call. This will enable your provider to select the best package to suit your needs. Sometimes, for small-scale packages, only six people (including yourself as the service subscriber) will be able to log into a teleconference at the same time.

Many conference call providers start off by assigning you a toll-free number, open for use only at the conference time you specify. Then, you'll be given information such as passwords or security codes which you can distribute to the other conference participants; they can then use those codes to access the toll-free number at the proper time. As the initiator of the teleconference (sometimes known as the Host) you'll be assigned a separate login, and this login will empower you to moderate the conference via simple touch tone commands. You can choose to mute only certain participants, or mute the entire conference, control the volume, etc. Remember: this is a huge responsibility!

Thanks to modern technology, teleconferencing doesn't have to be very hard for those of us who have yet to learn how to make a conference call. Don't let the fancy tech terms intimidate you -- it's as easy as pressing 1, 2, then 3!

Multipartycall.com provides you with information on how to make a conference call and much more. Come take a look! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Mulholland