FREE WAYS to Keep in Touch with Friends

More than 5 free ways to communicate with friends - inside and outside Australia!

One of the BIGGEST helps when you're first settling down into Australia is no doubt - keeping in touch with your network. No matter what age group you're in, you would have built up a great network of contacts and friends in Msia/Spore before you came. 

Moving to Australia is like being a seed plucked out of the soil... new culture, accent, weather. Keeping touch with friends is perhaps one of the best things you can do to ease you into settling down. 

Here is a list of free ways to do just that - keep in touch with old friends while forming new ones here (The list gets better and better... I'm saving the best for last!):

Rojak's Note: Tech-savvy guys jump straight to points 4 & 5 

1. Email

2. Online Messaging

Most people are already familiar with online messaging. You can "chat" with your contacts from anywhere in the world by typing your sentences instead of speaking them. However new forms of messaging are popping up that are much more convenient.

The most common ones:

• MSN Messenger
  

FREE download from Microsoft's website here. Works on both PC and Mac, the other person needs to download the MSN Messenger software too before both of you can chat online.

• Gmail Chat

Did you know that if you have a Gmail account, you can chat with another Gmail account holder WITHOUT having to download any software? You must first add the other person to your contact list. Then look on the left hand side of your Gmail account - if your friend is online now you'll be able to type instant messages to that person.

• MSN Web Messenger

This is a really convenient form of MSN Messenger. It's useful if you're using a public computer, are on a school network or using a friend's computer that DOESN'T allow you to install MSN Messenger normally. Just go to Webmessenger.msn.com, log in to your MSN account online, and instantly get access to your Messenger contact list (just as if you're using the normal Messenger software).

• Skype

I personally like Skype a lot because it has a lot of features and add-ons (you can turn it into an answering machine, divert your landline phonecalls to your computer etc). To use it just go to Skype.com and download their software (works on both PC and Mac). Your friends need to have the Skype software too to chat with you. Chat by typing... or better still, if you have a speaker and mike you can chat AUDIBLY!

3. Online Audio / Video Chat

There are a lot of "voice conferencing" and "video conferencing" softwares out there that are available free.

• MSN Messenger

If you have a speaker and a microphone you can speak to your friend just like it's a phone call. 

• Skype

Added to the speaker and mike, if you have a web camera you can even see each other! The only downside is that sometimes there's a delay between each of your replies. Skype also has the tendency to disconnect you if your internet connection is jittery / sometimes if you use a wireless router. 

• Sightspeed

Voted the "Best Videoconferencing Application" by PC World and "The Next Level of Video Conferencing" by the Financial Times. Available FREE for download here.

4. FREE Web-to-Phone Text Messaging

Now the list is getting better. Did you know you can send your friends text messages for free... from the internet? Check out these links:

• Wadja.com (International)

My favourite - works for every country, no need to enter in your friend's phone carrier name. I message my friends in Malaysia, Sweden, and Australia with this. My experience (and my friends) shows that their messages come through about 80% of the time (pretty good considering it's all free). However if it's an important message, the best way to ensure it arrives is to send it through your own mobile phone.

You have to join and open an account (all free) before you can send anything. No catches, no signups, no junk mail, no strings attached whatsoever.

• Motocrew.com.au (Australia)

Also very reliable and clean. Works only for mobile phones in Australia, so if you have friends in other states it's very useful. Just join them (free) and start sending messages immediately. There are no catches, junk emails, or charges. The only small thing (really, it's very small) is that Motocrew sometimes inserts little advertisements for products at the END of the message. 

But if you ignore the little ads, it's as good as anything!

Downside: If there are a lot of people using the service at once, Motocrew sometimes freezes all activity to cope with the traffic. Sometimes you'll find yourself blocked out for half-an-hour at an end.

• Web2Msg.com (Australia)

VERY clean, the fastest service around. No signup needed. Just type in your friend's mobile number, type in your message and GO!

Downside: You need to use this service in the first half of the day. Web2Msg works on a pool system where they have a set number of free messages available for people to use each day. I find that by the time I get to it in the evening, other users have already used up all this credit so my messages don't work.

• SMS.ac (International - not verified)

I've heard of this site quite a few times but I haven't been able to verify it because I use Safari (it only works with Internet Explorer). Can anyone check on this?

• SMSPup.com (Australia)

A few of my friends use this reliably. You have to open an account, but to use the service for free you must first agree to receive advertisements from them in your email. Besides that it seems to work fine! I personally don't use this because of the spam factor ;-)

FINALLY.... My FAVOURITE FREE TECHNIQUE OF ALL TIME.....

5. FREE VOIP Calls!

VOIP stands for "Voice Over Internet Protocol". In everyday terms in means you can call and chat through the internet as if it's a normal phone call. I have tried many softwares where you can literally connect your phone to the internet for free calls. Among all, this is my NUMBER 1:

• Mobivox.com

It's very straightforward to use... better still, you can make LANDLINE calls to friends across the world FOR THE PRICE OF JUST A LOCAL CALL.

Go to Mobivox.com and try out their free phone call feature. Type in your own landline number, then your friend's (no matter which country). Mobivox will call you, then call your friend. When you both of you pick up, Mobivox will connect both of you & you can both chat like it's a normal landline call!

The trial works for 10 minutes. To use it for much longer you must open an account... but it's FREE! Study their system, read their FAQs. Mobivox is versatile because it even allows you to call your Skype friends from your phone! It's all free ;-)

The way to make constant free calls between friends is that both of you must be members of Mobivox (but again membership is free). Both of you must also be "active" users, meaning you both must have made at least one call through Mobivox in the last week.

The best thing to do- keep your account active by placing a FREE Mobivox call to any Skype contact (before calling your friend). The Skype call will be entirely FREE, and now that your account is "active" you can call your friend WITHOUT CHARGE. You can chat up to 250 minutes FREE each week! (If your 250 minutes run out, no problem they just cut the line).