Getting cheaper phone calls

Part of making your fixed and mobile phones work effectively for you is to gain financially from the time invested in judging and juggling the deals and technologies on offer from the providers. The challenge lies in the fact that the fixed and mobile worlds are both highly moveable feasts. They are the quantum particles of the communications world: either you know where they are or how fast they’re travelling, but not both at the same time.

So let’s examine some ideas that will save you money on your communications.

- VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a method of making and receiving phone calls using your broadband Internet connection instead of your standard phone line. The big savings to be made are in calling other VoIP users - which in a few years will be practically everyone – via the Internet and in making international calls.

- Telephone calls via the same-brand VoIP provider (Skype to Skype or 0044 to 0044 users, for instance) are free worldwide. The cost of VoIP calls via a PC, laptop or other Internet-connected device either to a different provider or to a “conventional” fixed or mobile phone line is falling as competition continues to benefit the consumer.

- You can convert a normal phone into a VoIP phone easily. For example, if you already have broadband, plug in a box from Vonage into your phone socket, plug your old phone into the box, and hey presto, it is a VoIP phone. You pay a monthly subscription per line to Vonage and have unlimited free calls to UK landlines. Vonage also offers free calls to numerous countries internationally, including the US, depending on its various price plans.

- If you choose a non-BT provider, make sure you take your BT number with you. Should the provider goes out of business, it is far more difficult to get a “dead’ number ported over to a new supplier than a number already supported by BT.

- Consider how well the existing calling plan on your mobile matches the pattern of calls you have made over the past three months, bearing in mind peak calling periods, area coverage, roaming and termination charges.

get free advice about saving money