Today, there are many options that people can use to make international calls for free. I recently found a website called EvaPhone that lets you make free international calls directly from their website. The duration of the free call depends on where you are calling. (Here is the list of countries and the length of time that you can have a free conversation.) You should note that —even though I couldn't find this info on their website— I've read that they only allow two free calls per day. So in total, I can have 20 seconds of free calling to Tokyo! But I can't complain — after all, it is free.

I wanted to try out this service, so I called a US number and it worked! It had some issues with DTMF, but I think you should be able to use it for regular conversations. Then I tried calling my old friend in Japan at 3:00 in the morning, but unfortunately it said, "This call direction is not supported," on the EvaPhone screen. Too bad, I couldn't wake the poor guy up!

Despite some issues that I have found, I still think this is a good service. The fact that you don't need to install anything to use the service is great. You just go to their website to make a call. I'm always suspicious of "free" services on the internet that ask you to install stuff on your computer anyway, so it's nice that this service doesn't require anything like that. 

Of course, using Brekeke products is also a very good way to make free calls. You can call anyone for free as long as the person you are calling has an internet connection with SIP capability. The product works as the same way as email — it doesn't matter where the person is physically located.

Besides the free calls that you can make, with Brekeke PBX in place, you can connect all of your family and friends under one PBX system. PBX might sound like a service that is designed for an office environment, but there are many ways that families can enjoy PBX as well.

Here are some examples of how your family can use Brekeke PBX:

• Your mom can use the call recording feature whenever she makes important calls —such as to an insurance company— and then save the recorded files in case any problems arise later.
  
• Your sister can have all of her "unwanted" calls forwarded to her voicemail (which can then be directed to her email inbox), but she will still receive all "wanted" calls directly on her cell phone.
  
• You can set up a conference call to coordinate everyone's schedule for your Christmas gathering or for any other holiday or occasion. Or you could just make a group call to everyone whenever you can't get together for occasions like this.
• Using the call monitoring feature in tutoring mode, you can help your friend ask a girl out for a date without her being able to hear your voice. What could possibly go wrong? ;-)

There have been so many occasions in my life when I have wished that I had Brekeke PBX features. The only thing you need is a PC to install Brekeke PBX, and a SIP phone to make the call. If you don't want to invest in a SIP hardphone (physical phone), then you can just use a free softphone (software application that you install on your PC or smart phone).

Here is the link to our Quick Start Guide for Brekeke PBX.