If you read my last post about Unlimited Messaging Promos provided by Telcos here in the Philippines and think that it’s too costly to subscribe to these services, you might want to explore other options to stay in touch with your love ones.
I am not a heavy texter and I rarely call someone unless it’s urgent. But I still manage to keep up with my family and friends by using Free Services using my mobile phone. But the thing is, it’s not really 100% free. If you have an Internet connection and have a WiFi enabled phone, then you’ll do just fine. There are number of Instant Messaging applications you can use to communicate with your friends.
Facebook Chat
Well, almost everyone’s in Facebook right? You can use this to talk to your friends whenever they’re online. I have a Facebook for Android installed on my phone and it’s running 24/7. The only time I can’t send/receive message is when my portable router is out of juice or when there’s no signal (rarely happen with Sun Broadband).
Skype for Mobile
What I love about Skype is you can make high quality voice and video calls with it. The setback is, not most of your friends have a Skype account.
Yahoo Messenger
Yahoo is the favourite email service of Filipinos and many have a YM account. What I don’t like about YM is the presence of Spam Bots that will send you tons of messages the moment you log in. It’s still dependable though but you may not read old messages after logging out.
Viber
Viber is an application for iOS and Android devices that let users send messages and call each other using the Internet. Once installed, you don’t have to log in again even after rebooting your phone. The sound quality is pretty good (depending on connection).
There are other applications that provide Instant Messaging Services like Nimbuzz, eBuddy, etc., you just have to find what’s perfect for you. Nimbuzz is a great app that let you chat with YM, Facebook and other IM services under one account. The thing is you’ll be able to save especially when talking to your friends overseas. These apps are recommended to those who have WiFi connection or unlimited data plans on their mobile phones.
