Making Collect Calls from Tanzania

From what I know, you call the local telephone operator perhaps under intl services. He/she will call the person for you, you will need to give them the bank's # and ask the operator for a call collect, if the bank agrees she will transfer you on that line.

There is a fee imposed for using the operator though.

Don't think you can simply email the bank and get them to call you back. Neither call them .. hang up and they will call you back.
For intl calls, one should not be using a cellphone for extended calls anyway, get a local calling card. Some of them will be even cheaper than the local main telecommunication companies rates.

Since you are going via an operator it may pay to use a landline or even a pay phone b/c with a cellphone it may be that calling an operator are charged per min even when the call has been transferred.

A landline or pay phone may just have a small fee for the whole call to the operator.
However without call collect skype is pretty cheap 2c euro per min I think. Even if you called for a few hours the price is still modest.

You can make calls to yourself by signing up for the Betamax services, like www.voipcheap.com - you log in, enter two phone numbers, and then it makes them both ring at once and connects them to each other. For instance, you put in your mobile phone number and someone else's number, then your mobile rings immediately, and when you answer it, you hear the second number ringing as if you'd dialed it.

You need to have web access and a credit card to sign up.

If you have a local SIM card, this is normally the cheapest way there is to make a call (cheaper than Skype). Also, once the call is underway, you can log off the web site and leave the internet cafe and walk somewhere else to have your conversation.

Also, if you just want to make a collect call, and don't care how much it costs the person you're calling (maybe it's your bank or something), then you can dial the home country direct operator and they will place it for you. If you can tell us which country you're trying to call, then I or someone else can post the HCD number you'd dial from a Tanzanian phone.

Rujulkabir,

Thanks for the first suggestion. That is genius. My friends here have Skype, so I will try that, but I am also interested in your other suggestion. I am trying to call to the States. But, if I did what you suggested second wouldn't that cost me money to dial the operator direct from the cell phone?

Also, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable. Have you heard of these call back services where you give them your number, they call you back and can then place a collect call for you? That seems like it would work, but I can only find one company and I have to have an account with a $20 minimum.

Let me know what you think.

I don't know but I am assuming if c/c charged you min $20, to make one call its a bit pricey.
Skype is not bad. You can use skype for your other calls as well in the future with the remaining balance.

To call the operator from a landline it may cost something like $2-5USD I guess, maybe more for the other countries hence I rated it at up to $5. But comparing that you can make quite a long call w/ Skype and not call collect.

Looks like ATT and MCI have withdrawn operator services from Tanzania - maybe there was too much fraud? So you may not be able to make a collect call after all. Still worth trying through the local phone company but I understand that can be a hassle.

The nice thing about the Home Country Direct numbers is that they are generally free from pay phones, office/house phones, and the like. Not sure about from mobile phones but at the most it would be considered a local call. But I guess it's moot for calling USA from Tanzania.

If Skype is an option, it's certainly the simplest. You can make calls to toll-free numbers in the US (1800, 1888, etc.) without loading any money into a Skype account. For other numbers you'll have to put in a minimum of €10 or so, but your friends may already have some in their account so you can just use that and pay them the amount that it shows after the call.

I don't use the commercial callback services because I run my own (just for myself). But here's how it works: You give them a number which they keep on file. Then, when you need to make a call, you direct-dial a designated trigger number, let it ring once, then hang up. Then their system calls you at the number they have on file, and when you answer, it gives you a dial tone. You dial out to where you want to call. You pay for the call from their system to you, and for the call from their system to your destination number. Because their rates tend to be fairly competitive, this can be cheaper than direct-dialing the international call from your phone. Wholesale price of a call to a Tanzanian SIM card is about US$0.12/minute, and wholesale price of a call to a USA number is about US$0.005/minute, so you'd pay them twelve and a half cents per minute plus whatever their markup is (probably about 10-20 cents/minute).

Frankly, I'm surprised there aren't discount call cabins in bigger cities in Tanzania where you can make international calls cheaply using their Skype account or similar. I see these almost everywhere in the developing world these days.