The world is much better connected today than it was at the turn of the century. Cheaper airfare, better connectivity, and the ability to see a person who might be continents away make moving countries for education or work a lot easier.
However, the inability to travel from one country to another amid a pandemic was one of the most confusing things to happen with most states and countries around the world, shutting down their borders.
When people are scared and do not know what is happening, which was the case when the Coronavirus broke out, they tend to lean toward being with the people closest to them, who are usually their family or friends.
For those in other countries who banked on the fact that they were a short drive away or a two-hour flight away, found themselves further away from their family than they had ever been.
What were the approaches that people used to get in touch with their loved ones?
While the world was in lockdown and under self-quarantine, people turned to the internet to see and talk to their families while they were miles away. This was an interesting time since platforms like Zoom among others that were initially only used to handle conferences and meetings were now household tools, used to talk to family members.
Additionally, friends from different parts of the world now use Zoom to keep in touch with each other. Zoom has even moved to the third most used app in India, pushing it ahead of Facebook and Instagram, right behind TikTok and Whatsapp.
What are the issues with using Zoom in India?
India doesn’t have the best internet connection, unlike many countries around the world. Although Zoom is one of the less data-heavy platforms, the improper internet connection around the country makes it difficult to use.
While a lot of the country is connected through the internet only 20% of that group uses a proper internet connection, with the rest using their phone data which can be quite unstable for apps like Skype, Zoom, or Hangouts.
Using regular calls to get in touch with the people closest to us
This is where cheap international calls help people connect, no matter whether they have a smartphone or the internet. The way the platform works is it gathers information like calling codes of the, to and from, locations involved in making and receiving the calls. Cheap calls to India are perfect when it comes to talking to older family members in the house since many of them cannot navigate a smartphone.
Furthermore, people from one country can have conference calls with a bunch of people in another country without having to worry about the exorbitant phone bills they would receive.
The general price of calls matches the pricing for calling people in the same vicinity which is not as expensive as it used to be a couple of years back when similar calls would cost an arm and a leg.
Conclusion
During the pandemic, it was tough not being able to see family and friends in other places. People tried using apps like Zoom to talk and see each other online, but in India, the internet isn’t always great, so it made it tricky.
Some folks couldn’t use these apps properly because of bad internet, so they found another way: cheap phone calls to talk to family abroad. These calls were a big help, especially for older folks who aren’t comfortable with smartphones. They didn’t cost much and let people chat with lots of family members at once, making it easier to stay close.
Although internet tools like Zoom were helpful, these affordable phone calls made a real difference for many. They showed that even when technology has limits, finding simpler ways to connect across the world is super important. As things keep changing, both online chats and phone calls will likely stay important for keeping those special connections strong.
