Toll free number

which provider would you recommend

[palain]

I do not have a toll free number at present but would like to set one up. Which provider would you recommend?

What options would I have to look for?

what are the pitfalls of a toll free number?

[Dogza]

I would have to say that Gotvmail seems to be the best value for the money. The rate is very competitive and you get a ton of features.

[Ledfish]

I'll second that. We have used them for a year now and we are very happy with it.

[piatkow]

Pitfalls? Where I live toll free numbers are only free from a landline. You normally pay a premium to call from a mobile. They also cannot be called from overseas of course.

[palain]

indeed - I plan on posting my regular number in addition a toll free number for North America.

[palain]

I have implemented toll free - the cheapest - low level option was a voip company in Manitoba called les (Google search [les voip]) they have a product: North America Toll-Free where you can setup any number in north america and it cost me $2.50 / month + $0.055 / minute + $0.055 / call

so a 1 minute call would cost me $0.11 and a 10 minute call would cost $0.605

All fees are in CAD

Setup was a bit difficult as the online interface is worded very technically. I opened a ticket and within minutes, I got answers.

All the calls I received yesterday were from the toll free number although I had both numbers posted. I was able to convert all of them into sales even upsell.

This was mentioned before in this forum. To me it is the cheapest conversion tool to date.

[jsinger]

All the calls I received yesterday were from the toll free number although I had both numbers posted. I was able to convert all of them into sales even upsell.

This was mentioned before in this forum. To me it is the cheapest conversion tool to date.

If you are doing so well, why is "cheapest" a consideration? I would want the best, most reliable.

We use a "real" phone company, Sprint, and they charge us about the same rate (in USA).

Is this thread about 800 carriers, or about service companies like gotvmail, which is kinda interesting?

[palain]

Being in Canada, my options are more limited, I have a Vonage phone and toll free is not offered by Vonage Canada.

[palain]

well I canned or was canned by LES by invoking a paypal payment policy violation - they charged me 3% extra for paying either with Paypal or Credit card.

I brought this issue to their attention and was promptly refunded without any attempt to resolve the issue.

Soooo.. I definately revoke Statements from yesterday PM when I was happy with them.

Any how I am still searching for a provider. I have looked at GotVmail but I'm uncertain of how it works.

When a call is forwarded to your phone, does it cost double the minutes? Some places do charge double the minutes.

What feature do you like most?

[palain]

I have taken the advice of people of this thread and have joined Getvmail. I must say that it is full of great options. Cost wise, potentially cheaper than just toll free but up front cost is more.

I like the time open and closed settings meaning that I can set to go directly to voice mail if I want let say at night or any hour of the week.

it is somewhat long to setup simply because there are lots and lots of options / features.

The call transfer features etc are not necessary for me at the moment since I am by myself.

I can have simultaneous rings on my workshop, home and cell phone and can priorize them or make either one unavailable at night or weekends.

Registration was quite easy and painless. I can say I could get a toll free call and 2 mail boxes setup within one hour.

The service is available to Canadians as well as US - this was one of my question.

another fun practical is get a voicemail by email

[jsinger]

I have looked at GotVmail but I'm uncertain of how it works.

When a call is forwarded to your phone, does it cost double the minutes?.

Wondered about that too. Im leery of ANYTHING quickly recommended by TWO people on a bulletin board. Tho it could certainly mean something is great.

Surely GVM has head-on competitors. Has anyone used them?

[gpilling]

We use RingCentral now. Used to use Vonage, but we wanted the PBX features offered by RC. We have recently upgraded to a dozen of their VOIP phones too, so that our people (in 4 different cities) can just punch three numbers to call the other person's extension.

Even with VOIP our phone bill is around $700 per month. For us, the low monthly rate was the least of our concerns.