You land in your destination and need a taxi to a neighbourhood your ride-share app doesn't cover. The hotel's shuttle line is a local fixed number. The restaurant you booked three weeks ago wants a confirmation call. All of this is routine, and yet for most international travellers, it still causes friction.

Traditional carrier roaming charges for voice calls abroad remain steep, often between €0.50 and €2.00 per minute depending on your home operator and destination. Many travellers avoid them entirely, defaulting to messaging apps. But local businesses, particularly small hotels, independent taxis, and neighbourhood restaurants don't have WhatsApp numbers. They have a fixed phone.

The Kolet app solves this directly. It has a built-in keypad that lets you dial any number you want, fixed line or mobile and anywhere in the world. Calls are made using Koins, Kolet's in-app currency, so there's no need to manage a separate calling account or install any third-party apps. You open the app, tap the keypad, dial the hotel front desk or the taxi company, and the call goes through. That's it. Prices per minute are shown transparently before the call is made.

Getting this right takes about fifteen minutes at home, ideally the evening before departure. Here's exactly what to do.

Step 1: Install your Kolet eSIM on Wi-Fi at home. Open the Kolet app, choose your destination, and install the eSIM profile. Data doesn't start counting until you connect for the first time at your destination. Your original SIM stays in your phone; you keep your home number for SMS and bank verifications.

Step 2: Choose your plan based on how you'll use data. If you want predictability, a Standard Plan is the cleaner choice. Plans range from 1 GB to 20 GB, valid for 30 days from first use, covering 190 destinations. Full speed runs to the very last megabyte, with no fair-use cap. For trips where you want to pay by the day without counting gigabytes, an Unlimited Plan works well, provided you're aware of the 5 GB/day full-speed threshold.

Step 3: Load Koins in the app. Koins are used to make calls through the Kolet app's built-in keypad. Top them up before you travel so you're ready to dial any fixed or mobile number the moment you land, no fumbling with prepaid accounts or third-party setups.

Step 4: Top up your Koins mid-trip if needed. You can top up your Koins balance directly in the app without reinstalling anything and since calls are billed per minute in Koins, keeping your wallet topped up means you're never cut off. Koins are really easy to earn too: unused data from Standard Plans converts to Koins at expiry, and referrals add more, so your calling credit tends to look after itself.

The infrastructure is mature and the remaining friction, for most travellers, isn't the eSIM itself. It's pairing it with the right data plan and having a way to dial any number — fixed or mobile — before you actually need to.