In case you have not discovered this service yet, did you know you can make international calls from any UK phone for the cost of a "national rate" call?
(Remember that, as with any other call, you'll still have to pay your phone company's connection charge or set-up fee - this is typically 5p to 7p per call.)
The advantage over the likes of OneTel (which I also use, as it can be slightly cheaper) is you don't have to register and you can use it from anywhere, not just the registered phone line. It even works from lines which have international calls blocked.
This number works all day, every day, and can be used to call the following destinations: Argentina; Argentina, Buenos Aires; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brazil Rio De Janeiro; Brazil Sao Paulo; Canada; Chile; China; China, Mobile; Colombia, Bogota; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong, Mobile; Hungary; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Korea South; Luxembourg; Mexico Mexico City; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Panama; Peru, Lima; Poland; Portugal; Russia Moscow; Singapore; Singapore, Mobile; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Taiwan; Thailand; Thailand Bangkok; Thailand Bangkok, Mobile; Thailand, Mobile; Turkey Istanbul; UK National; US Virgin Islands; USA;
This number works all day, every day, and can be used to call the following destinations: Andorra; Bahamas; Brazil; Brunei; Bulgaria; Croatia; Estonia; Finland; French Antilles; Gibraltar; Guadeloupe; Hong Kong; Iceland; Indonesia Jakarta; Jordan; Latvia; Malaysia; Mariana Islands; Monaco; Peru; Romania; Russia Moscow, Mobile; Russia, Mobile; San Marino; Saudi Arabia Riyadh; Slovakia; Slovenia; Turkey; Vatican City; Venezuela; Venezuela Caracas;
This number works all day, every day, and can be used to call the following destinations: Bermuda; Bolivia Cochabamba; Christmas Island; Dominican Republic; Ghana; Guam; India; India, Mobile; Indonesia; Israel, Mobile; Laos, Mobile; Liechtenstein; Mexico; Nigeria; Nigeria Lagos; Pakistan, Mobile; Puerto Rico; Serbia & Montenegro; South Africa; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Uzbekistan, Mobile; Zimbabwe;
Just-Dial's especially useful from mobiles - even more so if you can use your inclusive minutes for 0845, because you only pay once. With OneTel I still have to pay them for the international call, on top on the network taking my minutes away for calling OneTel's 0800 number. In fact Just-Dial's so good I've signed up as an agent for it. (-:
A few caveats: you'll still be charged for the 0844 call even if the international number is engaged, so drop the line if you hear a busy tone! Note too that if it doesn't say "mobile", the number is for land-lines only. Also, under-18s must have the bill payer's permission before calling.
For more details, visit the Just-Dial website.
Cheers! Bryan.
The small print: "Subject to availability. Calls are charged at your service providers rates. Calls from mobiles and some networks may be higher. Rates shown are the BT Together Option One rates and are effective from 01/03/06 and may change without prior notice. Visit www.just-dial.com/instant for rates and full terms. Conditions apply. Services provided by Telco Global Ltd."
*As noted in the small print, these are the charges on a BT line. Other companies may charge more, I'm afraid. For example, Virgin Media's per-minute charges for the numbers above are 3p, 4p and 5p respectively. That's still way cheaper than Virgin's standard international call charges though, and it's cheaper than a lot of its Talk International "discount rates"!