Cheapest way to call Australia?

[hate2work]

I have to make about a dozen phone calls to eastern Australia. I want the connection to be clear, easy to understand.

So far I found a company with a local access number that charges just 3 cents per minute.

Anybody know of any hidden charges/surprises that might come up?

TIA~

 

[XS650]

If you posted the name of the company, someone might know something about it.

Will you be calling a land line or a cell number in Australia, C cell number carries lot bigger charge.

 

[bmwtechguy]

I have been using these guys for years with no complaints:
Tel3Advantage.com You can start out for as little as $10.

No hidden fees or surprises, just inexpensive, clear calls. Australia is .03/min and Sydney is .02/min
Calls to Australia mobile numbers cost more at 8.9cpm
Must use a local access number to get these rates. Using the toll-free access number adds 1 cpm to rates above.

 

[Shannow]

When I was in the states, skype was cheap and goood.

(used as a phone, not video, we used $4 in two weeks).

 

[chevrofreak]

Google Voice. Calls to Australia are 2 cents per minute. https://www.google.com/voice/rates

I added $10 worth of credit (to the 10 cents Google gives you) when my mom went to Australia earlier this year, and even though we talked about 35 minutes total, I still have $9.40 left. We used Skype quite a bit, and even did video calls, which were pretty darned clear.

 

[scurvy]

Ditto on Skype or Google Voice - great services. Otherwise I would wholeheartedly urge you to look into VOIP service as you can easily get a good package deal that will replace your landline entirely.

We've been telco-free for phone service now for years and I wouldn't go back. It's basically the same per-month charge as local-only service but includes nationwide long distance, all the calling features (voicemail emailed to you, 3 way, call blocking, caller ID, etc...), free long distance to several countries & low rates to most others. Both 8x8 & Ooma have been good for us and you can save even more money if you want to DIY.

 

[crinkles]

depends on why you are making the calls. friends family etc may be OK with VOIP quality. We get spam calls a lot with VOIP from all over the world and they are bad.

if doing for work or business, just use the normal phone to call landlines.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Use Skype and get a *local* Australian number if you're calling that often.

 

[eljefino]

If it were one person you wanted to call over and over you could get them a magicjack with a US number and call them like they're next door.

 

[saberz]

Try Vonage or Optimum World Call(think its like 10-15 bucks a month?) if you call a lot.

Could get phone cards for cheap :|

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
Use Skype and get a *local* Australian number if you're calling that often.
+1

Or check on MagicJack's Australian cost.

 

[hate2work]

Originally Posted By: bmwtechguy
I have been using these guys for years with no complaints:
Tel3Advantage.com You can start out for as little as $10.

No hidden fees or surprises, just inexpensive, clear calls. Australia is .03/min and Sydney is .02/min
Calls to Australia mobile numbers cost more at 8.9cpm
Must use a local access number to get these rates. Using the toll-free access number adds 1 cpm to rates above.


Thank you, very good to hear this, as this is the company I was going to use. It's for business, so anything less than clear would not be acceptable.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
depends on why you are making the calls. friends family etc may be OK with VOIP quality. We get spam calls a lot with VOIP from all over the world and they are bad.

I've never had an issue with call quality of our VOIP services, whether I'm calling my family 1200 km away or when my wife or I have used it to call the other overseas whilst in the UK, Germany, India, China or indeed Australia.

I keep getting voicemails from a guy trying to offer me a job that's a terrible VOIP connection and it's almost unlistenable. So yes call quality greatly depends on your bandwidth & VOIP provider, but we have never had a problem with a cable modem or even our current (slow) DSL.