Online Communication Tools

• Call landlines and mobiles from anywhere in the world at great low rates using Skype.
• Get a local phone number in another country or region and answer calls on Skype.
• Record Skype calls and capture special moments.
• Screen share.
• HD video calls.
• Live subtitles: Read the words that are spoken during an audio or video call. Helpful when learning your partner’s native language.

Hangouts brings conversations to life with photos, emoji, and even group video calls for free.

Use Hangouts to keep in touch. Message friends, start free video or voice calls, and hop on a conversation with one person or a group.

• Include all your friends with group chats for up to 150 people.
• Say more with photos, videos, maps, emoji, stickers, and animated GIFs.Turn any conversation into a free group video call with up to 10 friends.
• Keep in touch with friends across Android, iOS, and the web, and sync chats across all your devices.
• Message friends anytime, even if they’re offline.
• Snooze your notifications so you can respond later.
• See what you chatted about in the past, including shared photos and your video call history.
• Call almost any phone number in the US and Canada for free, and get super low rates on international calls.

“We switched to gmail and LOVE it! We have had no issues with it. It allows us to both be on video AND visit other sites/send each other links at the same time. Gmail video has proved to be very reliable and dependable. It always starts up, never freezes and has never once kicked us offline. …We also use the gmail chat from our cell phones. We can chat just like in text form without incurring international charges for texts.” – Kate

“I typically do video chat through this while also checking and writing emails” – Tayler

Snapchat is a well designed app that makes social media a little more personal and fun. Instead of broadcasting a picture to the world on Twitter, keep it more intimate and share a moment only with your SO (or just a few friends.)

• A FREE app for iPhone or Android
• Feel free to have fun – snap chats aren’t permanent like a post to Facebook
• Make a ‘Story’ of your day and share it with your SO
• Fun filters and Geofilters to spice up your snaps

Communication doesn’t have to be limited to voice/video calls and text. Stay in contact by “touching” your partner no matter where you are. Bond Touch bracelets allow you to exchange touches with your loved one. When you tap on your bracelet, those touches are transmitted to your partner’s bracelet and is received as a light vibration and will light up their bracelet in whichever color you choose.

Frank and I put Bond Touch bracelets to the test. See our review here.

It’s always great when you can do a live, real-time video chat on Skype/FaceTime/Google Hangouts/etc… but when you’re both living your own lives, sometimes in different timezones, being able to find the time to sit down and talk over video isn’t always easy. There’s an app called Marco Polo that not only lets you do real-time video chats, it also lets you send video messages that your recipient can watch and reply to on their own time. Unlike Snapchat, with Marco Polo, your videos don’t disappear and you can watch and re-watch whenever you like. It’s free and unlimited – best of all videos are stored on their server, so you don’t have to worry about them taking up space on your phone!