Prepaid Phone Card

How a Phone Card Works

Using a prepaid phone card is simple:

1. The card must be purchased or money must be deposited into the phone card's account.
2. There must be a need or desire to make a long distance call (either domestic or international).
3. Dial a specific toll-free number, which normally appears on the card.
4. An automated system will answer and ask you to punch in the card number on the phone pad.
5. Input a Personal Identification Number (PIN).
6. The system may tell you how many minutes you have available.
7. You will be prompted to dial the phone number you are calling.

Advantages of a Prepaid Phone Card

There are many advantages of using a prepaid phone card, which helps to explain why they have become so popular over the past several years.

• Domestic long distance rates on a prepaid phone card are lower than making a collect phone call. For one to two cents a minute, a person can make a domestica call.

• International long distance rates are also low. For just a few cents a minute, a call can be made to almost anywhere in the world, depending on the limitations of your phone card.

• Prepaid phone cards are easy to obtain and can be purchased at grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, and elsewhere.

• Money can easily be deposited into a prepaid phone card account by electronically adding it with a credit card.

• A phone card can come in very handy while on vacation, staying in hotels, or visiting friends and needing to call home.

Prepaid Phone Card Disadvantages

There are not nearly as many disadvantages in using a prepaid phone card as there are advantages. However, there are a few.

• Because money must be spent on a prepaid phone card in advance of its use, there is always a possibility that the full amount in the prepaid account may never be used.

• If the phone card is lost, it can be a pain to cancel the card and obtain a new account number and PIN.

Stop Paying Long Distance Fees

Telecommunications companies charge customers as much as they can for the phone calls they make. It's true that many phone companies now offer unlimited local and long distance service for a standard monthly fee. However, paying for only local service and purchasing a prepaid phone card for long distance calls can potentially be a most cost effective means of spending you money, especially if you place few long distance calls over the course of a month.

In Conclusion

Prepaid calling cards eliminate the need to make collect calls, they erase the need to pay expensive surcharges for long distance calls made from hotels, and they usually provide the cheapest per-minute rates available. A prepaid phone card can normally also be used at any time of the day or night with no restrictions. Additionally, phone cards can be purchased through a number of providers, so shop around for the best rates.