For most non-resident Chinese, making calls to family and friends in China is very important. While dialing frequently to landlines or mobile phones in China used to be cost-prohibitive, the rates have dropped considerably in recent years. In fact, thanks to internet phone providers offering inexpensive rates and plans, you can now call China for far less than the cost of a postage stamp.

As with any service, it pays to shop around before you decide on an internet phone service. There are many options to choose from including prepaid plans, subscriptions, and calling cards. Some service providers offer a full range of services including video conferencing, instant messaging, voicemail, and more. Others specialize in offering simplified solutions for just making discount calls.

For individuals who want lots of features or who want to substitute an internet phone for their regular landline, a subscription service offered by one of the larger providers is typically the best bet. Some offer call forwarding, caller ID, and even call waiting and can be used with existing phone numbers. Monthly rates for subscription plans that include the ability to call China typically start at about $25.00 a month depending on the variety of features offered. However, there may be additional fees for taxes or discontinuing service before the end of an agreed upon contract.

Oftentimes, the least expensive option for making calls to China is using a provider who offers a prepaid plan. For example, MediaRing Talk currently offers an incredibly low rate of 1 US cent per minute for users who purchase $10.00 in credit. They don’t require a monthly subscription and don’t charge connection fees. A service such as this is ideal for someone who is making lots of calls to China or who doesn’t want to commit to a lengthy service agreement.

For travelers or individuals who don’t have access to a PC or mobile phone, long distance calling cards are particularly useful. Typically, they can be used from any phone, and they can be easily recharged by calling a local number.

Before you make a decision on any internet phone service, consider what your calling pattern will be. Will you be calling China frequently from your PC at home or work? Do you need a service that lets you dial directly from a landline phone? Are you wanting a full range of features to replace your local phone service? The answers to these questions will help guide you to the provider that is right for you. Lastly, read the small print of the contract or offer before you sign up. Not all providers are upfront with fees and restrictions. To prevent being surprised when you get your credit card bill, make sure you have a clear understanding of what you’re paying for and exactly what you’ll be receiving before you start dialing.

For more information, please visit: http://www.mediaringtalk.com/pay-as-you-go/index.php

Fremont, CA, June 12, 2010 – MediaRing Talk (www.mediaringtalk.com), a leading provider of internet calling services, has introduced four new callings plans to their range of services that deliver the most cost-effective way to call internationally. Two of the plans have been priced at $9.99 per month – one offers unlimited calls to 40 countries including China, and the other gives subscribers 750 minutes to all landlines and mobile phones throughout India. For callers who frequently call both India and within the United States, there is a new plan that offers 750 minutes for $12.99. The plan that delivers the most flexibility is priced at $19.99 per month and gives unlimited calls to 60 countries including China and India.

The four new monthly plans are all available without long-term contracts or connection fees. Additional discounts are offered for signing up for three, six, or 12 month plans.

With a focus on providing the lowest monthly calling subscriptions for consumers, MediaRing Talk will continue to offer its highly popular Pay-as-you-Go Plan that enables consumers to call over 200 countries at rates starting at one cent per minute.  As well, PC-to-PC calls worldwide using MediaRing Talk remain free.

“We’re very excited to be able to offer consumers even more opportunities to save on long distance calls by introducing these four monthly subscription plans,” says Robert Pearlstein, Managing Director of MediaRing Talk. “We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, best value service in the industry and look forward to helping consumers stay connected with their friends and family through our services.”

For more information, please visit: http://www.mediaringtalk.com/call-unlimited-plans/

 Thankfully, there are plenty of things to keep passengers occupied at most airports. Many of these activities involve eating, drinking, and shopping. However, there are also a number of free things that can help while away the time before boarding a plan. Here are a few worth trying:

 Check Out the Art

Many U.S. and international airports offer rotating schedules of art, history, and cultural exhibitions that are as notable as any to be found in local museums. When you have some time to kill, an exhibit within your terminal or elsewhere in the airport can be a great way to get cultured. Not sure where to find the art? Ask the representative at the airport information desk. They will most likely have the details.

Exercise

Yes, the airport is kind of like an obstacle course. Why not take advantage of the stairs, moving sidewalk, and wide open expanses to burn a few calories. Try power walking, lunges, squats, and stretching. And, if you’re looking for exercise equipment, some airports even have gyms onsite if you have a few extra dollars to spare.

 Make Phone Calls

Have you been meaning to catch up with your cousin who left you a message weeks ago? Do you have an old college buddy who you’ve been meaning to ring? Use the free time to make all of those non-urgent calls. Don’t want to use your mobile phone minutes? If you have your laptop, you can make free or cheap calls using an internet phone service like MediaRing Talk. Most airports have outlets and WiFi so that you can dial from anywhere in the terminal.

 Make Travel Plans

With some free minutes, you may be able to snag a good deal on your next vacation or business trip. Head over to the ticket counter and ask to speak to someone about travel planning. There’s usually someone available who can provide you with insight on discount tickets, package deals, and redeeming frequent flier points.

 Read

Whether you’re into glancing at the latest gossip in the current issue of People or are trying to work your way through the classics of literature, a flight delay is a perfect opportunity to unwind and read. Need a good book? There are many services online that offer free downloads of books.  Or, simply glide by the food court or gate waiting area. You’ll certainly find a newspaper or two left by fellow fliers.

 Meditate

You rushed to the airport, dropped off your rental car, navigated through the check-in line, and managed to get through the security check unscathed. Now, you’ve found out that your flight has been delayed for hours. It’s time to take a deep breath or two and unwind from the everyday chaos of the airport. Sit calmly, shut your eyes, tune out the noise, and give yourself 15 minutes to collect your thoughts and regroup before you begin your tirade on the airline’s customer service team.

 Write

Do you have a pen and some paper or your laptop? Use the time to write out the ideas that have been swirling through your head. Maybe, you have the concepts for a new opportunity, a novel, or a letter to someone special. Many an idea, business, or story has been crafted in an airport waiting area.

 Make a New Friend

You never know who you might meet in an airport. Countless friendships, romances, and business relationships have started between two people simply waiting to board a flight.  Take note of what others are reading, working on, or doing. You might pick up on some helpful clues on who you may want to befriend.

 Pray

Need a little spiritual solace? Most big airports have interfaith chapels. These sanctuaries are most visible during times of crisis, such as after a plane crash, but they’re helpful for nervous fliers needing a little extra reassurance or anyone wanting a place to reconnect with their spirituality.

 People Watch

There are few people watching venues as interesting as an airport. You’ll see everything from stressed out parents juggling kids and luggage to foreign backpackers using the airport as a camping ground. If you watch long enough, you’ll be sure to witness some interesting scenes worth sharing once you get to your destination.

 One brand that has also been heading down the path of becoming genericized is Skype. It’s often now used to mean any type of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service. We’ve all heard someone say that they’re going to “Skype” someone, when, in actuality, they are using Skype’s consumer VoIP service to make a call over the Internet.

 No doubt, Skype is an industry leader, and their brand name has a catchy and memorable ring to it. However, Skype is by no means the only VoIP provider out there. In fact, there are many others that are revolutionizing the market by developing new technologies and offering increasingly competitive pricing.

 Some providers such as Jajah and Bubble Motion are leading the way with bringing together VoIP and social media.  Calls can now be made on Twitter, and voice-blogging for mobile phones is even now a reality.

 MediaRing Talk, a long established leader in VoIP, has focused on a global market by providing the lowest rates to over 220 countries around the world. With rates that are often about a penny a minute, many consumers, who rely on VoIP technology to stay connected with their loved ones, have discovered that Skype isn’t the only game in town when it comes to making cheap calls.

  As technologies continue to evolve and long distance pricing continues to be highly competitive, there will undoubtedly be even more pressure on Skype. Consumers will increasingly realize that Skype isn’t their only option, and, in fact, it might not be the best choice depending on how they are using the technology.

 Whether or not Skype becomes as synonymous with VoIP as Kleenex is to tissues remains to be seen. However, it is becoming increasingly unlikely as we all become more knowledgeable about the technology and more inclined to use it as a primary source of voice communications.

Application Level Gateway (ALG):
Application Level Gateways (ALGs) are application specific translation agents that allow an application (like VOIP) on a host in one address realm to connect to its counterpart running on a host in different realm transparently. An ALG may interact with NAT to set up state, use NAT state information, modify application specific payload and perform whatever else is necessary to get the application running across disparate address realms.

Call Processor:
component that sets up and monitors the state of calls, and provides phone number translation, user authorization, and coordination with media gateways.

Codec:
coder/decoder, which converts analog voice into digital data and back again, and may also compress and decompress the data for more efficient transmission.

Firewall Control Proxy:
component that controls a firewall’s handling of a call. The firewall control proxy can instruct the firewall to open specific ports that are needed by a call, and direct the firewall to close these ports at call termination.

H.323:
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standard for packet-switched network voice and video calling and signaling.

Jitter:
non-uniform delays that can cause packets to arrive and be processed out of sequence

Latency:
time delay in processing voice packets.

Media Gateway:
the interface between circuit switched networks and IP network. Media gateways handle analog/digital conversion, call origination and reception, and quality improvement functions such as compression or echo cancellation.

Media Gateway Control Protocol
common protocol used with media gateways to provide network management and control functions.

PSTN
the public switched telephone network.

QoS – Quality of Service
A network property that specifies a guaranteed throughput level.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
A standard for voice and video over a packet switched network developed by IETF.

Sniffer
A network monitoring tool, usually a software tool running on a PC.

To begin, let’s look at the two key reasons why you may want to consider keeping your landline. Emergency calls using the 911 system can be easily traced from a landline, and it also serves as a good backup when your cell phone isn’t charged.

These two reasons for keeping a landline are still valid, but not as much as they used to be. First, FCC rules now require that mobile phone companies provide all handsets with some way of tracing 911 calls. Some determine a caller’s rough location by triangulating the signal using different radio towers. Others use GPS chips embedded in the phones to locate callers. This method is accurate within 150 to 500 feet.

There is no disputing that a landline is a readily available backup when you forget to charge your mobile phone. However, is this reason enough to justify the money spent each month on landline service? Alternatively, you can use internet to phone technology as your backup. Providers of VoIP service such as MediaRing Talk enable users to make free online calls from their computer. Anyone who has a computer with an internet connection can take advantage of this service.

Besides being a good backup when your mobile phone isn’t working, using an internet phone service also let you make cheap international calls abroad. The difference in long distance per minute rates between VoIP providers and typical local phone companies can be substantial. For example, rates to landlines and mobile phone in most countries using MediaRing Talk are usually under two cents per minute.

Are there any valid reasons anymore to continue to pay for a landline? This depends on your specific situation. If you have spotty coverage where you live, relying on a mobile phone as your primary communications method might not be the best option. Or, if you have children who want to talk on the phone but who are too young for a mobile phone, this might be another good reason to continue to pay monthly to your local phone company. Of course, you might have a bundled plan with your local provider that includes cable, an internet connection, and a phone line. In this case, it might be less expensive to keep the landline.

The bottom line is that there remains pros and cons to doing away with a home landline. Whether or not it’s the right choice depends on your particular situation. Take a close look at your phone usage patterns and communication requirements, and you’ll be able to determine the right solution for you and your family.
To keep up to date on the latest trends in internet phone technology and to take advantage of promotions and special offers, become a fan of MediaRing Talk on Facebook today today!

 Of course, you can simply opt for a week or two unwinding with friends at a resort. However, venturing even further to stay in hostels in Europe, to explore the far corners of the world on an eco-vacation, or even to volunteer overseas alongside charities, government bodies, and community organizations might be just the ideal way to spend the summer months.

 While traveling abroad can be an incredible opportunity for any student, there are potential health and safety risks to consider. Fortunately, there are strategies to significantly minimize these inherent risks. Here are five key items you’ll need to ensure you have a trouble-free, safe trip:

 Copies of airline tickets, itinerary, credit cards, and passport information page

You’ll definitely want extra copies of your important travel documents just in case the originals are stolen. Make copies of your airline tickets, itinerary, credit cards, and passport information page. Leave one copy of these documents with a family member back home, tuck another copy in your bags, and fold yet another copy in a money belt or travel pouch.

 Copies of Your Prescriptions

If you’re planning to bring prescriptions or over-the-counter medications on your trip, you’ll first want to find out if they’re legal where you’ll be staying. There are a number of commonly used medications that are prohibited in other countries. To find out if you might have a medication that is considered an illegal narcotic, check with the foreign embassy of the country that you’ll be visiting. A listing of foreign embassies is available on the Department of State’s website.

 Carry your prescription drugs in their original bottle that they came in with the drug company label and dosage information. To be additionally safe, also bring a copy of your original prescription or a letter from your doctor. Don’t forget to bring a copy of your prescription for corrective glasses or contact lenses in case you need a replacement.

 A Way to Stay Connected

You’ll want to have reliable way to stay connected with loved ones back home while you’re away, and you’ll probably not want to pay expensive roaming charges on your trusty cell phone. An alternative is to use an internet phone provider. Most offer free PC to PC calls and cheap phone calls to landlines and mobile phones. One smart option is MediaRing Talk. They provide a variety of free internet to phone services, including an extremely helpful solution for calling toll-free numbers in the United States from any PC in the world. This can be a real lifesaver when you need to get a hold of a bank, credit card company, or insurance company that only has a contact phone number that can be used domestically.

 Covered Luggage Tags

You’ll want to make sure your bags are identifiable in case they get lost. But, you don’t need to advertise your personal details to everyone passing by. To avoid this, put your name, phone number, and school’s address on covered tags. Never use your home address.

 International Medical Insurance/Travel Assistance

It’s simply a fact that from time to time accidents do happen. And, they can happen anywhere, including while traveling. Most likely, your existing healthcare coverage doesn’t protect you once you leave the United States. Even if you’re only traveling for a few days abroad, you’ll want coverage for medical care and emergency medical evacuation. There are a number of reputable travel medical insurance providers and coverage isn’t expensive. Make sure to review any plan before you sign up and understand exactly what it covers before you venture away from home.

 Traveling can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences, and by implementing these precautionary strategies before you leave, you can enjoy your journey and rest assured that you’ll be prepared for the unexpected.

 The good news is that making online calls is simple, even if you’re not particularly tech savvy. You won’t need to read a complex manual to get started, and you definitely don’t have to invest a small fortune in equipment. In fact, there are really only three things you need to know before you make your first internet phone call. Here they are:

 The Voice Quality of Online Calls Is Crystal Clear

Critics of internet phone service often complain that the voice quality of online calls is not as clear as that of landline calls. That argument was valid years ago when the technology was still in its infancy. However, much has been done to refine voice quality when making an online phone call, and today, you’d be hard pressed to hear a difference between the two. In fact, in many cases, the quality of online calls is superior to that of local landline service.

 You Probably Already Have the Equipment to Start Making Calls

Before you make your first internet phone call, you’ll need to make sure you’re equipped to do so. First and foremost, you’ll need a computer and a reliable internet connection. You’ll also want to make sure that your computer has speakers and a microphone. If it doesn’t, you’ll want to purchase a headset. These can be found at any computer or office supply store.

 An increasing number of internet phone providers are also enabling users to dial from mobile devices such as smartphones and iPhones that have PC-like functionality.

 Choose Your Internet Provider Wisely

There is a wide variety of internet providers that cater to customers looking to make a free or cheap international call. Most offer free PC-to-PC calls but charge for calls to landline and mobile phones. A few providers, such as MediaRing Talk, do offer free calls to all phones in select countries and heavily discount their rates to others. You will also find that many internet phone call providers offer other services including teleconferencing, instant messaging, and video conferencing.

 Determine what specific features you’ll be needing and then focus on those providers that offer them. Then, compare prices and plan options, and make sure to read the fine print before you sign up with any provider. Now that you know the basics of online calls, you, too, can begin to take advantage of the tremendous cost savings that internet phone service offers. Get ready to start saving, and don’t forget to tell your friends and family how easy it is to use!

 For more information about internet phone service, become a fan of MediaRing Talk on Facebook. You can stay up to date on the latest in internet phone technology, connect with global users of the service, and take advantage of the most current offers by the leading provider of free internet phone calls.

Before you start dialing everyone you know from your PC, you’ll need a few things first to get you started. First and foremost, an internet connection is necessary. You’ll also want to make sure that your PC has a microphone and speakers. Many users of Internet to phone service prefer to use a headset when making calls, and they are inexpensive and available at any PC or office supply store.

Once you have the right equipment to start dialing, you’ll need to choose a service provider. There are many that promote free PC to PC calls. The most notable of these is Skype, but there are countless others to choose from. The majority of these providers offer services that include instant messaging and a variety of other services along with the ability to make free calls directly from your computer. These services are great as long as you only need to call friends and families who are also users of the service. However, if you want to call anyone on a landline or a mobile phone, you’ll most likely have to sign up for a monthly calling plan that may or may not be cost effective. This is why it’s always important to comparison shop before choosing a provider of Internet to phone service and why it’s equally vital to read the fine print of any agreement or plan before you sign up.

One alternative to Skype and the other services that claim to have cheap phone calls is MediaRing Talk. The company uses an entirely different business model than the bulk of its competitors and actually offers free online phone calls to landlines and mobile phones in eight countries. You can call any phone within the United States, or call the UK, Canada, China, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Taiwan for free. There is no required subscription, and MediaRing Talk also offers free PC to PC calls to over 220 other global destinations. With over 3 and a half million users, a growing number of internet phone fans are enjoying the freedom of making free online phone calls.

To sign up for MediaRing Talk, you simply need to go to the company’s website and click on ‘Signup’. You’ll be asked a few questions, and you’ll need to assign yourself a user name that you’ll be asked to provide each time you sign into the service. Once you’ve completed the sign up process, you’ll be able to start making calls by dialing numbers directly from your computer.