Three Calling Card Myths Debunked

I see a lot of the same calling card myths come up again and again, so I thought I'd address three of them today.

1. Your calling card has to be provided by your long distance provider (other versions include "Calling cards will change my long distance provider or other phone settings,"). FALSE.
Reputable calling cards are just legal dial-around services - they make the call for you over the most cost-effective lines and systems, with no changes at all to your existing phone services, plan, or provider.

2. You can't buy calling cards to be used from foreign countries in the U.S. FALSE.
In fact, you can get a better rate than most stores would offer you by buying your calling card online. Just make sure to enter the correct origination country when you search for rates (for example, if you will be using the card to call from India to Canada, make sure to put those countries in the correct areas of the search box).

3. You can't use calling cards with cell phones. Once again, FALSE, mostly.
You should be able to use your calling card from your cell phone with no difficulty at all. If you are calling to a cell phone, be aware that some cell phone carriers may restrict your calls, and higher rates may apply (as determined by the cell phone carrier).

So, enjoy your prepaid calling cards with confidence, call anywhere in the world, and call to or from a cell phone as much as you like. If you have questions about specific calling cards, just leave them for me in the comments and I will be happy to respond to them.

Another Holiday Calling Card

We introduced the Group Talk card almost 6 months ago, but I thought I'd remind you about it since the end of the year is always so full of holidays. If you have family that you won't be seeing face-to-face during the holiday season, consider a Group Talk card.

Group Talk allows you to connect up to 50 people from across the country and around the world in one call. Many members of my family will be traveling on New Year's Eve this year, and I plan to use a Group Talk card to ring in the new year with them once it hits midnight in my time zone! Group Talk is really simple to use and works with any phone. To join your call, your friends and family can call a local access number and enter your call code. An even easier way to connect is to have the calling system dial out to your group - all you friends and family have to do is to answer the phone!

Rates are low, and the quality is much better than online group calls. Besides, I know I could never get some members of my family to join an online call - I'd lose them at the idea of plugging in a headset!

For more information on the Group Talk multiuser card, visit
http://www.callingcards.com/shopping/card_profile_grouptalk.asp

Hate Dialing Calling Card Pin Numbers?

Calling cards are great tools for keeping in touch with friends, family, and business partners worldwide, but many people who make frequent international calls get tired of dialing their pin numbers. There are workarounds, like storing the pin number in your phone's speed dial, but they usually compromise your card's security and just don't save that much time.

Yes, you heard it coming - we have a solution! We have added pinless dialing capabilities to many of the calling cards that are available on CallingCards.com. (Mobile Caller is another pinless dialing option.) We've also added speed dial to these calling cards, so you can complete your call with just 5 or 6 digits rather than having to enter your pin number and destination number. Add in auto-recharge and you've got a calling card that's just as convenient as a long distance calling plan, but with rates that are up to 90% lower!

To see whether or not the card you're interested in has these features, just:
1. Search for a calling card using the search box below the header on CallingCards.com
2. Select a card that looks good and click "More Info"
3. Look near the bottom of the "Card Info" tab to see what features come with your card

If you have any questions about pinless dialing, prepaid calling cards, or speed dial on a calling card, feel free to leave a comment below so I can help out.

Affiliate Update - New Programs!

We've expanded our affiliate program! It now contains four exciting brands: OneTranslator.com, MobileCaller.com, CallingCards.com and CallingCard.com! For full details, visit callingcards.com/ap.

You can promote any of these sites from the same affiliate account (and if you're already an affiliate, you can get started right now), and track your performance by individual site or all together. Our graphic library is full of dozens of new banners for all of these brands, so you can be up and earning in no time. The commission is still the same - 10% on all successful sales, plus 10% residual commission on your customers for life.

OneTranslator is currently the only site of its kind with an affiliate program, so don't wait! If your site visitors could benefit from on-demand phone interpreters, you could be earning.... OneTranslator's customers include students, doctors and other medical staff, travel agents, professionals, and individuals from many other sectors.

Of course, if you're not interested in becoming an affiliate, you can check out OneTranslator for yourself and see how this service can help you break down the language barrier. I'm definitely looking forward to having OneTranslator with me on my next trip abroad.

If you have any questions about OneTranslator or our affiliate program, including co-branding, please feel free to drop me a note in the comments.

Calling Cards: The Perfect Gift

Some friends of mine are getting married in a few weeks, and I knew just what to get them (along with something off their registry, of course): a calling card! Since I knew they'd be honeymooning in Cancun, I got them a calling card with enough minutes to call home from Mexico at the best rate (I chose the World Access Card - no connection fee, 3.7 cents/minute, 1-minute billing increment). With the calling card, my friends can spend their hard-earned money on fun in the sun, not on calling mom and dad.

Calling cards are a really thoughtful gift for many occasions. Weddings and other big family events that demand a lot of phone time are good candidates, but so are housewarmings and going away parties (since the recipients will have lots of talking to do with old and new friends). Students and travelers always welcome calling cards, especially if they'll be going abroad, and if you shop carefully you can get much better rates online than the recipient would be able to find in his destination country. If you have friends or family who live in another country, consider tucking a calling card into your next birthday or holiday card - it will make staying in touch so much easier.

A calling card is an unexpected but useful gift that fits any lifestyle (no clutter, nothing to maintain), but is much more personal than a gift certificate or cash. Online, prepaid calling cards are also convenient, even for last-minute gifts, since they're delivered within minutes! What other occasions would be good for giving calling cards? Fall and winter holidays are right around the corner, after all....

Free Calling Cards (365 Days a Year)

Every so often, the free calling card offer we developed for Montel viewers gets republicized on "deal" and coupon websites across the internet. You don't have to wait for your budget-conscious peers to drop you that link again - you can get a free 10 minute calling card any time just by visiting CallingCards.com. You can use your free card to call from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world, landline or cellular. You don't have to give us any credit card or other payment information - just some basics like name and email address to protect you from fraud.

As I've noted in recent posts, there are a lot of consumer concerns about prepaid calling cards, many of them well-founded. Our free card offer is our way of proving to you that we won't sell your information, misinform you about rates and fees, or offer poor call quality - we've been in this business for more than seven years, and we take our customers very seriously.

Keep our free calling card in mind when you're traveling, too! International students are also fans of our free calling card...sometimes 10 minutes is all it takes to get back in touch with friends and family.

Avoid Bad Calling Cards

I just read a CNet article about prepaid calling card scams that was written about seven years ago. I think the industry has cleaned up its act a lot, but there are still things consumers must do to make sure they're getting the best deal. (This is true of any purchase, so keep your eyes open the next time you buy anything!)

Here are some things you can do to make sure you're getting what you think you're paying for in a prepaid calling card:

1. Check for fees
A reputable calling card provider will always detail every tax, fee, and surcharge that goes along with each card. This information is usually on a card's profile page or in its details (not the most obvious locations), but it's worth finding. I gave a detailed breakdown of calling card fees a while ago.

2. Check the billing increment
There are some notes about the billing increment in the article that's linked from #1, but here's the bottom line: big billing increments can eat away your minutes if you're not careful. If you buy a 100 minute card with a 10-minute billing increment and use it to make 10 calls that last 20 seconds each, your card will be used up. 10 calls x 10-minutes each = 100 minutes. But, you say, I only talked for 3 minutes and 20 seconds, not 100 minutes! Remember: the billing increment is the unit in which you will be billed, so if it's 10 minutes, anything up to 10 minutes will be billed as 10 minutes, and any calls from 10 minutes and 1 second to 20 minutes will be billed as 20 minutes, and so on.

3. Make sure you can contact the company
And that there's a customer service number for your card. Our contact information is readily available on our website, and each calling card comes with a customer service number that's printed near the top of the purchase receipt. If you can't find contact information for any company, why would you consider purchasing from them, for calling cards or anything else?

This was inspired by the Prepaid Calling Cards section of the How Stuff Works coverage of long distance scams. It's a good article, and definitely worth checking out. Some more notes, based on their information:

• CallingCards.com has been around for more than 7 years, and we won't be going anywhere any time soon. We are one of the premiere providers of online calling cards.
• We fully disclose any fees that might be associated with our calling cards, and we do our absolute best to ensure that card information is accurate across our huge inventory.
• We deliver all of our cards online, and we have a variety of measures in place to protect you against fraud at many levels. You won't ever have to worry that you will be billed for a card you don't receive, or that you won't receive a working PIN number.
• There are some things over which we have no control, like pay phone and cell phone surcharges. These are determined by the carrier, not by us.

Knowing as much as you can about your purchases is definitely a smart decision. If you have any questions about prepaid calling cards or CallingCards.com, please feel free to leave them in the comment below so I can help you out.

5 Tips for Calling Card Affiliates

We have many satisfied affiliates who work with us through our c2 affiliate programs, as well as through our private label options. Here are 5 tips that can help boost your calling card affiliate results:

1. Customize the "calling from" country to match your target audience.
Did you know that you can set the "calling from" country in your search box to display the country of your choice? If you know that most of your site traffic is from China, or that you are writing specifically to appeal to people in Turkey, this can help boost your conversions because your visitors will already be halfway done with their purchase!

2. Promote your site!
There are lots of calling card customers out there, so if they're not buying from you, it could just be because they don't know about your site. Make a quick post to let your visitors/readers know why you have chosen to offer them inexpensive, high quality calling cards along with the rest of your site's offerings.

3. Promote the free card offer!
Each new customer can receive a free 10 minute card to call anywhere in the world, so make sure your visitors are aware! Who doesn't want a free long distance call?

4. Avoid technical problems.
Make sure you have set up your links correctly, or you won't be able to track (and won't get credit for) your sales. Detailed linking instructions can be found in the marketing tools section of your affiliate account.

5. Consider a Co-Brand
Co-Brand sites feature your logo and choice of site theme - it's like having your own calling card site, but setup takes only a few minutes. If you already have a strong site brand that your visitors trust, you might want to create a co-brand site.

Why use calling cards in the age of Skype?

Many of my friends ignore calling cards, preferring to use Skype or other online voice chat to make long distance calls, often for free. With products that allow you to talk for free, why would you still need a calling card? Well...

1. Not everyone has access to the right computer equipment and a good enough internet connection.
That shouldn't be too hard to believe. Think of your parents - do they know that they can plug a microphone into the computer, let alone where? And think of the last time you were on a wireless internet connection. It was probably unreliable enough to make you question using regular instant messenger, let alone some demanding voice software. Some applications have addressed this by letting you use your computer to call out to a regular phone, but guess what - that's not free! And calling cards offer significantly lower rates than what those outbound computer-to-phone calls will run you.

2. Online chat isn't always appropriate.
"Hey, prospective international employer. I'll be on Skype from 3-6 GMT. Meet me there." As if! Voice chat is appropriate for some industries, but not for all. I might be able to revise that last sentence in a few years, but until then, some thing just require a plain old phone. What about calling a hotel in Italy to make honeymoon reservations. Think you can Skype them?

There's also a question of quality here - the "jitter" that can come with network delays (that weird-sounding thing that happens when syllables get blurred together or whole words get lost) might be acceptable when calling friends, but what about for business?

3. You're travelling.
Ever tried to track down a reliable internet connection while you're on the road? Or in a foreign country? Internet cafes are pretty common, but not many have equipment for voice chat (and many are so loud that it wouldn't matter). Also, the last time I was in Europe I paid about 15 eurocents/minute to use a computer - a phone card would have given me a rate of about 7 cents USD. Cruise ship internet connections average about 70-90 cents per minute. Enough said.

4. Scheduling online meetings is a pain.
But then add in time differences and computer glitches (network outages, equipment failures) and you've left everyone with their headsets on, staring expectantly at their buddy lists while they wait for your arrival to the chat. Most times, someone has to call the delayed party to figure out what's going on - why not save the hassle and just do the whole meeting over the phone?

I'm all for new technology, but sometimes there's a reason to hang onto the old stuff, too. Calling cards can save you time, money, and a lot of trouble in many situations.

Three Ways to Save More with Prepaid Calling Cards

1. Buy a Card with a Local Access Number
This is a great way to get more minutes for your money if you'll generally be calling from the same area. View a previous entry for more info on local access numbers.

2. Buy a Card that's designed for your specific Calling Destination
If you know you'll be calling from the US to Buenos Aires, use our search box to enter that specific information - you'll get better rates than you would for a generic US to South America or a US to Buenos Aires card. This is especially important for international calling cards!

3. Buy a Card with a low Billing Increment
I've mentioned this before, but check the billing increment before you purchase - or watch a short phone call cost double what it needs to. A one minute billing increment is usually best (and most people are already accustomed to this increment from cell phone plans); every minute or partial minute is billed as one full minute. Much better than if one minute is billed as three....

Bonus tip: Avoid Payphones!
Payphones are great in an emergency, but call from a landline or cell if you can - you'll avoid wasting calling card minutes on hefty payphone surcharges.

One more thought...
Consider a prepaid calling plan like Mobile Caller, which comes with speed dial and pinless dialing. The rates are great, the plan is customizable and can be set to automatically recharge, and it can be used from any phone.

Have you saved money with calling cards?

If you enjoy calling cards, chances are that you know someone else who might, too. After all, who wouldn't want to save money on long distance costs? Did you know that you could earn money by connecting that friend with a calling card? With the CallingCards.com affiliate program, friend + calling card = $$ for you.

(Of course, your customers don't have to be your friends. With the Internet, almost anything's possible.)

If you're not familiar with affiliate programs, here's the general idea.

1. You sign up with the CallingCards.com affiliate program
2. You put a banner or text link on your website, blog, newsletter, etc. to CallingCards.com. Your link contains your afiiliate id, an identifier that ensures that you get credit for any sales that are generated by your link.
3. Visitors to your site click on your link and purchase calling cards.
4. You earn 10% commission on every sale - and on any cards that your customers buy in the future, even if they don't use your link next time (we call that "Customer For Life").

We have some more advanced affiliate options as well, so stop by the CallingCards.com Affiliate Program site and take a look. Sign up is absolutely free, and new affiliates get a $25 bonus just for signing up.

The Truth About Access Numbers

That calling card you just picked up has a toll-free number printed on it. Should you use it?

How on earth will you choose a card to call back to the US while traveling or living abroad?

Why did your 100 minute calling card only last for 20 minutes?

Ah, the mysterious access number. Why are there so many, and why are they so complicated? The short answer is: lots of phone company business and technological things. What you should know: your access number (that is, the number you dial first when beginning your call - as opposed to your destination number, which is the phone number of the person/business you are trying to read) can have a big impact on your calling rates.

Suppose you get a card that has a local access number (a number that you can call without incurring long distance charges) and a 1-800 number. Chances are, you'll get a better rate by using the local access number - your calling card company has to pay less to route the call, and they will pass that savings on to you.

If you are buying a calling card online or buying a card in a different location than the one from which you will be using it (buying a card in New York to use in Paris, for instance), make sure the card has a local access number for the city/country in which you'll be using it. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches if you have to use the card from a pay phone (or as a guest in someone's home - you don't want your host to be billed for your calls), or from a location like a hotel that might block toll-free calls.

Many cards come with multiple access numbers, so see what options are available to you before you purchase. (I strongly advocate buying your calling cards online anyhow- no card to lose, and you save money on printing/marketing/shipping costs since there's no physical card.)

Some great ones for travelers or anyone who makes frequent calls from outside the US to anywhere around the world are the World Cards from CallingCards.com. World Calls, World Europe, and World Access have incredibly low rates for calls from 40+ countries to anywhere in the world. For more information on these cards, visit http://callingcards.com/index_localaccess.asp to view a list of the supported origination countries (the country you'd be calling from) and search for the best rate.

For help selecting the best calling card, you can always leave a note in the comments! I'm more than happy to help you find a card to meet your needs.

The Truth on Calling Card Fees

I've been seeing a lot of complaints online about calling card fees recently (none of them addressed to us), and I thought I'd give a quick primer about all of the fees associated with calling cards. Some of them are mandatory and some of them are at the provider's discretion, but all of them should be disclosed to you before you purchase a card. At CallingCards.com, we provide an honest list of all taxes and fees along on every card's profile page so that you can make an informed decision.

Remember that all of these fees vary from card to card, and not all cards will carry all of these fees.

Connection Fee
Charged every single time you connect, whether you talk for an hour or hang up after hearing 1/2 second of a voicemail message. Varies widely, from about 25¢ to $1. This is a big one to look for if you'll be using the card more than once! If you have a $10 card and make 3 calls on it, remember that your card's value decreases to $7-$9.75.

Maintenance Fee
A fee that's charged for keeping your card active in the computer system, to maintain phone lines and equipment, etc. This fee might be charged weekly, daily, or monthly, so keep your eye out. The maintenance fee is usually charged the first time that you make a call, and afterward at its specified interval. If you have a $10 card that you keep for a month after its first use, you could lose up to $2-@4 in maintenance fees.

Taxes
You'll be paying some, whether they're built into your rate or you're told about them upfront. There's not a lot you can do about taxes, but they're good to keep in mind - a $10 card with 10% tax is actually worth only $9.

Payphone Surcharge
This is just another fact of calling cards - you have to pay extra to use them with payphones. Take that up with the FCC or your local Commerce Commission. In the meantime, know that you'll be paying between 25¢ and $1 every time you make a call from a payphone.

Don't forget to check your billing increment (how the call is rounded, whether the rounding unit is 1 second, 1 minute, 3 minutes, etc. - a 1 minute call could cost 3 minutes if you're not careful) and the card's expiration date as well. Access numbers are important, too - some cards have a different rate for toll-free numbers than for local ones.

Your best bet is to read carefully and educate yourself before you buy a calling card. There are some great deals out there, but there are some money sinkholes, too - make sure you know which one you're buying! If the company you're purchasing from doesn't mention each of the points above for the card you want, don't buy it - you don't want to find out once it's too late.

I've always felt that calling directory assistance was a necessary evil - it's convenient, reliable, and still usually faster than trying to get information from the internet on a cell phone or handheld. The "evil" part comes in when the bill arrives: $1.50 per call? $2? For a movie listing? Please.

We've got an answer - new Live 411. Directory assistance for 75 cents per call, from a live operator, using the same database as the big guys so all your needed information will always be up-to-date.

Live 411 Services include:

• Directory Assistance
  Live operator and/or automated search for caller requested United States, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands phone number listings for residential and businesses. Your search can also include category and reverse phone number/address searches.
  
  
• LocationPro®
  From turn-by-turn driving directions to taxi and towing referral, our operators provide travelers with an extra level of quality and service.
  
  
• Number Reader
  Automated voice reads the number to you automatically at the close of the call. This is available in either English or Spanish.
  
  
• MoviePro®
  Nationwide listings for all major theaters including show times, theater location, economy times, phone numbers, reviews and more.
  
  
• AstroPro®
  Horoscopes are provided for each astrological sign on a daily basis.
  
  
• Weather:
  Daily and weekly weather forecasts are available for the majority of the cities within the United States. (Live Operator)

We've gotten great feedback so far, so let us know what you think! Live 411 is currently available with calling services from Mobile Caller (mobilecaller.c0m) and CallingCard.com. See more information on getting started with Live 411 here.