0161 44

New Zealand Calling...

It's the nature of my job that I have to engage with the UK and India outside normal working hours. (Unless 6.30am - 11.00pm are regarded as such).

Normally I try and communicate via Skype. Most of may regular contacts have now set this up as their default standard comms for me. There are times however when I might be on the road or be void of laptop, in which case I have to make a landline 2 landline call. It's at these moments that I revert to Telecom's 0161 service.

If you dig deep enough into the small print, you can find that this service exists. It costs nothing to set up and is only available for international calls. Dial 0161 before the country prefix, instead of the widely advertised 00, and your call tariff collapses. 0161 44 (UK) costs 7 cents per minute. That's cheaper than a standard domestic call from Tauranga to Auckland. It's the same rate to the USA.

Given my international call traffic, it does make a difference. Hopefully, this tip can help you.