<p>My daughter just arrived in Ireland for a semester abroad. We’d like to get a cheap int’l rate we can access from our land line here in the US so we can call her. We’d rather do it this way than get a computer monthly rate service. She can receive calls in Ireland at no cost on her land line.</p>
<p>Any recommendations? Thanks.</p>
<p>What is your land line server? Many of them allow you to pay a flat fee access their international rates, which will then be under .10 a minute. The cheapest way for you to talk to her is for her to call you from a call center, usually can do that to US for .02-.03 from some countries. We pay Verizon a 3.99 monthly fee (or something like that) and then can call Europe for .09.</p>
<p>Look into Skype. I believe calls are free, and so is the downloadable software.</p>
<p>Skype is great. You can talk computer to computer for free. Sound quality is surprisingly good, especially if you have a desktop with decent speakers.</p>
<p>There are services that you access by dialing a prefix code. I have also used these with success, but I cant remember the prefix… There are several of them and there is a generic name for this service.</p>
<p>oh right… dial around services, most have a 1010 prefix. I have used several to call internationally. This was a few years ago and I can’t recall which was best/cheapest.</p>
<p>There are websites that compare the various 1010 services. Try google… something like, 1010 compare dot com.</p>
<p>nevermind…</p>
<p>If you want to use a regular phone and avoid subscription plans the best deal is with a calling card such as Net2phone. International calls cost only 5 cents /minute and there is no additional connection charge. You refill the calling card when it runs out with your credit card in $10 or $20 increments. You also have toll free access numbers in every country so it can be used for call-back as well.</p>
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<p>That is only 20 to 50% of the story. While computers to computers are obviously free, you should look at the Skype In and Skype Out tools since those allow you to use regular phones (you’ll need an adapter or a dedicated Skype phone.) You will recoup your investment in no time since you might be able to sign for an unlimited plan. However, you should remember that calling a cellular number is usually more expensive. The difference could be 1.7 cents versus 19 cents. </p>
<p>For other companies, google +VOIP +Ireland.</p>
<p>PS, Ireland is part of the 5.95 unlimited calling.</p>
<p>[Unlimited</a> calls to landlines – any time, day or night.](<a href=“Explore Skype’s new features | Skype”>Explore Skype’s new features | Skype)</p>
<p>We used Skype with great success for free calling between our clunky old home desktop pc and D’s Mac when she went abroad to Australia for a semester. We had to invest in some headphones but her Mac didn’t require any. It was amazingly simple…just go to their website and they’ll walk you through the process. Lots of her “mates” used it to call home all over the world.</p>
<p>We also IM’d a little using Skype as well. It’s a pretty nifty service and WAY cheaper than using landline to Australia (as we learned very quickly!).</p>
<p>For YOU to call HER, dial-around services are usually a good deal. I use [url=<a href=“http://www.globaltel.com%5DGlobalTel.com%5B/url”>http://www.globaltel.com]GlobalTel.com[/url</a>]. $0.08/min to Ireland. Shop around for a better rate.</p>
<p>For HER to call YOU, you could set up a “DID number” in Ireland that she could call as a local number. A company like [url=<a href=“http://www.mydivert.com/]MyDivert.com[/url”>http://www.mydivert.com/]MyDivert.com[/url</a>] can set you up with a phone number in Ireland that will ring your home phone (or your cell phone) for 2.95 Euros a month + 0.014 Euros per minute. Once D returns home, cancel your monthly service. (NOTE: I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH THIS COMPANY.)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the excellent suggestions. I did research on the net to find 1010 rates and found one for .045 per minute. It occurred to me that I should call my current LD provider and, lo and behold, it’s only .05 to call Ireland on the land line. That may suit us fine.</p>
<p>For those of you who’ve used Skype, what exactly would we need to do? Would we need to sign up for a monthly service and then be able to use our home phone or would we talk via the computer? And would D need to sign up with Skype in Ireland as well? Would she also need to pay a monthly fee?</p>
<p>My initial reaction is to simply go with my current carrier at the .05 per minute figuring we’ve been paying a similar rate to talk to her while she’s been at college out west.</p>
<p>SamK–that “DID” idea sounds interesting. Do you know someone who’s used it?</p>
<p>Re post #12:</p>
<p>Google Skype and check their website. They walk you right through it. It is pretty idiot proof.</p>
<p>You do not need to pay any monthly service. You do not need to “sign up” in a given country. But, yes, you do need to download and sign up for Skype on your computer (free). You can then call your D’s land line at a very low cost per minute. If she has a computer (I’m sure she must), she can also download Skype (free) and you can call each other free - every time - on Skype computer to computer.</p>
<p>If your computers do not have built in mics and speakers, you need an inexpensive headset.</p>
<p>If you have webcams on either of your computers, you can also see when talking.</p>
<p>Pretty much everyone I know who has reason to call internationally uses Skype. No matter what country you are in, no matter where you go, you have your Skype name… you have Skype on your computer… You do not need to investigate different plans for different countries etc.</p>
<p>Skype is amazingly easy to install and use. It even tests the connection by calling you after you do the easy set up.</p>
<p>[Make</a> free calls and set your conversations free with Skype](<a href=“http://skype.com/getconnected/]Make”>Skype | Stay connected with free video calls worldwide)</p>
<p>Skype sounds too good to be true. We’ll give it a try. How does Skype make money? Ads?</p>
<p>One income stream is the very inexpensive option for calling to and from non-computer sources: voice over internet protocol. Our son called home from Europe that way when no one was on line here. “As well as free Skype-to-Skype calls you can make calls to phones and cell phones anywhere in the world at great rates.” Skype also sells some hardware, such as headphones.</p>
<p>I have used VoiceStick.com’s service, and am familiar with their “Global Call Forwarding” service, which you could use to give your D a local DID in your town that rings her phone in Ireland, with calls for $0.0149/min, or a flat rate of $25/month. She could give the number to all her friends and relatives, and it would be a local call for them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately VoiceStick offers DIDs in the US only. MyDivert.com seems to offer a service similar to VoiceStick’s, but with DIDs in several countries, including Ireland.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters that say Skype is great. But if you are looking for all the convenience and ease of use of traditional phone service (e.g. a service that will encourage Grandma to call DD), a DID may fit the bill.</p>
<p>For a few bucks worth of hardware you can do Skype with video!</p>
<p>My D did this for my W when she was overseas.</p>
<p>Just want to echo beprepn. We set up a mini cam and could see each other. Sometimes we couldn’t get it to work but when it did it was such a thrill to see our daughter’s face!</p>
<p>We used Skype when D was in France over the summer. Great quality, and we talked for a long time. She bought a phone for calling within France (your D will need that too), with cheap rates with use of a sim card. When she next travels abroad she will get a Skype phone, so we can circumvent computers at times. My work computer wouldn’t let me download Skype, so I would have to wait until I was home to call her, which didn’t work very well with the time difference. However, she could call me on my phone for 2c/minute using her computer.</p>