Showing posts with label saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Saving money on phone calls
You can reduce your telephone expenses by using two phone systems:
Update on 10/27/10: Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Gmail Call-phone capability I did not expect. You can call any business that asks you to press phone keys to access menu items. Simply use your mouse to click the Call-phone keys.
In recent decades, phone costs have been increasing faster than inflation. While still using the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), I had noticed my phone company adding new "fees" or "service charges to my bill almost every month. My usage had not increased, but my wallet had grown thinner.
In 2005, I abandoned POTS and connected my phone to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider. At first, they charged reasonable rates for excellent service. For unlimited domestic calls, I paid approximately $28.00 per month, including taxes. However, about two years ago, my VOIP provider also stared adding "fees" and "service charges. Eventually, my monthly bill approached $40.00. After I reduced my plan level, from unlimited calls to 250 minutes per month, my monthly bill dropped to about $31.00. Again, this did not last. Additional "fees" and "service charges continued increasing my bill so that it again approached $40.00.
A few months ago, I abandoned my VOIP provider and bought a prepaid cell phone, which usually saves money for users like me who make relatively few phone calls.
More recently, I was also able to abandon half my cellphone, figuratively. Google has added a free Call-phone feature to Gmail. Therefore, I need not pay for outgoing calls. I now pay only for incoming calls to my cell phone.
I did need to buy a microphone for my PC. However, I do not feel guilty. Under similar circumstances, I believe even Jack Benny would have spent $12.00 for a microphone.
Read more »
- A prepaid cell phone for incoming calls. The cheapest is currently 10 cents per minute.
- Googles free Call-phone feature for outgoing calls.
Update on 10/27/10: Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Gmail Call-phone capability I did not expect. You can call any business that asks you to press phone keys to access menu items. Simply use your mouse to click the Call-phone keys.
In recent decades, phone costs have been increasing faster than inflation. While still using the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), I had noticed my phone company adding new "fees" or "service charges to my bill almost every month. My usage had not increased, but my wallet had grown thinner.
In 2005, I abandoned POTS and connected my phone to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider. At first, they charged reasonable rates for excellent service. For unlimited domestic calls, I paid approximately $28.00 per month, including taxes. However, about two years ago, my VOIP provider also stared adding "fees" and "service charges. Eventually, my monthly bill approached $40.00. After I reduced my plan level, from unlimited calls to 250 minutes per month, my monthly bill dropped to about $31.00. Again, this did not last. Additional "fees" and "service charges continued increasing my bill so that it again approached $40.00.
A few months ago, I abandoned my VOIP provider and bought a prepaid cell phone, which usually saves money for users like me who make relatively few phone calls.
More recently, I was also able to abandon half my cellphone, figuratively. Google has added a free Call-phone feature to Gmail. Therefore, I need not pay for outgoing calls. I now pay only for incoming calls to my cell phone.
I did need to buy a microphone for my PC. However, I do not feel guilty. Under similar circumstances, I believe even Jack Benny would have spent $12.00 for a microphone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
