Yes-Today

Today, I want to introduce a "cheap way" to call back to Taiwan landline via Internet given that your parents do not know how to use skype or msn. (unfortunately, it is just my case)

The website is Free Call

Here is the way I use this website:

1. Although the website says that it is free to call back to Taiwan landline, I found it cannot say it is totally free but it really costs less.  

There are several ways to top-up your credit, but I think the most flexible way is to top-up by sending text if you are using Pay & Go (Pay as you go) like me

As I am a user of O2 Pay & Go, so I top-up my O2 credit by ￡10 first

(At the same time I can also earn a free allowance to use my mobile within one month, the quota of free allowance depends on which tariff you choose and how much you top-up. Regarding O2 you can refer to another article My O2 experience)

2. After that, I followed the following procedure (the second one) and sent a text.

With your mobile phone, text us the message VOIP 640234429 ON (mind the space!) to the short number 79910.

This text will cost you £ 10.00 and your account balance will be topped up with € 7.45.

Once you run out of credit, you will automatically receive a € 7.45 recharge.

To unsubscribe from this service please text VOIP 640234429 STOP to short number 79910.

You will receive 66 Freedays!

OR

With your mobile phone, text us the message VOIP 640234429 ON (mind the space!) to the short number 81223.

This text will cost you £ 5.00 and your account balance will be topped up with € 3.40.

Once you run out of credit, you will automatically receive a € 3.40 recharge.

To unsubscribe from this service please text VOIP 640234429 STOP to short number 81223.

You will receive 32 Freedays!

3. Then as the website suggested, my O2 credit was deducted from ￡10 to ￡5 and I got €3.40 credit with 34 days Freedays. (yes, it is not 32 but 34)

You smart guys may note that some money was disappeared! That's right, it's around ￡2.

That's why I would not say it is totally free but it is really economic!

There are some limitations you should note while using this method...

Max 300 minutes per week of free calls, measured over the last 7 days and per unique IP address. Unused free minutes cannot be taken to the following week(s). If limit is exceeded the normal rates apply. With your FREE DAYS you can call for free to all the destinations listed as free! when you have no FREE DAYS left the normal rates apply (for users who call back to Taiwan landline, the calling rate would be 0.01 EUR / per minute; 0.012EUR/ per minute if incl. VAT ). You can get extra Freedays by buying credit

As I do not call back to Taiwan very often, so I passed on my account to my brother who has used it in USA and in Taiwan. There is no problem or extra charge when using it!

Note. To use Free Call, you should register first and install the software. Before you top-up, you can make a trial free call around 5 min. to test if the reception is acceptable for you. There is a function of "Phone2phone" in the interface, my stupid bro used it and was charged. So just use the function of "Dialpad" rather than "Phone2phone." (As I am not sure how it runs and whether users who use this service would be charged for extra money during their freeday)

Here is the interface of the software. After topping up, you can always check how many Freedays is left in the "Start" page and the history you called and calculate how many min. you have used by yourself in case of overdraftting.