(Almost) Free International and Outstation Phone Calls

Quite recently, I was surprised about the long period I wasn't informed about the existence of extraordinarily cheap international calls. As someone who spends half his day online, I was rather humbled when I was told about the so-called VoIP calls by my family members.

So when I was told about VoIP calls, I was utterly overwhelmed. Of course I have heard about, and have been occasionally using the free Skype calls for a long time; but its SkypeOut service, i.e. computer-to-phone calling was relatively expensive back in the early stage. It sounded to me like a cool technology in its infancy, and something which still lacked economic feasibility.

Then came along other VoIP companies. My second sister who's staying in US started using a service called "VoipStunt" which claimed to give free calls to all landline phones in the major countries of the world, including Malaysia, Australia, UK, USA, Singapore etc. In other words, I could use this service to call my Malaysia house phone without spending a single cent. Of course I was skeptical at first, as it seemed like yet another online fraud which is out there to earn some quick bucks from unsuspecting customers. However, when my sister successfully called me in Australia a few times, I was gradually convinced and converted. It sounded too good to be true, to be honest. But it was a real deal.

Last December, I became an official VoipStunt customer. I bought myself a 10-euro credit which was the basic requirement for initiating an account. That credit earned me 120 of so-called "freecall days" in which I am allowed to make free calls to aforementioned countries for free. As for mobile phones, landline in other countries and non-freecall days, the fee incurred is still so low that all IDD cards sold in Melbourne suddenly seem like a daylight robbery.

I have been using it since then for all International calls and even outstation calls. I don't know about others, but for me the overall experience has been satisfactory. There are times when the lag (the time needed to transmit the voice from your microphone to your counterpart's speaker) is high, but for such a price it's still a bargain. The voice quality is pretty good most of the time, and the price more than make up for the lag.

If you are overseas, I invite you to join the VoIP bandwagon. It saves your money.


Note 1: If both you and your family have access to broadband, then using Skype call is an even better alternative as its quality is better and you can have video call too.

Note 2: There are some fineprints behind the word "free", but for most intent and purposes, yes you don't have to spend a single cent when you make a call.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with VoipStunt or Skype. I am just a satisfied customer.