Like Tree15Likes

Best phone plan for roaming mobile calls

Closed Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    12,323

    Best phone plan for roaming mobile calls

    My business partner is somewhat deaf and refuses point blank to use "cheaper" forms of phone call (e.g. Skype, whatsapp etc). As a result he runs up mobile phone bills over 10k a month (this month was 12k).

    So I'm trying to see if I can find a mobile plan which is cheaper. We've now got data under control with day plans - is there a call equivalent?

    Any suggestions? (shooting him is unfortunately not an option).

    MandM! likes this.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    15,557

    Well at least with all the recent travel disruptions phone bill will be a bit lower this month due to lack of foreign travel.

    Apart from that, maybe a phone card or IDD service? Sorry like you pretty much fallen to Whatsapp these days.

    HK_Katherine likes this.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,317

    That is ridiculous. I would make some company changes at that point such as no company provided phones or set a reimbursement limit. That's a complete waste especially when he could use Skype. Why can he not use the Skype app on his phone? He can link the caller ID so it shows his number on outbound and the app is not much different. I think on Android you can set the phonebook/dialer to default to use Skype dialer when calling instead of calling using SIM.

    He could use a multi SIM phone using an overseas SIM for outbound calls when he travels yet the outbound caller ID will be different consistently.

    Alternatively if your office has a VoIP phone service, there is also an app which allows more affordable calling rates when overseas (it's similar to Skype - yet more connected with your office). These are good as it makes for an easy follow me, easy access to voicemail, interoffice chat messaging and web meetings.

    lovehunter and jrkob like this.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    1,896

    Cheapest for calls is typically local sim + IDD, but the audio quality is usually atrocious. I'm surprised to hear that he prefers phone calls over VoIP - I'd say whatsapp and FaceTime beat a regular phone call in terms of audio quality. Company-wide we moved to Zoom, and zoom + noise-cancelling headphones is amazing imho.

    Completely different solution to the problem - my mom recently got her (5th or so - she had hearing problems for decade) hearing aid, this time one that directly connects to her phone via Bluetooth. Finally can have phone calls with her again - before that she basically relied on lip-reading.


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Manchester, UK
    Posts
    7,789

    when he is roaming, he is calling many different countires?? or mostly to which country??
    what service provider is he on now?


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,317
    Quote Originally Posted by er2:
    Cheapest for calls is typically local sim + IDD, but the audio quality is usually atrocious. I'm surprised to hear that he prefers phone calls over VoIP - I'd say whatsapp and FaceTime beat a regular phone call in terms of audio quality. Company-wide we moved to Zoom, and zoom + noise-cancelling headphones is amazing imho.

    Completely different solution to the problem - my mom recently got her (5th or so - she had hearing problems for decade) hearing aid, this time one that directly connects to her phone via Bluetooth. Finally can have phone calls with her again - before that she basically relied on lip-reading.
    What do you spend monthly on Zoom?

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    8,280

    China mobile. $238/month for 10GB use in HK and 44 'Asia' countries without needing any roaming day pass, or $338/month 10GB use in HK and 152 'Global' countries. Waive $18 admin fees etc to businesses.

    Also for voice roaming, BOTH INCOMING AND OUTGOING, whilst in China only 65 cents/minute, Japan/Phil/SG/Malaysia/etc only $2/min, US/UK/NZ/Aus/Europe/rest of world only $3/minute. Other companies like Smartone trick you with low outgoing rates (but still not as low as China mobile) but they really rip you off with much higher (up to 10 times) for answering incoming calls. I guess they figure most people will try to avoid making calls while overseas, but will still answer incoming calls, so they decide to screw you on this. China mobile does not screw you in this way.

    44 Asia Countries:
    https://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/po..._district.html

    152 Global Countries:
    https://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/po...countries.html

    jrkob and HK_Katherine like this.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    12,323
    Quote Originally Posted by er2:
    Cheapest for calls is typically local sim + IDD, but the audio quality is usually atrocious. I'm surprised to hear that he prefers phone calls over VoIP - I'd say whatsapp and FaceTime beat a regular phone call in terms of audio quality. Company-wide we moved to Zoom, and zoom + noise-cancelling headphones is amazing imho.

    Completely different solution to the problem - my mom recently got her (5th or so - she had hearing problems for decade) hearing aid, this time one that directly connects to her phone via Bluetooth. Finally can have phone calls with her again - before that she basically relied on lip-reading.
    we already use zoom as our corporate conference call service. I have no idea why he doesn't use it.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    1,896
    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    What do you spend monthly on Zoom?
    We're on a Business account, so myself and others having to take longer meetings have an account costing 20USD/month. Rest of the company uses the free 40-minutes max accounts (we have a few office accouts that anyone can book for longer meetings)

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    12,323
    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    That is ridiculous. I would make some company changes
    Yes, it is ridiculous. However this guy owns more than 40% of the company so "making changes" is not an option! (that said, all the other shareholders share my view!).

    DO you have names for those apps and services you mention?

Closed Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast