Call your cell-phone carrier. Most of the major carriers allow for international calling. What products and services are available to you will depend on your phone and your destination. Not all cell-phone companies have roaming agreements for all countries, and the rates will vary from place to place. Your cell-phone carrier will be able to give you the appropriate information for your trip. Many companies have a subscription plan that you can keep for a month or two to ensure that all cell-phone calls made or received while you are traveling are at a discounted rate.
Set up international calling. If your cell phone company provides a calling plan for traveling abroad, be certain that your account has this activated. Do this by calling the "International Services" or "Global Services" department. (The name of the department may vary by company.) Ask them for available calling services while you are traveling, being sure to specify which country or countries you will be traveling to.
Research calling rates for calls you will make while traveling. Your carrier should have this information available on its website or via Customer Service. This will help you budget your calls while overseas.
Place a call. Once you have arrived at your foreign destination, you can use your cell phone normally. You will need to include the country code you are calling in the phone number. For instance, if you are calling a number in the UK, you will need to put +44 (or 01144 if your phone doesn't have a "+" sign) in front of the phone number and omit the first 0.
Find out what kind of service your phone uses. The two available in the United States are GSM (Global System for Mobile) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Europe uses primarily GSM. Other countries may vary. SIM cards work in GSM phones.
Find out if your phone can be unlocked from your carrier. Call your cell-phone carrier for this information. You will need the model number and IMEI for your phone when you call. The carrier will tell you if your phone can be unlocked and give you the necessary code.
Purchase a SIM card for the country you're going to be using the phone in. The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card is the little chip that is inside GSM cell phones. It identifies the carrier, the user, and stores that user's information. You will want to purchase one that allows for calling in the country or countries you are traveling to. Many cell phone companies or retailers will carry SIM cards. They can also be purchased over the Internet.
Insert the SIM card into your phone. Instructions for SIM card insertion will be specific to each phone type. This will give your phone a new "identity" and a new phone number specific to the region you will be calling from. So if you purchase a SIM card for use in the UK, your phone number will be a UK phone number. Anyone calling you from another country will be making an international phone call. If you call your home country while overseas, you will be making an international call.
Place a call. Your cell phone is now programmed with a different phone number. If you call your home country, be sure to include the correct country code when dialing. For instance, the code for the United States is 1. To place a call from the UK, the phone number would be 001-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Research what applications are available for your phone. Most Smart Phones have available Apps for making VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls. Skype, the most commonly used service, has an App for the iPhone, Android and Symbian. Verizon Wireless offers Skype on several of its phones. Voxofone is another available program that works on most smart phones. Google Talk has at least one application available for the BlackBerry. ISkoot for Skype is an alternative way to use Skype's services with a different application.
Download the application to your cell phone. Go to your cell phone's Application Catalog. Find the application you would like to use. Download the application. Pay any necessary fees.
Set up your user account. You will need to enter your cell-phone number, an email address and a password. You will also probably be required to purchase credit towards future phone calls.
Place a call. Follow the instructions for the application you are using to place an international call.
There are several services that allow you to make an international phone call from any phone (land line or cell phone) by using an assigned PIN number. Skype to Go and Voxofon Operator are two popular ones. Research available services and choose one.
Subscribe to the service. Go to the service website and click on the button to subscribe. This will require an email address and password.
Confirm your account. The service will send you an email to allow you to confirm and log into your account.
Place a call. Following the instruction for the chosen service to make an international phone call.
