 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
The only affordable way to call home is by using the discount carriers. You will see many companies listing their prices in English publications but it is wise not to choose the cheapest. Use one of the larger more established services such as those listed below. For the sake of a few yen per minute you will be getting significantly better line quality. Usually they bill you in $US dollars, but their advertising will quote prices in Japanese yen. You have to read the fine print and check the exchange rate used. Many of the cheapest callback companies use what is called "least cost routing", where they find the cheapest way to get your call to your destination, through a few countries, random switchboards and over the internet. So when you do finally get through the line quality is often poor. If you want to call, with a good line, from the comfort of your own home you will need to register with one of the discount services before you can use them. The following offer the highest quality, best value services and have English support:
You can contact world:link on 03-3583-6440 or through their website which gives you information on their services. Also visit DealZone for more information on these introductory rates. Remember to visit their website through their DealZone page to get to the JET specific pages.
CALLBACK SERVICES
There are several call-back companies who offer discounted international telephone services by using the call-back system. Call-back involves calling an access number given to you by the company you register with. You let the phone ring once and then hang up and the company's automated system calls you back. Then you dial the telephone number of the person you need to reach. You are not charged for the call you make in the first place as it is never actually picked up. Your call is then routed through a few countries or over the Internet before it is connected and line quality may suffer, but it is a useful service.
You may also have heard that it is necessary to have a touch-tone phone-line to use call back services. This is not strictly true, Japan is far behind the UK and US in numbers of touch tone lines in use. NTT still provides pulse lines by default, and there are still areas that have no touch tone service available! Many callback companies avoid this problem by allowing you to press the * (star key) on your phone to switch your phone to tone after getting the callback. This allows you to use the serve without having a touch tone phone line. Companies user instructions say a tone line is necessary because it simplifies things. However, if do you not have a touch tone phone line and would like one then you can call NTT and have the service set up (details above) for a small fee. There are many operators in the call-back industry in Japan, however many are not so reliable and offer an inferior service. You will see advertisements for such companies in many publications however do be careful. We recommend i-Tel as a reliable call-back company. They offer English language customer support and their prices are listed in the table below. You can contact i-Tel on 03-5832-5401 e-mail: for Tokyo and 06-6271-2444 e-mail: for Osaka. WHICH TO CHOOSE One thing to remember is that it costs nothing to register with any of these services so it is worth trying them out and seeing which one works best for you. If you want to call direct rather than use call back, then world:link offer very competitive packages, and the line quality is superior. If you find callback to be of suitable quality and reliability then i-Tel is a good options. It is worth finding a service that you are happy with. You can compare their respective prices in the table below, but choosing the cheapest is not necessarily the best option as you will inevitably get an inferior service. There are other operators on the market but these are the most reliable. Another factor to consider are payment methods. world:link ask for credit card details and thus if you do not have a Japanese credit card you will have to use your card from your home country. i-Tel offer automatic bank transfer and post office payment as well as the credit card option. It may be beneficial to use your home credit card if your domestic currency is strong (such as the dollar vs. the Yen). Calling abroad? Visit our Useful Tools section for a handy world clock to find out the time in the country you are calling. We also have a list of all international dialing codes in our links section. COMPARATIVE RATES OF INTERNATIONAL CALLING COMPANIES World Rates from Japan - all rates shown are in Japanese Yen per minute and are flat rates apart from Cable & Wireless. For rates to other countries please check the respective company's website.
|
|
|||||||||
