Long distance phone calls used to be expensive. Remember the time when you spend up to ten cents or more a minute? Initially, the competition was not fierce and phone companies were making lots of profit from long distance calls. Soon, more competitors flood the marketing, forcing the price to reduce. Phone companies began to come out with unique packages and offers to get you to become their customer. Things have changed a lot since then, and many long distance call companies have folded. This is because the world of long distance calls has changed. It is now a service that you can get for free or very low cost.

The cheapest option available for long distance call nowadays is through internet. Using free services like Yahoo messenger, MSN messenger or Skype, you can now call your friends in any country as long as they download the free application too. The downside of such service of course is the need to have a computer and sometimes, the quality of the voice is not very good.

If you prefer to speak through the traditional telephone way, companies like Vonage and Time Warner Cable offer digital phone that comes into your home via your cable Internet connection. You can use your existing phone and keep your phone number. This type of service is cheap. Domestic calls are free. International calls are charged at a very reasonable price. For example, Time Warner cable offers long distance phone calls from the United States to Australia for ten cents a minute.

Another option available is monthly subscription. For example, Verizon offers unlimited long distance phone calls for just $20 a month. For those who make regular long distance call, this is definitely a real bargain. Such package offer is also good for those who do not have cable internet in their area.

One popular option that many people like to use is buying a long distance calling card. For $10, you can make hours of long distance call, depending on which country you call to. When buying a calling card, pay special attention to the initial charge per call. Some cards may advertise that you can make an hour long call for just 60 cents. But if you make several short calls, there may be a one time charge and these charges can easily build up and deplete the card value. If using a calling card, the idea is to make less calls but you can speak as long as you like.

If you have a cell phone that come with free nights and weekends call, you can take advantage of your contracts that give you free long distance phone calls during these special hours.

If you have done any research into the confusing world of dial long distance telephone rates, you have discovered that conventional long distance is expensive compared to almost any of the alternatives. This is especially true when you factor in, the extra fees and taxes added on by governments.

Conventional phone companies rely on people being either uninformed or unmotivated to check out the alternatives. Usually they bundle dialing long distance with local services so you are never quite sure how much your long distance service is costing.

For instance, many consumers sign up for a local plan that includes unlimited long distance calling. They usually pay between $50 and $70 for this package. But they could get the same level of service for much less money by staying with a $20-$30/month local package and using a dial around plan that charges only 1.9 cents/minute for calls to the USA and Canada.

Phone Cards – a solution with serious limitations

One alternative to conventional dial long distance service is to purchase a prepaid phone card. These cards are often purchased online. After signing up you are sent an account number and PIN which allow you to access the long distance system.

Having a phone card lets you place long distance calls by calling a toll free access number, entering your account information, and then dialing the number you want to call.

Some of the features and shortcomings of phone cards are as follows:

• Phone cards are often country or region specific. It is difficult to find one card that gives you good rates to multiple countries or regions.
• They are good for short term situations like traveling, or for occasional use.
• Calling can be cumbersome unless you can find a “PIN-less” phone card.
• Charges can be higher than expected because of hidden fees and taxes.
• Calls can be more expensive because of longer call duration rounding intervals. A 6.5 minute call will be billed as 7 minutes if a 1-minute rounding interval is used. But it will be billed as 9 minutes if they use a 3-minute interval.
• – Phone cards often have a higher minimum call duration. Some cards charge a minimum of one rounding interval for every call, even if it is not completed.

Dial Around Plans – a much better alternative

A much better alternative is what is called a dial around plan. They are called “dial around plans” because you use a local number or toll free number to bypass or “dial around” the conventional phone company. You call the special access number, and once you get a dial tone you dial the area code and number of the party you are calling.

Here are some of the features you can get with a quality dial around plan:

• With good plans you only pay for minutes used. There are no fees, taxes, or hidden charges.
• No monthly minimum charge or account fee.
• Very low long distance rates, including low domestic rates to the USA and Canada.
• Savings are substantial – from 50% to 90% less than conventional long distance.
• Quality plans do not require a caller to enter an account number or PIN when calling from registered numbers. You can register as many as 10 phone numbers with your account.
• Connection quality is comparable to conventional long distance.
• Some plans (higher quality ones) give you free online account management including real time call history. This lets you see the details of every call — the number called, time and date of the call, duration, and cost.
• Dial around plans can be used at home, with a cell phone, or while traveling in the USA.

Summary – Dial Around Plans are much more versatile

While it is true that phone cards provide convenience when traveling, dial around plans offer a better and cheaper long distance alternative for anyone who uses long distance service on a regular basis.

Calling cards are those cards you get handed to you on the street sometimes, or see advertised in corner shops. They’re a cheap way to call internationally – much cheaper than a normal landline phone – and they’re getting more and more popular as more people choose to live and work in foreign countries and make friends internationally.

So how do calling cards work? There are two main kinds of cards: free and paid-for. Free cards have a premium rate phone number on that you then call and enter your card number and PIN number. The premium rate phone call pays for a certain number of minutes for you to the country of your choice. Paid-for cards work similarly with the card number and the PIN, except that you buy them in a shop instead of paying with a premium rate call.

The reason your calls can be so much cheaper than usual when you use a calling card is that they are no longer being routed through the normal phone network. Instead, calling card companies are free to construct their own international telephone networks, often using advances in technology to their advantage.

Most modern calling cards actually route calls over the Internet, which means that an international call in fact becomes only a local call at each end, with the Internet acting as a ‘bridge’ between the two phone networks. This means that the calling card companies can make a lot of money for very little work, while also providing a much cheaper service than usual to the customer.

To make international call using prepaid phone cards is an excellent way to stay in touch with family and friends without ending up with an astronomical phone bill at the end of the month. But before you choose the phone card that seems to be the cheapest available, be sure you know all the details of how that particular phone card works.

Some phone card companies have a service charge for each call you make using the card. That means that you’ll lose several minutes each time you use the card – typically anywhere from four minutes to eight or even ten. If you have a phone card company touting their “three-cent a minute” rates, be sure of their service charges. If you’re also losing an additional ten minutes for every connection you make, the rates go up considerably.

One gimmick used by phone card companies is that they give you a price “per unit” instead of “per minute.” The significance is that there are different costs for different phone calls. You may pay only a penny or two per unit, but you may find that you’re being charged several units per minute. For example, if you pay two cents per unit and you’re phone call costs ten units per minute, you’re paying twenty cents a minute – significantly higher than the many reputable phone cards. Per unit cards may very well be a good deal, but find out how many units you can expect to pay for phone calls before you shell out the money for one of these cards.

Rechargeable phone cards are sometimes an excellent deal to make international call because the additional minutes you purchase are often cheaper than the original cost of the card. If you think about it, it’s fairly easy to see why. Instead of buying another pieces of plastic, you’re simply buying the service – less cost to the company.

Buying larger amounts is also typically a good way to get the best deal making international calls with a phone card. Companies typically offer a better price per minute if you purchase a card with two or more hours of calling time than for a card with only a half hour. Again, it’s a simple matter of marketing and you can see that the cost of producing the plastic card is a factor in that cost.

There’s no doubt that phone cards are a good way to stay in touch, especially in some situations. Taking time to choose a reliable company for your phone card purchase is an important step in being sure you make the best selection for your phone card company provider.