As recently as the early 90s, expats were still in the technological dark ages. Remember, we were still writing letters then…our cell phones were almost the size of a shoe box, and cost hundreds of dollars per month to use.

When I got my first e-mail account in 1991, I could only find one person at work who had an e-mail account. Expats in those days were pretty much isolated, except for expensive long-distance phone service.

When I took early retirement in 2001, it was somewhat better…at least everyone had e-mail by then. But my long distance phone bill was over $120 per month for just a handful of phone calls between Ecuador and the U.S. It was possible to talk over the Internet, but the experience of using those poor-quality, first-generation PC dialers was frustrating.

Today however, we have it made. We can speak with (and see) family and friends, anyplace in the world, for less than it costs to call to the other side of town using a conventional land line.

Making calls over the Internet has become commonplace, and you don’t even need a computer.

So let me set aside the technical jargon and tell you how I break down the communications choices for expats these days. I like to think of the available Voice over Internet products as falling into two camps: Those that require a running computer to work, and those that don’t.

Using a running computer, the most popular program today is Skype, with well over 500 million registered users. Skype allows you to call other Skype users free, and will call telephones anywhere in North America (and many other countries around the world) for 2.1 cents per minute or less.

It also offers video, so you can see the person you’re talking to. For a nominal charge, you can even set up local numbers in various cities (including abroad) so your friends or associates can use a local number to call you at your computer from their location. In fact, this is a good way to set up a local number in your new home abroad before you actually get there.

If you’re traveling, Skype will even allow you to connect to subscriber-only Wi-Fi systems—such as those available in airports—that would otherwise require you to set up an account and pay a usually-hefty fee just to check your e-mail.

On my own computer, I’ve also installed Net2Phone and IConnectHere as backups, for when Skype is acting up. All three are free to install, and calls to landlines are around 2 cents per minute.

Each can be used with dial-up Internet service as well, although the quality is not as good and video calls are not available. Click any one of the links above to learn more or download the free software.

Another popular technology that’s used while your computer is running is the MagicJack. In a nutshell, MagicJack plugs into your computer’s USB port and gives you a U.S. phone number, no matter where you are in the world. This means that calls to and from your family back home, for example, could be local toll-free calls. It’s the biggest breakthrough in Internet telecommunications I’ve seen. The flat-rate price is $19.95 per year, for unlimited calling. You can read up on the MagicJack, get a free trial, or order one here.

Even without using a running computer, you can send and receive calls from abroad at almost no cost. In this case you’d use a broadband phone. The nice part about this method is that it uses a normal telephone instead of a computer.

As the name implies, broadband phones require a broadband Internet connection. Usually you’ll have some sort of “black box” that plugs into your Internet connection, which in turn has a jack to plug a normal telephone into. Having a broadband phone installed does not occupy the Internet line, or interfere with the operation of your computer.

Vonage was the pioneer in the broadband phone industry, but today, there are dozens of providers on the market. I research this topic twice per year, and every time I look, the customers’ ratings are different…so I hesitate to recommend a specific company.

Instead, you can read about subscribers’ personal experience and see the latest reviews here.

Even Skype has now entered the broadband phone market, and is available on several types of phones that work independently of your computer. They even sell a standalone Skype videophone (with a 7-inch LCD screen) that makes both voice and video calls, and is super-easy to use. Have a look at it here.

Expats today have it made, when compared to our predecessors from just a few years ago. We can stay in touch with friends and family as if we were right down the street…for almost no cost. It makes life abroad all that much easier.