How to set up a second phone number for a home office, cheap, in Canada?

July 25, 2009 11:18 AM

How to set up a second phone number for a home office, cheap, in Canada?

I am in Canada. I work from home, and live here with my partner.

From time to time, when I give my phone number to clients, I wish I had something like a separate line. There are two issues I want to solve:

The main issue:

1) When clients call and leave a voicemail, they hear our “home” outgoing message. I’d rather they hear something more professional sounding. (But I don’t want to change our home OGM).

A secondary issue:

2) From time to time, clients call when my partner is on the phone, and I don’t get the message right away.

Getting a whole second line, with its own extra phone, seems like overkill, given the very low volume of calls I get, and given the multiplicity of options we already have for talking to people (one landline for the two of us, one cell phone each, and skype).

I wonder if there might be something not too expensive (Say – Maybe up to $5/month or so), that could do something like the following (though I’m open to variations):

- Give me a new local number I could give to clients that would be just for my business

- When clients phone that number and get voicemail, it would be a specific “business” outgoing message.

- When clients phone and I’m around, it rings, ideally on my regular phone.

- What would be awesome: When client phone and I miss the call (say, because my partner is on the other line), I get an email or other notification on my computer, so I can call the client back quickly.

Any ideas? Suggestions?

posted by ManInSuit to technology (20 comments total)

Well, in BC, Telus offers a Smart Ring feature that does exactly what you want for the price that you want.

Your profile says you're in T.O. -- surely there must be a POTS provider in the centre of the universe that offers the same thing? Have you called Bell and asked?
posted by randomstriker at 11:48 AM on July 25

Hmm...

Can Smart Ring be set up so that people calling the business number get a different voice mailbox?

I'm using Primus for my phone service. They have a similar service, but I think that it only does the "distinctive ring" part - it won't actually send clients to a separate mailbox.

I think Bell has a similar service called ident-a-call, but I'm pretty sure it works like the Primus service.
posted by ManInSuit at 11:55 AM on July 25

I despise them, but Rogers offers a 2nd-line for $9.95 month, if you are already using them to provide your home service. I presume Bell offers something similar. If you don't mind your clients dialing a US number, you could get SkypeIN for $60/12 months.
posted by modernnomad at 11:57 AM on July 25

Another option, depending on how low the volume of calls you expect is, is to go with a prepaid cell phone like PetroCan mobility, which if you pay in $100 chunks will give you 440 mins of airtime that will not expire for 365 days.
posted by modernnomad at 12:01 PM on July 25

ModernNomad - On that 2nd line - Would I have to pay an additional fee for, say, voicemail? That starts to get out of my price range...

And - Yeah, I'd originaly thought SkypeIn might be my solution, until I saw it didn't provide Canadian numbers. Too bad...
posted by ManInSuit at 12:03 PM on July 25

I have a "distinctive ring" through AT&T (formerly BellSouth) - no separate voicemail, though. Also, I get a separate charge for the additional number, and for the distinctive ringing, and for "forward to voicemail if no answer/busy" - it's kind of odd. I'm thinking about transferring my second number to a cell phone.
posted by amtho at 12:05 PM on July 25

I hadn't thought about using the prepaid cell as a 2nd line. I guess that might work for using it as a voicemail destination number, or a quick way to get in touch. It might get expensive in terms of minutes if I actually used it for call (I spend maybe 4-5hours a month on business calls - seems like that doesn't warrant its own line, but at prepaid cell phone rates, that could be $50/month or so...)
posted by ManInSuit at 12:12 PM on July 25

With Bell in Ontario we have a 2nd line for $2.99. Add a cheap phone/answering machine combo and it'll probably work out to $5/month in a year or so.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:19 PM on July 25

apias - Ha! I had forgotten that there are answering machines. That might be a cheap way to do it, then. I don't know if Primus can provide a 2nd line as cheaply as bell, but that seems worth looking into.
posted by ManInSuit at 12:20 PM on July 25

(and - was the $2.99 for a 2nd line some sort of special offer? I'm seeing $9.95 + installation. Not unaffordable, but not $2.99 either...)
posted by ManInSuit at 12:23 PM on July 25

If you're getting internet service through the cable company, most of them offer some sort of phone service now that you could probably bundle in with your TV / internet service.
posted by jjb at 1:14 PM on July 25

jjb - I get my 'net through rogers - they sell a home phone service, but it looks like it's over $25/month...
posted by ManInSuit at 1:18 PM on July 25

$2.99 could be a special deal. We've been Bell customers forever. We also know a few people who work at Bell so maybe they did something on their end. But Bell and Rogers seem to be in the midst of a price war of sorts so you may want to call one of them up and see if they can provide you with a line for less than what they're advertising.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:36 PM on July 25

I believe the $9.95 I quoted for Rogers 2nd-line includes whatever 'services' (voice mail, call display etc) that you are already paying for on the main line.
posted by modernnomad at 1:51 PM on July 25

I believe the $9.95 I quoted for Rogers 2nd-line includes whatever 'services' (voice mail, call display etc) that you are already paying for on the main line.

Sorry to correct, but it doesn't (unfortunately). Second line is a base of $9.95 with $4.00/feature after that.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 2:18 PM on July 25

(Someone emailed me to recommend les.net . Not sure how that works...)
posted by ManInSuit at 10:00 AM on July 27

(or jetnumbers?)
posted by ManInSuit at 10:03 AM on July 27

Why not just use a VOIP service, like Skype? It costs me $60 / year for unlimited North American calling and a local phone number. Plus, you can easily forward it to another phone number. It has voicemail and great international rates.
posted by reddot at 3:03 PM on August 3

reddot - Skype would work for me if I were in the US. In Canada, they can't provide me with a local number...
posted by ManInSuit at 9:16 PM on August 24

(A few weeks later - I still haven't found a solution that works - a second line looks too expensive, and there don't seem to be other options that suit my needs. Ah well....)
posted by ManInSuit at 12:42 PM on August 25