Call Forwarding: Okay here is a complicated one for you...

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

So here is my situation. I'm trying to figure out if I get billed for this:

1) I am a US Vonage customer.
2) I have a Canadian virtual number.
3) I have my Vonage account call forwarding to my cellphone (same area code as my Vonage number)

If Party A calls me from Canada, using my Canadian virtual number, and the call is forwarded to my cellphone, does my cellphone treat that as a local incoming call or a Canadian incoming call? I ask because when the call was forwarded, the Caller ID was Party A's calling number in Canada.

Posts: 646 · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 11:10 pm Post subject:

Does a cell phone company charge you differently based on the source of an incoming call?

Anyway, If I were to guess, I'd say it counts as a US call.

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

I'm going to call the cellphone company and see if I can find out. I thought surely it would become a local call, but I don't know how Vonage could tell my cellphone caller ID that the call was originating in Canada when it was actually a local incoming call.

It does make me wonder, if the call comes into Vonage's network from my virtual number in Canada, then is forwarded to an outside number, where does it leave Vonage's network? (if that makese sense)

Posts: 1179 · Member of the Week Joined: Feb 28, 2005 Posts: 1179

Dominus,

I guess your question begs the following question: Why does it matter? All incoming calls regardless of origin to a cell phone does not cost the receiver anything but their minute usage. Even if it was an incoming international call, it will only eat up the cell minute usage. At least that is what I am told by my cell phone company Verizon.

I can see why Vonage is sending you the original caller ID info because it will help identify who is calling you instead of the caller ID of your Vonage phone. That is my guess.

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

Well I am a little uncertain just because 2 customer service reps seemed a little uncertain, however it does appear that an incoming Canada call merely eats minutes.

I'm just trying to be careful here because part of my rush to Voip is a result of an unexpectedly large phone bill, not realizing I was paying 44 cents a minute calling the seemingly innocuous 905 area code, in Canada.

But I'm still curious about where a call "leaves" the Vonage network when call forwarded to a cellphone or landline, purely for academic reasons.

Posts: 508 · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 5:50 pm Post subject:

incomming calls to a cell phone are free to you, there is no charge, regardless of where the call comes from.. that whole "my cell charges me LD to answer" crap comes from ppl answering their cells while out of their home location, or while roaming, but for the most part in teh US you do not pay LD anymore anyways, so you could answer your cell anywhere in teh US and not worry, even if the call is comming from outside of the US..

same with CDN cell phones, but we do pay LD out of our home MSA, we haven't adopted 'nationwide LD' like ya'll Sad

yet anyways..

your friend can call you as much as she likes and you can either answer it on your Vonage or on your Cell you are good to go Smile

man, LD from the US to Canada is expensive, from Can to teh US is usually charged at around teh same price as Can to Can calls.. you get ripped off to call us.. lol. My wife uysed to have Sprint PCS, she called me for like 5 mins, and then an hour later she got a SMS from Sprint saying her pohone would be turned off in a minute untill she paid her bill again.. Rolling Eyes

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 43

Well there are plans that reduce the price but of course that requires a fee and there are still per-minute charges. But I just didn't realize, and I wasn't planning to be on the phone with her so much, these things happen hehe. I figured ten-digit phone numbers like mine, couldn't be that expensive.... could it???? Famous last words! I think the cell companies get a big addition to the bottom line that way, a customer's calling pattern changes and once you're outside that plan, you're going to get robbed. From her end of things, a landline was not a solution for her so she had to choose from several unappealing cellphone plans, in Toronto.