I was interested in getting a 800 or 888 number for technical support. Anyone has an idea how much on average the local phone company can charge?

Hey - You live around Chicago? W could get togethr sometime. ;) Maybe www.telcan.net - They are 2/month - 4c/Minute. 6second Intervals, Very nice staff.


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I am in the Westchester, NY area.

Thanks for that link. I see some cheap rates. Signing up tomorrow.

Forgot to ask... Do they forward all the calls to your home phone number? How do you know it the call would be coming from the 800 number?

My 800# is from Angel.com, and believe me, it can and does save you a lot of money. Built-in auto attendant features plus voice mail boxes, etc.

You get 50 minutes free and additional minutes are .15 cents billed in 60 minute intervals.

*Sorry, forgot to mention that the price for Angel's 800# service is $9.95 per month.

kall8.com... $2.00 per month... 6.9 cents minute... no HIDDEN charges. Watch for hidden charges that is where most companies get you. Used service for 1 year... I'm very happy.

You can have voicemail or fax sent to your e-mail and many other features. It is a VERY flexible and reliable service. I have two numbers. One 888 number and an 866 number. One for business and one for faxes.

heh i lived in chicago for 17 years of my life, plan to move back once i'm 18.

Originally posted by PILMAN
heh i lived in chicago for 17 years of my life, plan to move back once i'm 18.

Lol, that was kind of out there.

Guess he's been in orbit for the last year.

Originally posted by LPHosting
Forgot to ask... Do they forward all the calls to your home phone number? How do you know it the call would be coming from the 800 number? (I use Kall8; I assume it's the same with other services.) They pass caller-ID info through, so you can identify the caller, but normally you can't tell if it's a regular incoming call or a call forwarded by your 800 number. You could pay for distinctive-ring service from your local telephone company (probably about $5/month), which would give you a second phone number, and then have your 800 number forwarded to that number. Kall8 lets you change the ring-to number whenever you want (via their web site); some other services make you call in to change it, and might even charge you each time.

we use Kall8 too. It is good. Just hope they lower the price a bit.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DavidDalka
[B]Hey - You live around Chicago? W could get togethr sometime. ;) Maybe www.telcan.net - They are 2/month - 4c/Minute. 6second Intervals, Very nice staff.

how you get that 4c/minute? it said 6.5cents on their website. :confused:

Originally posted by LPHosting
Forgot to ask... Do they forward all the calls to your home phone number? How do you know it the call would be coming from the 800 number?

I have all my 888 business calls forwareded to my cell phone... I'm on Verizon service and I can't tell if a land line, 888 call or what. If I don't know the caller I have to answer in a business manner (this is *** how may I help you?). Sounds dumb to friends. I would ask kall8 if there was a way to set up the system to show your toll free calls.

Originally posted by hekwu
I have all my 888 business calls forwareded to my cell phone... I'm on Verizon service and I can't tell if a land line, 888 call or what. If I don't know the caller I have to answer in a business manner (this is *** how may I help you?). Sounds dumb to friends. I would ask kall8 if there was a way to set up the system to show your toll free calls.



What you want is called Priority Ringing, or sometimes Distinctive Ring as mentioned above. My phone company, SBC, offers it for $3.23/month -- http://www02.sbc.com/Products_Services/Residential/ProdInfo_1/1,,20--1-3-0,00.html

I don't know if such a service is available from cellular providers, but you might want to call and ask them

I also use Kall8. At basic $2/month for 866 number+ voice mail+ fax forwarding they are dirt cheap but yes 6.9 cents/min charge is on the higher side. As far as the features on their online control panel are concerned thay are the best toll free # provider out there.

I've got to move to the states.. everything's just so cheap over there... lucky bastards! :)

What you want is called Priority Ringing, or sometimes Distinctive Ring as mentioned above.

I could never differentiate between rings when I had distinctive ring. Maybe it requires a phone with a certain feature or maybe I missed something?

Originally posted by gooroo
I've got to move to the states.. everything's just so cheap over there... lucky bastards! :) Not everything ... you can call the US from Australia (with a good calling card) more cheaply than vice versa. And it costs quite a bit more to receive calls on a mobile phone in the US, since we don't have "calling party pays" -- that's why Americans are much more reluctant to give out their mobile numbers than Australians.

We use Telcan.

US$2 per month. They divert it to us in Australia for only 7.5c a minute - can't beat that. Rates within the US have been mentioned.

The number isn't on our website yet - we're waiting until the launch of our new site, but a few people have it.

Telcan also apparently are starting with auto attendant features on the number soon - so you can have "press 1 for sales", etc. and have each option go to a different number.

--Shaun

Originally posted by Alex042
I could never differentiate between rings when I had distinctive ring. Maybe it requires a phone with a certain feature or maybe I missed something?


It's possible... for me, my second number gives two short rings rather than one long one

Ill tell you.. I use Kall8... and after seeing the TelCan... i would go with telcan...

you dont need/use half of the features that kall8 gives you.. and if i wasnt bound by the contract or 50 dollar cancel fee... i would move to TelCan

telcan available in the us?

I would not switch... kall8 has all the features included... Telcan charges for voicemail. As I said before WATCH for hidden charges (well, that charge is not hidden... also watch for "extra" charges). Kall8 is best bang for buck, from what I see.

If you run a business you need as many features as possible. Like I always say: "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."

I am still using a WorldCom subsidary - TTI National. 4.90 cents a minute, six second increments with no monthly account maintence fees or minimums.

What I like about them is you can have up to FOUR 8XX numbers (directed all to the same line, of course) without a monthly fee. Then you can have a seperate one for customer service, one for orders only, one for collections and so on.

Makes your company look bigger than it really is since no one but you Plus it allows you to keep track of expenses better.