I am sorry that I don't have information to answer your question...I have not made a collect call in years.
But if your goal is to save money on a call, and you have access to a computer, SKYPE-Out is very easy to use and cheap. You can buy units with your credit card and it is pennies per minute to call internationally. You can find all info at: www.skype.com
I'm still trying to find out how to place a collect call too. I did just learn that you call call a toll free 1-800 number from Switzerland by dialing 00 before the 1-800
as far as i know, switzerland does not allow collect calls. well in my experience from a payphone. i've called collect from austria but when we moved here, i called the directory from a payphone and was told it doesn't work. maybe it has changed because now i just buy calling cards or wait to catch family/friends online.
Hi everyone--hate to break it to you but the 00 in front of the toll free number simply gets you connected into the USA. That number is NOT a toll free call from outside of the US. You will be billed by your Swiss phone service provider a per minute rate for calling to the US.
I think the original question was how to make an international collect call. Many times credit card companies and banks, etc will have a note that if you need to reach them and you are outside the USA, to call "international collect." This way the person or firm you are calling pays all of the charges for your call.
Here's what you do: from Switzerland dial the at &t access number 0 800 890 011
An a t&t operator will pick up. Simply tell him or her the number you wish to call and they will put the call through. If a live person answers they will ask them if they accept the charges. If a recording answers, the recording will say "if this is an international collect call we will accept the charges."
Partly correct. Putting a "00" in front of a US number connects you to that number when calling from a country that uses the "00" for international calls, including Switzerland. Works with some toll-free numbers too, but many American toll-free numbers do not accept calls from abroad. You may get either a busy signal until the cows come home or a canned (American) voice that tells you that the connection you dialed cannot be made. What that voice doesn't tell you is that you will get billed for an international call by your non-American provider all the same if you listened to the electronic lady.
This much is clear. Dialling a US 1-800 number from Switzerland is not toll-free.
For the ones that you can reach, you don't start getting billed until the warning message plays, though:
"The number you have dialed is not free of charge when called from outside the United States. If you remain connected, you will be charged at international direct dialing rates."
Dear me....my POINT was that they are NOT toll free for that poor person who thought they were. My other point was to post some helpful info on how to actually make a collect call from Switzerland--not to become involved in the battle of the pedantics.
I researched the information after not finding the answer on the thread, and posted it (along with a tip on how to not get charged for a call you think is toll free) for everyone's benefit.
I have been billed for "toll free" calls, even when the lady on the other end does NOT tell me I'll be billed.
I haven't dialed from my home phone for a couple years now, I now use skype, but I do remember calling US 1-800 numbers and it will say (or has said) the number is not toll free when calling from outside the US.
As for collect calls as others have said, no go from Switzerland.
Skype! Everyone who has internet should be using Skype or similar.
She's absolutely right. If you want to make a collect call to the US, you have to access one of the US providers like ATT, get an operator and make a collect call. It is useful info if you have to call some numbers in the US.
It's not complicated at all. Many of us used to use this method to call back to the US when traveling in the dark ages. But, for example, if I want to call my skanky bank in the US, I don't want to pay for it in addition to loosing minutes of my life I'll never get back. Easiest to call collect. You call a free number in Switzerland to get ATT or whatever, especially if you don't have an internet connection.
Absolutely false on both counts. It may be the simplest for the average consumer out there, but I pay a fraction of skype's rates, when it's charged at all, and have much better connection with my own pbx.