I will be on a tour of Italy in June. I'll use Skype on my iPad to keep in touch with my "kids" as needed. But I would like to be able to call my 87 yr. old mother every few days just to reassure her that my husband and I are OK. She does not use a computer, so what is the best way to make a phone call to her in the U.S.?
Posted by
Tuscaloosa, AL
1152 posts
Robin, you can use Skype to make calls to phones, too. Because you're already planning to use Skype to communicate with your kids why not call your mother off your iPad? All you need to do is put some credit in your account. If you buy a monthly calling plan, you'll get unlimited calls to a U.S. number for a low flat fee (like $3 or so).
Posted by
OP
Lynchburg
3 posts
Thanks for that info. I'll look at it today!
Posted by
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
290 posts
Another thing to consider: If you have an iPhone in your family that you won't be bringing with you on the trip, you could leave it plugged in (maybe next to her chair or in the kitchen area) and FaceTime with her. Leaving it plugged in it will keep the charge the whole time you're gone. And you could give her a quick training: when she hears the ring, slide the thing on the screen, and voila, easy as pie. When the call is over, she doesn't have to do anything, you can just hang up and on her end it will hang up. Something to consider if you have an iPhone that you'll be leaving behind during the trip.
Posted by
OP
Lynchburg
3 posts
That is a great idea about the iPhone! I'll have to give it a try and see what she thinks.
Posted by
Union City, California, USA
14 posts
Question about the Facetime idea. Is it free to use facetime or do normal, per minute charges apply?
Posted by
Tuscaloosa, AL
1152 posts
Russ, I think Facetime just worked over wifi at first. Not sure if that has changed more recently, though, but if it is wifi-only then so long as both phones have that type of Internet connection it shouldn't cost anything (sort of like a Skype computer-to-computer connection).
Posted by
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
290 posts
Facetime only works between iDevices (iPad, iPhone, iPod) and is free between those devices. The service itself is free. What you might have to pay for is data or wifi charges -- e.g., using the internet signal in a cybercafe, or getting a pay-as-you-go 3g plan for your iPad while in Italy, etc.
Posted by
Austin, Texas, USA
75 posts
Robin we just got to Rome yesterday (first trip). We brought a regular AT&T phone (non-smart) with us, called AT&T before we left the USA to unlock it and removed the US sim card, and then bought a sim card at a TIM shop (in airport, train station, near Colosseum, etc) here in Rome. It was 20€ for 50€ worth of credit. A call elsewhere in Italy is 8 cents/minute and back to the USA is 20 cents/minute. VERY easy to do!!
Posted by
Farmingville, New York, USA
381 posts
We just got back and had issues when we were in Italy we had to deal with back home. We used skype over the wifi, but we also had the chip for the vadaphone (sorry about spelling) in case wife wasn't available. The skype worked great. But it worked better when we turned off the video and just did voice. We bought the chip for the ipad in the airport. They set it up for us and it was activated in an hour. no problems. To use skype over a regular land line or to a moblile phone you do need to pay. but the charges seem reasonable.