Reliable SIP providers in Canada

[Foodman]

I`m looking for a reliable SIP provider in Canada for a small outbound call centre. Preferably I want a provider who has an unlimited calling plan while calling within Canada.

Who are you using as your SIP provider?

[js19]

I am using thinktel. They have two levels of service. One uses VoIP most of the way and one dumps out to POTS asap. We have all our phone service through them now and have been very happy with call quality and the service provided thus far. I doubt anyone will give you unlimited within canada because whether a call is in canada or not, it still costs them bandwidth, and if you're doing 50k minutes a month in canada or something, it becomes a significant cost. The trunk provider also incurs a fee from bell or whatever for the transfer of voip->pots. Nothing is free.

Unlimited within canada/us are residential type plans. I have never seen them offered to businesses because the call volume is so much higher than a single residence could ever achieve.

I say this assuming you are going to have high call volume. I know vonage has unlimited plans, but those are when you order them for a single number. If you do trunking through vonage, they will charge you by the minute. What you can do is negotiate for a reduced rate by volume. And don't forget that you want to be billed in 6s increments for the first minute. Many telcos/providers will default to 30s. So even if you dial, get voicemail, and hangup, it will still cost you 30 seconds.

[Foodman]

Thanks for the info.

Currently I have POTS lines through a local carrier and I pay a flat rate for unlimited calling in Canada. It's my understanding that POTS lines are not recommended, do you have any experience with this?

[Foodman]

Or has anyone connected from Canada or another Country to a US provider such as bandwidth.com?

[williamconley]

A company called DSLi once offered me an unlimited PRI. However, it was a while ago and I don't remember if it included canada (I do remember it did not include PR, which is why we didn't use it at the time).

[ykhan]

The problem that you will inevitably run into with using an unlimited plan with Vicidial is that you can only go upto a one to one ratio dialing (i.e. one line to an available agent). So if you really want your center to get good productivity with Vicidial, it is recommended to go with a per minute plan. Many such rates can be as low as $0.005/minute with varied billing increments, mostly per second. If you want to discuss this more you can mail me at yousaf@yousafkhan.net

[js19]

Or has anyone connected from Canada or another Country to a US provider such as bandwidth.com?

They require that you be a US company. They don't have operations in Canada.