The Miracle of Vonage; an Expat’s “Best Friend”

We discovered Vonage phone service just a couple months before moving to Germany.  For staying in touch with friends and family back in the states, this service is truly an Expat’s best friend.

What is it?

Vonage is a non-traditional phone package that utilizes voice over internet protocol (“VOIP”); or in simpler terms, it uses your broadband internet service to make and receive phone calls instead of the traditional phone line from your local telephone company.  For a small monthly fee, Vonage enables you to make and receive phone calls from anywhere in the world provided you are connected to a broadband connection.  If you decide to take a trip to Paris for example, you can bring your Vonage adapter and phone with you…plug into the hotel’s broadband internet connection and you have your “local” phone number with you.

You choose the stateside area code that you want to use.  Anyone who calls you from within that area code is only charged for a local call, regardless of where you are in the world.  In fact, most long-distance carriers have been offering nationwide long-distance service for a while now, so for many the call to you is free. Your outgoing calls to the US, including 1-800 numbers, are covered with your modest monthly payment to Vonage.  It’s a great way to beat the high cost of international phone rates.  Sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it?!?

For us, Vonage has been a welcome addition to our daily lives.  Friends and family don’t have to pay the phone company rates for a call to Germany and we can take this Vonage number with us wherever we go…

What Features does it offer?

• “Free” calls from anyone in the states, provided they have nationwide calling plan.  Otherwise, they are charged the normal long-distance rate from their area code to the area code you chose when you set up your Vonage account.
• Excellent voice mail.  You can set your Vonage system up to notify you via email if you have voicemail.  Vonage even attaches a .wmv file to the email so that you can listen to the voice message from your computer.
• The Vonage system we bought included a multi-handset cordless phone system.  On the base station is a “Do not disturb” button.  Press this button and all your Vonage phone calls go directly to voicemail.  This is nice for us in case our stateside friends forget the time difference here in Germany.
• Online account access.  Access your Vonage account from any computer…check your incoming and outgoing calls, voicemail, etc.  You can even forward your calls to another stateside number.
• All the standard features such as call waiting, call hunt, caller ID…all included in the monthly price.
• Stay in better touch if you move around a lot.  With Vonage you can take your number with you…wherever you go.

What hardware is required?

First, you’ll need a broadband internet connection.  Most folks with this type of connection are using DSL or Cable internet service from their local provider.  Next, you’ll need a Vonage adapter.  We picked up a multi-handset phone system with the adapter from Best Buy, on sale for $99.  Other Vonage adapters are available at a cheaper price without the multi-handset phones.

How do you set it up?

Follow the instruction manual…the instructions were easy to understand.  Establish a Vonage account online.  Select an area code and phone number from the choices Vonage gives you…install your hardware and you’re in business.

Just how good is the service?

When calling a land-line we and the folks we’re calling can’t differentiate between traditional telephone service and the Vonage service.  However, every once in a while the phone may cut-out a bit if the other party is on a cell phone.  Overall though, we’re extremely pleased with the quality.

How much does it cost?

Vonage has a couple of plans.  One caps you at 500 minutes of call time for a set price.  We opted for unlimited calling for about $25/mo.

Where can I buy it?

Check your local electronics store or order online.  Newegg.com is one of my favorite online sites for geek stuff.  You can read more about Vonage at www.betterwaytophone.com

It’s a good thing….

Mozilla FireFox 3.0

I’ve been a FireFox fan for years now since it’s public debut years ago.  I upgraded my web browser to FireFox 3.0 this month and I love the new features.  FireFox brought “tabbed browsing” to our desktops and laptops.  I’m impressed with the the stable platform, tabbed browsing, the one-click bookmarking, and the new “Smart location bar.”  Still the greatest benefit to me is that web pages seem to load much faster than with clunky Internet Explorer (even with IE’s latest release it’s still slower).  FireForx 3.0 advertises a smaller memory footprint so that you’re pages will load much faster while using less system memory…Brilliant!   Here’s a list of features that FireFox 3.0 has to offer.  Check out the FireFox web browser at the link above…it’s free.

Google Translate

I found a cool beta site today: Google Translate

This is a handy page to translate web content including entire web pages into your native language.  I believe they have 23 languages to choose from, along with a “language detector” in case you come across something that you don’t easily recognize.  It’s been helpful for us over here when viewing German-only websites.

Movie Review – Wall-E (*****)

Took the family to see Wall-E, the latest offering from the Disney/Pixar’s team.  In short, these guys have done it again.  Great story centered around the life of two robots who “fall in love.”  This flick is full of imagination and is laced with humor and overt eco-warnings concerning overpopulation and the importance of recycling efforts.  Adults won’t miss the not-so subtle, indirect reference to a futuristic Wal-Mart in Wall-E world’s fictitious Megacorporation, “Buy N Large.”  The animation is exceptional and it was an absolute hit with the kids.  Don’t miss Pixar’s latest animated short, “Presto” at the beginning of the film.  It was hilarious.  Overall, 5 stars for some great family entertainment.

“Cell Phones” in Germany

Here’s a quick overview of German Cell Phones from an expat’s perspective…

There are a couple different options when it comes to “cell phones” here in Germany.  The 2 major carrier options in this area are Vodafone and T-Mobile.   I chose Vodafone and it seems to be working out well, though I’m sure that most T-Mobile users are just as satisfied with their service.  Similar to what is offered in the States, you can purchase a 1yr or 2yr phone contract with a new phone here or you can opt for a slightly more expensive (or not depending on what deals the company may be running) pre-paid phone and then pay-as-you-go.  I believe that these pay-as-you-go phones are more popular, at least in my circle of friends and associates because you’re only paying for what you actually use vs a set monthly fee for unlimited use.  This of course is dependent upon how many minutes you actually use.  I’m a rather infrequent caller so the pre-paid deal works best for me.

One benefit is that you can add minutes to your phone from any Vodafone kiosk.  They seem to be everywhere and there are several in our village alone. There you can add 5, 10, or 25 Euro increments to your phone whenever you need it.

The billing structure is different from most stateside companies as well.  With the pre-paid phone you don’t get charged for incoming calls…only for calls that you make.  The charge for most calls within Germany is .29 for the first minute for a call you make and the rest of the call is free, regardless of the duration.  Calls to the states can get a bit pricey though at 79 cents/minute.  For stateside calls we’re using Vonage…which I think is another small miracle from the Techno-Gods.  More on the wonders of Vonage in a future post.  For now, my ‘cell phone’ and service are meeting my personal needs for local calls within Germany.

What I’m reading…

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

From the inside cover…

“Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? How did the legalization of abortion affect the rate of violent crime?

These may not sound like typical questions for an econo-mist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing—and whose conclusions turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and—if the right questions are asked—is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.

Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.”

A new Garmin for me

Okay, I’ll admit it…I’m a GPS geek.  I am absolutely amazed by the technology.  And what a sales pitch to married men everywhere…..  “You’ll never have to stop and ask for directions again!”

I couldn’t resist!  Years ago I bought my first Garmin, an etrex Vista.  At the time this was a fairly “Gucci” setup…barometric altimeter, electronic compass, the works.  Not bad for a little gray-scale handheld.  My wife loves telling the story of me spending a “few hours” (more like 15 minutes) in the backyard trying to figure out my new “toy” and get a good lock on the satellites overhead, perhaps even with a bit of a puzzled look on my face.  She was on the phone talking to her dad and the conversation went something like this:

Wife:  “He’s at it again…”

Dad:  “What did he do this time?”

Wife:  “He bought a GPS thingy…”

Dad:  “Oh, I’ve been thinking about getting one of those myself.”

Wife:  “He’s been walking around the the backyard all afternoon with the darn thing…”

Dad:  “Look on the bright side, at least he’s not out running around in bars…”

Wife:  “Hang on Dad…”

[At which point she hollers to me out the back door]

Wife: “Honey, you’re by the pool!!!”

[Much laughter at my expense on the other end of the phone]

That GPS served me well for 4 or 5 years of Geocaching, car use, roaming around the backyard, etc.  I even took it flying a few times and found the altimeter to be very accurate.  I upgraded the 1st generation etrex Vista with an etrex Legend HCx last year.  This model has a color screen, which I have found to be a must-have necessity.  This hand-held is great for wandering trips in unfamiliar areas and even does well in the woods, provided the tree canopy isn’t too thick.

Before moving to Germany we bought a Garmin Nuvi 260 with preloaded North American and European maps for my wife’s car.   It’s portable with an advertised 5 hour battery life and we’ve found that it works pretty well over here on the European Continent, although it can be a bit touchy at times with some of the directions.  For example, after making an exit it doesn’t always warn you in advance of the need to make an immediate turn in a timely manner.  In these situations the recalulation feature can get a bit of a workout but it manages to get us where we’re going.

Garmin Nuvi 750

SD Card port on the side

This brings us to my most recent GPS acquisition.  A couple weeks ago I picked up a Garmin Nuvi 750 GPS unit on eBay to use in my car.  The technology has taken another few steps forward.  I’m very impressed with the 4.3″ widescreen display and the clear voice prompts in different languages.   I’ve heard that some of the earlier Nuvi models have a bit of a tinny sound through the speaker.  Not the case with either the Nuvi 260 or 750.

One of the best features that this unit offers is the ability to build and save 10 different routes…a feature that my older Nuvi 260 is missing.  The Nuvi 750 comes loaded with North American map data but is easily upgraded with additional maps with Garmin’s pre-loaded SD Cards.  I have a 2008 European Map card that covers most of the continent.  These cards are “swapable” with other compatible Garmin units like my E-trex Legend hand-held GPS.

Like the Nuvi 260, this unit is portable and has settings for walking, bicycling, and driving.  As you can see from the photos above, it’s small enough to fit in a sport jacket pocket, backpack, fannypack, or something similar.

The good folks at eBay sent me a 10% off coupon on any purchase…with the discount I got a sweet deal on this NIB unit.  So far, it’s working like a champ.  I’ll edit with some additional info once I give this new GPS a good workout…

“Expats” in Germany

I’ve heard the term expat a lot lately so I thought I’d do some very light research on it’s origin.  If you Wiki “Expatriate” you might find something that resembles following:

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country, fatherland).

Background

The term is often used in the context of Westerners living in non-Western countries, although it is also used to describe Westerners living in other Western countries, such as Americans living in the United Kingdom, or Britons living in Spain. It may also reasonably refer to Japanese living, for example, in New York City, New York. The key determinant would seem to be cultural/socioeconomic and causation.

In the 19th century, Americans, numbering perhaps in the thousands, were drawn to Europe—especially to Munich and Paris—to study the art of painting. Henry James was a famous expatriate American writer from the 1870s, who adopted England as his home.

Trends in expatriation

During the later half of the 20th century expatriation was dominated by professionals sent by their employers to foreign subsidiaries or headquarters. Starting at the end of the 20th century globalization created a global market for skilled professionals and leveled the income of skilled professionals relative to cost of living while the income differences of the unskilled remained large. Cost of intercontinental travel had become sufficiently low, such that an employers not finding the skill in a local market could effectively turn to recruitment on a global scale.

This has created a different type of expatriate where commuter and short-term assignments are becoming the norm, and are gradually replacing the traditional long term. Private motivation is becoming more relevant than company assignment. Families might often stay behind when work opportunities amount to months instead of years. The cultural impact of this trend is more significant. Traditional corporate expatriates did not integrate and commonly only associated with the elite of the country they were living in. Modern expatriates form a global middle class with shared work experiences in multi-national corporation and working and living the global financial and economical centers. Integration is incomplete but strong cultural influences are transmitted. Middle class expatriates contain many re-migrants from emigration movements one or two generations earlier.

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So, we’re “expats” living in Germany…for a few years at least.  My work brought our family here to a small Bavarian community from the U.S.  We arrived in June and are thus far enjoying our experience immensely.  The scenery, the people, the Gasthaus food, are all wonderful.  Look here soon for some additional posts that chronicle our European adventures!

My first post…

Well, this is my first blog post.  I intend to use this forum to journal a few ideas and share some happenings in my life.  This first post isn’t quite as eloquent as I thought it would be so I think it would be best to keep this one short and just get it out of the way…