Working, Living & Travelling In Ireland

Tag: Skype

  • Skype To Go and Tesco Mobile fantastic International rates..

    Hi all,

    I have written a few articles now about making international calls, either via a mobile phone or landline.
    Skype and Googletalk are great, but there are a few limitations…specifically if the area you are in has mobile reception but no 3G ( ie you can’t go online with your phone) or if your phone isn’t a smartphone( after all they are an expensive little toy and you’ll be paying a minimum of 40 Euros a month for having an IPhone..)
    So, how to get around all this?

    As long as you have a Skype account and a little bit of credit, you don’t actually need to have smartphone!

    You just log into your account, and select Skype to go, and add the person’s contact number.
    (I was only able to create 9 )
    One low monthly fee to make unlimited calls to landlines , any time, any day with Skype
    Get an Unlimited Europe calling subscription from Skype – £2.95/month. ( or equivalent in Euros)
    Once you have saved the number, you’ll receive a text from Skype with a local number( you can specify your neareast locality).
    If you have selected a phone plan of your mobile phone provider  with unlimited landline calls, the call will be free from your phone to the Skype out number. Call quality varies, most of the time it’s pretty good, but have also experienced calls with a lot of bankground noise.
    If you have bought a subscription to say France ,and the number you are calling is in France( so you can call France for free) there are no charges.
    If you don’t have a subscription, but  just have Skype credit, there is a connection charge and of course the Skype charges..

    Ok, so that’s great for those who have Skype/credit card…. so for those that don’t have Skype/credit card …………

    I have just discovered that Tesco Mobile( who – as far as I know ) now have the best International rates, and it’s all prepaid, so no contract etc.

    They are having a super offer to call a range of countries( like Australia, UK) at 1 Cent a minute till the end of September.
    So you can buy a tesco phone for under 20 Euros, and you can ring( international landlines) at these super keen rates.
    Tesco Mobile also offers double credit, so if you spend 10 Euros, you get 10 Euros for free ( up to 30 Euros). The free credit gets used first, and is only applicable to local calls and texts, so if you are only calling internationally, the free credit will not be used.


    You can simply order a sim, and as long as your phone is unlocked, you can use it straight away. It might come in handy even if you are visiting Ireland ( and assuming your phone is unlocked).
    Katleen

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  • ET Phone Home, Ways of calling friends and family

    ET Phone Home, Ways of calling friends and family

    E.T. Phone Home, 2010ET Phone home…

    I wrote this article in 2010, a lot of things have changed since!!  We are now 2021 and having a Smartphone enables you to have free phone calls internationally! I’ll keep the details below as a memory of the options there were back in 201o:) 

    It’s just one of these things we all take for granted, staying in touch with friends and family, but it’s something a bit of a maze figuring out what’s the best/cheapest / most comfortable way of doing so..

    I have listed below some options you can explore whilst you are in Ireland.

    Until the arrival of Skype, I always used my landline, and for a while I used a variety of different call plans/call cards, but there was always the issue of having to have an account, knowing your log in details, enough credit on your card etc, so I then discovered http://www.dialwise.co.uk for which you don’t require an account for and can be dialed both from a landline or a mobile, and gets billed to your existing telecom provider as a local call. Only relevant of course if you have a landline. You just need to dial the relevant 1890 code , and then the number you need to dial, and you are done.

    With the arrival of Smartphones, most phones allow you to install the Skype application your mobile, so you can ring from your mobile. You just need to be in credited to make the call. Also here the rates hover around the 2 cent a minute rate. Though many mobile phone providers offer Skype on their mobile, the company that started offering it first was http://ww.three.ie/ . You can get a Skype enabled phone for just 49 Euros.

    There is also a blueface VOIP account. They have a service called ‘go mobile’ which allows you to call a dublin number … you can then enter any (international) number you wish to dial. Cost is approx 3-4c a min for the blueface international call, and whatever your mobile provider charges for dublin calls. There is also an option called blueface You of using this through your internet connection.

    I am sure there are plenty of other ways of calling home, so please feel free to add any other ones!
    I am just enclosing the trailer I found on Youtube.. Enjoy:)
    Regards,
    Katleen

     

     

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