Apartment intercom won’t connect to my phone number

[Toxmo]

My apartment installed a new intercom service that connects to people’s personal phones instead of the old in-unit devices. Unfortunately when my unit is dialled it says it can’t connect due to long distance. I live in Vancouver and i originally got my service in Abbotsford, which i know used to be long distance but was under the impression that changed many years ago. My phones area code is 778. Will it work if i ask my landlord to add a 1 to the number? Will it charge them extra for someone to call me via intercom? This is the only time my phone number has been an issue for anyone, am I going to have to get it changed to be able to use the front door access?

[Nezgar]

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@Toxmo wrote:

I live in Vancouver and i originally got my service in Abbotsford, which i know used to be long distance but was under the impression that changed many years ago. My phones area code is 778.

Abbotsford is traditionally a long distance call from Vancouver. Maybe "invisible" when using a Canada wide calling plan such as many have nowadays on their mobile lines, but traditionally not common on land lines. Even if they did have long distance included, they would still need to prefix a "1"

Will it work if i ask my landlord to add a 1 to the number? Will it charge them extra for someone to call me via intercom?

Yes adding 1 would work, but it would incur long distance charges on their line for each call if they don't have a plan that includes long distance.

This is the only time my phone number has been an issue for anyone, am I going to have to get it changed to be able to use the front door access?

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Your two options have been covered well so far I see by others:

• Sign up with a free calling app like TextNow, Fongo, Freephoneline - you will get a separate vancouver number which your appartment system should be able to dial as a local call. Fongo & Freephoneline allow those calls to be forwarded to any number in Canada if you like instead too.
• Changing your number is a more painful option. Desirable number selection directly from Public Mobile may be challenging, but you can acquire numbers elsewhere and port them in too. There are large swaths of landline numbers available in the "old" area codes and prefixes like 604, 250, but that would involve signing up with a month or so of service just to port out the number. 🙂 But it's possible... There's other services that specialize in numbers, ie https://www.numberbarn.com/ which appears to be mostly numbers from newer VoIP type carriers.

[will13am]

Public Mobile being a third tiered service often issue phone number prefixes that are not associated with the city that a customer is located in, so long as the area code is within the home province.  This is particularly true for big cities and established area codes.  These popular numbers are used up by the higher tier brands.  This is generally not a problem for cell to cell calls, but can be problematic otherwise. 

One strategy to overcome this is to try and do a phone number change early in the morning each day in hopes that an old recycled number is made available for assignment.  It took me several months to get a 250 area code number with a Victoria BC prefix.  Patience can pay off.  Alternatively, sign up for a plan with an upper tier brand and do a number port.  

This site is pretty good for prefix locating.

http://www.thedirectory.org/pref/

[dabr]

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@Toxmo wrote:

It’s 778-347 which is Abbotsford. I was under the impression that Abbotsford and Vancouver were local for calling, but i guess it must not be, and i may need to go the voip route as others have suggested. I’m uncertain what provider the intercom is, I’ll have to ask the building manager tomorrow

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@Toxmo   IIRC Abbotsford has always been long distance to Vancouver.  A lot of people used to get an Aldergrove number to get around the long distance charges.  I'm not sure how that affects your situation though.

[Anonymous]

My guess is it's some obscure third party provider that doesn't comply with the current proper local calling area. Just my guess.

Edit: Thanks Sookoo1337. Apparently I did mis-interpret what I had seen a little while ago. So it's Sunshine Coast and over to Aldergrove. Not Boston Bar and Squamish.

[Toxmo]

It’s 778-347 which is Abbotsford. I was under the impression that Abbotsford and Vancouver were local for calling, but i guess it must not be, and i may need to go the voip route as others have suggested. I’m uncertain what provider the intercom is, I’ll have to ask the building manager tomorrow

[computergeek541]

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@Sookoo1337 wrote:

Inbound: before I answer is this my local area? No=LD 

This part isn't right. It doesn't matter for the person answering a call where the other person is calling from. If you mean whether the answering person is currently in the local area of the receiving phone number to answer a call, that doesn't apply at Public Mobile. All plans at Public Mobile include at least province-wide calling. There's also the fact that Public Mobile (post-Telus acquisition) has never enforced long distance even on a province-wide calling plan when the customer answers an incoming call while travelling in a different province.

[HALIMACS]

Hi @hairbag1 

Truth be told, you had me second guessing my post, but then @computergeek541 got me back on track.

Thanks @computergeek541

[Sookoo1337]

Despite the growing lack of concern regarding billing vs services among Canadian carriers there's a good chance this will get you a quick answer on the LD question. Since the comm services are calling you from tour physical location, the area your number originates in dictates if it's LD regardless of your location. 

Outbound: is the number I'm calling local to where I am? No=LD 

Inbound: before I answer is this my local area? No=LD 

https://www.localcallingguide.com/lca_prefix.php

Go there. 'NPA' is your area code, 'NXX' is the next three digits and defines lca's within an area code. GL

[Anonymous]

Yes those next 3 digits matter. 778 covers the whole province. A local call in the Lower Mainland is now from Boston Bar down and around and back up to Squamish. (if I interpret a reference correctly). Perhaps try to find out which carrier provider the intercom system is using. If Telus then it should be good.

[computergeek541]

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@hairbag1 wrote:

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@HALIMACS wrote:

Hi @Toxmo 

Maybe acquire a virtual phone number (VOIP) and set up call forwarding to your long distance number. This way, the intercom system dials the local number (VOIP), which then automatically call forwards to your long distance number. 

Could that work for you?

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Would the intercom just ring the voip number ? Why would he need to have the call forwarded ? I wonder if the voip number wouldn't just be enuff or am I missing something here ?

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Using call forwarding would have the advantage of not needing to use an app to answer calls to that number. That would also mean that no data would be required.

[hairbag1]

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@HALIMACS wrote:

Hi @Toxmo 

Maybe acquire a virtual phone number (VOIP) and set up call forwarding to your long distance number. This way, the intercom system dials the local number (VOIP), which then automatically call forwards to your long distance number. 

Could that work for you?

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Would the intercom just ring the voip number ? Why would he need to have the call forwarded ? I wonder if the voip number wouldn't just be enuff or am I missing something here ?

[HALIMACS]

Hi @Toxmo 

Maybe acquire a virtual phone number (VOIP) and set up call forwarding to your long distance number. This way, the intercom system dials the local number (VOIP), which then automatically call forwards to your long distance number. 

Could that work for you?

[computergeek541]

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@Toxmo wrote:

My apartment installed a new intercom service that connects to people’s personal phones instead of the old in-unit devices. Unfortunately when my unit is dialled it says it can’t connect due to long distance. I live in Vancouver and i originally got my service in Abbotsford, which i know used to be long distance but was under the impression that changed many years ago. My phones area code is 778. Will it work if i ask my landlord to add a 1 to the number? Will it charge them extra for someone to call me via intercom? This is the only time my phone number has been an issue for anyone, am I going to have to get it changed to be able to use the front door access?

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The most likely reason for this is the Intercome refusing to make a long distance call. it's possible that your phone number isn't lcoal to call from Vancouver. What are the next 3 digits after the area code?  I have a feeling that you have a phone number from a different city (probably Abbotsford, but possibly even a different city). If it isn't important for you keep that phone number (and it is from a different city), you may wish to change to a Vanoucver phone number.

It never matters for you where someone calls you from.

[hairbag1]

@Toxmo...

see if you can get a Vancouver number from free voip app such as TextNow.