Internet Telephony? Callback? Telephone cards? How does it work? Why? Options?

You want discount telephone rates but are confused? What is callback? What other telephone options do you have?

 

Callback (Call-back)

uses a free "trigger call" to the switch of the callback provider. Immediately their computer calls back to your phone, that you registered before and give you an american dial tone. You use this dial tone to make your international phone call.   You will be billed only by the callback provider.
Nothing will be billed by your local phone company: From their point of view you made an international (trigger) call that did not complete. You received the callback call. Receiving a call is normally free (exception maybe cellphones or cellphone roaming charges).

Direct Dial or 800 Access

uses a toll free 800 number to access the discount phone service. Usually you need a pin number as identification. Then you call the destination number. Advantage: you do not have to hang up and wait for the callback. It also works from any phone without registration, even from public payphones and hotel phones. This is the same as a telephone card. You pay only to the discount phone company.

Callback: What is Callback??

A callback Telephone phone company saves you money on long distance and international phone calls. You circumvent local phone companies and get cheap phone rates from a USA based company. The rates are frequently cheaper than ATT, MCI, Sprint, so it may be interesting even for residents of the United States (Access Autjhority/World Access offers a phone card service that allows 800 access from any US payphone. Callback discounted rates are especially interesting for residents of other countries.

What do I need to do to use callback

You need to sign up for a callback company. For this you should have an international credit card. Once you have signed up, you get your personal Trigger number. To make a phone call, you call this Trigger number, let it ring only once (so it does not pick up and no charges accrue). In seconds, you receive a call back to your phone and get a dial tone. So your phone company thinks you received a phone call. If in your country receiving a mobile phone call is free of charge, then this is very interesting for cell-phones, too. Once you receive the callback, you dial as if you were in the US, you will receive detailed instructions as to which prefixes to use. Sample dialing instructions for Access Authority.

You can program the callback procedure into your telephone . If you have large volume of calls you can even get a machine for 160 dollars that does all this for you so it feels like a normal long distance phone company.

WHy are these rates so low?

In the USA phone companies compete in a free market. The telephone companies fight for their market share. This is why their rates are so much lower than the rates in countries with a state monopoly phone company that is protected from competition and can thus afford inefficiency and high phone rates.

What is needed to use callback?

Callback is complicated??

All important numbers can be programmed into speed dial buttons on your phone: callback trigger number, 800 access number, pin codes, etc. So you just need to press one or two buttons. After you receive the callback return call, make sure your phone is in "tone" position.  The dialing prefixes are the same as if you were calling from the United States. This takes a few minutes to get used to. See Access Authority callback dialing instructions and the country code list and explanations for a few examples.

Example: a number in the USA/Canada/Virgin Islands etc. is like a interstate long distance call inside the US
instead of 001 310 123 4567 simply dial 1 310 123 4567.

In all other countries dial 011 instead of the more common 00, for example to Brazil
instead of 00 55 21 123 4567 dial the telephone number 011 55 21 123 4567  

Callback for your travelling teenage son, your girlfriend, or your business partner 

You can install callback for other people in foreign countries. You can set up any phone anywhere in the world for callback. The owner of the credit card has to sign the application and is responsible for the usage from that phone.

Access Authority offers "forced completion". Your friend dials his or her personal trigger number in the USA, rings once and hangs up. He receives the callback.   When he answers the callback, he does not need to dial, it automatically connects to yor phone. This makes dialing so easy, even children can do it. And you can be sure that they can call only you, they cannot call other people and bill it to you. 

Callback while travelling

Some companies allow you to reprogram the callback to another phone (Access Authority). Additionally, Access Authority has toll free access in the US, Germany, and many European countries. You can use the toll free access from any phone or payphone in the US, and many other countries.  

What about the mobile phone?

Callback counts as a only received call.  You make a call to the trigger number and hang up. then you receive a call, you use this line you received to make a phone call.  In many countries, cellphones are not charged for receiving calls.

In Germany, for example, it is cheaper to use callback via USA to call your friend who lives a block away. Cheaper than the rates charged by the over priced German providers.

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Billing

You will be billed from the moment you receive the callback. All callback companies do that, but they are reluctant to tell you so.  (Note: if your call does not complete, i.e. if the other party does not answer or their telephone is busy, there is no charge).  But, due to this billing procedure, it is recommended you dial very quickly once you receive the callback.

Our local Telecom
has excellent rates

This is the end of "Callback FAQ: How, why, options, rates. Call back, internet telephony, phone cards".