Phone card supports Earth Day groups
an Diego Earth Day, as part of the Earth Day Network,
has recently completed an agreement with IDC Communications, Inc. to provide
prepaid phone cards with collectable scenic photos or the EDN logo. Now,
every call you place can make a contribution to a worthy nonprofit group,
while controlling your telephone costs.
Phone cards have been used widely for the past 10 years
in Europe and Asia, where they are sold like stamps by retailers. They now
are becoming commonly available in the United States.
Phone card calls are placed by dialing a toll-free 800
number, so calls can be made from any phone. A key feature is that the cost
per minute for all domestic calls made with a phone card is the same, regardless
of when you call or where you call. Without a phone card, it's difficult
to know in advance how much you might end up paying for your phone call.
Access and service charges can mount up, but even those hidden $2 - $10
"access" fees are eliminated with your own personal, portable
phone card. And, of course, you avoid the hassle of dealing with coins.
Security is an important selling point too: you control
the amount of money on the card. Thus, you can give access to your private
phone account to family members or employees with limited risk. If the card
is lost, you lose only the amount on that particular card. Cards can also
be customized so that the holder can only "phone home." Cards
can be recycled after use or recharged by purchasing additional time.
Dialing for Dollars
An incentive for purchasing an IDC/EDN phone card, instead
of the ones down at 7-11, is that EDN and IDC have designed a card with
a percentage donated back to SDED. SDED receives royalties for each card
purchased and on any amounts recharged on the same card.
We encourage you to try this service by ordering a card
to try - and to evaluate how it works. Each $10 card contains about 30 minutes
of calling (at a rate of 33¢ per minute). Remember: this applies to
calls from anywhere to anywhere in the continental United States at any
time! Take advantage of the convenience, security, collectability and donation
power of an IDC/SDED phone card.
