Free International Calls
A company called Futurephone is offering free international calls from the United States to 55 countries. According to the company, there's no catch — no advertising, no calling from a PC, just free and unlimited overseas calling from any telephone.
Here's how it works: dial 1-712-858-8883, a phone number in Iowa. After selecting the language for voice prompts, you're instructed to dial 011 followed by the country code and the number that you want to reach. In a moment, you'll be connected to that number. Futurephone says the service will be free until the year 2010.
A list of the countries that you can call is at the Futurephone web page. (If you need to know the country code and city code for your call, visit How To Call.info.)
I tried Futurephone briefly and it worked as promised, but I'm interested in others' opinions about the service. If you've got someone to call in another country, give Futurephone a try then post your results here.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
I’ve tried it and only one in twenty of my calls go through. The rest say “This call could not be completed as dialled.”
February 16th, 2007 at 10:26 am
[…] Of the three services that we’ve discovered that offer free international calls, two of them have already gone belly-up. The web site of Futurephone (which we wrote about here) says the service is no longer available, and FreePhoneCallz.com (article here) has quietly gone disconnected. Maybe the Universal Service Fund loophole that these companies were using to generate income isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. […]
February 18th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
very good
March 10th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
In the UK, we’ve got something very similiar. Here’s the ad on Action telecom…
“Free international calls from O2, Orange and T-Mobile UK mobiles with ActionTelecom.co.uk!
ActionTelecom.co.uk is now offering free calls to over 190 destinations like China, India, Western and Eastern Europe, South America, USA, Canada, Jordan, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Nigeria, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and many more!
For free calls from O2 mobiles, the access number is 0844 5525120.
For free calls from Orange or free calls from T-Mobile mobiles, the access number is 07744 288801.”
March 21st, 2007 at 8:29 am
if you’ve used free calling by dialing a 712 area code, and wish to speak to the press about the experience, please call me at 515-284-8543. steve dinnen
April 30th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
we are sorry, your call can not be completed as dialled…bla bla
May 9th, 2007 at 10:22 am
I used to use these types of services religiously. Made calling my girlfriend in the UK extremely affordable. After all, why pay for something when you can get it for free, right?
Well, simply put, the service did have a few limits: I couldn’t make any calls to cell phones, only to landlines. So, whenever I knew she was at home, I’d call her up then. Go figure. Worked like a charm.
Then, a few months ago, the company stopped offering free calls, and required you to subscribe to their service to make such calls…ah well, it was great while it lasted.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Update here
July 19th, 2007 at 7:19 am
I’ve heard that FuturePhone has ceased operations as they have ben sued by AT&T. Whoops! There is no such thing as a free lunch. You might be able to use your inclusive minutes to call abroad cheaply, like at http://www.extracall.com but again, you have already paid for those minutes.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:08 am
True, but yak4ever still works fine.
September 8th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
This call could not be completed as dialled.
this is what we got when we dialed
plus when I went to BBB.ORG , this company is not a mamber and has none with them and finaly there is no CS you can talk to .
September 10th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Well, I just called the Yak4Ever number and it works. I think you guys have not been reading my posts. Go here http://www.yak4ever.com/. I am not affiliated in any way with them.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
BBB.ORG? No customer service? Then I’d try to get your money back.
September 13th, 2007 at 9:38 am
I try today i was unable to get line
September 29th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Hi! I do hereby requesting to know how 2 make an international calls phonephun on this web i tried and missed so plz reply with uderstanding options
November 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
i have an o2pay monthly contract.I need to dial international call for free.Do you have an access number
November 16th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Gone.
July 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
i tried futurephone many times and its not working.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:41 am
the website doesn’t even work. so how do i know which countries i can call?
March 10th, 2009 at 11:05 am
I’m in NYC but I try all the time and it says you call cannot be complited as dial, is there a domestic number in NYC that I can call and try?