Viber is a free application that allows free phone calls home or abroad between smart phones that have the application installed on the phone

More info and download here

A buddy turned me on to Viber a few weeks back and being very impressed, I have passed on the recommendation to others.

Many other smartphone applications work similarly and as well as viber for this:

• Line
  
• Tango
  
• Skype
  
• ...
  

Better check which one your friends are using already

I like the concept of Viber, allowing free phone calls, texts, and photos between users.

However, it seems to have issues.

I insalled it on two Android phones: an HTC WildFire (introduced about 1½-2 years ago) and my current Samsung Galaxy Note. Surprisingly, it didn't work on the much newer and more powerful Galaxy Note. The calls were constantly garbled beyond recognitionon on it, yet clear on the WildFire.

I wanted to be a good citizen and tell Viber about the problem I was having, but I searched and searched and there seemed to be absolutely no way to contact them. They seem to think they have every base covered in their numerous FAQ's, etc. so they don't need to hear from customers!

Viber requires 3G or WiFI access to work, so if your gf is out in the village, it probably won't work for her unless she has WiFi nearby.

A great concept if they can get it to work reliably.