International operator services (IOS) allow travelers to place an international call

International call

International telephone calls are those made between different countries. These telephone calls are processed by international gateway exchanges . Charges for these calls were high initially but declined greatly during the 20th century due to advances in technology and liberalization. Originally...

 using a live telephone operator

Telephone operator

A telephone operator is either* a person who provides assistance to a telephone caller, usually in the placing of operator assisted telephone calls such as calls from a pay phone, collect calls , calls which are billed to a credit card, station-to-station and person-to-person calls, and certain...

 who speaks their language and accepts all forms of payment for connecting the call from anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world. This specialty form of operator services utilizes collect call

Collect call

A collect call in the USA and Canada or reverse charge call in the UK and other countries is a telephone call in which the calling party wants to place a call at the called party's expense...

 billing as well as credit card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

 billing to allow callers to place calls without a calling card

Calling card

Calling card may refer to:* Visiting card, a card originally used socially to signify a visit made to a house if the occupant were absent, or as an introduction for oneself; the precursor to the modern business card...

 or without the correct change for the pay telephone.