calling overseas - not skype or wechat

[atongmu]

Hi all

 

I have lived in China on and off for quite a while.

 

Years ago you could buy phone cards which would allow you to call overseas. 

 

Usually I use wechat with family, and skype if I need to. But recently skype has been very unreliable, and I need to speak in a professional situation (with a solicitor) where skype isn't good enough. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? Do the old fashioned phone cards still exist?

 

cheers

atongmu

 

 

[LinZhenPu]

I am also interested in this. Skype is too unreliable.

[Mati1]

In my experience Skype is more reliable than QQ calls. I haven't used Wechat for realtime voice chat yet.

 

Can you go to a big post office to use a phone and pay them when the call is over, or pay with those phone cards which you buy directly from them? In Austria you can do something like that.

[tiantian]

Umm, why not just use a land line telephone? Too expensive?

[LinZhenPu]

2 minutes ago, tiantian said:

Umm, why not just use a land line telephone? Too expensive?

Normal regular landline international call is SUPER expensive. Also, no access to a land line.

[889]

VOIP services in China are like VPNs: they sometimes work they sometimes don't, and what works one place for one person may not work for someone else elsewhere, even in the same city.

 

Best advice is to sign up for two or three of these services before heading to China. Like Skype, there's usually no upfront cost, except whatever you deposit in your account.

 

Not much different than taking two or three ATM cards in case there's a problem with one.

[LinZhenPu]

39 minutes ago, 889 said:

VOIP services in China are like VPNs: they sometimes work they sometimes don't, and what works one place for one person may not work for someone else elsewhere, even in the same city.

 

Best advice is to sign up for two or three of these services before heading to China. Like Skype, there's usually no upfront cost, except whatever you deposit in your account.

 

Not much different than taking two or three ATM cards in case there's a problem with one.

Sometimes the internet connection is just too bad to get a decent VoIP line out, no matter which service you use. That's why it would be good to have a traditional phone card as a backup to circumvent a crappy connection.

[atongmu]

there are not many public landlines which can allow overseas calling. 

 

I think phone cards would still be a good option, if they still exist. 

 

Has anyone done this recently?

[abcdefg]

I have a suggestion that is based on personal experience from 4 or 5 years ago. (So it might not still work today.) I have always used China Mobile for domestic and regional (inside Asia) calls. On request, they issued me a 5-digit dialing prefix and told me to use it when making international calls. Said it would reduce the cost by over half. Worked fine. Wouldn't hurt to just ask your China phone carrier if these exist where you are.

 

Lately I always use Skype and have not tried to make calls to the US any other way. Skype usually gives me satisfactory speed when I use it at off-peak times, such as early mornings. Also, I don't use my VPN when connecting to Skype; that seems to allow it to work a little faster.

 

I've used a phone card in the US to call China; but have not used one in the other direction. Know nothing about how to buy one here, but it seems from an internet search that they do exist. Use Baidu and enter 国际长途电话卡 as your search string.

[Angelina]

When I was in Beijing, I discovered a card you can use to make international phone calls. It was cheap and worked with my mobile phone. Not sure if these cards are available where you are right now. Have you moved places? 

 

I am not sure if these cards do not exist anymore. Do you know the Chinese word for them? 

 

It would be sad if they have been discontinued because using them was really convenient.

[abcdefg]

>>"Do you know the Chinese word for them?" 

 

国际长途电话卡

 

https://shop105464562.world.taobao.com/

[Angelina]

Still here then. Nice.

[atongmu]

2 hours ago, abcdefg said:

国际长途电话卡

 

https://shop105464562.world.taobao.com/

 

thanks this is exactly what I need!! I can't believe I didnt think to check on taobao haha. i just bought one so i will update with my success or otherwise :-)

[LinZhenPu]

There's also this to try: https://www.cardcall.com.au

[atongmu]

I did say in February I would update this!

 

So I bought the calling card on taobao which abcdefg recommended in this thread. They text you with a code can you download their app and it works very well. It is much clearer than skype. It works best when I turn 4G on, when on wifi it is not so good.