The Post Paid Calling Card Advantage

You’re familiar with prepaid calling cards. The almost jump off the rack at you when you walk by them at the convenience store. But there is a type of calling card that is even more convenient than the ubiquitous prepaid card. It can also save you money on your domestic and international calls. Meet the the postpaid calling card.

As you might guess, post pay is the opposite of prepay. You plunk down $10 or $20 for a prepaid calling card and are given a certain number of minutes to a particular country. The higher the rate for calls to that country, the fewer minutes you’ll get. You also pay service fees, connection fees and minimum call fees. That means that the number of minutes you are buying is a maximum, not a guaranteed number.

Now let’s take a look at the postpaid service from FourVoice. The postpaid calling card operates on a pay as you go basis. You don’t buy your minutes up front. Instead, you sign-up with a credit card and declare a monthly limit for your card. In months that you make calls, you are billed the per minute rate appropriate for where you are calling from and where you are calling to. You also get charged a $1 billing fee. In months that you don’t make any calls, there’s no bill and no charges at all.

That makes FourVoice perfect for both casual calling card users. Don’t you wish you had the option of making really low rate phone long distance calls from hotels or other phones that you don’t own? You can with FourVoice. Just keep the access number and your pin number handy and use the service when you need to. In months that you never need to make a call, you don’t pay a cent.

But how about for regular use? How good are those rates? Just dial one of the many local access numbers available in the US and you’ll pay just 1.9 cents per minute to call other numbers in the US and Canada. That’s probably lower than your current landline long distance service. If no local access number is available or you just want to call the toll free access number, the rate is 4.9 cents per minute. That’s still a bargain.

But there are also excellent rates to other countries. Use the local access number and you can call London, Berlin, Paris, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, or Beijing for that same 1.9 cents per minute. Calls to Japan are 4.9 cents per minute. FourVoice estimates you can save up to 50% on international calls by using their service instead of your usual long distance calling service.

That’s great if you happen to be located in the US. But what happens when you are overseas? The rates are still excellent. There are local access numbers in 24 countries that will let you call other destinations worldwide for just pennies a minute.

So, the FourVoice postpaid calling card charges you for the calls you make and doesn’t require you to pay for minutes up front. There are no connection fees or hidden fees. You only pay a small $1 billing fee in months that you use the service. To top it off, the rates are as good as you’ll find with prepaid calling cards, especially when you factor in how many minutes you lose to the connection charges and service fees of prepaid calling cards.

Does this sound like a service that will save you money? If so, get more details, check rates and order your FourVoice postpaid international calling card quickly and easily online.

Have SIM, Will Travel

SIM Simminy, SIM Simminy, SIM SIM Siree
If you want to travel, you'll need one of these.

What could be more fun than heading overseas on the trip of a lifetime, only to find out that your cell phone is little more than dead weight. No mobile calls for you, my friend. You get to use the hotel phone to call home. Hope you brought lots of extra cash. They're going to take it all.

There's a way to avoid this ugly scenario with only a little bit of planning. What you need is a cell phone that works in the country you're going to. Now, that might be the cell phone you already have. But it has to be enabled for overseas calling.

How do you do that? Well, first of all you need to know that not all cell phone services use the same standard. Most of the world is using something called GSM or Global System for Mobile communications. In the United States, AT&T and T-Mobile are the major service providers on this standard. Verizon, Alltel and Sprint use another system called CDMA or Code Division Multiple Access. Nextel uses something completely different called iDEN or Integrated Digital Enhanced Network.

What this means is that you'll need a GSM phone to work on GSM networks found in other countries. The best GSM phones offer quad band service. That means they operate on all 4 of the radio bands assigned for GSM cellular service. That's 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz. Next step down is a tri-band phone with 900/1800/1900 MHz capability. The 900 MHz band is the one used most frequently for services outside the United States.

Wait! Don't get on the plane or boat yet. Before you leave, you'll need one more little item called a SIM card. SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It's a little circuit card that looks like one of those removable memory cards. You'll find it inside your cell phone. Don't bother looking unless you have a GSM phone.

What's important about the SIM card is that it is what enables the phone to work on a particular network. The cellular provider that sold you the phone is the one the SIM card works for. Move out of its coverage area and your service goes dead or you get hit with roaming charges.

But, you can get a replacement SIM card for your GSM phone that lets you take it overseas without incurring those high roaming charges. A good choice for this is the OneSimCard international mobile service SIM card. It works in over 150 countries and saves you up to 85% compared with your current service provider charges. Plus you can receive calls free in more than 54 countries.

All you need to do is buy an International SIM Card and use it to replace the one now in your quad or tri-band GSM phone. Save the one you take out. You'll want to put it back when you get home.

You should also know that some carriers lock their phones so only their own service can be used. Sometimes they'll unlock yours if you ask nicely and have proven yourself to be a good long term customer. It's best to give the International SIM Card a check in your phone to make sure it is unlocked to avoid a nasty surprise on the road.

No GSM phone or only a dual band model? Is your head swimming from too much information and no desire to go poking around inside your cell phone? Why not rent or buy the right mobile phone with service for where you are going? That way you can be sure you'll have what you need to communicate in the countries that you plan to visit. Bon Voyage!