Making calls when travelling internationally

When you travel internationally it's always a hassle to keep in touch with people back home – you want to make sure everything is OK and you also want to share with them your experiences during your trip. However, this can be a costly and time-consuming habit if you intend to use a cell phone or a regular line. The major problem with cell phones is the existence of various incompatible cell phone systems.There are several major cell phone systems used worldwide and not all cell phones are compatible with all of them. Here are the most important:

GSM - Global System for Mobile telephones : It is the most common cell phone system, with widespread coverage, especially in Europe (where it originally started), but also in Africa , Asia and Australia . In the US and Canada, GSM coverage can be poor outside of urban areas, while in Latin America only parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil are covered. Important countries with non-GSM coverage are South Korea and Japan .

AMPS - Advanced Mobile Phone System: It is a rather obsolete system, introduced in North America in the early 1980s. It can still be used in some parts of the world such as American Samoa , Angola , China , South Korea , Lebanon , Nauru , Northern Mariana Islands , Solomon Islands , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Western Samoa .

TACS - Total Access Communications Service: This is the first European 900 Mhz analog system launched in 1985 by Vodafone. It can still be found Austria , Azerbaijan , Bahrain , Cambodia , China , Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia , Ghana , Hungary , Ireland , Italy , Japan , Kenya , Kuwait , Malaysia , Mauritius , Nigeria , the Philippines , Singapore , Spain , Sri Lanka , Tanzania , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , and Yemen .

TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access: this is the first digital network used in the US and still is today widely used by wireless networks like AT&T and Cingular. TDMA mobile phones can also be used in Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China (including Hong Kong), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guam, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Russia, St. Maarten, Suriname, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access: a growing standard in the Americas , threatening the position of TDMA.

The different networks available all over the world and the number of operators of these networks lead up to high interconnectivity prices, which reflect in the rate per minute paid when making an international call from your mobile phone.

On top of all that, in order to use your mobile phone you need either to activate the “Roaming” option with the company that powers your phone (this way you get to keep your phone number when you travel abroad) or to buy a new SIM card in every country (in which case you'll have a new phone number each time, plus you might have the “surprise” of the SIM not being compatible with your phone).

There is however a solution to all these problems: calling cards. In order to avoid any problems, it is best to buy them before you live, to make sure you have a way of calling back in case you can't find a calling card in the country you'll be going to.

Calling cards offer low rates and make international calls easy, regardless of where you're calling from, allowing you to enjoy the vacation without the loss of time and money that other communication devices would incur.

A few helpful tips when using a calling card abroad:

• Do not use it from hotels, unless you have checked with the hotel first. Usually, hotels impose a charge when calling to toll free numbers (the access number for calling cards is usually toll-free) or might even block the access to such numbers.
• As each country sets up its own telephony systems, you might need to use a phone card or to make a coin deposit in order to place a call from public phones, even to toll free numbers.
• Check the restrictions for the access number provided by the calling card company. - Make sure you follow the dialing instructions provided with the calling card.
• Do not try to use calling cards from rotary or pulse-based phones.

For more information on calling cards click here.