If you want to get a good conversation started with regular travellers, ask them for their most frustrating story of phoning on the road. They'll likely have something to share, because while telecommunications technology has improved in recent years, systems around the world are far from perfect. (Joerg Sarbach/Associated Press)

Quick, how fast can you say, "Hello, I love you, how are the kids? Bye."

Much as it's become routine to dial up and chat regularly with friends or keep in touch with the office wherever you are, doing it while travelling can quickly leave you feeling like you're in the twilight zone of dropped calls and phone bills that look like the national debt.

That's because even though technology is making it easier than ever to keep in touch, everyone involved in providing communications services wants a cut of the lucrative business.

And time is money. Most hotels apply exorbitant surcharges to both local and toll-free calls, and calls routed by satellite can cost $15 a minute or more. Road warriors travelling on an expense account might consider this the cost of doing business, but when it's your own money going into the ether, you start thinking that there's got to be a better way.

Fortunately, there are indeed ways to ease the drain on your wallet when you link up in a strange city. But they do require some planning before you head out.

Here are options to consider:

Buy an international phone

The whole topic of using cellphones abroad quickly turns into a muddle best left to computer nerds. The confusion starts with the fact there are two different kinds of phone hardware used in Canada and the United States, CDMA and GSM. Most of the rest of the world uses GSM phones, but the GSM networks often operate on different frequencies than those in North America.

For a general overview of the issues try wisegeek.com, or do a web search for "phone" and the name of the country you will be visiting. That will give you references to potential service providers.

A multiple-frequency GSM phone will allow you to buy adapters known as SIM cards (subscriber identity modules), tiny plastic wafers with a chip embedded in them. Buy one of these cards from a local cellphone service provider and slip it into the SIM slot on your phone, and you'll be able to call through the local cellphone network wherever you are travelling. This can be cheaper than paying roaming-related charges.

Pros: If you're a frequent traveller you can make calls just as you would at home. Depending on the features in the phone, the international phone can also be adapted to your local system once you return to Canada by swapping your local SIM card back in.

Cons: An international phone is an investment of several hundred dollars that won't be worth it if you are not going to be out of the country regularly. You'll also be charged up front for a very pricey number of calling minutes on the swapped-in SIM card — minutes that may expire if not used within a certain number of months.

Rent a phone

Keeping in touch by phone while travelling can quickly leave you feeling like you're in the twilight zone of dropped calls and bills that look like the national debt.(Reed Saxon/Associated Press)

A short-term rental is basically contracting to have a local cellphone account only for the duration of your stay. It's a way to get around the up-front expense of buying a cellphone capable of working in different countries.

Pros: The convenience of having a cellphone set up for the local wireless network and ready to use is a consideration for people who don't want to mess with SIM cards, and it's cheaper than the option of buying a phone that will only be used for a short trip. Signing up can be easy, too, since phone companies often have rental counters at airports.

Cons: Your plan will require you to prepay with your credit card for what may be a large number of calling minutes. You may also have to do the paperwork at the office of a local phone company to get the account set up, which can be time consuming and confusing.

On a recent trip to Milan, for instance, the agent for Vodafone at the airport did not speak English and all the instructions were in Italian. And you may not be able to return the phone in another country if you are crossing borders on your trip.

Use a calling card

You may be able to get around hotel per-minute charge for dialing from your room by using a "calling card."

You can get them from a home phone supplier, and often from a local phone company in the country you are visiting. You dial an access number and then a code plus your card number, and the call will be billed to your home phone account. For information on this, check with your local phone company or do an internet search for "calling card" and the name of the country you will be visiting.

Pros: Long distance calls are handled as though they are local calls, which can avoid the charges hotels tack on to your long distance costs (although you'll have to persuade an often reluctant front desk to give you an outside line).

Cons: You have to arrange the service in advance. Dialing requires entering a lot of numbers. Often you'll be billed not only for long-distance charges but also per-minute surcharges and connection fees from the phone company in the country you call from, so it's worth doing some homework before travelling to make sure this option is the most economical one.

Prepaid long distance cards

You'll see the ads for prepaid cards in stores anywhere there is a large ethnic population that wants to check in with relatives abroad. In Canada you can buy a card good for a certain number of long-distance minutes to call another country at prices as low as $5 for 100 minutes. Other countries have similar cards for calling into Canada.

International cards work by taking advantage of overcapacity in the telecommunications system. Companies buy bulk blocks of time at a discount, and by phoning their number you get connected to the local network in the country you want to call.

Pros: The price is generally cheaper than making a call using a credit card or calling card.

Cons: You have to buy a set amount to time, often 60 or 100 minutes, even if you are only going to make a few short calls. Not all payphones overseas are adapted to take the cards, so you have to count on connecting with an operator who may not be fluent in any language you know and may not want to be bothered with handling the connection. And connections are often unavailable at peak calling times, which may be just when you want to make a call.

Finding a card in an overseas shop that works to get you a low-cost connection to Canada can also be frustrating. A hotel concierge should be able to offer advice on where to find the card you need, but beware of the potential for counterfeits. Buy in a shop, rather than from someone selling cards from a briefcase or on a card table.

Learn to VoIP

Voice-over-internet protocol is a technology that routes voice signals over the internet. It uses a headset plugged into your computer, and requires having specific software, a sound card and microphone.

Look into a VoIP service such as Skype, which provides computer-to-computer calling-for a relatively small fee, as long as the people you call have the software installed on their computers as well.

However, the service for calling outside North America is still in its infancy and is not yet available in many countries, as many discussions on the internet attest. You can test out VoIP systems here and here.

Pros: Internet phone service can be used where there's a broadband internet connection and in many, but not all, countries.

Cons: No internet connection equals no service, so it's not as convenient as a cellphone. And you can easily lose the signal if there is a lot of activity on the internet where you are calling.

Like regular phone companies, VoIP providers require you to set up an account and charge monthly or yearly fees. Taxes and fees and regulatory charges may be tacked onto the bill when you use the service. Many VoIP users also complain of poor speech quality and words can be cut off if there is a high level of background noise.

The bottom line:

If you want to get a good conversation started with regular travellers, ask them for their most frustrating story of phoning on the road. They'll likely have something to share, because while telecommunications technology has improved in recent years, systems around the world are far from perfect.

So before you travel, the question to ask yourself is this: Do I really need to be in constant communication, particularly if I'm on vacation?

You can stay in touch, and there are ways to do it without being charged through the nose. But when you think it over, you may find that elaborate preparations really aren't absolutely necessary.

I've travelled with any number of people who at the beginning of their holiday swear they can't be out of touch, because their business depends so much on them, but within a couple of days they typically tuck away their phone and don't miss it.

As startling as the realization may be, the world can get along without you for a few days. Maybe even more stunning is how nice it can be to let it all go.

Wallace Immen has made phone calls in more than 50 countries worldwide. He finds service in Canada is still the best.

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