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Posts Tagged ‘Prepaid Phone Card’

The Real Truth About Prepaid Phone Cards

In these days of information overload I prefer to keep it quick and brief in taking a simplistic look at what you need to know when purchasing a prepaid phone card. The three basic factors to consider when purchasing a prepaid phone card are;

1. The total cost of using the card
2. Features offered by the card
3. Reputation for the company selling the card

1. Let’s break these three factors down quickly. The total cost of using the card includes the rate per minute for domestic or international calling, and any additional fees or surcharges for using the card. Generally speaking a lower rate per minute typically increases the chances of a hidden surcharge. If the rate per minute seems too good to be true it probably is. However, rates per minute for making International calls can be substantially lower when using a prepaid phone card. Calling card marketing plans are very focused, so shop around and find the best rate plan for your calling needs. Look for hidden surcharges like connection fees, 3 minute rounding, and monthly maintenance fees that all add to the total cost of using the card.

2. Some calling cards today offer great features that make them very convenient to use. They include Pin-less dialing, auto recharge, and speed dial to name a few. Pin-less dialing allows you to register your PIN, when you call back for future calls the system recognizes your phone number or ANI in the phone world, which allows you to make calls without entering your PIN number. Auto recharge allows you to set up a pre determined recharge on your card. I.E. at 2.00 recharge my card back to $20.00 this way a call is never interrupted at an inconvenient time. Speed dial allows you to register frequently called numbers for quick convenient dialing.

3. There are many options today in buying prepaid calling cards. With choice comes risk. Although I am somewhat biased as a Product Manager for a major Telecommunications company I think the reputation of the company you buy from is important. Many companies come and go in this business. Shop the major Telecoms as your basis for determining what is a good deal. Then ask yourself is it worth the risk for this rate? Will this company be in business next week? We see many companies offering cards below our cost, and we sell them the time on our lines for the long distance?? Generally speaking the major retailers that sell cards use the major Telecommunications companies as the backbone for the long distance time on the card. Shop around and find the best plan for you and don’t forget the reputation for the company. MCI offers great low rates on phone cards without hidden fees. We offer features that make our cards easy to use. Look for our cards at major retailers near you.

Avoid Free International Phone Card Scams when Looking for Free Long Distance Calling Card Minutes Online.

Article summary:

Looking for a free phone card? Thinking there a catch? This article shows you what to watch out for when looking for a free phone card online. Learn a couple of free phone card tips on how to avoid a prepaid calling card scam.

Well, you’re not alone. There are plenty of people just like you, looking to find a free phone card online. In fact, 12,100 people typed in the keyword phrase “free phone card’ in google’s search engine, just last month. If you factor in all the online search engines this number could be six to even eight times that number of people looking for a cheap prepaid phone card online. So don’t feel like you’re the only person looking to find a deal with a really cheap free phone card online.

Free Phone Card Tip #1

You Have To Earn It.

Big companies know the value that a free phone card can offer to its customers. That way companies will sponsor corporate promotional phone cards as a way to run a special promotion. Most times you have to buy a certain amount of there product or do some type of task to get your free phone card minutes.

Some online sites will say that they offer a free phone card but in reality they have an in- built system that requires you to earn the points,  kind of like airline miles by doing certain things that make the company money.  So if you don’t mind being the mouse to chase the free phone card cheese. Then play the maze to win free phone card minutes.

Free Phone Card Tip #2

Read the Fine Print:

Unfortunately some phone card customers have bin ripped off when not reading the fine print when buying a prepaid phone card. Reading the terms and conditions is your first step in avoiding prepaid phone card scams.

In one case, a large online prepaid phone card business was offering free 50 minute calling card.  This company had a sneaky tactic of charging your credit card on an automatic monthly recharge basis. This happened after you used your 49th minute of the free 50 minute calling card.  Some online prepaid calling card business will want you to verify your information to receive your free prepaid phone card.  Be careful when anyone ask for your credit card information as a qualification for a free phone card.  Sometimes its understandable for a business to request this as part of the free phone card trial, just remember to read the fine print!

Sometimes you need to take a lesson from good old grandma. Nothing in life is for free! But some of these companies might be offering you corporate phone card promotion that is used to promote there brand. Because sometime you might actually find a fair deal for free long distance calling minutes online.  So yes, there is a catch!  But not when you know what to look out for to protect your hard earned cash.

You have been warned!

The Bretton Woods system of international monetary management established the exchange rates between western nations up until 1972 when there was a return to convertibility with the breakdown of the agreement.

The subsequent inflation created a shortage of coins in Italy which lead to a very high incidence of payphone vandalism and theft. To counter this the first prepaid phone card was developed to use in payphones that did not use coins but only phone cards.

These cards were made by SIDA a vending machine manufacturer. They were thin and had a magnetic strip on the back of the phone card.

The idea soon picked up and spread to other European countries in 1977. The phone cards didn’t work very well, they kept getting stuck or jamming. Nippon developed Japan’s first pre-paid phone card which worked very well and was adopted more widely.

The next big development step came when World Telecom in the USA developed a reliable phone card with Siemens and General Electric in 1987. Two years later AT&T also entered the market in the USA when they released their first pre-paid phone cards in Hawaii.

Phone cards were first introduced into Australia in 1989 when Telecom Australia (now Telstra) carried out a trial Victoria.  About 300,000 phone cards were printed for 6 different cards. They were $1.50, $3 and $6 denominations. Telecom New Zealand also trialled phone cards in Christchurch in the same year.

It was in 1990 that NYNEX in the USA developed the first pre-paid phone cards based on a PIN (Personal Identification Number) as a means of identification rather than reading a magnetic strip. They used a free phone 800 number for their access number.

Since then pre-paid phone cards sales volumes have grown steadily to more than $5 billion per year globally.

Chip based smart phone cards were first experimented with in France in 1984 but didn’t really reach the market substantially until Sprint developed its “Foncard” product in 1995. PIN based phone cards have dominated the market because they are much cheaper to manufacturer.

Six years ago the first prepaid mobile phone – phone card combo was first produced.

More recently there has been the rise of shops such as www.ephonecards.com.au that sell phone card ePINS. ePINS are phone card PINS delivered electronically over the internet. They also allow the customer to compare phone cards and choose the best phone card for their call.

It is anticipated that newer technologies such as VOIP or free services like SKYPE will take over from phone cards. VoIP has not made a great impact on the phone card market yet. This is unlikely to happen until about 2012 to 2015 when broadband and internet connections are more widely available throughout the world. Until that time phone cards remain cheaper than VOIP off-network calls.

Oh and by-the-way, Italy sorted out inflation and its coin shortage by switching to the Euro from the Lira!