There are certain occasions we do receive long distance calls especially when we have friends or family living in overseas or abroad. In one way or the other we will call or they call just to say hello especially for family members.
You may be surprised to see that you were charged for an incoming call you received from a friend or family. It does happen but this goes down to some various factors which I will explain in this article.
Do you get charged for long distance incoming calls?
You will get charged for long distance incoming calls especially if the call is from a different country altogether. However, in some locations like the UK, South Africa and Co, you won’t get charged for receiving long distance incoming calls.
If you’re living in the United States or Canada, be rest assured that you will be charged for receiving long distance incoming calls from your phone bill. The truth is all incoming calls are free just like outgoing calls.
So whether is very far or near, you will be charged for receiving incoming if you happen to live in the United States or Canada.
But for countries like the UK, Australia, South Africa, etc, all incoming calls are free even if the incoming calls are from a very long distance. Who bears the cost will be the caller and not the recipient.
So while asking do you get charged for long distance incoming calls, you should bear in mind that ones locations matters cause there are places where incoming calls are free wile some other places where incoming calls are not free no matter the distance.
So all you have to do is to contact your network service provider and inquire if received incoming calls are free and not and also if you will get charged for long distance incoming. calls
Pissed off for being charged for incoming calls, you have to use the best alternatives below.
How to avoid being charged for long distance incoming calls
One of the best means people living abroad use in calling their friends and loved ones is by usin using instant messaging apps and services. The instant messaging apps and services I’m talking about includes; whatsapp, Skype, Facebook messenger, facetime, iMessage for texting, telegram, Google duo, etc.
1. Whatsapp messenger
When talking about the best way to call or receive incoming calls without being charged by our network service provider, whatsapp will always be the number one simply because it is used by almost everyone except for countries that banned whatsapp like China.
As everyone almost have a whatsapp account, you should request from your friends and family living in abroad or long distance to call you through whatsapp. This will help you to to economize your minutes or phone plan and the best part is when using a Wi-Fi network to make and receive calls through whatsapp.
However, if you are using a cellular data the charges are not really much especially for voice calls.
You can talk for more one hour and will be charged 40mb though it depends on how your internet service provider charges.
2. FaceTime
Previously you will have to pay a fee to use FaceTime for international calls, but now we have the likes of whatsapp which is even more popular than Skype, international FaceTime calls are free.
But this is only for apple users.
If the recipient you are calling has any of iPhone, iPad or Mac, you can easily call the person using the faceTime and this will prevent you and the recipient from being charged by the internet service provider.
Sometimes I use FaceTime for international calls though mostly I prefer to use whatsapp especially when most of my family members are all android users.
3. Skype messenger
Back then during my days of Nokia Symbian and Belle, Skype was the means of making a video call. I use it to call my sister living in the UK back then, but now, whatsapp has really dominated especially with the calling features.
But still Skype is used by millions and one of the best means of making a video and voice calls, and as well as sending messages.
It only requires you to ask your friends and family to contact you through Skype but remember they will have to create a Skype or Microsoft account. As whatsapp requires phone number, Skype doesn’t require a phone number but rather a Microsoft account which involves an email address.
4. Telegram
After all the pressure from it’s users, at last telegram added video call to it’s app. So right now you can use telegram for voice and video call.
Though I don’t really fancy it so much but I still use it for a large group messaging as whatsapp is only limited to 256 group members while telegram is 200,000 group members.
5. iMessage for texting
iMessage is free between iphones and iPad and best when using a Wi-Fi as you can send high quality videos and pictures though they are all limited to 100mb per file.
iMessage is for texting while faceTime is for calls.
So you can use any of iMessage or whatsapp to send messages abroad and you will not pay a dime to your network service provider even when using a cellular data. You will only be charged from your cellular data plan which is pretty much very low.
Avoid incoming calls by using Google voice
As I have listed some of the best instant messaging apps you can use to make and receive calls without being charged by your network service provider, the truth is that these apps require to be installed on both the caller and the recipient phone.
Both the caller and the recipient have to create an account with these instant messaging apps else nothing will work.
Now here comes the best way to receive incoming calls without being charged by your network service provider.
That is you have to create a Google voice account and get an assigned number for calls and text messages.
The best feature or what I love so much about Google voice is the fact that the app or Google voice account is applied to both parties. You can use your Google voice number to call someone on it’s normal phone number, and the person can also use the normal phone number to call your google voice number.
Being an instant messaging service, Google voice doesn’t necessarily require a network service connection unless you are using a cellular data.
To learn more on how to create and use google voice for calls and text messages without being charged by your network service provider, kindly go through this page.
If you are living in an environment where incoming calls are not free, I advise you to use any of these instant messaging apps and services especially Google voice to receive and make calls, send and receive text messages on your cell phone or computer.
Do I get charged for incoming international calls Canada?
Yes of course you will get charged for receiving incoming calls in Canada as all incoming calls in Canada are not for free, you will be charged from your phone bill.
Aside from Canada, even in the United States international incoming calls are not free as well as you be charged for any call received on your cell phone.
Do you get charged long distance for incoming calls telus?
Telus network do charge for long distance incoming especially when receiving calls from abroad.
Do you get charged long distance for incoming calls bell?
Bell network do charge for long distance incoming especially when the incoming calls is from abroad. In order to avoid the incoming calls charges, kindly use any of the instant messaging apps and services and you are good to go.
Does it cost money to answer an international call?
It does cost money to answer international calls though it all depends on the network service provider as there are some that don’t charge their subscribers money for receiving international calls.
And this is where I draw the conclusion of this article, do you get charged for long distance incoming calls. To be very sure on incoming calls and it’s charges, I recommend you to contact your network service provider. But bear in mind that in the United States and Canada, network service providers do charge their subscribers for incoming calls especially when it is a long distance incoming calls.
