Saving on College Phone Expenses
Many college students away from friends and family for the first time in their lives find the phone can often be a much-needed connection to the familiarity of home. But, one of the problems with living on campus is that students usually do not have a choice between long distance carriers.
So, even if you can find a company with great rates, the likelihood is that your dormitory long distance service can't be switched to the company that offers you the best pricing for your needs.
Due to this limitation, many students are paying rates as high as 20 cents per minute or more for their long distance calls. However, you do not have to overpay on your long distance calling for the next four years. Below you will find solutions that many students are employing to cut the costs of their long distance bills.
Phone Cards
Calling cards allow you to dial long distance from any phone by dialing a toll free access code and then entering a special PIN number before dialing the number you wish to call. They also are the most frequent solution used by students to avoid high long distance rates and are often the preferred choice of students making frequent international calls. There are two types of calling cards - prepaid and postpaid.
A prepaid card allows you to buy a certain dollar amount worth of minutes and once the preset limit runs out, you can not make any more calls until you recharge or get another card. Talk Home is a good example of a prepaid card that offers low domestic and international rates.
Prepaid cards are also a good choice for those students trying to stay within a budget because when the card runs out, they need to get a new one, which keeps them aware of how much they are spending.
The second kind of card is a postpaid card. This means you are billed on a monthly basis for calls you make, instead of buying a block of minutes up front. CogniCall is an example of a postpaid card. Rates are 6.9 cents per minute to anywhere in USA-48 from USA-48 with no per call surcharges, no monthly minimums and no monthly fees. You are billed monthly for all calls with automatic credit card or check card billing.
Toll Free Phone Numbers
A personal toll free number is also commonly referred to as an 800 number. You will want to find a provider that offers "stand alone" service. While most providers require you to also have outbound long distance service with them in order to get a toll free account, there are some providers, such as Kall8
and PNG, that offer toll free numbers as a stand alone service. This means that they do not require you to have any other services through their company.
A forwardable toll free number, offered by both Kall8 and PNG will also allow you to change the ring to number as often as you would like, making it possible to direct your toll free number to any number you would like to call as you need to. You will be billed once a month for any calls you make using your toll free service.
Cellular Phones
Cellular services have become a popular choice for many college students as a cost effective alternative to using the long distance service attached to their dormitory room phones. If you want to use cellular plan to save on long distance there are a few things you should look for when deciding which cellular service provider to use.
Make sure you look for a plan with unlimited free nationwide long distance and that also has unlimited weekend minutes. Plans that also offer nationwide digital roaming are best so that you can use the phone when you head home on vacations and during the summer break. Check with other students in your building to find out which services work the best at your school.
If cellular service is the route you want to go, check out the deals we have available by T-Mobile, which feature all of the "must haves" above.
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