Simplosys Solutions Blog

I've been dabbling with the idea of setting up several 1-800 numbers for customer support for my Ecommerce sites. I am based out of San Diego CA but my staff is all over the world. So that makes that whole process a bit more complicated - at least that's what I used to think.

First thought was to do that with Vonage or other VoIP service. But given the poor Internet bandwidth that my Indian and Phillipine office gets, that was out of the question almost right away. Not worth the constant troubleshooting and mess. Even though my budget was small and call volume was likely to be very small - less than a 1000 calls per month, but I wanted something reliable.

I searched and considered several companies - JetNumbers.com, RingCentral.com, Etc. But none had the features for international call forwarding that I wanted - at a decent price. Until I ran into this provider - Call Me 800. They seem to have a great product out there for international call forwarding.

Here's why:

PROS:

- Rates are good. US toll free number is $2.95 per month plus $0.06 per minute for calls picked in the US and $0.14 for calls picked in Mumbai. Not bad at all.

- Seems reliable. They've been around since 1996.

- Have good reviews from other users. 

 - Advanced call forwarding. If the number in US does not pick up, the number in India rings automatically.

 CONS:

 The only really important missing feature in my opinion is the SIMULTANEOUS RINGS. It can't have more than one phone ring at the same time. It can be set to forward to another phone after a certain number of rings but that's it.

Here's my chat transcript with their support folks:

Ricardo: Hi

Ricardo: The Toll Free number 1-800XXXX is given by us.

Ricardo: If you want a different we have Vanity number which are easy to remeber but only with a monthly fee of 10$ per number. Only available in US.

Srini Venkataramani: Also, at a later date, if I wanted to stop the service, can I keep my 1-800 number?

Ricardo: nop i am afraid that isnt posible.

Srini Venkataramani: Is there a way I can stop call forwarding but keep the 1800 number by paying only the monthly fee?

Srini Venkataramani: In other words, if there are no calls coming in, I only pay $3 per month, right?

Srini Venkataramani: Also what are the rates to forward to a US number?

Ricardo: You will pay only the monthly fee.

Srini Venkataramani: What if I have one agent in US and one in India. Is there a facility that both will ring simulataneously and get charged based on who picks the phone?

Ricardo: From USA Toll free Number to USA $0.060

Srini Venkataramani: I have one agent in US and one in India. Is there a facility that both will ring simulataneously and get charged based on who picks the phone?

Srini Venkataramani: Ricardo, are you there?

Ricardo: no, it can make a advance forward for example after 3 rings its forwards to the other one.

Srini Venkataramani: I see but not simultaneous rings in 2 phones?

Ricardo: i am afraid not

Srini Venkataramani: Is it easy to change the forwarding numbers on the fly?

Srini Venkataramani: What is the rate to forward calls from US to Phillipines?

Ricardo: yes they can be change at any time

Ricardo: From USA Toll free Number to PHILIPPINES $0.240
From USA Toll free Number to PHILIPPINES Mobile $0.320

Srini Venkataramani: Can I have more than one 800 number under the same account forwarding calls to the same phone?

Ricardo: yea

Srini Venkataramani: Is there a separate $2.95 monthly charge per number?

Ricardo: yes

Ricardo: each number has its own monthly fee per month.