Hi there !
I will introduce to me and to this blog's intention :)
I am a techie. Currently I live in USA. 90% of my family and friends live in India and other countries. So to contact them I need to call them vial phone calls often. I will write my story in subsequent posts about how and what services I followed to call to India cheaply even free.
International PSTN calls will drag you to hell, sucking you financially.. So alternate options are international calling Cards and/or VOIP Calls.
I will tell you what are the difference between Calling Card and VOIP Calls, and the evolution of both as relative to me and best to my knowledge.
PSTN Service:
In short let me tell you what is PSTN call, what is using a calling card, what is VOIP Call.. If you are in India, phone or mobile services you get from BSNL, Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone, Idea etc. are of PSTN kinds.
If you are in USA, phone or mobile services you get from AT&T, T-mobile, Verizon, Sprint etc. are PSTN connections.
Calling Card Service:
Now Calling Card is a concept of prepaid calling. The calling card company either purchases calls in a lot (huge) from PSTN companies in cheap price and sells to us or it uses VOIP call internally for providing us cheap rated calls. But basic concept here, no billing concept, just pay in advance for vouchers for some denominations and use it for international calls. International Calling cards are much more cheaper than international PSTN calls.
Examples of Calling Cards (If in USA) : MotherIndiaCard, Pennytalk, NobelCom, OnetouchIndia, Localphone, AirtelCallHome etc. etc.
Now VOIP Service :
VOIP calls are revolutionizing phone call industry. Its the cheapest, sometimes free calls we can afford to call globally. How its possible !! Thanks to technology. Due to high speed superfast broadband internet, its possible to channel the calls digitally over internet and in turn we get our calls ultra cheap.
VOIP Calls Fall in 2 categories:
1. Free VOIP Calls
2. Paid VOIP Calls
Free VOIP calls:
Examples of Free VOIP call services are like Skype voice chat, GTalk voice messaging, yahoo voice chat, msn voice etc. (They all use VOIP internally). But here the catch is that, both users should be connected to internet and and should be using the same client software at a time, like both should be using gtalk, skype or yahoo. Both users need a PC or laptop or similar device to be able to use the internet and inturn use the client softwares such as gtalk.
Paid VOIP services:
These services are paid and best thing is that neither you nor your friend need to be bound to a PC/Laptop and internet to make or recieve the call.
Either you can use your mobile or any land line number call to a local service (access) number in your area provided from the VOIP service company you are using, their server will internally redirect your call gloablly to your friends number (mobile, landline or PC).
Some VOIP paid service providers are : Skype, Yahoo Voice, LocalPhone, Nymgo, ActionVOIP etc. etc.
Any doubt ? Or do I need to include anything or cover any thing.. Please leave your message in comments.
Now, Happy Calling ! :)
I will introduce to me and to this blog's intention :)
I am a techie. Currently I live in USA. 90% of my family and friends live in India and other countries. So to contact them I need to call them vial phone calls often. I will write my story in subsequent posts about how and what services I followed to call to India cheaply even free.
International PSTN calls will drag you to hell, sucking you financially.. So alternate options are international calling Cards and/or VOIP Calls.
I will tell you what are the difference between Calling Card and VOIP Calls, and the evolution of both as relative to me and best to my knowledge.
PSTN Service:
In short let me tell you what is PSTN call, what is using a calling card, what is VOIP Call.. If you are in India, phone or mobile services you get from BSNL, Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone, Idea etc. are of PSTN kinds.
If you are in USA, phone or mobile services you get from AT&T, T-mobile, Verizon, Sprint etc. are PSTN connections.
Calling Card Service:
Now Calling Card is a concept of prepaid calling. The calling card company either purchases calls in a lot (huge) from PSTN companies in cheap price and sells to us or it uses VOIP call internally for providing us cheap rated calls. But basic concept here, no billing concept, just pay in advance for vouchers for some denominations and use it for international calls. International Calling cards are much more cheaper than international PSTN calls.
Examples of Calling Cards (If in USA) : MotherIndiaCard, Pennytalk, NobelCom, OnetouchIndia, Localphone, AirtelCallHome etc. etc.
Now VOIP Service :
VOIP calls are revolutionizing phone call industry. Its the cheapest, sometimes free calls we can afford to call globally. How its possible !! Thanks to technology. Due to high speed superfast broadband internet, its possible to channel the calls digitally over internet and in turn we get our calls ultra cheap.
VOIP Calls Fall in 2 categories:
1. Free VOIP Calls
2. Paid VOIP Calls
Free VOIP calls:
Examples of Free VOIP call services are like Skype voice chat, GTalk voice messaging, yahoo voice chat, msn voice etc. (They all use VOIP internally). But here the catch is that, both users should be connected to internet and and should be using the same client software at a time, like both should be using gtalk, skype or yahoo. Both users need a PC or laptop or similar device to be able to use the internet and inturn use the client softwares such as gtalk.
Paid VOIP services:
These services are paid and best thing is that neither you nor your friend need to be bound to a PC/Laptop and internet to make or recieve the call.
Either you can use your mobile or any land line number call to a local service (access) number in your area provided from the VOIP service company you are using, their server will internally redirect your call gloablly to your friends number (mobile, landline or PC).
Some VOIP paid service providers are : Skype, Yahoo Voice, LocalPhone, Nymgo, ActionVOIP etc. etc.
Any doubt ? Or do I need to include anything or cover any thing.. Please leave your message in comments.
Now, Happy Calling ! :)
