Total Call Mobile. They are a division of Total Call International, and as the name suggests, they specialize in international calling options. The target audience is a multi-cultural, ethnic demographic, especially those who have families overseas. To accommodate this, Total Call offers customer service in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Tagalog. Even though this is their specialty, there are plenty of advantages to be found with Total Call that can be used by the everyday cell subscriber. We’ve actually talked about Total Call before on Prepaid Reviews, when looking for an MVNO for international calling. It checked out well, so let’s look into it a bit more.
Network
Like many MVNOs nowadays — that is, those that are left — Total Call leases minutes wholesale from the Sprint PCS network. This gives their subscribers a nationwide coverage map, though roaming is not included. This sets it slightly back from MVNOs like Tracfone and Virgin, which have some kinds of roaming capabilities, but once we get down to the rates and extras, Total Call still compares.
Rates
Many prepaid customers prefer simplicity. Yes, you might be able to figure out how to get a better deal with Virgin Mobile, but for some people simplicity is priceless. To this end, Total Call offers calls at 10 cents each. Actually, it’s exactly like Net10: 10 cents a minute, five cents a text. Because the service will not work by roaming, there’s no room for hidden charges. Just 10 cents for every minute you talk, and five cents for every text you and and receive. I could say it again, but I think it’s clear at this point.Phones
As I noted in the last writeup, phones aren’t exactly Total Call’s strong point. They offer just four models, eerily similar to the line offered by kajeet. Then again, why would you need a fancy phone with Total Call? They don’t offer data or multimedia messaging services, nor do they have a selection of downloadable content. In fact, for them to have a new LG phone in stock would be a considerable waste. Instead, they focus on the tried and true models which do the basics well. For those of a bit fancier taste, the Sanyo Katana is their highest end phone. Okay, so maybe it’s outdated, and many carriers, including kajeet, are offering the Katana II. Eh. Once again, we’re not going for fanciness here. If we wanted fancy, we’d go with Virgin or Helio, or another MVNO that offered multimedia and data services.International calling
Now we get to Total Call’s bread and butter. In the last piece, we compared Total Call to Boost for international rates, and it wasn’t even close. Bigger landslide than the 1972 presidential election. Most international calls with Total Call can be made for less than 10 cents per minute on top of normal airtime. And the available countries list is simply enormous. This is where Total Call sets itself apart: it’s cheap and comprehensive. Yes, there are other cheap international calling services. Heck, you can sign up for Net10’s international program — for free — and get international rates of 5 cents per minute plus airtime. Well, that might sound cheaper than Total Call, until you see Net10’s list. Total Call covers those same countries for that same five cents on top of the 10 cents per minute airtime rate. But Net10 doesn’t offer calling to, say, Libya. And what if you have family there? So while some companies might have cheap calling to a limited number of countries, and others might have international calling programs that require a monthly fee (that would be AT&T), Total Call is the only provider that has both a comprehensive list of available countries and dirt cheap calling rates. If you’re well within a primary Sprint coverage area, and are looking for a cheap and easy prepaid plan, Total Call might be right up your alley. There are no plans to sort through, and there are no changes in the rates based on the time of day or day of week. And then there are the superb international calling rates, which you won’t be able to find anywhere else. So check out our review of Total Call Mobile and visit their website.]]>
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