Hello, I'm Mike Prasad.

I’m heading to Asia on Geeks on a Plane in a few days and have been trying to figure out a cheap way to receive calls while abroad (I can call out via Skype over Wifi on my iPhone). My goal was to find a solution with the following caveats:

• Be as transparent as possible a.k.a. not have to give out a new number.
• Be as cheap as possible.
• Be able to get voicemails without calling my U.S. phone (an iPhone with unlimited minutes).
• Be able to use local prepaid SIM cards/change to a local phone in each country I visit.
• Be as elegant as possible a.k.a minimize the number of handoffs/services needed.

According to most of my fellow traveling geeks, getting a local SIM card in each city I travel to is the best (read: cheapest) way to go. Some countries, like Japan, even have free incoming calls. As my main phone is an iPhone, and I didn’t want to unlock it (and needed an Android phone for app testing), I picked up a Google Nexus One (see my unboxing pics here). The Nexus One supports all the GSM bands I’ll need and should take a local SIM wherever I go. Now I had to figure out how to get my calls routed to the Nexus One (with a country-local number), but still receive voicemails when I was between countries. I figured something like a VOIP service would work. Here are the services I checked out:

• Google Voice - Great service within the U.S. but can’t forward to international numbers. Transcripted voicemails to email is a plus though…
• Google Voice + Gizmo5 - Gizmo5 is integrated into Google Voice and allows forwarding to international numbers at pennies a minute, BUT the almighty Google bought Gizmo5 late last year, and for now, no one can sign up for a new account.
• Google Voice + LocalPhone - Could theoretically work but never used Local Phone and wasn’t as elegant (simple) of a solution.
• Google Voice + Skype - Could work, but Google Voice is an extra unneeded step.
• Skype - Has the right services, can forward to any number, seemed like the way to go.

After playing around on Skype’s website Here’s what I’ve set up:

1. A Skype Online Number - A U.S. number that anyone can call that goes to my Skype account.
2. Skype Voicemail -  So if I miss the call I can still get voicemails by logging into Skype on my laptop (I think?) my iPhone App.
3. $25 of Skype Credit - For calls forwarded out at low Skype rates.

And here’s what I do when I’m traveling:

1. At home, I setup my Skype Voicemail and turn OFF Skype Forwarding.
2. Before I board my plane, I forward my regular U.S. mobile number (that everyone knows) to my U.S. Skype Online Number. 
3. When I land in a country abroad, I grab a local prepaid SIM card, and when I get online at the hotel I login and turn Skype Forwarding ON to the local prepaid number.
4. Before I fly out I turn OFF Skype Forwarding then when I land, repeat step 3.
5. When I get back home, I stop forwarding my regular U.S. number to my Skype Online Number.

So as complex at it seems, it should work pretty simply. Here’s how calls to my regular U.S. mobile number should automatically route:

1. Calls to my regular number automatically go to my Skype number, no one needs to know a different number.
2. If I’m on a plane or have no country specific phone/SIM, the call goes to Skype Voicemail (not AT&T voicemail), which I can access anywhere when I get online.
3. If I have a local phone/SIM, I receive the call at local rates + SkypeOut rates for forwarding (usually a few cents a minute).
4. That’s it.

Total cost is $49 spent on Skype + local SIM costs, and I don’t miss any calls or voicemails, all while avoiding AT&T’s $1+ a minute international calling rates.

As far as I can tell, it should work. I’ll let you know how it goes.. and if you try it out, let me know! Now for the packing.. oye!

I’m heading to Asia for Geeks On A Plane and needed an unlocked quad-band phone, AND since at {M} Consultancy we do biz dev and app configs with Mobile Roadie, I’ve needed an Android phone for testing apps. I looked at a few options, including the awesome HTC Incredible and Evo 4G, but aside from not being available before my trip, they are slated for non-GSM bands and therefore wouldn’t work as world phones. I ended up picking the Google Nexus One on T-Mobile bands, which seemed to have the most compatibility with the cities I’d be traveling to (Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo for Geeks on a Plane then possibly London, Ibiza, and somewhere in Italy for a conference I’ll be speaking at in late June). The plan is to drop in local SIM cards and figure out a way to forward a U.S. Google Voice or Skype number to the Nexus One (more on whether this works in another post). Anyway, the package came in today, thanks to Google’s free overnight shipping, so here are some unboxing pics!