WHY pay 15 cents per minute for your outgoing mobile phone calls when you can bring it down to 3.5 cents per minute - or even lower.
The secret is in callback services which takes advantage of mobile phone plans with free incoming calls.
Callback requires some set-up which makes them a little more complicated but the huge savings to be had on your mobile phone bill makes it worth your while. Read on.
At your back and call
The principle is simple. Instead of initiating a mobile phone call directly to your friend (which costs on average 15 cents per minute) you ring a callback number. That number then calls you back and connects you to your friend. That call now costs only 5.5 cents per minute if you are using SunPage, 5.9 cents if you are using another service provider Absolute Telecom.
If you are willing to buy credits in advance, Absolute Telecom brings it down to 3.5 cents per minute for its pre-paid customers - that's over four times cheaper than a regular mobile phone call.
Callback works this way: You call a unique callback local number with your mobile phone. Your call is then either automatically ended or you have to hang up after two to three rings. Because the call is not answered, you don't pay anything.
That call is simply to nudge the callback service to ring your phone, which it does a few seconds later. Answer the call and key in the number of the person you want to ring. The callback service then makes a separate call to your intended recipient.
When the recipient picks up the phone, the callback service connects the two calls. The background work is transparent to you and your recipient.
An Absolute Telecom spokesman explained that callback operators essentially use fixed line phones to make the two calls and then connect them. As outgoing fixed-line calls are much cheaper than mobile calls, the operator can charge you a lower rate for the connection service.
Note that the caller ID that appears in your recipient's call log is not your mobile number. It is either anonymous or it will show the number of the callback service provider. Absolute Telecom, however, has a $5 per month service which assigns you a personal number. This number appears as your caller ID when you reach your friends on the service and when your friends ring you on the number, the call is diverted to your mobile phone.
Be your own operator
There is a new device called the Ring2Dial phone which actually lets you be your own callback operator and enjoy even greater cost-savings if you are a heavy caller.
Being your own operator, you don't have to pay the per-minute charge for the callback calls (compared to using the services mentioned before) but you need to invest in two things.
First, the device itself, which is $499. Second, you need two fixed phone lines. Both StarHub and SingTel offer unlimited local calls with their Digital Voice and mioVoice services. Take advantage of these fixed phone line via broadband services. If you are a StarHub MaxOnline broadband subscriber, you should already have one free Digital Voice line. Just pay an extra $10.49 per month for a second line. If you prefer SingTel, mioVoice costs $16.05 and $10.70 per month for the first and second mioVoice lines respectively.
Getting started is easy. Just plug in both phone lines via a phone splitter into the Ring2Dial phone at home. The device itself is a two-line callback and conferencing phone. From your mobile phone, call the first phone number. After two rings, put the phone down. Ring2Dial will now automatically reach you on your mobile phone. Answer the call and key in the phone number of the intended recipient.
Doing this instructs Ring2Dial to use the second phone line to ring your recipient, connecting both parties when the call is answered.
The $499 price tag as well as the $10 to $26 monthly recurring fee make this method impractical for consumers whose monthly mobile phone bills don't bust $50.
However, small and medium-sized businesses with huge mobile phone bills may find this method compelling. Especially when they can enable up to 30 mobile phone numbers to tap the callback feature of the device.
However, only one user can be active at any one time.
The phone must be physically placed at home though, as the attractively priced digital voice lines are only for residential users.
Callback services
Sunpage (www.sunpage.com.sg): 5.5 cents per minute for outgoing mobile phone calls
Absolute Telecom (www.absolutetelecom.com.sg): 5.9 cents per minute for outgoing mobile phone calls, 3.4 cents per minute (for pre-paid customers)
Callback device
Ring2Dial (www.myvoicehub.com): Unlimited outgoing mobile calls. $499 for device, $10 to $26 per month for two fixed lines.
This article was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on Sep 10, 2008.
