Do you often travel internationally? Is business travel to another country in your regular routine? Then you should consider purchasing a prepaid international sim card. When traveling to other countries, only a handful of options exist for placing phone calls back to the states. Cell phones do not generally work overseas, since most carriers have towers only locally in the United States. As soon as you leave the country, your service will drop and you will be unable to call family and friends.

Landline-based phone systems allow you to place calls to domestic contacts, and the quality is typically very high compared to other alternatives. However, this quality comes at a price, and they are typically very expensive. Not only are you charged for placing an overseas phone call, the person receiving your call must also pick up the hefty bill as a result. This can be seen as discourteous and should be avoided. International prepaid sim cards configured to work overseas can save you a lot of hassle when it comes to making domestic calls. They tend to be less expensive than standard landlines, and give you the option of using a portable phone.

A more recent alternative to landlines is voice over internet protocol (VOIP). This technological standard has given rise to the existence of VOIP services, which give consumers the ability to speak for a flat rate over the internet. While this service is significantly less expensive than both landlines and international prepaid cell phones, the quality is lacking in comparison. In many ways, cell phones with prepaid sim cards offer the best benefits and have the fewest drawbacks when it comes to enabling you to place important calls overseas.