The Blog

The Desktop Dialler is now available to download. This fab little tool will sit on your PC or Mac desktop, ready for you to make calls whenever you need it.

There's a quick video introduction available here (or on the Dialler page), although we reckon that it's so simple you won't even need to watch it.

Try it out and let us know what you think. Here at Call2 we're always hungry for feedback so send any thoughts or suggestions (or even problems) to Call2Marketing@Comxo.com.

Making an international call can be tricky. Whilst the process is very similar to making a local or national call there are a few differences which seem to confuse people time and time again.

The first thing you'll need to know when making an international phone call is the country code for the place you want to call. For example, the main customer services number here at Call2 is 01753 710453. This is a UK number, so when we display it on the website we add the UK country code: +44. This code replaces the lead '0', making the full international number +44 1753 710453.

At this point you may be thinking "but how do I dial a plus?". The '+' sign in an international phone number stands for the international dialling prefix in your location. What's that? Well simply put it is a short (2 or 3 digit) code that tells your local telephone exchange you wish to make an international call.

So, to dial our customer service team from (for example) the USA you would dial:

[prefix] + [country code] + [phone number]

[011] + [44] + [1753710453]

Call2 , a leading provider of high quality, low cost telephony, today announced the launch of its Microsoft Office Outlook dialler for Small and Medium sized businesses. Call2's Microsoft Office Outlook dialler enables smaller businesses, no matter where they are located in the world, to enjoy the most competitive rates on telephone calls that are normally reserved for larger corporations.

Call2's Outlook dialler is a free software plug-in that allows businesses to easily integrate the Call2 service into Microsoft Outlook. Call2's Outlook dialler let users:

• Save money on every call: up to 95% of the cost of calls to and from abroad
• Generate phone calls directly from Microsoft Outlook by simply clicking on a telephone number and dialling it

When a user generates a call through Call2, they are immediately called back and connected to the person they are calling. Because both calls are generated by Call2, users benefit from the incredibly low cost call rates that Call2 has negotiated.

This is the brand new Call2 blog. Over the coming months and years we will be posting here whenever we have something we want to shout about. As the guy who set it up I feel I can safely say that I, Simon, am the undisputed king of this blog!

I know it won't last but for now I'm claiming it ;)

EDIT [26th October]: My kingdom is now under dispute, and there is little left to do but try to hold the barbarians from the city gates. Whilst I still remain king of this blog my power weakens by the day, and the usurpers grow ever stronger. I have no choice but to abdicate, and maybe flee to South America... At least I'll be able to call home easily and cheaply using Call2!

People are communicators. They talk to express happiness, they talk to educate, they talk to say how much they love and they talk to create laughter.

The human condition in all its diversity moves and progresses on the ability to communicate freely and easily.

But good communication across the world is still the preserve of the few. In most countries monopoly operators charge extortionate rates for sub standard quality lines and even the rapid spread of Voice over IP providers such as Skype are legislated against, suffer from quality problems due to bandwidth and are only available to those with computers and broadband.

By providing cheap call rates with a high quality telephone service that can be used from anywhere to anywhere in the world, from any phone, we have strived over the past 14 years to facilitate the ability to communicate to anybody that can get to a phone.

Our cheap international calls service is used by thousands of people, including expats, in every country and territory. From soldiers in Afghanistan, teachers in the furthest reaches of the Canadian wilderness to the remotest parts of Africa, we regularly survey our clients and all of them have one thing in common. They wish to talk to loved ones and colleagues across the world on quality lines for a reasonable cost.

Some of them use Call2 from public phones at bus stops in Sierra Leone, some from oil rigs in Kazakhstan, some from military bases in Helmand Province and some from desks in New York. Some use us just from mobiles, some as a complement to Skype and some direct from their PC. All of them love to talk and our mission here at Call2 is to make that as cheap and easy and clear as humanly possible.

It never ceases to amaze me how fast the world moves. How much smaller it is getting, yet how distant we all are in the wired world that is piece by piece replacing the real one.

In most cases of course this can be considered for the better – our access to information and news is immediate and expanded. We can see where people are and what they say they are thinking; there is no longer a need to use precious space in our cases for holiday reading or book cases for storage. No more flicking through the directories to ring at least three insurance companies when it’s due for renewal to get the best deal. Sharing pictures and videos with everyone as quickly as they are created. 

Do you remember those special feelings though? Those that are now mostly just memories:

The clatter of the letter box early in the morning, sorting through the mail to find a hand written envelope with a slightly skewed stamp and faded franking mark, sent from a pen friend; photo booth picture included with the months of news and questions. 

Mooching around the shops, feeling, touching things you like and trying on clothes before you buy them, twirling in the mirror admiring the look. Going to car boot sales, antique shops and scrap yards to search for the more unusual treasures; surrounded by the smell of hay, history and oil.

The excitement of opening the wallet of photographs from the film you sent off last week, trying to remember what is on it and to see how each has come out, laughing at the classic image with the finger over the lens!

Fast forwarding through family videos to find the embarrassing clip, to share with friends at a special celebration party.

The phone ringing and the anticipation of who it is calling you as you pick up the handset and say ‘hello?’ knowing that who it is calling doesn’t know if you are there or not and the satisfaction in their breath when you answer the phone.

The World is not slowing down and technology is advancing faster and faster every day. I find the innovation enigmatic and embrace the ways in which we all go about our lives intertwined with it.

But have absolute respect for the companies who have taken the time to combine the old with the new giving us convenience but with the tangible feelings we once enjoyed.