OVERSEAS question #642!

[Heather in Neverland]

So now I am wondering about communicating with family and friends here in the states if I am in Malaysia. Obviously we have the email option. But what else is there? I imagine that international phone calls are pricey. Are there reasonable cell phone plans? What is Skype? What is this I hear about "internet phone service"?

 

Any other ideas?

[newlifemom]

So now I am wondering about communicating with family and friends here in the states if I am in Malaysia. Obviously we have the email option. But what else is there? I imagine that international phone calls are pricey. Are there reasonable cell phone plans? What is Skype? What is this I hear about "internet phone service"?

 

Any other ideas?

 

Don't know much about skype, but I have heard that it is what missionaries use now to keep in touch. It sounds wonderful.

[Amira]

We use Skype all the time, with friends and relatives in Singapore, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. All of our family uses Skype, so we're able to talk to them online for free no matter where they are in the world, and we use webcams if both ends have high-speed internet access. We also use Skype to call friends who don't have internet access using their computer-to-phone option and it works great. We've never tried using Skype for phone-to-phone calls though, so I don't know how that works. But Skype has been great when someone is overseas, so much cheaper than anything else we've tried.

 

Skype is easy to set up and the website is helpful and explains what you need to know.

[Tutor]

We have many friends with family overseas who use Skype. I is basically a phone that works over your internet connection. You are really calling computer to computer but you can get accessories that give it the feel and ease of using the phone. The only costs to you and those you call are an internet connection and the accessories to use it, I believe. We do not use it because many such "over the internet" options are not compatable with our satellite internet connection. You may want to check into their system and connection requirements.

 

Also, if you have a Dell computer, you can use Dell Video Chat (it came on my Linux-based netbook, but i assume it is available to all Dell cutomers). It allows you to either video chat live or to record video messages and send them to others via email links. I would think the latter would be useful when dealing with a large time difference.

[Mabelen]

So now I am wondering about communicating with family and friends here in the states if I am in Malaysia. Obviously we have the email option. But what else is there? I imagine that international phone calls are pricey. Are there reasonable cell phone plans? What is Skype? What is this I hear about "internet phone service"?

 

Any other ideas?

 

We have always had an international phone plan because we have so many close relatives in so many continents and countries that for us is a basic necessity. Rates have gone way down across the board in recent years. I still remember the days when we had to pay $1.30 a minute to speak with my in laws in Sri Lanka! A little 30 minute call was $33.00. Now it is something like 13 cents minute!

 

Skype is the way to go if you have a good Internet connection. We use it with all members in both our familes who have Internet at home. The video feed is priceless when you have children, especially young ones. You also have a chat option and I use that when I want to communicate with someone who is not online at that moment (think time zones and all that). The text then is delivered when the recipient next goes on line. You can also hold a conference with multiple users but then you lose the video; still that is really fun. Last weekend I was talking with my husband and his brother and sister in law in California when my sil's brother called from Australia and we had a grand old time!

[Kate in Arabia]

Skype is blocked here, you might check to see if there are any limitations where you're going.

 

When we first moved, we bought my parents a computer camera and microphone set and had my brother help them get it set up and working. We do a video chat every week at a set time through MSN Messenger. It's free and my parents literally see much more of us than when we were living in the States. Not the same as being there, but I think it's really reassuring to my parents to be able to actually see us.

 

I think Yahoo also has video chat, but I've never used it.

[ElaineJ]

Another Skype user here. Although it is very easy to set up and use, you might want to help any relatives with nervousness about "computer stuff" become comfortable with it before you leave. The webcam has really helped the kids feel connected to extended family, and we could never afford to talk as often as we do if we had to use the phone. I would also ask the folks at your new workplace what they usually use to communicate with people back home. HTH-

 

Elaine

[ElizabethB]

We have friends in Spain who use Vonage:

 

http://www.vonage.com/index.php?ic=1

 

When we lived in Germany and were calling back to Germany from trips to the United States, we used an IDT calling card, it had very good international rates:

 

http://www.idt.net/personal/cards/

[Sebastian (a lady)]

This is the company my MIL uses to call us.

 

Web site - http://www.g3telecom.com

or call 1-866-261-3894 to sign up - 24 hours a day

USA to Japan - 2.9 cents per minute (On prepaid auto plan)

On the auto plan you prepay any amount and they automatically add a specified amount to your credit card when you have less than $5

left in your account.

There is no connection fee.

They give you an access number and each time you dial it they tell you how much money you have left in your account.

 

 

I'm working on setting up Vonage. One comment is that they won't send the hardware to a PO box. I'm now wishing that I'd set this up while I was still in the US with a regular address.

 

We used Skype a couple times. Sound quality depended greatly on the quality of the internet connection. DH could understand us, but he sounded like he was on an underwater telephone. Again, this is a connection issue more than a Skype issue.

 

One last comment is that some articles I've read predict that countries will soon begin taxing VOIP as they lose revenues that they traditionally collected on phone calls.

[sgilli3]

Another thumbs up for skype.

 

Just ensure you already have it downloaded on the computer before you leave the States.

We ensured we already had it on our computers, as here in the UAE it is a blocked site- so you cant download it onto the computers once here.

 

Best to check whether the site (and perhaps others you may want/need) are not blocked in Malaysia.

 

Good luck- I'm getting so excited for you.

[sgilli3]

double post

 

sorry.

Edited March 20, 2009 by sgilli3
duplicate post

[Laura Corin]

We used UWT for phone - the prices are very, very low.

 

Laura

[TeacherZee]

You can use AIM for video chats as well. I use that with friends in the US. It works great.

 

I have had some of the problems others have mentioned with Skype that the sound quality can be a bit iffy but that is the internet connection not the product.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

We use Vonage with great success. Unlimited calling to the US for apx $25 per month. We added a second "virtual" phone number so that both the Grandparents have a local number and don't have to pay long distance rates to call us.

 

This service has worked with both DSL and cable internet. You have a router that goes between your modem and computer. This is the main expense. Then you just plug a regular phone into the router. We use a cordless phone. The Vonage service also has numerous other features such as voicemail, call forwarding etc.

 

As was mentioned above you probably need to set this service up before you leave the US and pack the router in your bag if you have a laptop, that way you can have service right away. I believe they also require a US address to bill to (ie credit card), the service can be paid yearly or monthly and automatically.

 

We also use Skype but more for the video, the sound quality is not a solid as Vonage.

[Gamom3]

Once you have a number you are suppose to be able to take it with you anywhere, since it connects to your computer. You must have high speed internet.

Also with you having your bank account still here, Vonage will just deduct your bill from that every month.

 

My ds girlfriend's father has a local number for her and he lives in England.

[dymphna57]

We are mostly skype users now but it did take us way tooo long. We still haven't set up all of the relatives.

We used prepaid phone cards, some we bought off the internet and just renewed. They were great and made great gifts to relatives who wanted to call us but weren't really on the internet.

I was just thinking that we spent more on phone calls to the college-away children before we moved back here.

I guess we just figured out more alternatives.

[MamaT]

We use Skype a LOT to talk to my son overseas in the Marine Corp. He has a Vonage phone as well. The good thing about Skype is that we can actually see each other.

[athena1277]

We use our gmail instant messaging program and a web cam a lot. It's the only way we've been able to see our new niece! Web cams are great for letting others (like grandparents) see just how big your kids have grown. It also helps them connect with littles who don't talk on the phone yet.

[Mabelen]

Skype is blocked here, you might check to see if there are any limitations where you're going.

 

When we first moved, we bought my parents a computer camera and microphone set and had my brother help them get it set up and working. We do a video chat every week at a set time through MSN Messenger. It's free and my parents literally see much more of us than when we were living in the States. Not the same as being there, but I think it's really reassuring to my parents to be able to actually see us.

 

I think Yahoo also has video chat, but I've never used it.

 

My husband's cousin lives in Dubai and I believe Skype is blocked there too. I think he went around that issue listing his place of residence as Australia (that's where he usually lives). We haven't connected with him via Skype yet but he is there and we have added him to our contacts.

[Heather in Neverland]

I looked up both Vonage and Skype. It appears that phone calls between skype users are free but if I call someone who isn't a skype user there is a fee. Vonage costs a little more than Skype but I'm hearing that the Vonage quality is better?

 

So should I make sure my family and friends have downloaded Skype before I go so calls are free and just deal with the lower quality?

 

Or should I pay the fees for Vonage and get the better quality?

[keptwoman]

The Skype quality really is pretty good. The occasional funny electronic voice sound is all. Yes get them all set up before you go. I think you can actually get yourself a local US number on Skype so that non-Skype friends can make a local call to you. You'd need the phone for that though. I don't know all the ins and outs but my cousin in Russia does something along those lines.