HELP FOR MISSIONS Grace Baptist Missions Agency David Denny, Ed.D. Executive Director Email at- ddenny9@aol.com Updated 3/00 In today's world we have good telephone connections to most countries. However, rates vary. It is very expensive to call the U.S.A. from many countries. Also, there are lower rates for us to call other countries than many of us are currently paying. Since we are responsible to be good stewards of the Lord's money (Luke 19:11-27) it behooves us to examine our procedures to see if we can save. I have been investigating some plans which can be used either by those in the U.S.A. to call other countries or by those overseas desiring to call the U.S.A. I am making this information available to some of GBMA's supporters and churches. For further information call or write to Homer Stewart at 1-800-800-4601. He is a Christian School Administrator at Lehigh Valley Baptist Church, Zionsville, PA. You can write him at 7002 Chestnut St., Zionsville, PA 18092. Here's the way it works if you are in another country and want to call the U.S.A. 1. Dial an access number in the U.S. 2. After hearing it ring, hang up the phone. 3. The service will call you back at your predesignated callback number and you will be instructed to enter your destination number in the U.S.A or other country. The advantage of this system is that you will be calling using the much lower rates of the U.S.A. When you pick up the phone, you are on an American line and you can dial any place in the world just as if you were sitting in the US (Dial 1+Area Code if phoning a US number. Dial 011+Country Code if calling another country). * No sign up fee * No monthly service charge * No connect fee * No surcharge * No minimum usage requirement * No local taxes for call charges (because it is a US-based system) * No equipment to install * No gimmicks or restrictions * Payment through credit card * Access to your regular carrier is retained Also, charges are based on 6 second increments, thus, if you call for 4 and a half minutes you are not charged for 5 minutes. Provision is also made for persons in the U.S.A. to call overseas using this process and reduced rates. To give you some idea of the savings- it cost me .536 per minute to call Germany using AT&T. On Globenet it costs .50 and on Cyberlink it costs .45. And both of these systems use 6 second incremental billing. I don't know what the German system charges to call the U.S. but Globenet charges .403 and Cyberlink, .55. Calls to Australia from the U.S.A. are .41 for Cyberlink and .38 from Globenet. From Australia to the U.S. the cost is .51 for Cyberlink and .277 on Globenet. Calls to Ghana from the U.S.A. are $1.10 on Cyberlink and $1.24 on Globelink. From Ghana to the U.S. it costs $1.147 on Globenet and $1.20 on Cyberlink. As you can see, the costs vary from system to system so you may want to determine where most of your calls will be going or coming from and get the system with the greatest savings. Missionary Rex Slate, in Kiel Germany reports even better phone services since the breakdown of the German Telecom monopoly. This is apparently true not only in Germany but throughout Europe. Here's what Rex writes (Marchl, 2000): "Here is what it costs to call the USA from Germany from this side of the pond (listed are the cheapest plans available as of February 1, 2000, whose only requirement is to first dial a listed prefix number - no signup, etc.). 0.12 01015 RSLcom (Clever Call) 60/60 Takt 0.18 01066 Interroute (Easy Route 66 Call by Call) Variable The costs are given per minute in pennigs (German cents). The present exchange rate is about two to one, so the costs to call the USA 24 hours per day are then 6 cents per minute at a 60 second rate or 9 cents per minute at a variable rate - Far better than the rate structure you sent us in the first example. When we first arrived in Germany such plans were better, but today they are not. Today's data communications being what they are behooves missionaries to keep abreast of today's technology, not that which was considered cheap even five years ago. This technology is quickly becoming available in many foreign countries, even cheaper than it is in the USA." Currently (Feb. 2000) being advertised in national publications (U.S. News and World Report, March, 2000) is net2phone. With this service you keep your current phone company and there is no activation or connection charge. They advertise rates as low as 9 cents a minute to Australia and Germany. Rates as low as 4.9 cents a minute anywhere in the USA or Canada. Contact them at www.net2phonedirect.com or 1-800-314-9635. Another recent (1999) service is www.bigzoo.com for your USA- originated long-distance needs. They charge just 3.9 cents per minute. Furthermore, you can track your statement using the web. You do have to pay a .55 cent fee if calling from a pay phone. But from anywhere else it is .039 cents a minute. Note that this service requires you to dial a toll-free number each time you make a long-distance call. Also, you have to use it at least once every six months to keep it active. Calling to/from Hawaii and Alaska is more. Overseas calls are more too -- but still relatively inexpensive. Could you use an 800 number? There is also a service, Telcon International, which provides 800 numbers with no term commitments, no minimums, no installation fee, and only costs 1 dollar per month. Or, you can obtain an 800 number from ureach.com at no charge to you. Through this service you can receive fax and voice mail, check you mail from any phone using the 800 number and receive email notice when you have a message waiting for you. This seems to be a very handy service for missionaries on the road on furlough or deputation. Also, you might want to check out these services [thanks to Brigada]- TWISTERCOM.COM OFFERS 7 CENTS/MIN. RATE -- Here's the lowest rate I've seen for phone credit cards and incoming toll-free numbers. Try it! Pay one fee of $4.95 per month for everything, plus a one-time setup fee of $14.95 to set up the 800 number. Sounds like quite a deal. Dial them toll-free from the USA or via net2phone at 888-894-7882 or browse http://www.twistercom.com . They also claim to have Internet access at bargain basement rates too. DON'T FORGET: FREE LONG DISTANCE TO THE USA -- Don't forget about Dialpad. http://www.dialpad.com Check it out. Free long distance to the USA from anywhere in the world. ANOTHER CALLBACK SERVICE -- Try GlobalTel International. Call from the USA to these countries for these "cents/minute" rates: Germany for 13.5, Hong Kong - 15.5, Israel - 18.5, Japan - 16, Mexico - 28.5, Norway - 13.5, UK - 12.5. The same rates apply if calls are made from these countries to USA. For rates between any two other countries in the world, go to: http://www.globaltel-callback.com/rates.htm . There is no cost to open an account with GlobalTel. There are no statement fees, no monthly minimum charges and no per call surcharges. The only cost is the actual phone calls you make. Rates are good 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other features offered are secure on-line sign up, the ability to check your account information and calling details on-line and the ability to use your computer to trigger a callback over the Internet. This service can also be used as a non pre- paid calling card when traveling in North America. The current rate when calling within the USA is only 11 cents per minute! For more detailed information about this service, go to: http://www.globaltel-callback.com A final word of advice- be sure to check out other offers in the intended country of service to find out if the given figures are correct and up-to-date. You may find it saves to use local services in your foreign country and avoid the frustration of dealing with a US company while living in a foreign company. Local is often much easier.