Telecommunications

It is important to stay connected with your family at home.

Telephones

Of course, there are telephones to help you do so :) You will have one in your office. Local calls are free but usually you cannot call 1-800 numbers or long-distance from there. To call a number outside the department, press "9" and then dial your number. IMPORTANT: For long distance calls, it is advisable to buy prepaid phonecards. Just walk into any convenience store and look at the posters in the window advertising them. Check their rates carefully and also keep an eye on hidden costs like weekly service charges (=each week your balance on your card will decrease no matter whether you make a call or not) and connection fees (=you have to pay extra for each call you make). They come in balances of 5, 10 and 20 CAD.
Those cards work by calling a local Toronto number (from any phone: office, public, landline, cell) which is printed on the card, then sometimes choosing a language number, and entering a PIN (personal identification number). After that a voice will anounce your balance. You can dial the number you want to reach - the prefix for international calls is 011. On some cards you finally have to press the "#" key (pronounced "pound"). After all that, a voice will read out the available minutes for talking to that destination. Finally, you are connected to your destination. This all sounds like a lot of hassle, but it will save you a lot of money! 1 minute before the balance of your card reaches 0, a voice will interrupt your call stating that you have 1 minute remaining.
BARGAIN: Go to Spadina/Dundas. You will see people sitting in front of stores with a desk selling phone cards at discount rates, usually 4 CAD for a 5 CAD balance card, 8 CAD for a 10 CAD card.. You get the idea.
But be aware that the transmission quality of some cards is really poor, others will cheat on your time, others will be always busy,.. So try different cards until you find one that seems best value for money for you or ask someone who calls the destination as you.

Internet Access

You are craving for email? You just need to play another round of Starcraft? Fear not, there are several internet service providers (ISPs) in Toronto happy to have you as a customer. CanadianISP is a website offering a comparison between most ISPs. Finally there is the possibility of using your cell phone to access the web or your email. The former seems rather expensive, the latter is usually billed per email sent or received, although you can get special deals - check the cell phone provider's webpages.

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