Hi.
First off, I'm from New Zealand and my PP is in Tabor CI, NC.
My PP and I have been writing letters back and forth for about a year now.
We have always spoken about phone calls, how exciting it would be to finally speak with one another, to hear each others voices for the first time and that "first phone call".
However, I have found it increasingly difficult to engage GTL in creating an international account for me.
I understand that things can take a little longer because the international accounts division of GTL runs via email only.
Nevertheless, it has been frustrating to say the least in regards to having waited two months already, after sending all the details and information they required of me after their first reply.
Can anyone, anyone at all give some insight in this process or could share their GTL international success story, how long it them to sort it for you, how your account was handled and any other information you deem important enough to pass on.
Thanks in advance.
Rose.
Last post
First of all, which state are you writing to or is it international? There is only one type of account you can set up for GTL to make international calls and they are prohibitively expensive if you do set it up. GTL are a pain in the arse... some states allow call forwarding or "third party" calls, others do not... I write to a federal inmate and skipped GTL entirely. My calls cost the inmate that I write to .15cents a minute. I believe international calls in many states are something like $1 a minute if they're allowed at all.
You really need to fill us in with more information so we can work out what the best way of going forward with this is.
Hi have you tried using something like dingtone or Skype to get a number local to his area that’s what I did
Some states don't allow third party calls, or in other words Skype, Google Voice, or Dingtone numbers and when they find out (which they can from the large block of numbers Google and Skype have bought up) you will be banned from every communicating to anyone at that facility again.
Hiya.
I did mention what state my PP or "penpal" is in, in the opening statement.
NC = North Carolina.
I'm not asking for information on other services, as the country I am currently residing in has restrictions of their own.
And I wasn't asking for a solution.
Just other peoples experiences with GTL.
Nevertheless, GTL is and has always been my only option and I have managed to open an "International Account" via the team at GTL through email.
Not hard, merely time consuming.
Thank you for your concern.
Dingtone isn't available in my country.
And Skype requires a monthly subscription $$ for what I'm after.
Thanks anyway.
Just wondering if you're any further forward? I'm on the same boat as you. I'm from Scotland and trying to set up for my Pp in California to call me.
I set up global tel account as my mobile doesn't accept collect calls. I've had confirmation from advance pay that my number is registered with his facility and that they received the call credit I transfered to them. However. Everytime my Pp tries to call me, the line is just silent....
I gave him my global tel number plus told him to add the country code in front of it. Wondering if I should have only registered the global tel number without the code and that's the problem.
This has been going on for a month now and I've spent $100 setting it all up.
Any help would be appreciated. I'm at my wits end with it all :(
Just an update, in case someone is looking for current information:
I'm in Germany, my PP is in Michigan. He uses GTL to call me, and the rate per minute is only slightly higher than when he calls his folks in MI. It's §2.50 for 15 minutes when he calls in MI, §2.90 when he calls me on my landline in Germany. For his birthday, I set up an AdvancePay account with GTL, which took about 2 minutes. It said it would take 24 hours to be approved and when we tried it two days later, everything worked fine.
I didn't have to set up an international account, when you enter your number just check the little box underneath where it says something like "this is an international number". The entry format will change and you can enter your number with all the necessary land and area codes. My Visa card was also no problem. We occasionally use the account and it works just like a normal collect call in the US. The calls I pay for are about 20 cents cheaper for 15 minutes than when he pays, probably due to taxes.
I found it extremely easy to set up with the ConnectNetwork account. I can use my international card as payment and I have a local number using Localphone. And it's less than a dollar per 15 min call! That depends a lot on the state though!