The world of technology changes rapidly in 6 months!
My last review of Saving Money on Overseas International Calls was in July 2007 so it’s time for an update on the latest in cost savings.
Everyone knows how expensive it is to use your cell phone while overseas. I returned from my month long trip at the WMA in Riccione, Italy, and believe me, you do NOT want to see my cell phone bill. (I have a GSM phone). I’ll be 100% honest here… my cell phone bill was more than my rent!
It’s no secret that I’m a big advocator for VoIP. I’ve had it for 3 years now, and I had only one outage, and that was due to my Internet connection going down for less than an hour.
With the upcoming February meets in Australia, the summer Golden League meets in Europe, and of course the Olympics Games in Beijing China, you’ll need a service to call your athletes, or they will need to call you from overseas.
Now, if I told you and your athletes can use your cell phone or blackberry and call the UK for 2 cents a minute, and call France, Australia and China for 3 cents a minute, you probably think I was crazy.
This is comparable to the $1.49 per minute that AT&T, Sprint and Verizon charges!
You guessed it! VoIP for Cell Phones has officially crossed paths. Introducing Mobiletalk from Packet8 . They offer:
- no calling card or PIN
- no connection fees
- no hot spot required (laptop method and Skype or GoogleTalk)
After signing up, download the MobileTalk application, and in most cases, your phone will receive a text message or email with a link. In some cases, if you do get an email, you will need to download the application to your PC, then synchronize with your cell phone.
Whenever you make an international call which dialing starts with a “011” but with my GSM phone, it starts with ‘+’, the MobileTalk application will automatically route the call to the Packet8 network and you will save up to 90% or more on your international cell phone calls.
Is there a downside? Sure, there is a monthly fee but a simple 7 minute phone call overseas immediately pays for itself. Then the cost savings are huge with MobileTalk.
Until January 31, 2008, Speedendurance.com users can save on the activation fee using this code when signing up: IVOS-fjlee-RON
Speedendurance.com Affiliate ID = IVOS-fjlee-RON
Coaches, if you can’t make the trip overseas, you want to be in constant contact with your athletes.
Athletes, when you win that medal, you’ll want to call home immediately!
That’s what our athlete Nathan Taylor did after winning a Bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Of course, he had to wait to get his cell phone back from the control room! Nathan is the first person on the left.
Jimson Lee
Latest posts by Jimson Lee (see all)
- 2017 IAAF Biomechanics Research Project - August 14, 2017
- The Perfect 4x100m Relay? - August 14, 2017
- Sprinting Lane Draws, Revisited - August 10, 2017
[…] UPDATE: Be sure to read the update on Jan 16, 2008 for the latest tips on Saving Money on International Calls […]