'''Telephones''' are a crucial part of modern living while at home, and they can be an excellent tool for keeping in touch and planning while traveling. This article covers some options for sending and receiving calls while on the road.

Call

In-room phones

Many hotels and motels charge set rates for all calls made from in-room telephones. The cost of these calls is generally much higher than an ordinary call made from a residential or business phone. There may also be other service fees for toll calls as many hotels have an automatic price required service where their telecommunications provider advises them of the cost of a toll call and the room number the call was made from. They may also have a telephone service charge for calls to toll-free numbers. Check the call rates before making a call; even reputable European hotels will end up charging upwards of $35 per minute for international service (no kidding!).

Pay phones

Take care when making calls from '''pay phones''' . Many pay phone services are provided by specialist providers who charge higher fees to cover the cost of equipment and payphone booth. There can be a substantial minimum fee which you do not notice if you pay by credit card. Check the rate card in the booth and, if you cannot find one, do not use the phone if you don't want to be ripped off.

In some countries you can make very cheap unlimited local calls.

You may find there are courtesy phones available at airports and similar places for making local calls for a taxi or similar traveller services. Look out for these as you may not need to use a pay phone.

Pre-paid phone cards

Many telephone service providers offer [http://bestratescall.com pre-paid phone cards] that can be used from pay phones or ordinary telephones. Access to these services is often through a toll-free telephone number that can be called from most phones without charge. (Be aware that some pay phones and hotel phones charge for toll-free calls.) These providers may be exploiting regulatory loopholes in telephone rates, so read the fine print to see when and how you can get the lowest rates - there may be particular times or days that the rates apply. The current lowest-cost prepaid cards are available at US warehouse clubs Costco and Sam's Club (co-branded with AT&T and MCI, respectively) at under 3 cents per domestic minute. These cards also feature excellent international rates.

US FCC regulations require pay phone providers be reimbursed for toll-free calls by the toll-free number provider, so additional minutes or a small surcharge may be deducted when using your card from a pay phone.

Now there are pin less phone cards from several vendors: you register one phone number (for example your cell phone number) and add funds to your number when balance is low.

Calling cards

Some telephone service providers offer a '''Calling Card''' option that can be used with an existing telephone account. In the past, telephone operator used to accept reverse or transferred charges calls, however, due to fraud and increasing costs, a ''calling card'' now replaces those services. These services sometimes also offer an international operator service in the caller's language. Charges appear on the caller's telephone account and may be a convenient way for business travellers to charge their telephone calls.

Receive

In-room phones

Hotels and motels usually do not charge for voice calls you receive. Check for any received telephone charges before giving out a hotel or motel telephone number for people to call you.

Usually there are charges for received faxes.

Voice mail

If you are going to be out of range of a telephone, but still want to receive calls, '''Voice mail''' may be a good option for you. Most telephone service providers offer a voice mail option, either as an add-on to an existing landline or mobile telephone or as a stand alone service. You can usually check your voice mail remotely - make sure to obtain the access number and login details from your voice mail provider before leaving home.

Mobile (Cell) phones

There are two main ways you can use a mobile (cell) phone while travelling overseas.

# Take your existing phone and SIM card, and roam onto a foreign network (Roaming) # Purchase a SIM card at your destination, and either use your own phone or purchase/rent one.

Roaming

Using your phone in places other than its "home area" is called '''roaming''' and the price varies depending on your provider and the what part of the world you're in. While roaming is convenient, charges can be very expensive, and are unlikely to be included in any plan you are on. You will be charged for receiving calls even if this is not the normal practice of your carrier in your country. Calls to your home country are international calls while roaming. A call made from the country you are roaming to will still be an international call to the person making the call and you will incur roaming charges for receiving it. Check with your home carrier to find out what the rates are beforehand, or you may unsuspectingly be making a USD $5 per minute phone call. Take care with voicemail and diversions. If your phone is on, you can incur roaming costs to receive a call that gets diverted to voicemail, and international costs to divert your call to your home voicemail, and international costs to retrieve the voicemail.

Consider using '''SMS''' (short messaging service) as a cheap alternative to making per-minute phone calls. These text messages can be sent between phones, with up to 160 characters per message. While SMS messages can be more expensive when overseas (from USD $0.30 to $1 each), they are cheaper than international calls and can be very useful for keeping costs down. Sometimes receiving them can be free.

There are two things to check, before roaming to another country.

# Is your phone the correct type and can it communicate on the frequencies required by the foreign network?

# Does your carrier have roaming agreements with the country you are visiting, and are you on a plan permitted to roam to another country?

Your phone

The most widely used cell phone standard in the world is GSM. If your phone is a GSM phone, it is likely to compatible with carriers in other countries. However, if your phone type is CDMA it is unlikely to roam.

  • Japan and South Korea have no 2G GSM coverage but have 3G coverage, and most modern GSM phones with 3G capability should be able to roam there.
  • Next you need need to check that your phone operates on the correct frequencies for your destination.

    GSM phones operate on several different frequencies.

  • GSM: Most of the world uses 900 MHz and 1800 MHz.
  • GSM: The United States and Canada, and most countries in Central and South America, use 1900 MHz and 850 MHz (sometimes mistakenly called 800 MHz).
  • 3G: Most of the world uses 2100 MHz.
  • 3G: Australia's Telstra has a network on 850 MHz with greater coverage outside of the major cities and towns.
  • 3G: The United States's AT&T network runs on 850/1900 MHz, and T-Mobile is launching one on 1700 MHz.
  • Many lower-end phones are "dual-band," in that they work only on the two frequency bands most commonly used in the country of their origin, and will not work at all in countries that use only the other two bands. Some phones are tri-band, which will cover quite a bit more of the world by adding one of the two foreign bands; the best phones for global usage are '''quad-band phones''' which will '''work on all GSM frequencies'''. The most widely used frequency is 900 MHz. A 900MHz phone (all early GSM phones were 900MHz only) will work in most countries (apart from U.S. or Canada) that have the GSM system.

    In summary, if you want a single phone that can be used in ''most places'' in the world with the ''greatest amount of flexibility'', then what you want is an '''unlocked quad-band GSM phone with 3G'''.

    Another advanced feature (depending on your carrier) is '''callback service''' which allows you to send a request to your home carrier to ring your phone and connect to someone in your home market, thereby keeping costs low. For example, Hong Kong carrier 3 allows its users to dial special code while internationally roaming which will connect to local Hong Kong numbers at a lower rate than direct dialing. This command typically looks like: "**130*<phonenum>#" and the caller waits for a call back, initiated from Hong Kong. Mainland China also has this service, except the code is "**139*86<areacode><phonenum>#. Other services require a phone call to a special number before the system will call you back. Most non-American mobile providers do not charge for incoming calls, and callback services take advantage of that to help keep your costs low. [http://www.kallback.com KallBack] is a well-known callback service provider.

  • [http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml GSM World] - details on US and international mobile roaming agreements
  • [http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/roaming/ Official EU roaming information page] - for EU related information (tariffs, hints)
  • Your carrier

    Your carrier must have an agreement with a carrier at your destination to allow you to roam. Check that an agreement is in place, and check what frequencies the roaming carrier uses against the capabilities of your phone.

    Check your plan allows international roaming. It may need to be enabled, which is must easier to accomplish before you leave home. Some pre-paid plans do not permit any form of international roaming, or may limit the networks that you can roam to.

    Pre-paid SIM Cards

    As an alternative to roaming, local '''pre-paid SIM cards''' are a godsend. The SIM "chip" in GSM phones can be swapped out effectively changing the carrier and phone number of the phone. Most countries sell prepaid SIM cards that you can buy for cash, quickly establishing a new phone number and credit for making calls. No account setup, credit card numbers or bank accounts. Passports or IDs are often necessary (to reduce use of phones by criminals). To add credit to these SIM cards, you can buy "top up" or "add value" cards from newsstands, telephone stores or convenience stores.

    Some countries even have a specific SIM card product, exclusively marketed to visitors.

    If you want to use your own phone, you have to check (see above) that the phone can be used at your destination, type and communication frequencies.

    You also need to ensure that it is '''unlocked?''' GSM phones have a SIM card inside of them which provides the "identity" for the phone, including its phone number and cell phone carrier. Some providers "lock" the phone to their service if you purchased the phone from them, which prevents you from switching to another carrier by replacing the SIM card. This is arguably good business sense from the provider's perspective.

    To install a new SIM card you will have to make sure your phone is "unlocked." Your provider may provide the unlock code after a certain time period or after paying a certain amount or otherwise for an unlocking fee. There are plenty of resources around the Internet that will help you unlock phones for free or for a small fee (about USD $5), or you may be able to find local phone-whizzes in your own hometown or at your destination that can do it for you on-the-spot for a price. Some brands of phones are easier to unlock than others. For instance, older Nokia phones can be unlocked with a simple code and you can do it yourself, while Motorola or Sony Ericcson phones require additional equipment and may require you to bring your phone to someone. Some (Japanese domestic market phones) may use a different SIM-based method that attaches to your SIM, allowing you to take it from phone to phone. Shop around: Unlocking services are generally cheaper and more easily available in Europe and Asia than in North America.

    An alternative is to just buy an unlocked phone in the first place. In some countries — for example China — phones are never locked. Various web sites and some shops in Western countries also sell unlocked phones, albeit usually at somewhat higher prices than the "deals" you can get by signing a contract for a service and taking a locked phone.

    Cheap low-end phones locked to a carrier at your destination are often obtainable.

    Charges vary by country/carrier, but per-minute costs for voice calls are often the best option for folks needing local calling service. The SIM card and phone number are usually valid for a month or two (sometimes up to 12 month), staying active as long as you "top up" the card with more credit. It is quite possible to save more than the cost of a local SIM card on your first call.

    For example: In Malaysia, with a prepaid SIM card from Maxis/Hotlink, incoming calls are free, while outgoing calls are charged in 30-second blocks of time at around US $0.15/minute for local calls, or US $0.70/minute for longer-distance calls across the country. By the end of 2005, the cost of prepaid SIM packs had dropped significantly. Internation rates are also low, thus getting a SIM pack makes sense for folks who will be staying at least a week, or expect to do lots of calling locally for business, or want to be reached by locals at local rates.

    Because of the trend for regularly upgrading mobile phones, many people will have an old phone that is perfectly functional. It is worth taking this as well as your current phone. This will allow you to keep your existing number active whilst travelling but you can take advantage of the reduced costs with a local SIM card. If someone calls on your normal home number call them back from the local SIM, it will be cheaper! You could pay as much as US $3.00/minute to receive a call on your home number whilst roaming, whereas, to call back using a local SIM may cost US $0.50/minute. Make sure the old phone has the required frequency band(s) as mentioned above.

    For people who travel through different countries a so called [http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html international card] may be an interesting alternative. Such SIM cards usually allow free or cheap incoming calls in a significant number of countries and offer relatively cheap outgoing calls via an automatic callback service. Their phone numbers are usually based in the UK or smaller European countries. There are many different ones available, so shop around. The cards sold at airports may not be the cheapest.

    Renting a phone

    You can often rent a local cell phone, often even at the airport on arrival. However, in many countries purchasing a cheap phone and a pre-paid SIM will be more economical even after only a week or so of rental. Compare the prices.

    Information by Country

    Please see the ''Contact'' section of the destination country article for information on communications specific to one country.

    United States and Canada

    Some things to keep in mind when using cellular phones in the US and Canada:
  • For a GSM phone to work in the US or Canada, it has to work on the 1900 MHz and/or 850 MHz GSM frequencies. Some locations provide service on both frequencies, others use one or the other.
  • The SIM card and sometimes the phone itself needs to be programmed for international roaming ("unlocked") and your carrier needs to arrange for your account to accept international billing. Most European accounts accept international billing.
  • Prepaid SIM cards are easy to find [http://www.telestial.com/sim_cards.php online] but expect to pay more. However most shops will only sell the phones bundled with a SIM card in which case you can expect to pay $59 for a Tracfone or Verizon prepaid phone. Often, stores and internet websites not run by the providers themselves may sell them unbundled, sometimes at a very good discount.
  • Refills for prepaid cards are generally available at any convenience shops/stores, gas stations and Canadian post offices.
  • Dialing 411 is a reliable method of obtaining phone numbers and addresses. Phone carriers typically charge about two dollars per 411 call, although directory assistance is also available for free via 1-800-Free411, which is ad-supported, and which provides business, government, and residential listings, as well as turn-by-turn driving directions to a listing.
  • * Another free 411 service is 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411), provided by Google. This number provides only business listings.
  • ** In addition for free services, there are specific services like #TAXI (#8294) that work on any cellphone in Canada and on most cellphones in the US for a cost of between $1.25 and $1.79. The advantage here is avoiding busy signals and #TAXI recommends the best first available cab company
  • North American cell phone providers typically charge for both incoming and outgoing minutes. However, there is no difference in cost when calling an American land line or cell phone.
  • Long Distance from a cell phone can often be very expensive, especially international calls. It is often prudent to buy a calling card with a local access number for making international calls from a cellular phone.
  • Some older phones need to select or allow a roaming change from a user menu. Bring your manual or make sure you know how to access the menus. An explanation and listing of who is on what system and frequency, including old systems is at [http://www.my-siemens.com/MySiemens/Files/Addon/an/us/se/worldphone.pdf Siemens].

    Satellite Telephones

    In remote locations, without cell phone coverage, a '''satellite phone''' may be your only option. This service can be expensive compared to other alternatives but is surprisingly affordable if one considers the technology involved. The service is frequently used by shipping, including pleasure craft, as well as expeditions who have remote data and voice needs. Your local telephone service provider should be able to give more information about connecting to this service. Roaming is possible with a GSM SIM card on the Thuraya network, using a Thuraya handset. Check the Thuraya web site [http://www.thuraya.com/] to see if they have an agreement with your home network. Some networks (for example Vodafone UK) charge a very high rate for incoming calls (__6/minute). If a lot of calls are to be made, buy a SIM card from the satellite phone provider. Calls on the Thuraya system cost from US $0.50 - $1.30/minute.

    For truly global walk-and-talk roaming you are going to need an Iridium 9505a handset. Unlike other satellite systems you can use Iridium everywhere so long as you have line-of-site with the sky. Iridium works on all land masses and oceans including both poles. For political reasons service is not offered in: Myanmar (formerly Burma), Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, North Sri Lanka (temporarily opened for disaster relief), and Syria. Expect to pay about $1.50 minute for outgoing calls though this can be as low as $.99/minute to call another Iridium phone. Iridium does not sell direct and only sells phones through [http://www.telestial.com/view_product.php?PRODUCT_ID=SPHN-IR95 dealers] who may also [http://www.telestial.com/rentals_SP01.php rent] units as well.

    Some other sites to investigate:

  • Iridium [http://www.iridium.com/] (worldwide)
  • Globalstar [http://www.globalstar.com/](worldwide)
  • ACeS [http://www.acesinternational.com/] (Asia Pacific)
  • Thuraya [http://www.thuraya.com/](Europe, Africa, Asia and Middle East)
  • Blue Cosmo [http://www.bluecosmo.com], website selling phones and services
  • Remember, though, that satellite phones may be illegal in Saudi Arabia.

    Get online

    Making phone calls over the internet is the cheapest option, it can even be free.

    Internet phones are based on the open [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol SIP] protocol and various proprietary protocols. SIP phones are implemented as a program running on a computer, an adaptor that lets you connect an ordinary PSTN phone to the internet or a phone that can make internet calls. Proprietary protocols are only implemented in software, i.e. you have to bring a computer or PDA when traveling.

    If your mobile has a WiFi radio built-in, it may be possible to make VoIP calls (depending on the software on your phone). Certain software (e.g. Fring) can be used to connect to existing VoIP protocols such as MSN and Skype, and allow you to instant message or make voice calls with other users (video calls are unsupported).

    If you travel with a laptop or PDA, you just need a network connection, a 5 dollar headset, some Voice over IP software, and an account with an IP->PSTN provider. Popular software SIP phones [http://www.xten.com/index.php?menu=products&smenu=download X-lite] for Mac and Windows and KPhone for Linux. Software for proprietary protocols are provided by internet phone companies.

    You can bring an SIP adaptor that will let a normal phone work with a wired network. It will not work on wireless networks unless you also bring an access point. The [http://www.grandstream.com/y-286.htm Handytone 286] is small and works with 110-240V.

    Wireless phones such as the [http://www.zyxel.com/product/P2000W.php Zyxel P2000W AKA WSIP] can make and receive calls from wireless networks. But it does not work on networks that expect users to accept a policy in a browser.

    In some countries, internet telephony can be blocked. This is usually done to protect the revenues of national phone companies. Until recently, Etisalat, the state-owned telecommunications provider of the United Arab Emirates allowed connections to Skype network, blocking only the company website in order to prevent users from adding credit to their accounts to make PSTN calls. The restrictions were later reinforced by blocking access to Skype network entirely. However, Skype is still accessible from some hotels that provide access through 'TheWayOut' wifi service.

    Internet phone companies

    Because calls are routed over the internet you do not need to use a phone company located where you live or where you travel. Often you have to separately buy a global number, that allow PSTN phones to call you. It does make a difference where the number is from for people calling you. Services such as [http://www.ipkall.com/ IPKall] allows you to have numbers in different parts of the world for free.

    SIP Phone companies

  • [http://www.usa.att.com/callvantage/index.jsp? AT&T CallVantage]
  • [http://www.freeworlddialup.com/ Free World Dialup]. Free, but you can only call other SIP phones.
  • [http://www.gizmoproject.com Gizmoproject] has 1 minute free calls with [http://www.sipphone.com SipPhone]. Prepaid minutes from $10. Global number from $40.
  • [http://www.iconnecthere.com IConnectHere]. Prepaid from $10.
  • [http://www.localphone.com/voip Localphone VoIP Services] Free Localphone?Localphone calls, cheap calls over PSTN.
  • [http://www.sipdiscount.com/en/index.html SipDiscount] Free 1 minute trial calls to many countries.
  • [http://www.voipbuster.com/en/index.html VoIP Buster] Free calls to European destinations with credit purchase.
  • [http://www.voipcheap.com/ VoipCheap] Like VoIP Buster, Stunt and Discount, VoipCheap is part of German company Betamax GmbH & Co.Kg. VoipCheap is the cheapest of them all. The Betamax products appear to be limited by IP address, so 'roaming' may not work well.
  • [http://www.voipdiscount.com/ VoipDiscount] Free calls many countries in the world, for buying 10 euro credit, valid for 3 months, free ''Voip in'' phone number in several European countries, country rates change without notice.
  • [http://www.voipstunt.com/ VoIP Stunt] Free calls to 33 countries around the world with credit purchase.
  • [http://www.vonage.com/ Vonage]
  • [http://voip.7aaa.com 7AAA VoIP Termination] VoIP termination in SIP
  • [http://www.skysiptel.com Broadband Phone] Cheap VoIP SIP Services
  • [http://www.luckytele.com Lucky Telecom Corp.] A-Z VoIP mobile termination and proper termination services
  • Non-SIP phone companies

  • [http://web.net2phone.com/consumer/voiceline/ Net2Phone]
  • [http://www.dialpad.com/products/broadbandphone.html Dialpad]
  • [http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/ Skype]. Free computer-to-computer calls, pay a fee for Skype-Out service to call anyone else, or pay a fee for Skype-In service to get a phone number where people can call your computer. Skype claim their system is secure, using strong encryption to protect your messages, but some experts have been scathingly skeptical about those claims.
  • Callback websites

    These websites call you on your homeline and the person you want to call. So you can use you normal phone.

  • [http://www.peterzahlt.de Peterzahlt.de] With this German website it is possible to make free calls from/to Germany for 10 minutes for non-members and 30 minutes for members
  • [http://www.jajah.com/ Jajah.com] Allows free calls between members of a lot of countries. A membership is free. See [http://www.jajah.com/info/rates/] for rates.
  • [http://www.skysiptel.com VoIP Internet Service] Callback free with registration.
  • Other internet services

    Some Internet phone companies (E.g. Musimi) will forward voicemail messages as email attachment so you can listen to them at internet cafes when traveling.

    [http://www.lonelyplanet.ekit.com/ Lonely planets Ekit] even allow people to leave messages on your voicemail for free using a toll-free number and you can then retrieve them from the Ekit home page or pay to listen to them from a phone.