Many Americans traveling abroad have suffered the painful experience of returning home to a bill for hefty international cellular roaming charges. Fifty percent of global international travellers don’t even use voice services for fear of those dreaded high roaming costs. Today, Vonage introduces ReachMe Roaming™, a patented feature of its Vonage Mobile App® that allows U.S. travellers to receive free incoming calls to their existing cell phone numbers when connected to Wi-Fi anywhere in the world.

With ReachMe Roaming, family, friends and business associates simply call the traveller’s cell number to connect. There is no need to remember additional access numbers or provide a new phone number. U.S. customers can also make free calls back to the U.S., allowing them to enjoy seamless, two-way communication at no cost while traveling abroad. Vonage has been granted three patents on ReachMe Roaming by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

“At Vonage, we are constantly innovating to meet consumer needs and address communications challenges,” said Grady Leno, Vice President of Product Management, Mobile Services. “We were among the first to provide a solution to roaming fees on calls made by international travellers back to the U.S. Now, we have eliminated roaming fees on calls received by U.S. travellers while abroad, providing them with a complete solution.”

Leno continued, “The ReachMe Roaming feature puts U.S. travellers in charge of roaming costs. Once activated, friends and family can reach travellers by simply dialing their cell phone numbers from any phone; callers don’t even need the Vonage Mobile App. All inbound calls to the traveller will ring within the app over Wi-Fi. This new feature, combined with Vonage Mobile’s free calling to any U.S. destination, allows U.S. travellers to remain in touch without the fear of coming home to a huge cell phone bill.”

How it Works
The feature is easy to turn on when traveling. Simply select “ReachMe Roaming” from the app’s settings to activate the service. U.S. travellers can use the feature for free in any country where a Wi-Fi connection is available.

When someone calls the traveller’s cell phone number, Vonage Mobile seamlessly delivers the call in the app. If the app user is unavailable or outside a Wi-Fi area, missed calls go directly to Vonage Mobile voicemail where the caller can leave audio or video voicemails that are delivered once the user is back on Wi-Fi. The ReachMe Roaming feature can also be used over 3G/4G; however, data charges from the carrier may apply.