Ever wondered what the best way to make international calls from your mobile is?
Well, the answer is Dialstation.
There are lots of ways to an initiate a call (including a facebook app coming soon) but the one I’ve personally found most convenient is to simply text a contact from my address book to Dialstation.
Say, for example, I want to call my Dad in Spain. Both he and I only have mobile phones and he has never even used a computer so voip is out of the question for now.
Normally, (unless I buy international calling card, dial and massive long number, enter and code and then enter my dad’s number, the call from a UK mobile to a Spanish mobile costs me a bomb. This has led to me not speaking to my dad much.
Now, with Dialstation, calling my Dad on the cheap is as simple as texting one contact from my address (my Dad’s) to another (Dialstation).
After texting my Dad’s number to Dialstation I almost immediately get a call (from Dialstation) that appears to be from my Dad (his name comes up on my screen as if it were him calling).
Moments later, my Dad receives a call that appears to be from me (my name comes up on his screen).
In effect Dialstation is simply making two local calls and connecting them up over the internet.
Dialstation is simple, cheap, effective, AND founded on principles of economic democracy.
I love it!
Dialstation was built using free software by our friends at Telekommunisten, a company wholly owned and controlled by the workers and organised as a “Venture Commune“.