How do phone cards work?
Phone cards are very easy to use; it’s just like making a standard phone call. The only difference is that there are a couple extra steps. First you must dial one of the special access numbers for your phone card. Then you enter your pin number displayed on the card. The final step is to dial your destination number.
Pre-paid phone cards sometime known as “calling cards” are purchased in different denominations $5, $10, $20, or $50.
When you purchase the phone card the card is pre-charged with a credit value the same as that of the purchase price or more. Callers can use the phone card to call from almost any touch tone telephone to call either STD or international.
Because cards are pre-paid phone card producers are able to purchase ‘minutes’ in bulk from the carriers such as Telstra, Optus, AAPT, Primus, etc. Purchasing in bulk means savings and these savings are passed onto the phone card user. Typically on international calls, callers can save over 80% over a standard dialing service and in some cases over 90%. This makes phone cards a very attractive method for calling abroad.
These phone cards are then supplied to phone card resellers. Normally first line customer services are supplied by the card operator details of which are normally displayed on posters by the retailer. As the physical card is not needed many orders are now made over the internet and delivered via email. The phone card websites should have information on:
• Access number
• PIN number
• Customer Services telephone number for that specific card
• Usage instructions
Using phone cards or calling cards
Phone cards do vary by supplier. Here are some general guidelines explaining how they are used:
1) Using a touch tone phone dial the access number (usually 1800 or local access).
2) At the prompt, enter your PIN number (sent to you via email).
3) Your balance for the card is announced.
4) Next dial your destination phone number including the international dialing code 0011, then the country code for the country you are calling.
5) With most cards you are then told how long you could speak for on a continuous call to the number you are calling.
6) After finishing the call you can hang-up or make a follow-on call using a the # key and enter your next number.
With each call the balance of your phone card will be reduced until the credit on the card is finished or expires (usually after 3-4 months). You then simply purchase another card.
Phone cards also it easy to budget the money spent on international calls.. so no more nasty phone bill surprises at the end of the month!
Things to watch for
Payphone surcharges
Some payphone providers charge a surcharge for using pre-paid cards. Usually this is done by either an upfront surcharge or a price/min surcharge. If you plan to dial from pay phones please check this before you purchase your card.
Quality considerations
The quality of phone cards varies from card to card and even from month to month. The line quality may vary by country and by time. When considering purchasing multiple cards we suggest that you try a small denomination one to begin with, and if you are happy with the quality then purchase more.
Maintenance charges
Some cards may have a daily maintenance charge. You should check the product details before ordering.
Expiry date
Most cards expire a certain number of months after first use. Typically this is 3-4 months for most phone cards. Telstra cards last 12 months.
Minute billing
Billing increments can be by the minute or every two minutes. The “More Info” pages on Ephonecards have this information for each card.
Mobile charges
Call rates to call mobiles are different to those for calling a land line in the same country. Select the country and whether you want to call a mobile from the menu on ephonecards.com.au
Free calls
Some phone card suppliers give an extra 10% worth of calls for card with a value over $30.
Local access or 1800 toll free phone access
If the access number is a 1800 toll free number then the line you are calling from will not normally be charged. If you call a phone card 1800 access number they will charge a surcharge of about 10-20c/min for using the 1800 number. Mobile phones, hotel phones and pay phones generally charge for calls to 1800 phone numbers.
When using a local access number you are charged for a local call by your phone service provider. This is separate to the charges made to your phone card.
Whilst there are things to watch out for when using calling cards they still remain the best method of making cheap long distance or international phone calls. This may explain the explosion of pre-paid phone cards sales all over the world in the past few years.
© Ephonecards
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