Get
an Acienda Worldbox23GT Worldphone Interface.
What is that? It is just a Router with a built in Voice Over IP Adapter
and a hard coded piece of configuration that will tell the Voice Over
IP or VOIP device to connect to a telephone system in Toronto from anywhere
in the world where there is high speed internet.
Without going into too much technical information, basically, you connect
this device to your DSL or Cable modem from your internet provider on
the proper port and then attach a standard phone to one of the phone
ports. After this, in about fifteen seconds, you will get a Toronto dial
tone. If you attach this device to the internet in Toronto, you will
get the said Toronto dial tone and be able to call and be called by anyone
in the Toronto 416/647/local 905 area codes without incurring long distance
charges. You will just incur a flat fee of 15 dollars a month for the
Toronto phone service configured in this box.
Now, bring this device to anywhere in the world, say Manila, Philippines,
attach it on a DSL/Cable modem from an Internet provider in Manila, then
attach a standard phone to it, you will get a Toronto dial tone in Manila.
If someone calls the 416 telephone number assigned to this device, then
the telephone attached to this device will receive the call – in
Manila. And from Manila, you can call any Toronto 416/647/ local 905
landline or cell phones, the phone called will ring here in Toronto.
This is true if you bring it to any country with high speed internet
access (except in some countries where VOIP services are blocked, there
are other ways to circumvent this but that is for another topic).
You can have one in every country and call and be called as if you are
in Toronto.
Now, let us look at the cost of calling the Philippines using various
ways.
First, I surveyed a number of people about how often they call the Philippines.
The average number I got was about 300 minutes a month or about fifty
dollars. This is from someone using phone cards that charge 19 cents
a minute, and assuming that no minutes are lost to connection fees, account
setups, or a-fraction-of-a-minute-is-charged-a-minute kind of deals.
Someone using traditional long distance providers like the big telephone
companies will charge as high as 27 cents a minute to Manila. The Acienda
Worldbox23GT costs about 75 dollars, a standard telephone is about 8
dollars and a flat fee per month for a telephone number and unlimited
incoming and outgoing calls to local Toronto numbers is about 15 dollars.
If you will send this box to the Philippines and use it there, you should
also consider paying an internet provider there for about 20 dollars
a month.
So, with most callers to the Philippines, we can safely say that they
pay about 50 dollars a month for long distance calls. Now to summarize
the regular plus maintenance costs to use this Acienda Worldbox, let
us look at these numbers:
Initial
Cost
Acienda Worldbox23GT Box $ 75
Standard Telephone 8
First month charges 15
Cost to send to Manila 35
Total $ 133 (plus taxes)
Initial
Cost: Phone Card 0
Monthly Cost:
Monthly Unlimited Toronto Calling + Toronto
Area Code Telephone Number $ 15
Monthly Internet cost in Manila 20
Total 35
Monthly Cost: Phone Card 50
These
figures show that in less than nine months,
one will recover its initial costs using
this system than when using a Phone Card.
After which, the user starts saving 15 dollars
a month for as long as one uses the system.
But two benefits are attained here that the
phone card will not give. One is your relatives
in the Philippines can call any local Toronto
number from their location. This can be a
local Toronto number landline or cellphone.
This also means that you can forget about
checking your watch as you talk on the phone
to monitor the number of minutes consumed
by the long-distance call. A flat fee of
15 dollars a month covers all the calls to
and from that system. It is as if your relative
in the Philippines that received this acienda
system from you is in Toronto.
Another benefit is that your relative gets connected to the world through
high-speed internet. This means that they don’t have to buy any
more dial-up internet phone cards or incur additional Internet Café expenses.
This can easily go up to hundreds of pesos a month in savings.
With a high speed internet, you and your relatives can also use other
internet applications for various purposes. One example is they can connect
the Philippine cable stations to their high speed internet and allow
you to watch live Philippine TV. If you want to know more about this,
send me an email and ask me how. They can open up business opportunities
to service the North American market like setting up small call centres
and the likes (you will have to email me to know more about this).
I once helped a Filipino store in Virginia, USA handle orders by routing
calls to their store to Manila to take orders. But again, this is for
another edition of Do IT Yourself, and of course, you will have to ask
me. Link a Philippine office to a North American office, let Filipinos
who cannot travel to North America (probably because of visa issues)
meet their North American customers. Again, just ask me how you can do
it yourself.
So going back to the question, “What is the cheapest way to call
the Philippines?” The answer is: “Send an Acienda Worldbox23GT
Worldphone Interface to the Philippines”.
For
any IT questions or questions related to
this article, please send an email to
overip@overinternet.net or leave me a message at 416-273-3512.
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