Calling Direct and Other Ways to Avoid Operator Assistance and Still Save Money

Phone services are much more efficient now but when the phone bill comes and you find out how much you have to pay, you wish it could be better. In this case, geography is to blame. Calls made to anyone outside your home country can cost you a lot of money, especially if it’s an operator-assisted call. However, there is a way to avoid this type of call and opt for the least costly way of communicating with someone overseas.

Calling direct
You pay for the convenience of having someone make the call for you, costing you as much as $10 a call. To save money, why not call direct and avoid the high charges? Find out the number of the person you wish to call in a directory or the internet. Next, simply dial ‘0′ or ‘00′, the area or country code of the person you wish to speak to and the telephone number.

Phone cards
An alternate to calling direct and avoiding operator-assisted calls is using a pre-paid phone card. These are cards you buy for a set denomination or number of minutes. Each time you use the card, the cost of the call is simply deducted from the card value.

Discount phone plans
These are great deals to have if you make regular long distance calls. Many long distance companies offer discount plans that can save you a lot of money thanks to reduced rates. Check with several companies to compare their offers and rates and find out the specific calling time periods for the particular country you intend to call.

Consider your usage
Extra features on your phone aren’t free. You actually pay for them. Ask for these features only if you foresee regular use. Otherwise, opt for other methods that allow you to place long distance calls on more flexible terms.

Goodbye operator?
You’re probably thinking, if all these methods of calling abroad exist, why do we still need phone operators? Well, we still do. Operators help us get in touch with countries and locations that are difficult to reach through direct dialing. They also help us get through if we need to make a collect call.

Phone operators are also privy to a lot of information about phone services such as country codes, city codes, call costs and special billings. Operator-assisted calls cost more, which is ironic, because we can actually get in touch with phone operators to ask them when the best times are to make the cheapest calls to a particular location.