Making cheap International Phone calls

I am living out of India for the past 5 years and I very often need to make phone calls home. When I came to Maldives there was only one telephone operator here which is known as Dhiraagu. Now there is another competitor called Wataniya Telecoms. 5 years back we needed to pay MRF 21(INR 65) per minute to make a phone call to India. But now due to stiff competition and more facilities (Maldives is now connected with two submarine cables) the charges have come down to MRF 3.50 per minute(around INR 11.00) and yesterday one of my friend told me that Wataniya is offering all International calls for MRF 2.50 (less than INR 8.00) per minute. Most of the expatriates are buying another sim (Wataniya Connection) to make international calls.

I use skype for making international calls which charge only US$ 0.092 per minute which is less than INR 3.00, and its per minute billing. I get good clarity for sound and the only problem is the delay, but its adjustable looking into the rates. This is very useful when you make long calls, especially to your family.

How to make phone calls using Skype?

All you need is to download the skype software and install it. Its somewhat like the instant messenger. Once you download, you need to create an account with skype and charge your account. You have auto recharge facility for this which makes sure that you do not run out of balance. Once you login to your account, just use the dialer to make the calls or you can save your regular numbers to the contact list. You can also send SMS for much cheaper rates.

The other features of skype includes call forwarding, SMS, Chat, and you can also use skype with skype phones, wifi phones, PSP and many more features.

You can also make pc to pc voice calls like you do in Yahoo messenger or MSN. The voice clarity is acceptable and its now very widely used.

Skype for Pocket PC

Skype is also available for download for pocket pc from which you can make phone calls. You need to have a wifi connection or a 3G connection to make phone calls through skype on a pocket pc. Making phone calls using GPRS is not advisable as the quality is very poor due to the internet speed using GPRS.

Yahoo Voice Calls

You can also use yahoo messenger to make similar kind of phone calls and I found it more cheaper than Skype. I just charged my account and made a phone call. The sound is somewhat like Skype and has the same features. I am not in a position to tell much about Yahoo voice calls as I have not used much.

So save money if you make long international calls by using these tools