*boggle*

[scarlatti]

I am shocked -- shocked -- at how much it costs to dial England direct.

I'd been using OneSuite, a prepaid phone scheme, to call dougs, and it was working okay. The minutes drained away much faster when calling his mobile than his land line, but okay. The connection wasn't always the best quality...but now I'm never going to complain about that again

Comments

[frostfox]

Can't you get Skype?

FF, who has no idea what tech is needed for Skype but is sure fandom in general will know.

[scarlatti]

Thanks! I'm sure Douglas can help me get teched-up for Skype; I think I just need a microphone. Will do further checking. :)

[frostfox]

Whatever you spend on the tech, you will recoup from your phone bills.

Have to be able to talk to your sweetie!

FF

[timill]

I find a USB phone handset useful for Skype. Mine cost £30 from firebox.com, but Marcia got a simpler one off Ebay for a tenner.

No doubt similar deals are available in the USA.

[filkerdave]

Skype. Yahoo messenger. Pennytalk.

Heck, get T-Mobile, it's only 29 cents a minute direct dial, even to a mobile

[scarlatti]

We do the Yahoo messenger thing already. Sometimes hearing the voice is a good thing, though! OneSuite isn't too bad, either. I think it's cheaper than T-Mobile.

But Skype does bear further looking into. :)

[filkerdave]

Yahoo messenger does voice, which is what I meant ;)

[scarlatti]

Ah, I didn't know! Bet I still need a microphone, though. Douglas can set me up with one when he's here. :)

[watervole]

Heaven's above! What are you paying that kind of rate for!

GEt on SKYPE now! If you can't use Skype (my firewall doesn't seem to like it), send Douglas to this web site http://www.call1899.co.uk/rates.php and let him call you for a penny a minute (plus a massive 3p connection charge!).

You can always pay him back if you want, but for a penny a minute now and then, you can talk for an hour and still have money left from a pound.

I've used them for several months and they've helped slash my phone bills.

[scarlatti]

I only paid that kind of rate because I am a fule and didn't think it would be that much. I just got tired of the poor connections I was getting. Now I'll know better!

We'll be looking into Skype, and the other options too. :)

here's another one

[pickledginger]

.. or rather here, as I'm too lazy to repeat the writeup. GizmoProject is well-rated, and cheap. I'm not sure what it would cost to call a UK cell phone, of course.

Then again, it's possible to make international calls a lot more cheaply from a UK cell phone - using the mobile to call a OneSuite-like discount line - than to one.

[lostcarpark]

Ouch!

Was going to say Skype too, but I reckoned other people would beat me to it!

Just got my USB handset during the week - cost me about £15 including postage via eBay. I was finding it impossible to get the microphone level right, so this is much better.

I'm sure there should be cheaper tarrifs you could switch to aswell - if I can call the US for €0.05c per minute, you ought to be able to do at least as well in the opposate direction.

[scarlatti]

The USB handset sounds better than the microphone. That's what I'll be trying to get, I think. :)

The big phone companies seem to have quite a racket going in international long distance!

[thistlethorn]

You can also try calling World Exchange and getting a plan through them. It's a 10-10 service and you pay only per minute -- no monthly fee (specify this when you call, and say you'd like to get 5 cents a minute to Canada/UK and lower than that if possible to the US). I pay 5 cents a minute in the US, 5 cents to Canada and to the UK. No monthly fee. (I have to dial 10-15-200+1+area code+number, but at my old address, I dialed 10-10-836, so check with them on exactly what numbers you'll need to dial.)

Good connections, no static or fuzziness.

1-800-569-8700

Best of luck!! Nothing worse than being blindsided by "normal" long-distance direct-dial rates. They're staggering.

::hugs::

[scarlatti]

Thank you for the info! I didn't realize how many different options are out there. But give the direct-dial rates (staggering, as you say!), it doesn't surprise me. :)

*hugs back*