If you want a telephone line in SA, you may get it next week, or next year. It’s expensive, especially if you don’t have a line already installed. And if your cable has just been stolen, well it’s impossible.
On top of this you have to sign a surety, and by now you know I feel about those. And then, when you go walkabout, you have to redirect it to your mobile (expensive) or overseas to your mobile (second mortgage material).
Then there is the issue of control. When your bill arrives at the end of October detailing R11,456.32 worth of calls (most of which you’re certain you didn’t make), it gets exciting to sort it out. Especially when you refuse to pay the full bill while they’re massaging the numbers.
Last Friday I ordered a new SA telephone number over the Internet. It was operational in just 5 minutes. I paid €25 in advance for a year’s rental, although I could have chosen a three-month option. That’s a lot less than normal line rental from Telkom, with a lot less friction.
When you call that line it rings on my mobile and on my PC – wherever I am in the world. (I could route it to my desktop phone if I wished, but I don’t need that right now.) No worries about copper cables being stolen. No worries about moving house and needing to order another number. No contracts. No sureties. No tie in. And if the power fails, the calls still come in.
It was so much fun that I also have a new UK line, as well as a US line. All of which route calls to my mobile or PC.
Ah yes, I hear you cry. But that mobile line will cost blood to make all those phone calls. Not really.
Your voice leaves your mobile phone as a stream of digits. (The sound is converted to data, and then sent out.)
- If it goes out via Vodacom, MTN, or Cell-C (depending on who you use) at some point it passes through Telkom, who exact a stiff charge for the privilege while adding no value. Think Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. This is what you currently think of as a phone call.
- If it goes out as 3G, it still costs a little money, but not nearly as much. That could be because Telkom is no longer in the loop.
- And if, as happens with an iPhone or a Smartphone, you connect to the nearest wireless network (your home, your office, the airport, an hotel, McDonalds, Mugg & Bean, etc) then the traffic doesn’t cost much at all.
And that’s the way of the future. Frankly, I think it’s worth setting up a spare line – just in case!
OK, so that’s it for receiving calls. How about making them?
Same process, backwards. This time you don’t rent a line. You start with a free account that lets you talk to anyone else on the network for free. (There are already 20 million odd users.) Then you add some money to your account (if some of your mates/family choose to remain offline). This allows you to call anywhere in the world for silly rates.
And then, if you call overseas a lot, for example, you invest in a €8.95/month account(about R100)which gives you 10,000 free minutes to the UK, Norway, US (landlines and mobiles), Sweden, Australia, and so on. From your desktop or your mobile. No contracts. No sureties. Etc.
It’s what Skype now offers. If you’ve used it in the past few months you will know that the sound quality has improved dramatically, and is now perfect. And the ease of use makes it a breeze to install. (And it’s free.)
So:
- Install Skype on your PC. It’s free. It comes with call recording if you want it, voicemail, video calling, and conference calling. (You might want to buy a headset for about R79-00 because then you can also listen to Dire Straits music and the radio while you work.)
- Install Skype on your mobile (Smartphone or iPhone) so you can call while you’re travelling.
- Rent an incoming number in SA, US, UK, Sweden, Australia, wherever.(SkypeIn)
- Consider buying some outgoing airtime (SkypeOut)- so that you can call landlines anywhere in the world, or consider splashing out and buying 10,000 minutes/month to 40 countries worldwide for about R100/mth, or about R100 for 400 minutes to SA landlines. Lots of options, in other words.
And then you can travel anywhere in the world and call your office, your home, your prospects, your clients, for the cost of a local call. (In my case, I call home for free because my wife also has Skype on her PC.)
All in one seamless service. Phew, I am exhausted just thinking about it. There’s lots more, but you can get all the skinny on the Skype site.
PS. If you once used Skype back in the dark ages (before the beginning of last year) then try it again. It’s improved with age, like a quality Merlot.