Popagandhi

I’ve frequently been asked what I use to stay in touch with my family and loved one(s) while I’m on the road, which is much of April to August each year. I never ever use international roaming — I don’t want to come home with a gigantic $2000 bill (which I know will happen if I used it). Available technology makes it easy and affordable to stay in touch. Here’s a quick overview of what I use.

Skype
No introduction needed: I use Skype from internet cafes, free wifi, using either available PCs or Skype on my Mac. Calls are crystal clear. Video calls a plus.

Accessibility: 8/10
Ubiquitous — as long as there’s an internet cafe with a broadband connection, Skype is bound to work. In Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, Skype is readily available in tourist-friendly areas. For less than a dollar an hour, most places will have reasonably fast connections, already have a recent version of Skype installed, and even have headsets with microphones so you can talk handsfree. Very easy to find — even easier to use.

Cost: 9/10
It costs just 0.017 eur, or S$0.035 per minute, to call Singapore mobiles and landlines. Calling India is more expensive (it always is, no matter what you’re using) — but from now until the end of July it’s 50% off calls to India, so it’s just US$0.92 to India. I’m also subscribed to Skype Pro, which for 2 euros a month (cancel anytime) one can call a set of countries for ‘free’. I call Singapore numbers for free — and I also have a local cellphone with free incoming calls, so when I’m away from a computer and internet connection, my loved ones can call me with my account. I wouldn’t know what to do without Skype.

Ease of use: 9/10
Simple. Grandmothers can use it. You can also buy more Skype credit if you’ve run out using Paypal, which makes things even easier.

Overall: 9/10
Far and away the method I use most frequently for calling home.

Pfingo
I’m a beta user of pfingo, a service of the telco i use (Starhub). It uses existing SIP telephony technology, and adds a couple of features. There’s a suite of software available for your mobile and desktop. PfingoActive is a Java client for your mobile with a news reader, email, online storage (100MB for now — upload and download files to and from remote storage directly from phone using wifi, 3G or GPRS). The instant messaging client on this is outstanding, supports MSN Messenger and GTalk at the moment. As a beta tester I’ve been able to give them my input, and every new release is improving (I asked for GTalk, and it was supported in the next release) — have also asked for a Twitter client, but maybe that’s pushing it ;)

The calling function on pfingo only works when there’s wifi, and you need a wifi phone of course (which should become more prevalent in time).

Anyone can use pfingo. It isn’t tied to your telco, nor to a number. So if you were going on exchange to Sweden, you can continue using your Swedish SIM, and think of pfingo as an added service on top of your existing telco subscription. It doesn’t lock you in.

Accessibility: 8/10
Wifi isn’t too hard to find in the big cities. In Bangkok and Chiang Mai finding a free wifi spot was a cinch (aside: if you’re ever in Bangkok, GO to the Bug & Bee in Silom, Sala Daeng BTS. cheap, good drinks and food, four levels of a pleasant cafe, free wifi, lamp and power point under most tables. third floor seems to be the favourite of every self-employed farang in Bangkok, including mine. best of all it’s open 24 hours..) Even in Mae Salong — in the mountains of Chiang Rai — there was a free wifi connection at my cheap guesthouse (Shin Sane Guesthouse). In India, I haven’t had the luck as yet. Free wifi doesn’t seem to have hit much of the country (or cities) as yet — no thanks to India’s closed telecoms industry. I’m hoping to have better luck once I hit up a big metro, like Delhi, Bombay and Hyderabad. Voice clarity is superb. As good as a cellular connection, no matter where you’re calling from, or where you’re calling.

Cost: 8/10
I wanted to give a 10 — it’s free to call Singapore numbers, so as long as I have a free wifi connection, I’m a happy bird. Prices per minute for calling other countries aren’t as competitive as Skype or Gizmo. There’ll also be a nominal monthly subscription charge, which I am told isn’t going to cost “too much” (I’ve told them I’m willing to pay, say, S$5 per month tops, haha, and be able to cancel at anytime).

Ease of Use: 8/10
Once you’ve configured it using the web interface, an SMS with settings gets sent to your phone. After that calling a landline or mobile number pfingo and wifi is as simple as connecting to pfingo server (through Internet Tel.), or dialling the number and choosing Internet Call so the server connection is made automatically.

Overall comments
Pfingo has served me very well — when there’s wifi. When there isn’t, and I only have GPRS on my phone, I still use pfingo to chat on the go (such as while on the bus to Sangkhlaburi, near the Burma border). I’ve logged hours of free talktime home and to a certain Singapore mobile number. I love the ease of using it on my mobile, though such extensive wifi usage does drain battery life. I believe it will be used more frequently — perhaps when I travel to err, more developed countries. For a service not yet open to the public, it’s great.

Others
Gizmo Project: sucks. I cannot hear anything, and I haven’t been able to use the credit I bought years ago when it first began. Is Gizmo credit transferable?

Local SIM + Calling Card: It can be reasonably cheap to call using a local SIM. In Thailand, using an AIS or DTAC card gives you country-wide access to the cellular network, and to call Singapore or the United States is a measly 7 baht per minute — provide you affix 009 or 008 (respectively) behind the numbers you call. Most of these prepaid cards will give you free incoming calls. In many shops around Singapore there are cheap calling cards where for $7 or $8 you get a $10 card with different minutes to various countries — I find Mustafa Centre’s S$6.90 card for 60 minutes to India far and away the best in voice clarity. Each card varies the country you’re calling, some give better value for China, others for India. You dial a local number with a mobile or landline, enter a PIN, then call the number. It’s pretty good if you have free incoming calls in another country, and the person doing the calling isn’t averse to going through so many steps just to talk to you.

PCO/STD/ISD: If you’re ever in India — or Indonesia (known as Wartel), there are these ISD/STD phone booths offer cheap international calls and are available everywhere, even in small towns. It’s usually about 6 to 8 rupees per pulse, though if you search hard enough there are places that let you call for less than Rs 3, so if you’re prepared to sit inside a badly ventilated phone booth and talk while Indian traffic whizzes by — ISD calls are great!

Other Internet services: Some enterprising local companies will offer internet calls with good voice clarity at good per-minute rates. India’s Sify, the biggest chain of internet cafes, also offers cut-rate internet calls in booths similar to the STD/ISD booths.

Last Words
I call Singapore just about everyday for more than half an hour — obviously — so everything here is tried and tested!