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NOTES: This section is designed for expatriates and people living outside of the United States (offshore.)  Because it is expressly designed for people living outside of the United States the selection process we used in deciding which links and resources were ultimately chosen reflects a considerations for the needs of people living in far-flung places.  We believe that by trying to satisfy the specific needs of people living offshore we provide a more efficient resource for them without overburdening the visitor with an overwhelming number of irrelevant and marginal links. INTERNET TELEPHONES- There are two basic types of internet telephone. The first type allows users to place internet calls over the internet from anywhere in the world to a router in the US who then reroutes the call via IDT (gateway) switches unto the regular telephone system.  This allows the caller to call anyone anywhere in the world who has a telephone, but it does so at a substantial savings because the first leg of the call is made over the internet from a country that may have exorbitant telephone rates to a country with more sensible (unregulated) rates. For instance, if the caller is located in Brazil they can call over the internet to a router in the US and actually make a toll free call from Brazil to any 800 or 888 number in the USA.  There are also large savings when making a standard call to a regular number using this system, because the call is made from inside the US at lower rates than a call using Embratel, Brazil's government subsidized (regulated) telephone monopoly.

Expats Save on Calls From  Anywhere To Everywhere

The second type of internet telephone allows users to make calls within the confines of the internet. (Such as they are.)  But calls made on this type of telephone cannot be rerouted into the old telephone system.   Despite this restriction many people and companies are now using computer to computer internet and intranet communication. It requires that the recipient and the caller have compatible systems, but then so did the old telephone system.

Question:  How does the Internet Telephone make calls to private telephones?
Answer:  Internet Telephony Gateways.

Overview: Gateways are the key to bringing Internet telephony into the mainstream. By bridging the traditional circuit-switched telephony world with the Internet, Gateways offer the advantages of Internet telephony to the most common, cheapest, most mobile, and easiest-to-use terminal in the world: the standard telephone.  Gateways also overcome another significant Internet telephony problem, addressing. To address a remote user on a multimedia PC, you must know the user's IP (Internet Protocol) address. To address a remote user with a gateway product, you only need to know the user's phone number. Internet telephony gateways combine voice and data on one network, hence offering a range of applications. (Q&A From ITC  Internet Telephone -  See their listing on our Internet Telephone page.)

HANDHELD PHONES & MODEM SPEEDS - The Plain Old Telephone Service handheld telephone (POTS) is far superior to a microphone and a set of speakers.   The POTS telephone is the telephone we usually  (traditionally) hold in our hand when we make a phone call.  It can now be hooked up to our computer by means of an interface that has a phone jack.  This gives additional offshore telephone flexibility.  The obvious difference between telephone calls now being made over the internet when compared to the way they were made using the old system is the cost savings and the greater degree of communications options that the new system provides. Which is to say, everything about it is becoming a better system to the old.  However, with that said, it should be pointed out that modem speed is important to a quality connection. Your modem connection speed makes a big difference in the degree of echoes and rebuffering that occurs. It is recommended that your connection speed be at least 28.8kbps. Any connection speed less than that begin to degrade the quality of your call.

TECH SUPPORT- Tech support usually means being on hold.  If you are trying to call tech support over the same system you are calling about you may encounter some problems.  Additionally, if you are calling from Tanzania on a standard phone at $3.25 a minute and you are on hold for 20 minutes you are going to be very unhappy.  The solutions are varied.  We find that purchasing hardware in the US before moving offshore is generally a good policy.  But it isn't always an option.  Most tech support we've encountered is impoverished.

We will be evaluating some of the gear listed on this section of our website from different locations around the world and reporting on it. We will also be describing the tech-support that the companies provide.  Those companies who place incoming callers on hold for more than ten minutes will recieve very low marks. If a company is so popular that it's phone lines are tied up it means that they must be making enough money to hire more tech-support help (or that it's product is deficient and they are getting too many tech-support calls.)  We hope that most dispensers of tech support will soon get internet telephone contact numbers so that those seeking tech support from the world's backwaters who find themselves on hold will at least be on hold on an interenet telephone and therefore not running up a $30 phone bill while they twiddle their thumbs. 

FAX TO WEB - WEB TO FAX - There are some excellent email to fax, fax to email services out there.  We will be reporting on some that we are using.  They allow the user many much-welcomed options.

DIRECTORIES & TRANSLATION - Please note that our Reference Desk section has a list of on-line telephone directories from all over the world and a number of language translation resources.