Browsing Tag

phone service

Gmail Call Phone – Make Calls For Free Within Canada And The US

I recently received a phone call from a good friend who is currently residing in the U.S. She told me she was calling me using her Gmail account. I had no idea there was a call phone feature on Gmail, so I had to learn more and share it with you.

As it turns out, you can find the Call phone feature on the left hand side of your screen when you sign into your Gmail account.

How it works

You can phone straight through to a landline or cell phone to practically anywhere in the world. Calls to the U.S. and Canada are free in 2012 and I checked international rates and they are very reasonable. The Gmail call phone would be a great way for you to connect with friends and loved ones overseas. Although the phone quality is not perfect, it is comparable to Skype. In fact, my friend who uses the Gmail Call phone frequently says it often works better for her than Skype as it doesn’t sound as choppy.

February 27, 2012

Money Saving Tips

A Cheap Cell Phone To Use In The United States

My husband and I are currently traveling to various national parks throughout parts of the United States. As Canadians, we didn’t have a cell phone that would work in the U.S. So, after doing some research online, my husband discovered that you can buy a cell phone at Best Buy in the U.S. that is incredibly cheap.

July 27, 2011

Money Saving Tips

How We Saved $300 On Our Phone Bill By Using magicJack

We recently switched our phone company in order to save money. In the past we have used Vonage, and for quite a while it worked really well for us and it was inexpensive compared to other phone companies offering service in our area. Unfortunately, as time went on we found that the quality of our phone connection deteriorated and we also started paying more for our monthly phone bill.

So, we decided to try out magicJack. We bought the device at Future Shop for $55 including tax. It is really easy to set up, as all you have to do is plug the device into a USB port on your computer. (You need a broadband Internet connection to use the service.) Then you can either just talk through your computer, or, you can connect the phone cord directly to your regular phone. We found that we get a better quality connection using the phone, and of course, it’s way more convenient, too. However, when we are on the road, if we bring our laptop along, we could technically use our phone service, too, as long as we have access to the Internet. This means we wouldn’t have to use our cell phone and we could avoid expensive roaming charges.

August 27, 2010

Money Saving Tips

Pay Less for Your Phone Service

Telephone service can be expensive if you are not actively looking for the best bargains. A lot of people these days don’t even pay for a home line. They just use a cell phone. If you do still like having a line at home, Vonage might be a good option for you.

We’ve been using Vonage for about 3 years and it is quite cheap compared to other phone companies in our area. We pay on average $25 per month and that includes talking to people overseas in addition to local and long distance calling.

In order for Vonage to work you need to have a high speed Internet connection as Vonage uses Voice Over IP technology (VOIP). The quality is good and if you move to another city or even to another country, you can keep your phone number.

The only major downside about using Vonage is that if your Internet goes down, your phone service does too. We are fortunate to live in an area where our Internet seldom gives us issues, but if you are already have Internet connectivity troubles, I certainly wouldn’t recommend signing up for any kind of VOIP service.

There is really no need to be paying high prices for phone service nowadays as there is so much competition. Check out your different options and don’t feel like you have to stay with your current phone service provider. Besides, if you are considering changing phone companies, your existing phone company might offer you a better deal in order to retain your business. There are also some free alternatives out there such as Skype. Skype works great for connecting with friends internationally. The bottom line is just make sure you are not getting ripped off. You want quality service but you don’t want to have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

August 23, 2009