Phone cards can save you money
By Ron Lonsdale
September 1, 2005
In many cases phone cards offer much cheaper rates to international destinations than the big telephone companies.
If your phone bill is shooting up because of lots of overseas calls, one option is to use an international phone card. The choice of cards at local newsagents can be overwhelming, so it is worth knowing how they work and the differences between each card.
The phone cards are generally from $10 to $50 and in often offer much cheaper call rates to overseas countries.
Calling Britain costs 38c with Telstra and 9c a minute with Optus but only 0.5c a minute with a Ring phone card. Other cards can be even cheaper with no connection fees.
The rates are so low because phone card suppliers have wholesale arrangements with the telecom carriers or because they use voice-over IP, which uses the internet and is much cheaper.
Many newsagents and convenience stores have an electronic screen of providers and issue you with a piece of paper containing your PIN or they provide you with a laminated card. These are often lost or destroyed before you have used the whole card says Ron Lowther, CEO of Ephonecards.
“We deliver our cards online by email instantly and keep a record of your card in your online account so it can never be lost”, he says.
Before you buy your card, work out which countries you call most often because some cards offer better rates to different parts of the world. Then visit ephonecards.com.au and compare all the cards to find the best one for your particular circumstances.
If you call mobiles it usually costs more, so it may be worth looking for a phone card with lower calls rates to mobiles if you plan to call them a lot.
Decide how long you will generally be calling for. If it is less than twenty minutes be sure to get a card with no connection fee. If you are mainly making long calls the cards with connection fees will have lower call rates.
You may have to make a few calls before making connection if the person you're calling is often not there, perhaps leaving a message on an answering machine. “In these circumstances it best to get a phone card with no connection fee”, Ron says.
Another charge to watch out for is when you need to dial a 1300 or 1800 access number to use the phone card service.
Most cards offer access numbers in capital cities, which you dial to make your call. Some cards allow access through 1300 or 1800 numbers as well as capital city numbers.
If you live outside metropolitan areas, Bundaberg for example, be sure to check you have a local access number. Using the 1800 and 1300 access numbers can add an extra 4c to 20c a minute.
Ron's website is a great site for phone cards. When you choose a country, it brings up a all the cards for that country with their rates and connection fees. You can click on a card whose rate you like to find out everything there is to know about the card and all the access numbers as well.
Ron's company, Ephonecards, markets all calling cards that have passed a basic quality test. Card companies all provide different pieces of information making it hard to compare cards. The website has the same information on each card.
The website also uses the peak calling rate to compare prices and select the card. This is important, says Ron, because using off-peak rates means you would get a card you can only use from 1am to 3am in the morning.
If you're calling your mother in another part of the world, for instance, she will not be pleased about being woken up in the early morning just because the lower call rates suit you.
Also check what the billing increments are, says Ron. Calls can be charged in one-second increments anywhere to three or five-minute increments. If your calls are very short, say under three minutes, you are still charged the full three minutes.
The simplest thing to do is go to the www.ephonecards.com.au website and use the “phone card finder” service that makes the whole process easy, simple and quick.
© Ephonecards
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