Imagine that you're traveling abroad and you find an issue with your bank back home. Now you need to call the bank's toll-free line in the U.S. to sort everything out but you don't want to suffer international charges.

Or maybe you just want to call home and check in with your family. There are all kinds of situations where you might want to call into the U.S. from outside the U.S. What can you do to bypass exorbitant fees?

Turn to Google Voice. Whether you're in Brazil or Ireland, all you need is an account in order to make free calls to the United States and Canada. The most common method is to call through the PC app, but calls can also be made with both the Google Voice and Google Hangouts apps on Android.

As of now, Google calls are limited to 3 hours in duration, but there aren't any restrictions on how many times you can redial the same number.

If Google isn't an option for you, Skype allows free calls to toll-free U.S. numbers without requiring Skype Credits. It's not as good as Google's offering, but definitely useful in a pinch -- especially if you combine it with a pay-as-you-go private toll-free number.

You can try these free apps for calling to the U.S. as well.

Did you find this helpful? Are there any other ways to make free calls to the U.S. and Canada? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Dialing Telephone by Brian A Jackson via Shutterstock