International Inbound - Toll Free or Collect?

[Toni269]

I have a client who wants to setup a single phone number to print on emergency sheets that can be dialed from the following countries: Mexico, France, Germany, China & Korea.
They do not want their customers to have to pay for the call. I know that every country has a different dial plan so a single toll free number probably won't do the trick. I am unsure if each of these countries has "collect" call services or even what the pricing on something like that would be.

My advice to them is to print a different toll free/local number per country and greet them in their language but they are not open to that idea and they want to put in an announcement that says we accept collect calls and then repeats the options in 6 different languages....

Any ideas?

 

[skip555]

vonage ?

 

[johnpoole]

might try vonage, but i don't think you'll get an international toll free. i would answer the line with an anouncement service, multi languages, then transfer to the answer point. unless you have a contact in each of the contries, testing would be a trick.

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[donporter]

Vonage or some type of IP solution would help.
What you need is to have the one number go through a system? Route the call by caller ID.
I have a Inter-Tel system and I give one geeting for each region we have. The customer calls one 800 number and I look at the caller ID to route it to the right ACD group.

Again IP solution will give you the ablity to use one number.

 

[Toni269]

I've never been able to get Caller ID on an Inbound International Call so I can't even tell what country it is from. I can check into Vonage but even if they dial one number I know not all countries dialplans are the same.

Thanks for your help!

 

[skip555]

let us know what you find out

 

[johnpoole]

vonage will know via ip address, that may be your best bet

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[SYQUEST]

Toni269,

You might also check with any of the major service providers. Most of them have some sort of international program that may provide what you are looking for in toll free access with features, etc.

....JIM....