Local Phone Numbers VS 1-800- Numbers

[Luke_Frerichs]

Hello,

I have been trying settle with what phone/answering system to setup for interacting with my buyers and sellers. I think I finally made up my mind. To use RingCentral.ca (virtual PBX) for now then later switch to live answer.. I am stuck between either operating my business with two 1-800 numbers or using two local numbers.

Do you think operating with 1-800 numbers in the classifieds, bandit signs and car wraps would be just as effective as if i was using local numbers to get buyers and sellers to call???

Are there any rein members using 1-800#ers with lots of success in attracting buyers and sellers in a local market..


Cheers

Luke

 

[BenSanderson]

QUOTE (Luke_Frerichs @ Nov 27 2010, 12:02 AM) Hello,

I have been trying settle with what phone/answering system to setup for interacting with my buyers and sellers. I think I finally made up my mind. To use RingCentral.ca (virtual PBX) for now then later switch to live answer.. I am stuck between either operating my business with two 1-800 numbers or using two local numbers.

Do you think operating with 1-800 numbers in the classifieds, bandit signs and car wraps would be just as effective as if i was using local numbers to get buyers and sellers to call???

Are there any rein members using 1-800#ers with lots of success in attracting buyers and sellers in a local market..


Cheers

Luke

Hey Luke,

I`ve had good success with the 1-800 number I set up with RingCentral last year. I used it to place all my Rent To Own tenant/buyers this past Spring and Summer and it worked like a charm. I couldn`t sense that there was ever any concern about me having an 800 number vs. a local number.

Having said that, now that I`m setting up an "I Buy Houses" branch of the business, I`ll be using a local number instead. This is the way I see it: if you`re selling your house, would you rather call someone who looks like he`s from another city (or even another country!), or someone who is more obviously local? I think if it were me, I would like to deal with someone local - there`s just that added sense of `home town` credibility for me.

Of course, I can`t comment on how this will pan out compared to an 800 number, as I`m just starting it up.

Good luck with RingCentral - it`s an excellent service and should give you lots of options to customize your intended message and your customer contact.

 

[GaryMcGowan]

We get the same results from both.
The advantage to toll free numbers is you can operate anywhere in Canada and move your advertising around only with one number.
By the way we use. www.voicemailtel.com

 

[ehazell]

I would prefer to have a local phone number, but I had to settle with a 888 phone number because neither PatLive nor my1voice could get local phone numbers for the town I want to canvas, nor to a destination that that town can call toll-free. Hope it works, but had no choice.

 

[Luke_Frerichs]

Hi Ed, there is always a choice you just gotta dig deep.

I had the same problem, I could not find a virtual PBX based company that could supply me with some local numbers. Gary Mc Gowan, mentioned voicemailtel.com and they supplied me with the local numbers i needed for my home city of Medicine Hat.

If your from a small town you will not be as lucky as me. Your only option is to Port some numbers from your local carrier to voicemailtel/ringcentral.com.. It will cost atleast $250.00 to do this for two numbers. When you call your local carrier be sure you talk to the business department since they will know how to do this and if the person on the other line has no idea what your talking about just simply talk to someone else or hang up on them and call again. Beware, i was transferred like 7 or 8 times because alot of these people are born clueless. This costed me 2 hours of my time and my phone is now held together by Duct Tape.

Try googling "How to Port phone numbers" since there is a certain process on how to do it correctly.. Luckly, i didnt have to go this way.

Cheers

Luke

 

[BenSanderson]

Hey guys,
I thought I`d update you on a major disappointment I experienced trying to set up my `local` number with RingCentral.

Turns out the so-called `local` number I ordered wasn`t completely local. It worked from Cambridge, so I thought all was well. We even got signage printed up with the number on it. About a week later I got word that the number wasn`t local from Kitchener - any calls made from Kitchener were met with the long-distance notification. The only way to call this 226 area code number from KW was to dial 1 and pay a long distance charge. Not exactly the best way to impress new customers.

So I got on the phone with RingCentral and talked to about 3 different people before we all understood what was going on. The problem is that when they give out these seemingly local numbers, they list the same numbers for more than one city in the same area code. That means that in my case, my KW number was also listed under London. Obviously each number can`t be local to both cities (although I`m baffled as to why it worked in Cambridge). Unfortunately, they could not fix my number to work in Kitchener, and could only give me a 1-800 number. Needless to say, I was pretty ticked. I spoke to a sales manager and explained that because of their faulty local number assignment system, we purchased hundreds of dollars of now useless signage. They agreed to give me a refund for the full year`s worth of RingCentral service, but this doesn`t come close to paying for the bad signage and doesn`t fix what is a fundamental problem at their end.

I would advise anyone looking at getting a local number from one of these virtual PBX services, to order it over the phone and have them thoroughly test it out first (as should you) to make sure it works all over the area you need it for. And obviously, don`t jump the gun like I did and get things printed with the number on them until you are absolutely sure it works properly!

If you want a true local number, you would most likely have to get one assigned to you from Bell. I talked to a Bell business rep who told me it would be about $35 per month to get a local Bell number (without them hooking up a line or anything) that could be forwarded to the PBX service. Ouch.

In the end, I guess I`ll stick with my 1-800 numbers. At this stage I can`t see a significant benefit in going local when I haven`t really experienced any resistance to the more `corporate` 800 numbers.

 

[Aaron Moore]

I get lots of calls using both long distance and local numbers. I`ve been using a toll free number for years and I`ve had plenty of success with it. More recently I`ve started using local numbers. The type of advertising I do determines which phone number I use.
A good source for local numbers is vbuzzer... http://www.vbuzzer.com/
You can get a local number for around $5/month.

 

[Luke_Frerichs]

Sorry to hear that Ben.. Real reason i created this thread is because i ran into the same issue with Ringcentral.com and i was looking for a few more reasons to justify sticking with a 1-800#er. They even assured me it was local when i later found out it was a Calgary based number.

You mentioned Bell will drop you a number for $30 per month.. I go through Telus and and Rogers and they were willing to sell me a local number for $125 in fee`s. In other words they will Port me the number. Many of the people i talked to at Telus and Rogers just couldn`t grasp what i wanted to do then i talked to one of the managers who said they could just outright sell me the number.. Google, "how to port numbers" gain some knowledge around it and then call your phone carrier up.

Call voicemailtel.com up, ask to speak to Andra ext: 209 she may be able to find you some local numbers..

Cheers

Luke