International calls have always been and will continue to be a thing for us in Diaspora and more so today with WhatsApp and other app based calling to call home and stay in touch with our friends, family and loved ones. Not forgetting the mjengo (construction) foreman, the watchie (security person) or caretaker.
Can’t reach them on WhatsApp?
With WhatsApp calls, however, comes the need for mobile data or WiFi which comes at a cost. So our people switch off mobile data to manage costs and then pay to receive your calls with their data. So don’t complain when you cannot catch someone on WhatsApp because they are paying for part of your call.
At this point I hear someone saying that they have bought the paros (parents) a smartphone and installed WiFi in the house. That is all good but paros also have a life and need to leave the house. While on the go, the WiFi in the house really doesn’t amount to much.
How Useful is the WiFi in the House alternative?
I installed WiFi at my folks house and in addition to being able to talk to the folks when they were at home, it also made Cucu and Guka (Grandma and Grandpa) cool for my nephews and nieces who loved being at the house for all their WiFi needs on all their gadgets. It wasn’t really to visit Cucu and Guka.
However when folks took a trip to their shags (rural home) and stayed there for weeks or even months farming I was paying more for the WiFi, International calls and loading mobile data. Not so cheap after all when trying to escape and save a few pennies here to avoid international calling charges. Plus, having WiFi in the house to service just international calling also reminds me of those days when we had to be in the house at a certain time to receive a call on the house fixed phone line. Makes me wonder how progressive this is…..
Alternative Solutions
Anyway, why do I say all this? At Weconnect Africa (https://weconnectafrica.com) we have come up with three alternatives that could be solutions for you or complimentary to what you use.
- You can load mobile airtime to a mobile number at home to keep the mobile data available. Thereafter, you can complain when data is switched off.
- You can make international calls using the traditional access number system without having to buy an international calling phone card at the corner shop. By the way these phone cards are yet another story for another day. This premium high quality international calling service is a pinless, offers speed dial feature so no need to remember numbers to connect to the destination, has some apps being developed that will make life even more simple, offers simple, honest, per minute billing where you can monitor your call records for usage and cost giving you back control on your expenditure and a host of other benefits.
- We think this is really clever. You can now load credit on one account and use it as a household. This is like a family link where only one account is needed and with it all those allowed to use it can make use of the credit to call anyone where international calls are necessary. They just need to have the access number to use credit you allow them to use. This is true both from Africa to UK and Vice Versa. When would you ever need this feature? Well an example is if you have children who speak to their grandparents back home or you have relatives that need to call a university in UK to talk to registry etc.
Bright Future
We are trying to be smart and innovative in what we provide. We will soon grow to challenge how Africans have been served by the existing providers, if we haven’t already. We just ask that you support us by using the service, giving ideas of what would be better, simpler and flexible.
With increased usage, we will be able to negotiate better prices which will benefit all of us. This is like politics, numbers are key. Wishing you a clever
