Job Discussion Forums

Griff-James · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject: International Calls

What are the best options in Saudi?

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Most people use skype over broadband.

johnslat · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject:

And, from this end (the USA) it works quite well, as far as sound quality goes. I've had about a dozen calls from the Kingdom from people using skype.

trapezius · Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:27 pm Post subject:

Skype. (or any other service like that)

brasscat · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject: Another Resource

Skype is a good choice. However, Yahoo does offer an inexpensive PC phone service, which is easy to set-up.

The calls to the USA are excellant in sound quality.

Just go to the Yahoo home page and select phone service.
brasscat

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject:

Dear brasscat,

But what about this:

PLEASE NOTE: 911 and other emergency service numbers currently cannot be accessed through Yahoo! Messenger or Yahoo! Voice services. You must use a traditional phone or mobile phone to access 911 or other emergency service numbers. Internet access and compatible PC required. Intended for use by U.S. residents only. Yahoo! Voice Phone Out and Phone In services are provided by Yahoo! Communications USA Inc., must be purchased separately and require you to download Yahoo! Messenger version 7.5 or higher. See additional terms and conditions during registration.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Sounds like a conspiracy to me. Another one !

trapezius · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject:

I know people who use it from outside the US without any problems.

brasscat · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject: Yahoo PC Phone Use

I am in the KSA and use the Yahoo PC phone routinely to call the USA and Canada every night. No issues here.

Besides, the Saudi emergency number is not 911. It is easy to access via my cell phone any time.

My PC phone number is a US based number, not an issue on the Internet.

No problems.
brasscat

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

What about phone cards? They do not seem good value at all here. In Khobar I looked at cards for 10 riyals and was told that I could only use them for about 2 minutes to call the UK or France!

Would it be cheaper just getting a landline and phoning International through a landline in Saudi?

With a mobile phone, a 2.5 minute call to France cost me around 7 riyals. Still expensive.

Why are International call cards not good value for money in Saudi, compared with the West?

Ghost

007 · Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:52 am Post subject: Re: re

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

The price for calling with a pre-paid phone card or from a call cabin through a landline is around 25% cheaper than making the call from your international connection (it's possible the charge for the phone cabin is that to the owner and not what you will pay).

In the west many international phone cards use callback or VOIP (that is to say you are in effect using the equivalent of Skype, though you don't realize it). Here there's a lot less demand for those kind of phone cards because the callback ones are banned, and the ones that use VOIP have pretty lousy call quality when you are calling India or Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, which is where most people call.

I also rather suspect you have not bothered to check the prices of international calls to Saudi from the US using these international cards. You will probably find they are more or less the same price as Saudi cards calling the other way. The rule about international pricing is that the more the receiving country charges for a call to a certain destination, the more you pay to call it from that destination.

You will see this reflected in skype out rates for example:
To the UK you pay $0.021 per minute ($0.254 for mobiles)
To Saudi you pay $1.85 - $2.64
To India you pay $0.092
To the US you pay $0.021 but $0.056 to Alaska.

You can see the STC tariffs if you go to http://www.stc.com.sa/cws/portal/en/corporate/service-tariff
You will need to use Internet Explorer or Safari though as with Firefox it doesn't work. and remember if you use Safari to never go to http://www.stc.com.sa as that will take you to the Arabic page and the link for English is off the page and there is no scroll bar, so always type in http://www.stc.com.sa/cws/portal/en/ You will not be able to find the cost of calls to the US though because the STC web site programmers forgot to include it in the drop down list!

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I used telephone a lot a few years back. I am preparing myself for entry to the 300 Club by using Yahoo Messenger.

Imdramayu · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Posts: 394 Location: South Korea

Here's a question dealing with International Calling but not about rates and prices. I wonder if anybody can solve this.

I gave my friend a cell phone with a Q-Tel (Qatari Telecom) SIM card that said it was valid until mid-October. My friend went to Indonesia and now lives there. I want to contact my friend. How can I do this from Skype or a landline in Saudi Arabia? If the number is XXX-XXXX, what would I dial (on Skype or a Saudi Arabia landline)? Would I include the Indonesian country code 62 or the area code 8 (in Indramayu)?

Bebsi · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 958

When I was in Saudi, I used Phoneserve, Net2fone and another whose name I can't recall...I think it was KSAPhone. These cards, purchased at any computer shop, allow you to make calls to various countries very cheaply from your PC to a fixed line (more expensive by far to mobiles). The UK cost me something like 3p a minute.

To call someone's PC, both Yahoo Messenger & Skype are excellent....and free!!!!!!! But I thought everyone knew this by now......... Shocked

For mobile communications, it doesn't cost a fortune to keep an Al Jawwal pre-paid on standby. You need to renew once a month or so but a 10SAR top-up will suffice. Mind you, that could affect 300-Club membership Laughing