With both sales and traffic to my international calling card sites falling over the last year, I have been asking myself whether there has been a change in the way that people communicate when overseas, with the advent of smartphones that have built in WiFi and that allow internet connection without costing the user anything.
Traditionally making international calls was something that most people did only in emergencies, or ones a year at Christmas to say “Hello” to the family overseas for 5 minutes.
With the advent of the international calling card, people were no longer at the mercy of their phone companies, and could place calls by dialing a local number, entering a pin, and then dialling the overseas number, for a fraction of the cost that their phone company charged.
Some calling card companies included hidden fees, and tricked customers into thinking that they had a good deal, but this guide to the best international calling cards identifies several providers that are not only cheap and reliable, but who have no hidden costs either.
Indeed, for the last 3 years before I moved from the USA back to the UK, I did a lot of research to find the best calling card to suit my needs, and it’s amazing how varied the prices are, yet if you follow the recommendations in the guide, you can save a lot of money on calls.
Prior to moving to the UK I would be on the phone for several hours a day, and yet with the right calling card, I didn’t have to worry about the cost. It used to cost me less than $1 an hour to call the UK from anywhere in the USA, not exactly a vast sum!
But now the market is changing again, with many people owning smartphones that have built in WiFi which can connect to internat hotspots anywhere in the world. This allows virtually free emailing and with programs like Skype, audio and video calls to anyone with an internet connection for free.
So obviously if you travel overseas it pays to have a smartphone to help cut your calling costs, but where an internet connection is not available, especially a free one, or where your only option is to use a regular phone, purchasing an international calling card in advance is a wise decision.
