I have to make a lot of international calls and wondering if there are any numbers, codes, or prefixes I can dial BEFORE calling abroad, to reduce the costs?
I have to call banks, offices and services, all of which are not able to be called using whatsapp.
I think they come in different denominations. Maybe you can ask which is best for the UK. I would try that one though. I almost suspect mine is broken or something.
I always pay the face value, I think that Shopee ad was someone looking to get rid of one.
For calls to US, get a google voice number. Free calls in/out to any US landline or mobile. The Google Voice app rings in Taiwan with a wifi connection.
I downloaded the Google Voice app but I seem to need a US number to associate it with before I can set it up. Am I correct to assume that you got a Google Voice number after you got your US mobile and then came over to Taiwan – so now you can use Google Voice to call US numbers and be called from them?
Did you already have a US number before you set up your Google Voice number in Taiwan? When I try to set up the Google Voice app on my phone, it asks for a US number to link it to – and for it to call/sms to verify.
I am thinking of getting a US burner phone to send to a friend in the US, so after she gets it, I will then set up the Google Voice app using that number. Since I will get a new US phone number via Google Voice, I figure I won’t need the burner afterwards. Does that make sense?
Google needs a US non-VOIP line to send a SMS code to verify during signup, but after you won’t need it after that. You can definitely ask a friend with a US landline that can receive the text for you. Another way is to sign up for a line on Tello.com with a 1 month minimal plan just to receive the text.
I don’t know how to do that. I do already know that Google Voice is free and has been around since Google bought it back when it was still known as GrandCentral. So to my mind, there’s a level of trust that is much more than a VOIP service that I would have absolutely no clue about.
I do recall the days of MagicJack and Vonage, and I did use those services back then. Vonage took me a LONG time to cancel the subscription, but I managed to get those done.
Now, is there a Google Voice type service for Taiwan numbers? I would find that useful to after I can start traveling again
Just to be clear, when I wrote “…Google Voice type service for Taiwan numbers” I meant getting an online voice account (similar to Google Voice) where people in Taiwan could reach you by dialing a local (i.e., Taiwan) number