10/26/08

Cheap Calls to Turkey: Possible Through Least Cost Routing

Cheap Calls to Turkey: Possible Through Least Cost Routing was written by Caroline Telford from dialtosave.co.uk

Cheap Calls to Turkey: Possible Through Least Cost RoutingIncreasingly, it is common knowledge that there are a wide variety of options available for cheap international calls. With the one exception of internet based calls, others seemingly are merely service providers that somehow manage to give out better rates for calling certain countries as if by magic! Because of this, many have occasionally found themselves wondering: How is it done? Why is it that these providers can give massively lower rates, whereas regular phone companies do not? What is their secret?

The Blessing of Least Cost Routing

What has become the modern day miracle of low cost calls is made possible through a certain something called least cost routing. Being as it is an extremely technical process involving telecoms that span the globe, the intricacies involved are completely mind boggling. However it could be described as choosing the cheapest route to get from point A to point B.

If it really was that simple, it would be too easy to be used. Sometimes the cheapest route to get from point A to point B is to go via point C. Or as an extension, imagine if the cheapest way to get from point A to point B was to go through point C, E, D, and L. With such a host of options and variables to be dissected, finding the cheapest path is not simple.

One thing that every least cost routing team avoids diligently is 'looping', where a route might mistakenly go from A to B to A again, thus causing a loop in charges many times over.

On the slightly more technical side is an even newer development called 'cherry picking'. Due to the fact that in some countries the range of prefixes is not standardized, i.e. it is not a reliable way to distinguish between different mobile networks and/or landlines, some mistakes can occur with misclassification. Since landline charges are normally much cheaper, when this occurs many least cost routing teams would jump at the chance to take advantage of the slip that would allow for considerable profits until the error is corrected. Of course, the provider that made the misclassification can face massive losses.

Essentially, when making cheap calls to Turkey, the cheapest route could very well end up being through, for example, a Chinese telecom service, and then a Russian one, before heading to Turkey. Truly it's a marvel that such great savings are possible through this method. Some calls to Turkey may even make use of 'grey routes', that make the call appear to have originated locally at the far end of it, further reducing prices.

The least cost routing techniques have truly been a blessing for all who make cheap international calls. Although today VoIP is the new rage and is slowly becoming preferred, as things stand, least cost routing can easily stand on its own two feet in terms of pricing. One of the only big downsides that this method has is the fact that due to the calls perhaps being rerouted so many times, it could result in the loss of sound quality. That said, there are normally constant efforts to ensure that line quality is of a generally acceptable level while prices remain just as low.

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