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I am visiting around 4 different European countries and was wondering how could I stay connected with my North American contacts. ( I live in NY ).

Briefly, following are the number of days, I am staying in each country.

Netherlands(1) France (4) Switzerland (5) Italy (7)

I want to keep the same number throughout. Having Data would be really ideal but not something I can't live without as probably, we'll be able to find WiFi.

I am sure keeping operating my same North American number and be on roaming would be really expensive and I really hope that there's some cheaper and affordable way.

Thanks

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  • Are you from the U.S. I assume so, but it would improve the answers you get if you state your country of origin.
    – jclozano
    Commented Feb 23, 2015 at 18:21
  • I have a Google Voice number (US Number) and have it connected to Google Hangouts, so I can text and make/receive calls over WiFi while abroad.
    – Vagish
    Commented Feb 23, 2015 at 18:22

2 Answers 2

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I had a look at your StackOverflow profile and it says you are from New York. You have two methods of doing this.

European countries all have different mobile networks and phone number systems. So you would most likely have to get a sim in each country but that isn't really economic and is a major hassle.

Method 1: Google Voice

Get a Google Voice number and link it to your Google Hangouts mobile app. You can then send free texts when you have the Google Voice option selected, and after installing Hangouts Dailer (if on Android) you can make/receive calls for free over wifi.

NOTE: This only works on Wifi.

Method 2: T-Mobile USA SIM

T-Mobile have a Simple Choice Plan which is $50 a month, and has free text and data roaming for the countries you listed. See the whole list here. You would have to sign up and then cancel so they don't keep billing you every month.

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  • Pretty impressive! That may be the best solution :) Thanks alot.
    – user219492
    Commented Feb 23, 2015 at 20:28
  • 2
    No, not really impressive. This reply starts out with an incorrect statement and gives you two not particularly usefule suggestions. First of all, even if there are different mobile networks in the European countries, roaming charges are relatively low and there are even operators with no charge for receiving calls while roaming. Calling to the US may be relatively expensive, but shopping around a bit, you should be able to find good or better prices.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Feb 23, 2015 at 20:36
  • Thanks Tor. I guess then may be I should research more on European providers
    – user219492
    Commented Feb 23, 2015 at 20:43
  • @Tor-EinarJarnbjo to be honest for someone touring four countries in a relatively short space of time, something simple like this which works in each country equally sounds much better than ploughing through many mobile provider terms and conditions then hunting down specific provider's sim cards four times. Especially since Switzerland is non-EU so doesn't benefit from roaming caps
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Aug 1, 2016 at 13:21
  • Since the asker seems to be particularly interested in voice calls, for Method 2 you should probably mention what T-Mobile charges for voice calls when roaming. As I recall it is 10c/min.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Aug 1, 2016 at 13:42
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VOIP phones, like Vonage, can be used wherever you have cable access to the internet. I take my office with me wherever I go around the world. Calls reach me immediately. I can call anywherein the States as if I were home.

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