If you are based in the UK and regularly make calls to India, you’ll be aware that keeping in touch with friends and family can prove to be expensive. Fortunately, the advent of digital and Voice over Internet Protocol technology (VoIP) has meant that forward-thinking communications companies have realised a way for their customers to make calls to India without incurring huge costs.

So if you are living in the UK and cash is tight, how can you make free or cheap calls to India from mobile, smartphones or tablet? Read on to find out!

VoIP Options

One of the simplest ways to do this is to use a VoIP service. The most well-known of these companies is perhaps Skype, but there are plenty of emerging companies that offer a comparably reliable service as well as generally providing lower call rates (if you need to pay for a call).

VoIP services are accessed via the Internet using your smartphone, or tablet. Assuming that you have a pre-paid 3G or Wi-Fi connection (such as your home broadband), you simply open an account with your chosen VoIP provider and then enter your contact details.

Now, to ensure that you receive free calls using this service, it is vital for your contacts to also join the sam. So, if you decide to join, let’s say Tango, your contact(s) would also need to join Tango via their chosen device. Once this is done you will be able to communicate free of charge when both parties are logged into the app. No cost is incurred as the call is made using the existing Internet connection.  However, what about your friends and family members who don’t have access to the internet or to a smart device with the same VoIP service as you?  How can you keep contact with older relatives for example, those who are less embracing of new technologies?  Are there ways to make phone calls without racking up massive phone bills?

Using Rebtel Apps for Calling India for Free or Cheap

A great reason to join Rebtel is the ability to make really cheap calls to India from any iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet wherever you are in the world when you have an internet connection (via both wifi and 3G).

With a simple setup process you can be chatting to loved ones back in India in no time at all.   Just download the correct app for your chosen device and start making calls to India within minutes.

Once you have downloaded and installed the app on your smartphone or tablet, your local address book will show.  The great thing here is that you are assigned a local phone number for all of your contacts, so by choosing to ring your favourite Uncle in Bangalore you would be redirected through a local number, therefore you pay the local price. Rebtel give you a free call test the service.

You can connect your device to the Rebtel service in any way you choose, either using your home Internet connection via Wi-Fi (which will likely incur no additional cost), or using roaming 3G services (which if you have allotted local minutes each month, still means you can call for no additional charge!)

The advantages here are seamless.  Sure, free VoIP apps are great when contacting people who have the same app as you.  But the reality for many of our friends and family is that they don’t, especially as more and more apps appear on the market.  There are just so many of them and free cross-app calling is not possible.  So what is the solution?.. Calling the good old fashioned mobile phone number or landline for a nice long catch up with your nearest and dearest!