Ryan Lum
“I feel naked without my phone.”
Yea, I’ve heard that before. Now imagine being in a foreign country for the first time without any form of communication. Crazy! Well thankfully there are actually several amazing resources out there to help aid your phone lust. Good thing is that usually in a more populated city, it is easy to find free Wi-Fi. Below are a couple of applications that I like to use to keep in contact with friends and family as most of us will probably not activate our local phone to be used internationally. I mean come on, who wants to pay those ridiculous international charges?
All the below resources are free to use.
1) Viber
Although the call quality isn’t the best, it’s a great free application that is supported on iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows phones. It’s easy to use and integrates with your current contact list. It supports text messaging and voip. I feel like the call quality sounds a bit off, but hey…it’s free! I definitely recommend this application.
2) Whats App
To be completely honest I’ve never used this application.The good thing is that is is available for nokia, blackberry, android and iphone phones. Is is basically a free text messaging app that works on Wi-fi. It’s great because it doesn’t cost a thing to text anyone else who has this application! Just tell all the friends you meet to download this app and you can message them for free. The only downside is that I don’t think it supports calling.
3) Google Voice
I love this service because it’s basically a free phone number. You can select your new phone number upon signup and call via your computer. The call quality is pretty good and it works very well. Great if you pick a United States number, you can call all your friends and family from back home for free. The best part of this service is that you can call anyone. Unlike Whatsapp and Viber, the person you are calling DOES NOT need the same application. This means if you need to call your credit card company, your boyfriend or girlfriend, or perhaps your parents…it doesn’t matter. They do not need to download a specific application to receive your call. With that being said, get it NOW.
4) Skype
I’m pretty sure everyone knows of Skype so I won’t talk too much on this point. Available on your phone, you can do video and text messaging. It’s a great application that is widely used. Works great. The other party needs Skype as well.
5) Google Hangout
I love Google hangout because unlike other video chatting software, this one has group chatting. If you need to meet with several people, this is the only way to go. Also a great option to communicate with family and friends from around the world. Skype currently allows 1-on-1 video chatting. You must pay for group chat. Google hangout can do group chats for FREE. Works pretty well once you figure out how to use it.
