Universal Cell: A Guide to Services

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by: clementesoles
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Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 Time: 9:05 AM
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Global mobile phone phones can seem confusing when your first start researching them. There are appears to be lots of different options, often without obvious differences, which are all claiming to be the best. But how to do you wade through all the sales talk and find the service that is right for you?

This guide will help you find the 5 main features of global telephone phone services where they can differ.

Buy versus loaning

The first main difference is choosing whether you pay for or rent your service. The main way to decide this is to think about how long you're going to need the phone, and then look at the rental cost versus the shop foring cost. And don't forget to think about future trips you might be taking. In recent years the cost to acquire your own service has dropped dramatically, so today buying your own service can work out to the same price as just two weeks rental, but you get to keep it for all future trips.

Local SIM cards versus Global SIM cards

Worldwide cell phone phones use SIM cards, and you can get two types of SIM card. The first type is local SIM cards which give you a local number and local call rates for one specific country. The second type is global SIM cards. These give you service is many countries, but usually at a higher call rate. The way to decide between these two options is think about how often you travel to a specific country. If you return many times then getting a local SIM for that country might be the best option. However, if you plan to travel to several countries then it can get expensive pay foring local SIM cards for each one, in which case global SIM cards, although with higher call rates, can work out cheaper when taking into account purchase costs and they're definitely more convenient.

Pre-pay versus post-pay

With some services you pre-pay for your call time in advance. Then, once you've used all your call time your service will cut out, unless you purchase some more. The benefit of this style of payment is that you can never go over your budget without knowing it, as you're paying up front and can refuse to purchase more. However, you can be left without a service if you use all your call time and up and cannot shop for more. With post pay services it is more like a normal telephone phone service where you are invoiced for any calls made after you have made them. The benefit of this type of service is that you won't get cut off and can make as many calls as you need to.

Call back versus direct dial

Call back services are ones that route your call through a third-party internet connection, which is a method they use to keep the cost of the call lower. Although cheaper calls sounds like a great bonus, it does come at the cost of a less convenient, and more problem prone service. This is because by adding a third-party connection it weakens the line by having more things that can go wrong. Also, the dialing procedure can be frustrating because you have to dial an access number, dial the number you want, hang up and then wait to be called back. Direct dial services on the other hand simply work like a normal telephone whereby you ring the number you want and your phone is connected directly to it. This is a much more secure and easier to use method.

SIM only versus SIM and handset

The last thing to decide is whether you can use your existing handset, and simply insert whatever type of SIM service you choose into it, or you need to acquire a second cell phone just to use with as an global service. Also, if you do need a mobile phone phone but don't like the ones offered by the international phone phone company, you can just buy the SIM card and then source the handset you want from another company.

Conclusions

If you're looking for an worldwide cell phone service and feeling confused, the best thing to do is mark each one you see against the five differences above. This will help you broadly categorize your options into easier to understand groups. Once you've done this you can decide which differences work best for you, and then find out more about the options that match your criteria and ignore the others.

About the Author

Information provided by International Cell Phone Guide. To read the full guide visit http://www.internationalcellphoneguide.com