I second the MD's notion. Vonage is it. I travel extensively (this reaches you from Tokyo) Used to travel with an ATA, but gave up. Sometimes the ATA works, sometimes it does not. Too much hassle, even for a nerd like me. The Vonage-supplied X-Pro softphone seems to geth through justabout any firwewall. Have used it extensively in China, and their firewalls are more formidable than their great wall of China. If there is a broadband connection, the softphone works in 99.9% of all the cases..
JP Cell phones: Also seconded. Except for 3G, the JP cell phones are incompatible with the rest of the world. Three options: 1.) Buy a prepaid. Availble anywhere, for instance Narita, Vodafone kiosk. For outbound international calls, charge it up A LOT, they can get very expensive. Even in-JP calls are 60cents a minute. Incoming calls are free. 2.) If you have a cell phone with a SIM card, you can rent a JP cell (same locations as above) and drop the SIM card in. You will be available under your current number. But watch out for high roaming charges. Also, the phone they rent you is huge and heavy. 3.) Get a 3G or UMTS phone. They work on Quad band GSM plus 3G / UMTS. I successfully use in Japan a Nokia 6680, obtained in Europe with a European Vodafone contract. (<- important!) Can even check my emails with the thing. High roaming charges as under 2. The better hotels in Japan and China have broadband. Yes, sometimes one must ask, and often one must pay. But compared to the extortionist prices for a hotel room in Tokyo, it's relatively nothing. Remember: Tipping is frowned upon in Japan, so what you save on the bellboys and waiters, you can invest into broadband. B in Tokyo PS: Still waiting for recommendations on where buying a Pana system in Beijing. ----- Original Message ----- From: "William C Biggs, MD" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'KXT Mailing list'" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 11:59 AM Subject: Re: KX-T: IP Phones > There is an easier way. > > He can sign up with Vonage or Skype (or others) for a PC based phone. > > Vonage calls theirs a "Softphone", and charges $9.99 a month for 500 minutes > to calls to US or Canada, and about 3c a minute after that. No router is > involved, you only need a broadband connection at the hotel. Buy a > microphone / headset unless you want to endure the poor quality > mike/speakers in your laptop. > > Skype is free for PC to PC, and about 2.3c a minute if you subscribe to > "SkypeOut" to call anywhere in several preferred countries (including > Taiwan, US, Canada, UK among others...). You can download the software for > free. > > Having just returned from Japan, I can tell you that not all have broadband > available in all rooms. You need to tell them that you need broadband when > you reserve the room. Some charge about 1000 yen a day for broadband, others > have it free. We had it free in Tokyo, only to discover our first room > wasn't wired, and they couldn't move us until the next day. Other hotels > used wireless 802.11b, but required a WEP key that was described only in > Japanese instructions and not the English instructions. > > The advantage of the PC based phone would be: no router involved, and can > call anywhere in US or Canada (not just the home office) for about 2 or 3 > cents a minute. > > [Note: The router's ports may be blocked by the hotel. Our hotel in Kyoto > would not activate our connection except through a web browser where we > authorized the 1000 yen connection charge for 24hr. Since many hotels use > 802.11b, the router would be useless unless it could connect to the wireless > system, or you figure out the configuration to share the wireless connection > via the laptop.] > > The other alternative for your customer is to get a Japanese cell phone. > While the calls TO the US are expensive, incoming calls FROM US are free. > Thus his home office could call him at decent rates...we paid 11c a minute > with Vonage. Advantage here is they can contact him anywhere he might be. > Disadvantage is that cell phones for short term contracts are pricey, just > to establish the service. We used Planetfone. Japan has a unique mobile > phone system, and phones from other countries, including GSM quad band, > don't work there. > > Bottom line: Sign up with Skype or Vonage, and test it all out before he > travels. While it would be cool to connect directly to the company PBX, this > solution allows him to call his friends and family too, and has fewer > hardware headaches. > > Cheers,,, > > The-end-user > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Ross Lindahl > Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 2:41 PM > To: KXT Mailing list > Subject: KX-T: IP Phones > > Anybody use the panasonic nt136 phones yet. I have a scenario with a > japanese company here in southern cal. The president travels a lot and > wants a way to converse with his office in so cal. He would like a pc > version phone that he can use from his lap top and what ever broad band > connection he has at his hotel. Could the switch in so cal have an > network extension card (0470) and the remote end (the boss) carry his > router and lap top. My guess is he would have to carry a phone and > router with him. Any thoughts with this scenario? Any other ideas? > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > KX-T Mailing list --- http://kxthelp.com/ > Subscription changes: http://kxthelp.com/mailman/listinfo/kxt > > > _________________________________________________________________ > KX-T Mailing list --- http://kxthelp.com/ > Subscription changes: http://kxthelp.com/mailman/listinfo/kxt _________________________________________________________________ KX-T Mailing list --- http://kxthelp.com/ Subscription changes: http://kxthelp.com/mailman/listinfo/kxt
