Rebtel Provides “Free,” But Complex International Calling Service - Need to make an international call but don’t have a phone card? New internet-based phone services allow users to make cheap or even “free” long distance calls from their mobile phones without relying on an internet connection to place a call. New mobile VoIP services like Talkster and Rebtel, offer competitive calling rates by converting international phone numbers into local numbers. We discussed Talkster in October, finding it useful as long as users were willing to sit through ads. Is Rebtel any easier to use? Rebtel’s service is almost identical to Talkster, though Rebtel does not require users to listen to advertisements. Rebtel users can make international calls two different ways. With the “Direct Call” option, users set up an account at Rebtel.com and enter the international number they wish to call. Rebtel then provides the user with a local number (a Washington, DC number that calls to a London, England number, for example). The caller then places a call to the assigned local number and pays a low per-minute rate in addition to any local calling charges their mobile operator assesses. The second option is called “Smart Call” and is theoretically free, but more complicated. As with “Direct Call,” the user registers their number on the website (or via text message) and adds the international number they’d like to call. When the call is made, however, the caller asks the recipient to hang up and call back the local number that appears on their Caller ID. When the second call is made, the original caller receives it and the two call participants can talk for free. A bonus to using mobile-based calling services is that it’s easy to store the local access numbers in a cell phone’s phonebook. This eliminates one of the frequent complaints of older “dial around” services in that users aren’t as likely to lose the access number. Operationally, Rebtel seems to work as promised. When TRAC made a “direct call” to an international location (Croatia), the service was clear and worked as advertised. Be sure to read Rebtel’s terms of service here, just to be on the safe side before using the service, however.
Consumer Reports’ Annual Cell Phone Survey Offers Helpful Tips - Consumer Reports’ annual cell phone survey offers consumers some good tips on avoiding unnecessary fees and getting around expensive carrier policies. As in other studies of customer satisfaction in the wireless industry, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, and T-Mobile all scored high. Sprint-Nextel and AT&T Mobility trailed in most metrics. The article also gives a very good overview of legislative, regulatory, and civil developments that could affect wireless consumers. For example, thanks in part to class-action suits and pressure from Washington, most carriers now pro-rate their early termination fees. In addition, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility have responded to public pressure and market demand by announcing that they will be opening up their wireless networks to third-party applications and devices. The most useful part of the survey gives consumers recommended courses of action to address some common complaints. For example, consumers who want to terminate their contracts without incurring a $200 early termination fee are encouraged to take advantage of the window of 15-30 days after service activation to end a contract, using contract swapping services like celltradeusa.com, or trying to negotiate a waiver with providers. To read an overview of the article, click here. The full article is available in the January 2008 print edition of Consumer Reports or online to ConsumerReports.com subscribers.
textChaCha – A New Way to Do Mobile Search? - Anyone who has used the Internet in the past several years has almost certainly used a search engine like Google or Yahoo! to find information. These powerful tools do a great job of giving users what they want in the blink of an eye. The one catch to these services is that they generally work best when accessed from a desktop computer. With the explosion in wireless data devices, consumers are increasingly expecting to get the same level of functionality from their search engines while on the go. While services like Google SMS are trying to fill this need, it may be difficult for users to memorize Google SMS codes (like “coffee 20006” to get a list of coffee shops in downtown Washington, DC). To address this, a new company called ChaCha (www.chacha.com) recently began offering so-called “guided search” where a live human reviews and responds to a query made in plain English via chat. Starting this week, ChaCha has launched a new service called “textChaCha” which allows users to text their questions and receive answers via cell phone. Users simply text their questions to 242242 (“ChaCha” on a typical handset) and receive an answer. When we tested the service out, we received a reply to our text in less than 3 minutes, though ChaCha’s “guide” could not answer our sample question (“Where can one buy cufflinks in the 20006 zip code?”). Using the web-based version of ChaCha did work better, but didn’t give us the perfect answer we were looking for. Still, for less unique requests (“Where can I find sushi near the White House?”), ChaCha came through in both the web and text-based tests. Both the services are currently free on a trial basis. The only fee incurred will be any charges cell carriers charge for text messaging. To find out more about ChaCha, check out their FAQ by clicking here.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
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