Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joeheckel]

Anyone using Skype to call home? I have read a few posts regarding internet issues so I was wondering if there are alternatives to Skype that might work better. What is the cheapest way to call home (USA & Germany) from Korea?

[Toon Army]

I use it all the time......but there are some other decent alternatives like Voipdiscount, Voipcheap, Voipstunt which I think work out cheaper.

Not sure if the 10/15,000 won phone cards you can buy are even better value?

[Ruthdes]

I use Skype to call home often. It costs me 2.7 cents Australian per minute. Not sure what the rates in other currencies are but you can find them on the Skype website.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en/prices/callrates/?currency=USD

To call mobiles is 26.4 cents Australian per minute, but I can't find a list of international prices on the website.

The quality isn't always the best, but it hasn't been bad enough to prompt me to find a new program yet. If the person you're calling has skype and a headset or microphone/speaker built in to their computer, you can call them for free.

One downside is that I get a lot of randoms wanting to be my friend on skype. Way more than on msn or yahoo. You can just decline them, but it does get a little annoying. You can make yourself invisible to those who aren't in your contact list, but I want people I do know (who aren't my Skype contacts yet) to be able to find me.

So, I like Skype and would recommend it, but if anyone has any suggestions for a cheaper/better quality way for me to call land lines and/or mobiles in Oz, I'd love to hear them.

[chemdah]

Skype has a deal I use where you are charged something like $10 USD a month, but you can speak as much as you want to anywhere in the USA/Canada for FREE!! But of course, you can apply this to the country of your choice.

Then if you pay just a couple of dollars more, you can talk to MANY countries unlimited. The sponsoring countries are listed on the website. Korea happens to be one of them.

Finally, you can purchase a local number and just use that. For example, if you are from Vancouver or New York, or wherever, you just purchase a local number from your area, and your friends can call you ANYTIME for nothing. But outgoing calls from your line to theirs will be a .02 charge.

And of course, you can Skype others who use Skype for free.

[joeheckel]

The feature that prompted me to look into Skype was the wifi phones they offer that do not require a PC. Have any of you tried these phones in Korea? How is the hotspots in Korea? Apparently these phones work anywhere there is a wireless hotspot which makes them as good as a cell phone without the crazy high prices.

Here is a link to one of the many WIFI phones I have been reading about:

http://accessories.skype.com/store/skype/DisplayProductDetailsPage/productID.80816800