Truphone on Facebook

I received the following message from a marketing intern at Truphone (Software Cellular Network Ltd.) informing me of a new “free” telephone service available through the Facebook social/ web-community page. I do not have a Facebook account, so I have not been able to check out this service first hand, but, if it is as Nick tells me, it could be a great money saving travel tool.

From the email, I take it that Truphone partnered up with Facebook.com to offer a free telephone service that is available through your user profile. I am told that you can call landlines and cellphones (within the US/ Canada). It is unclear through Nick’s email if you can make calls to other countries. But if it is free- it is free- and could be a good way for us wanderers to keep in touch with long-gone families back at the homestead.

As I have previously stated, I have not used this services because I do not have (or want to have) a Facebook account. But if someone out there does use Facebook, I would appreciate it if you could try out this calling service and leave a comment below about what you think.

I posted the email from Truphone below, so you have all the information that I do on this as well as instructions on how to use it:

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Hi,

I’m Nick, and I work for a company called Truphone. We’re a mobile operator that uses the internet to give people free and low-cost calls (and SMS) on their mobile.

We’ve just built a new application for Facebook which lets you make free phone calls from Facebook. I’ve been checking out your blog and I think this application could be of real use to you and your site visitors.

The Truphone ‘Call Me’ Button lets you call real phones from within Facebook for free. This means your Facebook friends can make free calls to your landline (or US/Canadian cellphone). You simply add the application to your profile in the normal way.

It is available to all Facebook users and is particularly useful if you’re travelling or away from home.

I was wondering if you’d mind me posting a note on your blog about the Call Me Button app – I think your visitors could benefit from using it. Please let me know what you think?

Kind regards

Nick Vaux
Marketing Intern
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I have been getting a lot of emails like this from companies who want me to promote their TV shows, products, books, and services, and, for the most part, I welcome them. Though most often what these companies want me to promote are not things that I or, I assume, my readers would want to use, so I do not make mention of them. But sometimes, I get an email about a potentially useful service for travelers- like the free Truphone Facebook application- and I figure that it would not hurt to write a post about it.

I have also been getting some emails asking me to review travel oriented books, which I really love doing. The publishers send me a free copy of their book and a press release, I read the book, and write a little review about it. I read books- lots of books- and new releases are often times too expensive for me to afford. So if a publisher will send me a book for free, I will surely review it here (Hey publishing houses, send me more books!). But keep in mind that I will be honest.

I take no money from any of this.

Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
Anduze, France
December 16, 2007