Hi,

I was wondering how people (espacially indians) make phone calls back home. Do we have some calling cards or special numbers etc like we have in UK/Ireland. The international calls from normal fixed line costs around 2 CHF per minute which is way too high. I am looking for alternatives as i have a habit of calling home a lot

Thx.

Download and use skype (skype.com). You can load your account with money and calls to India are pretty inexpensive (in USD it is 18 cents/min, cheaper to big cities). Free to the US until end of year after which it is 1-3 cents/min. Call quality (with my 6MBPS connection and earlier 2 MBPS) is extremely good. I have used it to call Switzerland, UK, US, India, China and Singapore and almost always use it at airports with internet...the best cell phone ever!

Yahoo also has a paid calling feature, but call quality is not like a phone (skype is).

Can you also subscribe to some local VoIP in CH?

Skype is a great option if you have a PC and don't mind 'talking' on a PC
However, for certain destinations, India included, it is not the best option.

check out Helvatel
CHF 0.18 a minute, and you use your regular fixed line phone.

There are, I believe, calling cards and pre-selection options which cost slightly less, but you wouldn't want the bother

Best rates to India are available at
www.helvatel.ch
www.raptel.ch

have a look also for the VoIP thread, this might help.

The other thing you can do on Skype is set up a local number where the people you talk to are, so they can call you at that number (which will reach you wherever you are with your computer) toll free.

To set up a number in the US costs 30euros. I'm not sure how much India would cost, or if you can do that there, but then you wouldn't have to do all the calling

ITGuy, try the FLASH calling card. I had found this card to offer some of the best rates to Asia and Mexico where I call mostly as I actually like to have the full "phone voice" on the other side. A 20 CHF card can buy you between 180-300 minutes

An Indian friend of mine recomends www.10787.ch

those two 'store-fronts' are actually one and the same operation ...!

as is 10787.ch