Home > Internet, Internet Marketing, Malaysia, Review, Software > iTalk WHOA! best for international calls

iTalk WHOA! best for international calls

June 28th, 2010


It has been more than a month since I tried TM’s new project – iTalk WHOA!, and there’s more than a month since I landed myself in the USA.

Over this time of more than a month, I have used iTalk WHOA! so many times to call home, back to Malaysia and I can say it’s the best choice for international calls as far as cost is concerned.

Read on to learn why, and click on the images to view them in original size.

I still have a credit balance of over RM7 after using more than a month with a starting credit of RM 25. I don’t make calls everyday, but maybe once a week, with length as long as half and hour to one hour?

You don’t really need a guide to learn how to use iTalk WHOA! The interface is simple and Phone is the button that I used most often.

Just select the country you want to dial, enter your phone number and hit Dial.

You of course, need a computer with speakers and a microphone to make the call, it isn’t magic. 🙂
I would suggest you to use a dedicated earphone/mic if your computer/laptop has a built in speaker or mic. This is because the sound you make or the party at the other end might get ‘cycled’ and ruin the conversation.

The recipient of the call will be seeing a random general calling number, which I assumed is assigned by TM.
Quality of the call depend on your internet connectivity and also on the iTalk WHOA servers.
There are times when my voice was delayed for a second or so and I can hear my voice coming back. Bear in mind this is a call to a landline and not to a computer.

The second most used function for me is SMS. It only costs 10 sen to send one sms.
I wish though it could have a status report as I remembered correctly, there were a couple of instances where sms were not delivered.
The sms sending feature is just like Google Voice SMS. Google Voice failed to send some of my sms too.

But all in all, it was operational and worked to my satisfaction, slightly above expectation.
The best of this is its cost which is my concern, and of which I highlighted earlier. 😉

COST SAVER
If you have roamed with your mobile, you know that it’s costly to send SMS.
RM 1 for a 140 char or less delivered to somebody on another mobile phone is….. 24 hour robbery!

Yes, that’s my own mobile phone bill. SMS from Singapore, Japan and USA are all charged at RM1 each.

How about phone calls?
I think the last I checked before I fly, the operator told me the usual charge for US calls to Malaysia is RM10 per minute. I wonder why a 29 second call and a 5 second call is charged RM10.35 each!

Ok, if you’re from Maxis or the operator, hold your horses. I DO know about this *120* feature you have.
But it doesn’t apply to picking up the phone doesn’t it?
So I picked up a phone, listened for 3 seconds, and I pay you RM5.50.
Business? Donation? Robbery?

If you’re a Maxis subscriber like me, Maxis have this feature they call ROAM *120* where you actually make a call prefixing it with *120*, sort of like a callback function and you get savings around 40 percent or more.

Check their calculator to see what’s the rate for the list of countries available.

So with the savings, it will still costs RM6 per minute to call with your mobile phone from US to Malaysia.

Another option, would be to use Skype. Check the list of rates here.
Malaysians are fortunate that the country is one of those charged for 2.4 cents per minute for landlines(which is a pretty good deal, in fact the best for landlines) and 6.7 cents for mobile numbers.
The foreign exchange rate will still set them to 7 sen and 22 sen per minute for landlines and mobile respectively.
To purchase credit, you need to have PayPal or a credit card, so you might subject yourself to bank charges as well.

One more option that I got to know, is OneSuite that provides international calling service. 3.5 cents to Malaysia, around RM 1.15 per minute.

And iTalk WHOA! ?
Fixed Lines & Mobile Calls: 18 sen/min FLAT, credit with iTalk prepaid card.
Check out the rate here.

I believe this is the best rate for Malaysians calling home.
Do let me know if you think otherwise, or best if you know anything better!
It’ll definitely be handy to me. 🙂

 Follow me on twitter.





Internet, Internet Marketing, Malaysia, Review, Software

, , , , , , , , ,

You might like the following posts too :

  • » Redis in Action by Josiah L. Carlson
  • » Redis Cookbook by Tiago Macedo, Fred Oliveira
  • » Continuous Enterprise Development in Java by Andrew Lee Rubinger, Aslak Knutsen
  • » Developer Programs
  • » Running JUnit tests in Maven with Surefire Plugin and skipTests in default packaging
    1. June 4th, 2010 at 17:58 | #1

      Onesuite is good, we use them for calling US and Philippines and we share one account.

    2. Khai Shen
      June 7th, 2010 at 13:22 | #2

      It only support IE or cross browser?

    3. June 8th, 2010 at 10:31 | #3

      It only supports IE. Too bad right?

    4. July 1st, 2010 at 05:07 | #4

      For 3 years I have been using a VOIP, which charge me £10 or Euro10 and allows me to talk FREE, Yes, FREE to:
      Malaysia – landline, mobile phone : £0.045 per minute
      Singapore – Landline and mobile phone
      USA – Landline and mobile phone
      Canada – Landline and mobile phone
      Australia – Landline and mobile phone
      and other European destinations….

      and I talk as long as I want free for 90 days. I used to talk one hour every time.
      You would have to bribe me to tell you who this provider is! 😉

    5. July 1st, 2010 at 08:56 | #5

      @JoV
      £10 or Euro10 for one-time only or every 90 days?
      It isn’t really free if it’s a subscription thingy, right? Hehe..

    6. July 1st, 2010 at 15:26 | #6

      Every 90 days. I really think it’s free if you can talk for hours and hours around the world and no one is charging you or impose a fair use policy! You will feel like you are robbing them!

      It’s just that I don’t have the habit of hanging on the phone for long every day… else it would be really worthwhile. are you interested yet? 😉

    7. July 5th, 2010 at 19:02 | #7

      @JoV
      Fair use policy haha.. sounds like my internet provider.

      I have no habit with hanging on the phone too, since many years ago 😛 but yes.. i’m still interested.

      What kind of bribe do you accept? LoL..

    8. July 7th, 2010 at 16:18 | #8

      I will accept a lifetime of free books and a lifetime of unconditional online IT support and advice from someone of high calibre as yourself.

      Is that a deal? 😉 if so, I’ll send the website to you for download as soon as you sign on the dotted line.

      ………………………………..
      8)

    1. No trackbacks yet.