For people who do not have telephone service of their own, keeping in touch with friends and relatives who live far away can be a challenge. It might be possible to borrow a phone from a friend or neighbor, but this may lead to disagreements over money, convenience and ownership issues. Online access is a similar problem. One solution to help people stay in touch with loved ones without causing ill will or problems with others is buying a prepaid phone card. These cards eliminate the need to run up long distance charges on someone else's telephone phone bill. Phone cards have several features to help make using them easier, depending on the brand.

Online Access

Phone card services available online allow the user to sign up on the Internet and access their account from anywhere. They can sign up, add minutes and view their calling history. This is helpful when looking for a phone number for someone that has been called before, but the information is not on-hand where the person is. Online account management eliminates users having to spend phone card minutes for renewal or when they need information about the amount of time left available on the calling card. For some companies, the charges for each call are displayed on the account, helping the user keep track of how much was used for each phone call.

Internet Use

For those without paid Internet access, some phone cards give them the opportunity to sign in anywhere the calling cards are accepted. This gives the user full access to Internet email. For those without an online service provider account, having email access is crucial. This is generally accessible through a toll-free number in the US.

Features

Some services feature speed dialing. This allows the user to store numbers frequently dialed. This eliminates the charges accrued when making the connection and the time it takes to look up frequently used numbers. PIN-free dialing means a person does not have to have a personal identification number to use the calling card. Using the speed dial process makes it faster and easier to make phone calls.

Technology

One of the most recent innovations in calling card technology is the ability to send an SMS text message to any cellular phone through the calling card account. This is ideal for the younger generation of telephone users who no longer talk on telephones, but send text messages instead. Some companies have a feature that allows users to bid on online auctions on certain websites.