With the advent of the Internet and telecommunications, communication has become quite economical and in some cases – cheap. There was a time when making an international call would be hassle some and so expensive that people staying away from their families would have to budget their talk time with families.  However, the Internet and more importantly the technological advances that the Internet has taken have changed all this. Today, free international calls are possible over the Internet.

Today, anyone who has an internet enabled computer can make free international calls. Of course, it is necessary that the person has the required audio hardware, like a headphone and a microphone, but that is almost a given in the modern computer models that we are using. There are several options available for a person who is looking for software to make free international calls.

Most instant messengers today allow a person to make free international calls from computer to computer. All a person would need is the person’s account name on the internet messaging service that they have signed up with.  However, one should realize that to make free international calls, it is necessary that both the individuals have an internet enabled computer and the necessary hardware.

Also, these kinds of free international calls cannot be actually relied upon, because they depend on various aspects like the bandwidth which is available on both sides of the conversation, as well as the quality of the voice services of the Instant messenger.

With instant messengers offering these services for free, there are some software and services which are dedicated towards internet telephony. Basically, Internet telephony works over VoIP, an acronym for voice over internet protocol. This facility allows a person to place and receive voice calls over the Internet. There are several services that offer these facilities. Chief amongst them are Skype, Net2Phone and Gizmo.

Out of these services, Skype follows the freemium route, where users make a free account, use the software to speak between computers, and would need to buy points, known as Skype credits to speak from PC to mobile, or mobile to mobile. These services like Skype. Gizmo are now competed with old time Instant Messengers like Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Live Messenger.  Most of these messengers also allow the user to hook up a webcam, so that they can have video calls – and all this for free.

Of course, if you want better quality and resources, you could opt in for the paid service that services like Skype, Gizmo or Net2Phone offers. If you are using your computer to make free online calls, you should make sure that you have a good quality headphone and a mic. With good quality speakers, you can actually make everyone in the room listen to the conversation.

[photo courtesy: djcodrins]

We all know that VOIP is a smart medium to make free calls to a number of destinations. Many companies and people use this as a medium to reduce their international costs and increase their revenues. Nowadays many companies have started introducing new schemes and plans to attract more number of customers to use their services. One such company that has added a few countries to their free international calls list is Net2phone.

The Service Plans and Fees of Net2phone

The calling plans of Net2phone are simply fabulous. Customers by just paying $24 per month can make unlimited calls to US, Puerto Rico and Canada. The best benefit of this plan is that customers can make free VOIP calls to other Net2phone users anywhere in the world. Apart from this, users can also make free unlimited calls to over 60 destinations for just $15 per month (this is addition to the $24)

The one time activation charge of Net2phone is $29.99 and the cancellation fees is $39.99. The cancellation fee amount stands valid only if the user cancels the service within one year of signing up. Other plan offered by this company is the 500 minutes limited plan. If customers opt for this plan they get extra 500 minutes to make free VOIP calls to anywhere in US and Canada. All they need to pay is $14.99 per month.

Features of Net2phone

Some of the features of Net2phone are as follows:
• Voicemail facilities

• Caller Id

• This service offers customers with 3 way calling facility

• Speed dialing services

• Call waiting, Call forwarding, call blocking facilities are also added to this plan

• Customers also get to keep their existing phone numbers and it also comes with 911 dialing facility

• Free international calls can be made by access codes

Most of the VOIP services are easy to setup. Like all VOIP applications and technologies, Net2phone also requires a high speed internet for it to be efficiently installed. All the user needs to do is register online and the company will later send a free telephone adapter. The adapter then needs to be plugged into the DSL modem or cable. The telephones then need to be plugged into the adapter to make free international calls.

Conclusion

Recently Net2phone has expanded their services by adding more countries to their free calling list. The complete list to which free calls facility is available can be found on the company’s website. Customers by making use of this service can make free VOIP calls to a number of destinations worldwide. The company also has a 24/7 customer support. They also have a user guide that assists customers to solve their queries.