Affordable International Calls to Mexico

In 2020, staying connected with family, near and far, has become a lot more challenging. You might not feel comfortable traveling to Mexico to see family right now. Fortunately, calling Mexico from the U.S. is still an option, even if money is tight this year.

Affordable international calls to Mexico

Staying connected with your family and friends in Mexico right now is difficult. Starting in March 2020, the U.S. government put travel restrictions in place for travel to Mexico and Canada. While these restrictions do not prevent U.S. citizens from traveling back to the U.S., they do make gathering in person more difficult. Fortunately, there is an affordable way to call Mexico from the U.S. 

When you sign up for a subscription to the Ooma Premier service, you get spam blocking and voicemail monitoring. Best of all, you can call Mexico from the U.S. as much as you want. You get all of this for only $9.99 per month.

What if you only make the occasional phone call to Mexico? In that case, low per-minute calling rates are a good fit. Using the Ooma home phone service on an Ooma Telo, the per-minute calling rate for calls to Mexico is just $0.03. Let’s say you call your family every weekend and talk for an hour. That four hours per month of calling would cost approximately $7.20 (required taxes and fees are extra). Calls to Canada and the U.S. are included in the service. 

Call Mexico From the US: Your options for unlimited calling around the world

When you travel for work or otherwise, you need a phone service that keeps up with your lifestyle. If you regularly need to call people in multiple countries, signing up for an Ooma unlimited plan is worth considering. 

The Ooma World Plan costs just $17.99 per month and gives you unlimited calling to landlines in more than 60 countries and mobile phones in more than 10 countries. Unlimited calling Mexico from the U.S. is part of the plan. This plan is a good choice if you make international calls to a variety of countries.

If the Ooma World Plan doesn’t cover all of your calling needs, there is another option. In that situation, you might find that the World Plus Plan is a better fit. The World Plus Plan gives you unlimited calling to more than 70 countries and calling to mobile phones in more than 40 countries. The World Plus Plan includes unlimited calling to Australia, France, Ireland, Pakistan and South Africa. The World Plus Plan is available at $25.99 per month. The World Plus Plan option is best suited to travelers and business people who regularly need to call people all around the world. 

You keep the same phone number with Ooma as you travel so your friends and family always know the right phone number to reach you. There’s no need to share new phone numbers when you travel.

Tip: Need to make a call that does not have unlimited minutes included for the Ooma World Plan or World Plus Plan? Those calls are billed at a low per-minute rate that varies by country. For a full listing of which countries are included in the plan and which have per-minute call pricing, visit the Ooma international plans page.

Affordable phone calls to Mexico with Ooma’s free phone smartphone app

Using Ooma’s free calling app, the international calling service you have at home is available right from your mobile device. Now that’s something to celebrate!

Also, Ooma Basic customers can use the app to make international calls to Mexico at a low rate. Premier customers have the advantage of being able to make and receive unlimited calls to and from Mexico as part of their service.

Tip: All calls you make through the Ooma app require an internet connection. So, look around for Wi-Fi options during your trip so you can keep calling. The Ooma app requires relatively minimal data, so you can use Wi-Fi hotspots of varying speeds. You can find free Wi-Fi in many cities in Mexico. According to Wifimap.io, there are thousands of free Wi-Fi spots available in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tijuana and Puebla. If you travel to a more rural area, check in advance to see whether there are free Wi-Fi spots available.

How to stay connected while traveling to Mexico

Mexico keeps becoming more important economically. Unlike the countries of Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe, Mexico shares the same time zones as the U.S. That means that conversations and business problems can be solved much easier. 

When you travel to Mexico, you need a way to stay connected with your company back in the U.S. You have a few options. You might decide to use the phone in your hotel room. However, using that phone could become quite expensive. Another option would be to buy a cell phone in Mexico. However, taking the trouble to buy a new phone means more things to worry about, like remembering to bring that phone with you on future trips.

There’s a much better way! Use Ooma to call the U.S. from Mexico. You can connect to a Wi-Fi network and make calls. There’s no need to waste time trying to figure out an unfamiliar phone system. You simply open the Ooma app on your phone and make the call. Several Ooma plans, such as the Ooma World Plan, give you unlimited calling to the U.S. from Mexico. 

By using the Ooma app, packing for business trips to Mexico becomes much easier. You just carry your smartphone with you and you’re ready to make calls. You can use the same phone number when you make calls as well. The Ooma phone app works on both Android and iOS (iPhone) smartphones.

Phone etiquette tips for calling Mexico

If you are unfamiliar with calling people in Mexico, it is helpful to consider a few points of etiquette.

• Meeting etiquette. It is a common practice to start meetings relatively slowly with casual conversation about your life, weather and your surroundings. Add some time to your meeting time to allow for this conversation. It is a great way to get to know the people you’re working with.
• Be patient with delays. Several cities in Mexico, such as Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, are known for their challenging traffic conditions. As a result, people may be delayed in arriving to an office for a conference call. 
• Clarify agreements. In Mexico, some people feel uncomfortable saying no directly. If you feel like you are not getting a clear yes or no, give yourself time to seek clarification so you avoid disappointment later.
• Bureaucratic processes. If you are used to fast decision-making, interacting with Mexican companies and institutions might come as a surprise. Bureaucratic delays are a common experience among government institutions and big private companies. To reduce the chance of a bureaucratic surprise, ask your Mexican colleagues for advice and how long similar projects have taken in the past. With this knowledge, you can develop more realistic expectations. 
• Learn some Spanish. While some people in Mexico learn English, nearly everybody knows Spanish. Learning a few phrases in Spanish such as “Buenos dias” (good day), “Buenas tardes” (good afternoon) or “Buenas noches” (good evening/night) will help you make a positive impression. 

Now you’re ready to make your next phone call to Mexico. Use the Ooma World Plan to get unlimited calling to Mexico so you can stay focused on the conversation rather than your phone bill.