One definite way to reducing phone bills when roaming is to use international sim cards. This SIM card will work in almost any country and in almost any phone, provided both support GSM transmission. This will save you a ton of money. In most business travel expenses are allocated so any money saved is yours to spend. The savings can either be channeled to keeping in touch with your family or spent on other expenses during travel.

In order to use a SIM card such as this, it will be better to use a world phone. World phones operate on all the current frequencies of the gsm standard. Most phones by default are either dual band or tri-band (the old world phone standard). Now quad band is what you will need to travel and have service in all other countries with their own GSM networks.

An alternative to getting your own international SIM or a world phone (or both), is to purchase a prepaid international cell phone. These phones are compatible across a range of countries and come with prepaid credit. This has many advantages. Firstly, it is prepaid, this prevents excessive usage since you can no longer make any calls once the credit is over. Secondly, in cases where the phone is stolen or lost, the damage can be limited.

In short, when roaming consider one of the above options, It will save you time, hassle and most importantly of all: money.