International Calls
I'd be moving to Qatar soon. My exploration of social infrastructure in Qatar, related to the cost of living revealed that the tariffs for international calling are ridiculously high to say the least. Qtel has held a monopoly in the market and consumers have no option but to keep getting ripped off.
My question is that what other alternatives we have to call our freinds and family back home? Such as usage of Voip services? Any useful link, guideline would be more than helpful.Since i'll be living alone, i seriously need a cheap and easy solution to talk to my family and freinds back home.
I work in Indonesia at the moment, but about to move to Quatar.
We use Skype for most of our international calls.
1.- Skype-to-Skype (computer-to-computer) calls are free and if you have enough bandwidth on both ends, you can do video calls too.
2.- Skype-to-phone service costs money and Skype needs a credic card number on file, from which it draws an equivalent of 10 Euro or 10 USD dependingon you account setup, whenever the balance dips below 2 Dollars or Euro. Assuming you have a credit card, use this because the rates are ridiculously cheap ($0.02-0.05/minute for most landlines anywhere in the world, $0.18/minute to call most mobile phones anywhere in the world).
3.- Phone-to-Skype is another cool feature. You buy a land-based number from Skype say in Germany or in the U.S., and your family/friends back home can call that number to reach you without making international calls. The call gets routed through the Skype network to your PC and, if you are logged in, it rings. Your account gets charged the Skype-in rate (cheap, same as Skype-to-phone). Better yet, you can set up forwarding to a phone number. If you don't answer Skype, the call gets forwarded to any number in the world, which can be your Quatar mobile. Your account is charged the Skype-out rate (cheap) and you completely avoid dealing with the local long distance phone company.
Call over 40 countries!
From anywhere in the world with an Internet connection!
Completely Free! They don't even ask for your credit card!
With tuitalk™, you can make free international phone calls from anywhere in the world to over 40 Your calls are free because they are sponsored by advertising. The person you are calling doesn't need to be on a computer, you can call their landline or mobile phone directly. So join tuitalk™ today and enjoy your free calls.
=Try it now! It’s Easy!
1. Join tuitalk
2. Download tuitalk
3. Dial the #, watch an ad, and talk for free.
=How can this be free? What's the catch?
Before your call connects, you will watch a short video ad. These advertisers are sponsoring your call.
=How long can I talk?
You can talk as long as your sponsorship lasts for your call. An indicator on your computer screen will tell you how much time you have left.
=How often can I call?
Every day! You will have a set amount of time allocated to you per day. If you use up your minutes for one day, you can call again the next day when your daily allowance starts again. Note: Be sure to fill out your extended profile so that you get the most minutes and the highest daily allowance.
www.tuitalk.com
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Thanx guys. I am a lot more relieved now. I am also pursuing an even much cheaper option available from Pakistan. Using that, calling back home to my freinds and family will be much cheaper than anything i have explored so far on the internet (including skype and the rest). Lets see how things go.
www.lowratevoip.com some of the destinations landline are free so try it ull never regret its amazing but you need to buy credit by ur credit card
Voip is best alternative. use freecall.com. down to earth rates and best part is that you can recharge online just like skype and atleast 13 times cheaper than skype with best voice quality. so its no more a concern.
yahoo messenger...hehehe
headset and computer, it lall helps
doubledown! which kit are you referring to?
if you have the kit although you can get Dawli pre paid calling cards in local shops and phone stores which are pretty good and cheaper than qtel
Skype with video cam and it is fab. If your friends and family download it back home you can call computer to computer for free but even if you have to phone computer to landline/mobile it is very cheap. We also have MSN and we chat on that using a cam too. Never paid for an international call since getting here!
try freecall, its similar to skype or voip wise
Yaraaoude:
Is skype good? If i make calls from skype to anywhere else on landllne (other than free destinations), it requires money. Are there any outlets where you could pay the money? I am not a credit card guy and do not have any...
Mallrat:
Yeah i know that even internet is provided by qtel but honestly after looking at international calling rates, my blood was boiling.
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.on the internet? still with Qtel....
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we use Skype, and webcall. (on the internet).