Staying in touch

Hello dear Anything Tech clients,

This newsletter touches on an important topic: staying in touch online.

I went on a Rotary Youth Exchange when I finished school in Australia and went to school in France for 12 months. I didn’t have a mobile phone at that point (early 2000!) and I remember I had a phone card that I would load money onto. To make a call, I would ring a phone number, enter a 14 digit PIN, and then the area code + landline of the person I wanted to talk to. I could only afford to call my mum once a week. She remembers living in London in the ‘60s and having to book a call to Tasmania to talk to her parents once every 3 months or so for a pound a minute! I can report there were definitely no “understanding silences” during those calls!

Needless to say the technology for keeping in touch has really changed, and the options to be in touch with people overseas (or indeed in the same country) are numerous, easy and cheaper than a pound a minute.  

The easiest way to talk to someone is using an internet-based app. This includes: Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Signal, Zoom, Facetime. There are others – these are just some common ones. These programs all use the internet to connect. That means it’s just using your data and there is no extra cost (unless you go over your data limit). All you have to do is make sure you and the intended recipient both use the same program (e.g. you both have WhatsApp installed, or you both have a Facebook Messenger account). Send ‘em a message using the app to make sure you have the right contact, then click the little handset icon and away you go! The cool thing about using these internet-based programs is that it’s easy to add video. Which means you can see people’s smiling faces (or the latest renovation they’re telling you about!).

There are also options to call people using telephony (think the old technology - like the poles and wires). The cost-effective way of doing this is going to be via a SIM card that you insert in your phone (or use an eSim) and then have access to amazingly cheap call rates. This option I think is good if the recipient you are calling does not have access to the internet (so you need to call a landline or mobile). The internet-based programs are definitely cheaper and easier to use though, so where possible try that first!

Until next time, Ruth