Keeping in Touch in New York City
After moving to New York, you will no doubt want to stay in touch with great friends and family back home. The good news is New York is technology central; if they make it you can buy it. Of course, with all the daily social activities you’ll no doubt get involved in, you may have a tough time finding the right time to connect with home, especially if there is a different time zone to accommodate.
The toughest part of figuring out how to stay in touch is wading through the plethora of options and providers that cater to your telecommunication needs. Often, it seems that to get the best deal, you should change providers every time your contract expires.
With so many options, it may be difficult to understand what you need in terms of phone services, so here are a few guidelines.
A landline is the “fixed phone” that only works in your home. It can* provide the best reception of all the options, and a major advantage of this medium is that you won’t have any dropped calls unless there is a blackout or a fibre cut in your area.
There are many VoIP providers and options here, but the two most popular are Skype and Vonage. This technology allows you to use your existing Internet connection (so you first have to buy Internet service, which normally means you have also bought dial-tone from your local service provider, like Verizon or Time Warner Cable) to lower your calling rates. Especially useful for reaching out to people internationally. Looking at the two most well known providers of this technology:
Skype is known in most parts of the world; this is a great way to speak to your friends overseas at a minimal cost. Requires a software download, and a headset with microphone. You can also attach a video device to your computer and not only talk to, but SEE your friends as you speak with them – a wonderful experience! Video is optional. Logitech is one of the better known providers of the video devices you can use with SKYPE. International rates vary if you are calling phone numbers and the connection can have interference or dropped calls, but on average, it’s excellent. Even better – if you know each other’s SKYPE names, the calls are free of charge.
Vonage – for as little as an additional $9.99, you can add this service. This gets you a domestic US number – any area code you like – and 200 minutes of OUTbound calling, plus unlimited INbound calling. If you tend to make a lot of calls, they also have an international plan for about $25 that includes unlimited international calling. The other great feature you can add, and fees vary per country, but average an additional $9.99, is a virtual number. So, if you just moved to New York, from, say Spain, you can purchase a number with a Madrid area code (or one of many other major Spanish cities) so your friends back home can make an almost local call and reach you in New York!
Nowadays, many New Yorkers opt to skip a home phone, and just have a cell phone. Since Wi-Fi is available almost anyplace, you can take your laptop and peruse the Internet in a café, and your cell phone means you are reachable anytime, anyplace!
Main providers in New York are AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, though many smaller companies exist as well. Unless you are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an unlocked cell phone, you will have to commit to a minimum of a one-year contract with the provider you choose. Everyone has different rate plans, typically of benefit for domestic calling, and the rate plan changes about once a year. On average, expect to pay $50 - $100 per month for your cell phone (depending what features you have, and whether or not you want a data plan), and add to that the charge for an international dialling plan – typically about $5 per month, which makes international calls cheaper than if you do not purchase an international rate plan.
Apart from calls and Internet, you may wish to stay informed about news back home. Major TV stations in New York will only cover local and domestic news, and provide highlights of major international stories. For better coverage of smaller, more local news, you’ll want to check out CNN as well as NYCLife which even offers news segments direct from other countries, in other languages – most frequently French and Italian news.
Foreign language newspapers are readily available. Spanish newspapers are available at almost all news stands, and there are many international media stores around the city where you can find virtually any newspaper you’re looking for.
The toughest part of figuring out how to stay in touch is wading through the plethora of options and providers that cater to your telecommunication needs. Often, it seems that to get the best deal, you should change providers every time your contract expires.
With so many options, it may be difficult to understand what you need in terms of phone services, so here are a few guidelines.
Getting a landline in New York City
A landline is the “fixed phone” that only works in your home. It can* provide the best reception of all the options, and a major advantage of this medium is that you won’t have any dropped calls unless there is a blackout or a fibre cut in your area.
- * The word “can” is highlighted because depending whether you get a cordless phone or a corded phone makes a difference. If you’re in a large apartment building, you will want a DEC phone to put up with the least amount of interference from your neighbours' phones
- You will need to buy dial tone service for this line. The two mainstream providers of dial tone in New York are Verizon and Time Warner Cable. Outside of Manhattan, there are more providers and cheaper rates. Both these providers are now competing to give you phone, Internet, and cable TV service. It is much more cost effective to get all three then to choose only one or two, if you’re in need of TV, Internet and cable. On average, it will cost you $90 - $100 per month your first year, and then costs will go up about $20 a month after that. A couple of distinguishing factors:
Verizon vs. Time Warner Cable
- Verizon DSL or FIOS is much faster Internet service than Time Warner Cable modems
- Verizon has been requiring a 2-year contract, though it’s not evident in their advertising, whereas Time Warner requires only 1 year. Early disconnect fees are costly.
- Both services work with your land line
- Verizon is primarily a phone company; while Time Warner Cable is primarily a TV company. If you require lots of phone features, Verizon may be better – such as a fax line or two lines of service, or “distinctive ring” service which allows you to split one line into two for incoming calls.
- Typical packages include unlimited domestic calls in the US with the ability to add on rate plans to the countries you call the most.
Getting VoIP technology in New York City
There are many VoIP providers and options here, but the two most popular are Skype and Vonage. This technology allows you to use your existing Internet connection (so you first have to buy Internet service, which normally means you have also bought dial-tone from your local service provider, like Verizon or Time Warner Cable) to lower your calling rates. Especially useful for reaching out to people internationally. Looking at the two most well known providers of this technology:
Skype technology
Skype is known in most parts of the world; this is a great way to speak to your friends overseas at a minimal cost. Requires a software download, and a headset with microphone. You can also attach a video device to your computer and not only talk to, but SEE your friends as you speak with them – a wonderful experience! Video is optional. Logitech is one of the better known providers of the video devices you can use with SKYPE. International rates vary if you are calling phone numbers and the connection can have interference or dropped calls, but on average, it’s excellent. Even better – if you know each other’s SKYPE names, the calls are free of charge.
Vonage technology
Vonage – for as little as an additional $9.99, you can add this service. This gets you a domestic US number – any area code you like – and 200 minutes of OUTbound calling, plus unlimited INbound calling. If you tend to make a lot of calls, they also have an international plan for about $25 that includes unlimited international calling. The other great feature you can add, and fees vary per country, but average an additional $9.99, is a virtual number. So, if you just moved to New York, from, say Spain, you can purchase a number with a Madrid area code (or one of many other major Spanish cities) so your friends back home can make an almost local call and reach you in New York!
Getting a cell phone in New York City
Nowadays, many New Yorkers opt to skip a home phone, and just have a cell phone. Since Wi-Fi is available almost anyplace, you can take your laptop and peruse the Internet in a café, and your cell phone means you are reachable anytime, anyplace!
Main providers in New York are AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, though many smaller companies exist as well. Unless you are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an unlocked cell phone, you will have to commit to a minimum of a one-year contract with the provider you choose. Everyone has different rate plans, typically of benefit for domestic calling, and the rate plan changes about once a year. On average, expect to pay $50 - $100 per month for your cell phone (depending what features you have, and whether or not you want a data plan), and add to that the charge for an international dialling plan – typically about $5 per month, which makes international calls cheaper than if you do not purchase an international rate plan.
News and media from home
Apart from calls and Internet, you may wish to stay informed about news back home. Major TV stations in New York will only cover local and domestic news, and provide highlights of major international stories. For better coverage of smaller, more local news, you’ll want to check out CNN as well as NYCLife which even offers news segments direct from other countries, in other languages – most frequently French and Italian news.
Foreign language newspapers are readily available. Spanish newspapers are available at almost all news stands, and there are many international media stores around the city where you can find virtually any newspaper you’re looking for.
