Canada Toll-Free Numbers That Require Canada Origination

[ctylor]

My problem is that I live in Canada but my VOIP provider is in the US. The way it is set up is that when you dial a toll-free number, it connects from the Internet to the PSTN somewhere in the US. However a lot of important institutions like banks or the government do not permit calls to the number from outside Canada. If you call the number, it will ring once or twice and then silence. So I am in sort of a pickle. If I can't find a toll number I can dial directly that reaches the same call centre as the toll-free number, I am shut out from contacting my bank.

Here is a good example of a Canadian toll-free number most VOIP people can't connect to--one ring and then silence:
1-88-88-724-724 (PC Financial Bank)

I understand this is a reported problem with Vonage Canada customers, who cannot call these kinds of numbers either, since their calls to toll-free numbers connect to the PSTN somewhere in New Jersey.

Does anyone know of a solution, like by using Sip Broker or include an open provider like FWD in your dial plan that allows toll-free calling but originates the call from Canada? Honestly, I don't think there is a solution at this point, but I wanted to hear if anyone else has run into this problem and found something that worked for them.

[markosjal]

I say that it is time you loopk at a Canadian provider .Try www.Les.net

[hwittenb]

Originally Posted by ctylor

1-88-88-724-724 (PC Financial Bank)

Call completes from my (Canadian) VBuzzer account.

(Canadian) Les.net is another good choice. The call completes thru their facilities too.

[bodosom]

Originally Posted by ctylor

Here is a good example of a Canadian toll-free number most VOIP people can't connect to--one ring and then silence:
1-88-88-724-724 (PC Financial Bank)

For what it's worth I can call this number using Verizon, Broadvoice and Voipjet.

[DracoFelis]

I'm sure there are many providers that terminate their "toll free" calling in Canada, just as there are many that terminate the calling elsewhere (such as the USA).

However, the problem is more general than that IMHO. Simply put, some numbers around the world (especially "regional" and/or "toll free" numbers) can only be called from some locations (specific countries, or even specific states within a country).

So if you "need" to call such numbers, you pretty much have to have a provider that terminates calls "local" to the region where the special number is located. Which in the case of the OP's number, means a provider that terminates calls in Canada. But in other cases, the "local" region could easily be somewhere else. For example, some USA "toll free" numbers will only work with USA providers, not Canadian ones! And there are even "toll free" numbers that work only when dialed from a specific state in the USA.

And IMHO the "solution" to all of these "local numbers" is to find a provider that can send the call out via the "local region" (for that "special number"). In some cases, you can find a "free provider" to do this (for example, "Free World Dialup" will let me call UK only toll free numbers, even though my VoIP adapter is in the USA), but in other cases you may have to sign up for a commercial provider "local" to the region of the numbers you need to call. And don't forget that with many VoIP adapters, it's possible to use multiple VoIP accounts. So it's quite possible to sign up with a cheap "pay as you go" account with some provider, just to take advantage of where that provider's "local region" is located...

[ctylor]

What bodosom said was very helpful, it meant that my diagnosis of my problem was too simplistic and there are other factors going on--the number can clearly be called from the US. I have since discovered a 'free' workaround to reach that number (1-88-88-724-724) by using Sip Broker and in effect placing my call to that number (and others that I am blocked out from from my VOIP provider) through Gizmo Project (which probably originates the call from San Jose, California!).

I am sure that something is going wrong somewhere, as DracoFelis talked about in his post. It definitely seems like toll-free numbers can be very quirky and sometimes the people who are footing the bill will be very picky about just who they will pay the toll costs for. Sometimes it doesn't even really make crystal-clear sense why some regions can't connect to toll-free numbers while others apparently similar can, but it is just the way it is.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this thread and gave me more information to better troubleshoot this issue.

If anyone runs into this problem and short of finding a new or an additional for-pay VOIP provider that lets it work, they could use an open provider like FWD or SipPhone in their dial plan (or incorporate Sip Broker into their dial plan which will in turn use an open provider) and they might be able to reach the number their own provider locks them out of.

[stufried]

On many 800 numbers, you have the option of blocking calls from outside your home country. Many services simply using a caller ID check to decide which calls to check. Caller-id can be spoofed. Some check the ANI which cannot be practically spoofed.

As this is a cost deferral issue, checking the caller-id (with its limitations) makes more sense. For example, if someone is calling from a 416 (Toronto) cellphone roaming in the US, it is a better bet that you will want to talk to the person than residing in Arkansas.

Personally, I think this is an anochronism. VOIP is one problem, but with NAFTA and Canadian Snowbirds living in AZ, AL, and FL, I think this is just a being penny wise and pound foolish.

[yiannis]

Sooner rather then later users with unlimited calling plans will not need to dial 800 numbers at all.

But this will take some time until more people move on to VoIP.

[mberlant]

I have been dealing with this problem from overseas since well before the popular rise of VoIP. The solution I have used is to call the toll free number from within the US (or, in your case, Canada) and ask the representative to tell you their POTS number. Explain that their 888 number is only reachable from within Canada and that you need to call from wherever you happen to be. As an added bonus, you will often find that this "international access number" rings in on a higher priority queue than the toll free number.