German call-by-call telephone numbers

Split from Dialling the phone in Germany:

When calling overseas from here, you can always use call-by-call as well. Check this site for the cheapest rates:

http://www.billiger-telefonieren.de/

Has anybody found a Call-by-call number (no, I'm not talking about those numbers those millions of post-midnight TV ads) they are happy with for phone calls, in particular to the US?

Somebody sent me a file with with a lot of rates and was going to try using 01015 (1.8 cents to the US) ... any experience with this one? Someone else recommended 01051. Do these have connection fees on top of the minute rates or any other sneaky ways of taking your money?

I've never tried these numbers before even the 10-10 variety in the US, seems almost crazy that just dialing 01015 then the number will get me this fantastic rate.

I attached the file I was looking at.

Whne you dial 01015 and then the number...they actually tell you the rate whilst the phone is still ringing/connecting. The info is in German but pretty easy to understand if you have very basic German.

So give it a try!

I always use 01015 when I call to Holland. They might not be the cheapest every time, but I am always sure I get through. I know that 01051 always has over-capacity between 5pm and 8pm.

(argh, can't find link.)
Best rate for calling ANYWHERE in the US, ANYTIME from Germany is...

0190031+001+(212) 555-1212
if it connects you will hear
"Nur Zwei Comma Fier Cent por MeeNooTuh"
(only 2.5 cents a minute)

(substitue your number for the NY info line above)

If you go to billiger-telefonieren (linked above) or www.telefontarife.de you can get cheap numbers with rates that are relevant for the exact state/province/country you are trying to call.

Last week, for example, I found 0190031 (2.4 cents/min), 10186 (2.64cents/min), 10179 (2.8cents/min); all of which were cheaper than normal direct call rates. Connection quality may vary, so jot down a few numbers and don't insist on using the cheapest ones if you don't like the connection. Some numbers don't announce the rates after you dial -- these are good to look up again every few weeks, as they can change by a cent or two without your knowing it.

If you're looking for your next good read and want to know how it's possible for people to sell cheaper numbers like this and still make moeny, you can find it tucked somewhere inside Neal Stephenson's Mother Earth Mother Board article. It's a brilliant read on where your Emails/Toytown_Fix/PornorWhatever travels in order to reach the wall jack in your home or office.

we have just subscribed to a provider,
We needed to pay Telekom 5.9 erou to switch us to this provider, Now all calls are 1ct per min to Germany, UK and USA.

No price increase since january..

@Grinner - mind sharing who you switched to? By saying you switched does that mean you left T-COM and it was only 5 euro to switch?

www.preselect.de

If you have ISND, you must enter all your MSNs (numbers)

I have ISDN, but what the hell are my MSNs?

The words in brackets are a clue

MSN = Multiple subscriber number..

Do I have MSNs?

If you have ISDN, then yes.

By default, you are give 3 number by telekom, when you order with them.
You can have upto 10 numbers at no extra cost..

You shold be able to find these numbers by calling telekom from home and asking for the MSNs.

They are reluctant to give these numbers if you do not call from home.

G

I am just trying to read the AGBs for Preselect.de. So far I can't find any catches,is there one or is it as simple as it seems?

Dead fecking easy..
You get the call cost announcement, if you do not like it, 5.9 euros to swop back.

Couldnt be easier.

G

preselect.de is as simple as it seems, has no catches and has been running since the end of January. It's particularly valuable for calls around Germany and especially to UK and USA, which are all 1 cent/minute. These charges, however, are clearly dumping prices, as they are below the cost of CCT (call-carriage-transfer) from Telekom (Telekom charge such providers as this to transfer the call from Telekoms own network (your phone line) onto the provider network.

It remains to be seen how long the prices will stay this low, but as they do have an announcement prior to each call, you will soon see if/when the prices rise, and can then use another provider (call-by-call) or switch back to Telekom (another 5 Euros or so...)

I know someone using preselect.de to make calls to USA Internet providers to get US-based internet access for 1cent/minute.

If you have a decent home telephone system (using ISDN) you can even call from your handy back home, have your system divert you onto the preselect.de network and get international calls from your handy (or elsewhere) for a fraction of the normal handy tarif. This could bring calls from the your handy to to the USA for example from nearly €1/minute to under a tenth of that...

If you do change to preselect.de (or any other) be sure you use EXACTLY the same name/address that Telekom have you registered under (which does not necessarilly need to be the same as the name/address on your invoice!) and (as Grinner said) that you provide ALL your allocated numbers (only if you have ISDN). Telekom have to accept the transfer request, but clearly are grumpy to do so, and will only acccept if if the application is identical to their records.

Because their service is cut-back to avoid unessecary costs, don't expect any "service" from preselect.de if you have any questions or problems (but hell, this is Germany anyway, so did you expect service?)

YL6

There's now another company offering similar deals if you move your service to them - http://www.preselectnet.de. They also offer 1cent/minute to and throughout Germany, UK and USA 27/7, but in addition are cheaper for calls to German mobiles (17cents/min, compared to 24.6cents/minute from Telekom and 20cents/min from preselect.de )

YL6

Someone (can't remember who) posted this link

Click on it, and you can see who offers the cheapest calls to the UK.

Does anyone have a clue as to the best prefix to use when calling from France to Germany or from France to the US? All my searches only get as far as from Germany and I can't find anymore info on that.
Thanks

There aren't any prefixes in France because they have not liberalised the market like Germany has. You can only sign up to an alternative operator (like pre-select in Germany) or use a calling card.

See http://www.comparatel.fr/contenu/compar_tarif_fixe.php for (a comparison of) the sort of rates you can expect.

YL6

Thanks YL6. I guess calling cards will be the option most used. Or one can always try the 'bat-signal' method: Party in non liberalised market area calls and lets it ring once. Party in area with 0190031 or 10-10-987 then returns the call for pennies a minute.

Sorted, as they say.

Another option comes from a company called Skype. A guy in work recommended it to me. Actually it was a guy from the company I am working in (Tele2) who co-founded the company. I haven't tried it out yet though but my colleague was saying that he often spends a couple of hours on the phone to his folks in Oz. He tells me the quality is excellent and it's very easy to use.

The official blurb is...

Skype is free and simple software that will enable you to make free calls anywhere in the world in minutes. Skype, created by the people who brought you KaZaA, uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other Skype users. If you are tired of paying outrageous fees for telephony, Skype is for you!

Skype is quick and easy to install. Just download it, register, and within minutes you can plug in your PC headset and call your friends on Skype. Skype calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. Best of all, Skype does not require you to reconfigure your firewall or router—it just works!

The As soon as I get my DSL sorted I'm gonna set this up with Badger. If anyone else has any experience of using this then I'd be interested to hear about it.

I fail to see the novelty in Skype. Sure, it might be convenient, but what can it do that similar software that has been available for years cannot?
I used PGP Phone back in 98/99 and it allowed me to have encrypted conversations without having to register or paying for it.

Like I said, I've not tried it but it seems to be quality and ease of use that they are saying puts them ahead.

[img]http://www.skype.com/gfx/neutral/skype/chart_comparison.gif[/img]

I tried it with my sister in TX. It didn't have great quality but that was probably due to her dial up. I seemed to have just as good, if not better quality with MSN messenger's audio conversation service when I used it a few months back. However, I actually tried tonight to talk to BikeCrasho in Atlanta and we couldn't connect for some reason. We played around with microphone levels for a half stunde and gave up.

I will be interested to know what you come up with using Skype.

Perhaps I need to give up the web cam microphone and get a real one.

:::There was a Skype thread the other day that discussed microphone headsets n' stuff, but it's gone now:::

My experiences with Skype are varied, but in general I have better results than with other VoIP-like services. Skype to landline serrvices are especially cheap, but there is often a delay on the line. Skype to Skype conversations (which are currently free but may not always remain so) are very dependant on internet line speed and loading, along with connection quality at each end. You do NEED a decent quality headset/microphone combination for effective results.

YL6

my two cents...i used to use 0190047 but now use 0190024, which started at 1.8 cents/minute to the US and Australia, and it's just dandy. the rate's always varying, but it's never gone over 2.7 cents/minute. if ever it goes too high, i can just get a new code from www.teletarif.de, which lists them by the country from the cheapest upward with all the important details. just select the country you want to call under "Tarifabfrage:". if the country's not there, then choose "weitere Länder," and there's a larger list. oh yeah, but i just learned the other day when my hubby called me in paris that 0190024 seems to end the call after one hour...

But don't forget - profundo wanted cheap calling rates from France not to France...

@Yorkshirelad

If that comment was directed at me, I added my comment for the benefit of the OP, not profundo.

I'd thought I would let you know about a sneaky (very uncustomer friendly) problem with the call by call service. I've used 01066 for some time now to call the UK regulary. Which has been fine, but I will not use them anymore.

Their charges come on our Deutsche Telecom bill but if you mis paying this and DT send a Mahnung (reminder) DT don't include the charges from the call by call (in this case 01066) as they only recover their own money.

But 01066 did not send me a reminder so as I didn;t know about this I never compared the bill with the reminder and paid the reminder and forgot about it. I received todaya letter from a lawyer company demanding the money - a whole 7euros, but on top of that they have added 35euros in charges and interest. It states on the letter that according to their regulations section x blah blah then if you don't pay within 14days they will add these charges and demand their money via a lawyer.

Therefore from my 7euro bill I have to pay 42euros. Surely as this is a no registration service and you never see their regulations this is a little dodgey? I guess you do it at your own risk, but is there no protection from these guys.

I'm going to check my bills tonight before I pay this. So consider yourselves warned.

I had a simliar situation which if you search for 01015 you may find it. The end result is that you should pay the seven immediately and call them and dispute the mahnung fee. I did this with a fifty euro fine and a 25 euro fee that resulted in being raised to thirty five or forty. I eventually called a lawyer who advised me that legally it is difficult for them to win a court case if you paid the actual debt and only want to reciver their mahnung fees. However, you may end up paying court fees and everything else. I evetually talked them down to ten euro or something like that and subtracted the phone call fee from this ending up with a seven euro fee.

Nothing to do with 01066 (which, if I may say so, is a bloody expensive way to call UK as it's 50% more than the current cheapest 01050!)- the problem you had would apply to any call-by-call service you use, will use, or have used. Telekom are forced by the regulatory authorities to provide 3rd party billing like this. The don't like it, and would prefer not to do it (where else does something so business-crazy occur?). However their AGBs (General conditions of business) limit their obligation to chase for a payment on a third party debt. If, for whatever reason, you don't pay your Telekom bill, they will only persue you for their outstanding debt and not that of the third party, in this case the call-by-call provider. Chasing debts is expensive and time consuming... why should they provide the service to others? They simply tell the call-by-call provider you are in arrears, and leave them to chase, persuing only their own debt. Most of these debts are very small in any case, so quickly accumulate additiional charges out of proportion to the amount outstanding...

Seems to make good business sense to me...

YL6

Being terribly bad at noticing these things, I'm wondering since when is slimey Deutsche Telekom charging you for using another provider? Admittedly it was only 2 cents for 6 calls, but I don't know if that's only for 6 calls and if I make 7 it will suddenly jump up to 3 Euros.

Funny one this. It's been around since May 2005, but very few people notice it, or even get charged it.
If you make calls from a Telekom line to one of many (most) other non-Telekom landlines in Germany then Telekom add 0.2cents per call minute to the call for handling the transfer out of their service. So if you call someone who has an Alice phone service for example, then you'll get hit for this charge. This charge does NOT apply if you use a call-by-call service or pre-selection to make the call (as such charge is included in the total price)

I've included a list of the lines that are affected by this charge at the end of this post. The crazy thing here is that you don't easilly know when you make a call if the person you are calling is with Telekom or one of the affected providers. However you can check if you like by calling 0800 330 9576 (free-call) and entering the number you are about to call. Of course, like you check the number every time... As it happens, ALL customers of alternative providers are included in this charge except Arcor

This charge also applies to Call-Time and XXL customers who get a contingent of free calls every month. You should be able to check which call it has applied to by looking at the detailed call listing on your bill, if you have one...

If you want to avoid it then always use a call-by-call provider and save yourself additional money to boot

YL6

Current line providers for whom you will experience this charge are:
* AugustaKom Telekommunikation GmbH & Co. KG (Augsburg, belongs to M"net)
* BerliKomm Telekommunikationsgesellschaft mbH (now Versatel)
* BITel Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation mbH
* BT Germany GmbH & Co. oHG (o2 Genion landline numbers)
* ChemTel Telekommunikations GmbH (Chemnitz, Tropolys-Verbund)
* Citykom Münster GmbH (Tropolys-Verbund)
* CNE Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation mbH (Essen, Tropolys-Verbund)
* Colt Telecom GmbH
* Dokom Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation mbH (Dortmund)
* envia.tel GmbH
* Ewe Tel GmbH
* GöTel GmbH (Göttingen)
* HanseNet Telekommunikation GmbH ("Alice")
* HeLiNet Telekommunikation GmbH & Co. KG
* HLkomm GmbH (Leipzig)
* htp Hannovers Telefon Partner GmbH
* ISIS Multimedia Net GmbH & Co. KG (Arcor-company)
* jetz! Kommunikation GmbH & Co. KG (Jena, Tropolys-Verbund)
* KielNET GmbH Gesellschaft für Kommunikation
* M"net Telekommunikations GmbH (Munich)
* MCI Deutschland GmbH
* MDCC Magdeburg City-Com GmbH
* Meocom Telekommunikation GmbH (Oberhausen, Tropolys-Verbund)
* NEFkom Telekommunikation GmbH & Co. KG (Nürnberg, belongs to zu M"net)
* NetCologne Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation mbH (Köln)
* o2 Germany GmbH & Co. OHG ("Genion"-Numbers)
* osnatel GmbH (Osnabrück)
* SDTelecom Telekommunikations GmbH (Stadtwerke Schwedt)
* telebel Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation Bergisch Land mbH (Wuppertal, Tropolys-Verbund)
* telelev Telekommunikation GmbH (Leverkusen, Tropolys-Verbund)
* Teleos GmbH & Co. KG (Ostwestfalen-Schaumburg)
* tnp Telenet Postdam Kommunikationsgesellschaft mbH (Tropolys-Verbund)
* Tropolys Service GmbH (Apax)
* Ventelo GmbH
* Versatel Germany, Nord-Deutschland, Süd-Deutschland, West-Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG (Apax, Tropolys)
* Vodafone D2 GmbH ("Vodafone Zuhause"-fixed numbers)
* wilhelm.tel GmbH (Norderstedt)
* Wobcom GmbH

I want to talk (now) to someone in Edinburgh for some hours over the phone, which prefix do you currently recommend to make the call cheaper?

Go to billigertelefonieren.de and check, as suggested in the very first post.

Thanks, STB! I just wanted to make sure since the first post is more than two years old.