Yahoo IM/text on cell phone

[crashfirepm53]

Me and my girl started texting each other in Jan.2010. I have Verizon and it costs .25 cents a text to send. not alot but your limited to 160 characters and sometimes we would have conversations via text so they started adding up.None have shown up on my bill yet. Maybe i'll get lucky.
She has a pay as you go Sun Cellular phone. .5 cents a text for her. Anyways about a month ago, she said there was a new text she wanted to try out with me.She texts me thru her phone to my phone via Yahoo IM. It is a flat fee daily, weekly or monthly but i think a month is $7.00. Its works great just like Yahoo IM on the PC and saves me alot of cash. Plus she doesnt have to go to the cafe as much to chat so it pays for itself. It appears to be phone to phone only.
I haven't heard anyone else talk about this so maybe somebody else can take advantage of this feature too.

[Woody]

Another thing to consider is using Google Voice. For me it is great because I get 4-7 cents a minute to any number in Colombia ( https://www.google.com/voice/rates ).

The huge bonus is that I can send text to Comcel phones completely free.(Haven't tried the other carriers)

Philippines is 11 cents for landline and 17 cents for cell phones.

Another advantage to a google voice number is that you can text from e-mail if you want. So if she has access to a computer and you set her up with a google voice number, she can text back and forth from a stateside number.

It was great being able to text my friends while I was in Colombia(I had Comcel mobile data on my iPhone while there, so I would text them using email).


One caveat, texting may not work to certain international mobile carriers, test it out before you get all excited. If she replies to your text, and you have forwarding to your cellphone enabled, the text will show as from a 406 area code number. Once you have this number, you can text it from your cell and it will forward overseas(usually, international is still a but iffy with google voice and texts, but it is free).

[robert angel]

>>Another thing to consider is using Google Voice---Philippines is 11 cents for landline and 17 cents for cell phones<<

Thanks!

[thekfc]

Crash, also look into getting a MagicJack.
You buy it & activate it in the USA - you will get a US number of your choosing. You save your cell phone & land line number as a contact to be used as 1-touch dialing/easy dialing on her end.
Then you take it to the Philippines, connect it to a computer with internet connection & also to a phone at the other end of the jack.

The good thing - ALL phone calls that she makes to you in the USA are treated as a local call - NO additional charge beyond the initially purchase price.

Recap:
Since the MagicJack is registered in your name & activated in the USA with a USA number - ALL calls made to/from a US number is a local plan - regardless of where (what country) the MagicJack is being used.  For the first year the only charge you incur is the cost of buying the magicJack (I think it is $39,99). After the first year, the cost is $19.99 a year to maintain phone service.

Warning - any calls she make on the MagicJack to The Philippines will be considered international as the magicjack is US based.

I did bring one to Philippines with me last January. Ahya use it to call me on the weekends and her sister &  brother-in-law use it to call family members in Canada & California.

[bcc_1_2]

Especially with the time difference I really don't see the need to text via cell phones. But then again I rarely text at all period.

Best to exchange emails, set aside some time each week to stay in touch... but no reason to run up phone bills when you can webcam chat for free whenever you want. Spend that money on your next airline ticket.

[crashfirepm53]

Especially with the time difference I really don't see the need to text via cell phones. But then again I rarely text at all period.

Best to exchange emails, set aside some time each week to stay in touch... but no reason to run up phone bills when you can webcam chat for free whenever you want. Spend that money on your next airline ticket.

Texting may not work out for some but for us, it's perfect. I work nights here and she works nights there. So she is awake for the last 6-8 hours of my shift and she is getting off from work in my early evening.

She doesn't have a computer unless she goes to cafe so the Majicjack isn't an option.

Since I'm not paying a text fee and she isn't going to cafe every other day, we save money and I can call her every week. I have ATT asiansaver. $8.00 a month with 60 minutes included then .20 cents per minute after that including cell disconnect charge.

I used calling cards before but honestly, the voice quality is hit or miss. Also the actual minutes you get is way off from the cards advertised. At least ATT I get the minutes I pay for and excellent voice quality.

[Jeff S]

Check out Skype too. It's free computer to computer anywhere in the world, and I call landlines in Japan for 2.9 cents a minute to Japan and 6 cents a minute to cellphones in Malyasia.

I tried Magic Jack but really really disliked it. Poor call quality, the software is buggy, and you have to download special software to uninstall it. If anyone wants one, I'll sell you mine cheap.

[thekfc]

I tried Magic Jack but really really disliked it. Poor call quality, the software is buggy, and you have to download special software to uninstall it. If anyone wants one, I'll sell you mine cheap.

I am having the opposite experience as you. I get good quality even when we are on speaker phone. I spoke to Ahya yesterday for about 4 hours - she was using a wireless headset I sent her & I clearly heard every word that she said & vice versa.

[Dave H]

I am having the opposite experience as you. I get good quality even when we are on speaker phone. I spoke to Ahya yesterday for about 4 hours - she was using a wireless headset I sent her & I clearly heard every word that she said & vice versa.

Same here! I have 3, 1 for home, 1 for travel, and a spare. It usually works great for me even with my slow Philippine DSL connection. I called my wife in the Philippines  and relatives in the US from various airports (Detroit, Chicago, Seoul) using my MagicJack. My laptop was connected to airport WiFi.

Dave