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Telephone contacts, Ipads, etc.

dinodoc328dinodoc328
in Kenya & Tanzania
We are going on the August 15 trip and want to establish emergency phone contacts. We have Iphones and use AT&T as our carrier. Rates for Kenya and Tanzania are $3.99-4.99 per minute, incoming and outgoing, which of course is excessive.. Incoming text messages are free but outgoing are 50 cents per message..."packages" are available. Years ago, we would rent "international phones". Does anyone have any suggestions? We may bring an Ipad and small notebook/laptop. Is wifi in the hotels free? If not, what do they charge? Lastly, does a Magic jack or Skype work there?

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    Ilene in FlaIlene in Fla
    We never used our I-phone as a telephone. Too expensive! We only used it for internet and e-mail when we had wi-fi available at the hotels. In most hotels, it was free. Sometimes you had to use it in the lounge or the bar; sometimes it worked in the guest rooms.

    AT&T told me to go to Settings - General - Network and turn off all three items: Enable 3G, Cellular Data, and Data Roaming. It is very expensive to use these features out of the country. Use wi-fi only and do NOT listen to voice mail, as that uses a lot of data roaming.

    If you must make a phone call, use the Skype app to call the USA. It worked very well. I called my mother several times on her land line, and the cost was only 2 cents a minute! Let me know if you need instructions on setting it up. With AT&T, the cost would have been at least $4.95 per minute. Use Text Plus, WhatsApp, or another app for FREE texting. AT&T charges for each text unless you have a special plan that includes international texting.

    Hope this info helps! I'll be happy to answer any questions.

    Ilene


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    TL19711TL19711
    Ilene in Fla...I agree using an I-phone is way too expensive. I was interested in what you said about Skype! Does Skype work if calling from Australia and New Zealand to a land line here in the US? If so, how do I set this up once I download the app. Thank-you for any information.
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    Ilene in FlaIlene in Fla
    If I remember correctly, you download the app, set up your user name and password and then enter your contacts' names and phone numbers.

    Deposit funds into your Skype account using a credit card. All charges for calls to land lines will be deducted from your balance. You can set it up to automatically refill when the balance is low.

    I think Skype works everywhere since it is Internet based and doesn't use phone lines.
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    dinodoc328dinodoc328
    To Ilene in Florida or anyone else who knows:
    Regarding Skype.....has anyone purchased the U.S. based number? I think it is about $15 for three months and allows family members to dial the number. Would this allow incoming calls when we are at the hotels? If that works, am I correct that both incoming and outgoing calls would be at the 2 cent a minute rate? My wife is concerned that our kids will be unable to reach us.
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    Mac5Mac5
    We are trying to call Africa on our Skype account. We can see and hear the person in Africa. The person in Africa can see us but cannot hear us. Any suggestions?
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    Mac5Mac5
    We found the answer to our own question: Person in Africa needs headphones to hear us given the way his computer is set up. Problem resolved!
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    Ilene in FlaIlene in Fla
    To Dinodoc: I think that by using that special phone number, you're not going to get incoming calls unless you happen to be sitting in the lounge or bar of the hotel and your Internet connection via the hotel's wifi is on at the time of their call! Probably better to have kids E-mail you with their question and you either Skype or email them back when you have wifi available. (My mother is 94 years old; and something comes up with her every time we are due to leave on a trip. I just tell her to tell my daughter to send me an e-mail if she has a problem, and then I call her when we return to the hotel and I go to the lounge and receive the E-mail.)

    To Mac5: can you do a test to make sure your microphone is turned on and the volume is high enough? Call a friend nearby to see if it happens in the USA as well.
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    Ilene in FlaIlene in Fla
    Mac5: glad you figured it out. Isn't Skype wonderful when it works right?
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    dinodoc328dinodoc328
    Hi Ilene,
    You bring up a good point.....is wifi available in the rooms (or anywhere else?) or only at the bar/lobby? I figured we would set up my wife's Ipad with skype and the U.S.number in our room at night and our kids could just call. If that is not the case, I guess we just use skype for outgoing calls at 2 cents per minute? Any idea if majicjack works there? It worked great in Europe.
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    Ilene in FlaIlene in Fla
    edited August 2012
    Once in awhile, if we got online in the lounge, we could walk back to our room and still had a connection to wi-fi. But 90% of the time, you could only stay connected if you remained in the immediate area of the bar or lounge. Therefore, do not plan on using Skype on your iPad in your guest room.

    Sorry, but I am not familiar with Magic Jack.
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    dinodoc328dinodoc328
    Hi Ilene,
    Sorry to ask so many questions. Using Skype wifi on an I phone or Ipad in a hotel hot spot, I can make outgoing calls at 2 cents a minute? I guess we can't get incoming calls from the U.S. unless we buy that U.S. number... and then have to be using it in a hot spot to receive the call?
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    Ilene in FlaIlene in Fla
    Yes, approx two cents per min to a land line; no charge to another computer; however, your family will prob not be online when you are, due to the time differential.

    The incoming phone number would not be helpful for the same reason.

    Remember, you must deposit some funds in your Skype account to draw against when you make the calls.
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    dinodoc328dinodoc328
    If all else fails with respect to internet based communication (Skype, etc.), does anyone know if international calling cards work there?
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    Mac5Mac5
    We have been successful sending text messages from an iPhone in Arusha to the USA and vice versa. We set up a plan with Verizon. We make arrangements via texts to determine a time for a Skype call and then talk for as long as we want. It's great having the video component to the call. We even successfully exchanged texts a couple of times from Mount Kilimanjaro. We have had no problem thus far texting and "skypeing" to and from my husband's room at the Serena Mountain Lodge. I don't know how well this will work for the rest of the hotels but so far, so good.



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