Need permanent calling from US to Canada.

[CDNRick]

I have a new job that requires me to travel back and forth from Canada to the United States at least 3-4 times per week. I need to be able to call our Canadian office anytime from over the border. Is there anyway to get a plan that could accomodate this? I can't find anything that looks like it works. All the add-ons are only for 10 day blocks.

[mimmo]

Wouldn't the best solution be either

1) port number to koodo or another provider.  Being a work need work should pay for costs

2) get a fongo number, forward pm to fongo and get a USA number with data.

Option two does require paying for two cell plans. But depending on usage it might be worth while compared to roam like home charges.

[CDNRick]

Unfortunatley the job is working in sales and project managment for a construction company. I will not be in locations with WiFi. 

[youbme]

Thank you for the correction @srlawren and @mimmo!

A VoIP service would probably be the most economical if you have sufficient access to internet.

[srlawren]

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@mimmo wrote:

Are you sure you can forward to USA numbers? 

I remember a discussion about only forwarding to Canadian numbers only,  but that might have been a discussion about using the long-distance addon vs having USA plan.

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@youbme please note that @mimmo is correct--your PM phone calls can only be forwarded to Canadian phone numbers, regardless of whether you have Canada-wide talk or Canada+USA-wide talk.  With province-wide, you can only forward to phone numbers within your province without using up LD add-on minutes for every forwarded minute.

@CDNRick a VoIP service will probably meet your needs well.  I was going to recommend Fongo, but it doesn't look like you can get a US-based phone number with it.  Hopefully someone can chime in with an alternative service.  But basically you can make and receive calls from the USA number via an app, and the calls are routed over data or Wi-Fi. 

[cmatassa]

I agree that this would be a nice feature to have included in your monthly plan.  Maybe we'll see support for this in the future.

[stonechucker]

Get a US Google Fi phone and nmber.   This will be good.

[mimmo]

Are you sure you can forward to USA numbers? 

I remember a discussion about only forwarding to Canadian numbers only,  but that might have been a discussion about using the long-distance addon vs having USA plan.

[youbme]

Yes, you can get a US number without being a citizen. One option is Roam Mobility - I believe others here have used them, but I personally have not...so hopefully someone else can share their experiences with different providers.

Calls can be forwarded from your Canadian number to your US number if you opt for a Public Mobile plan that includes US calling (or an add-on). So, when your US SIM is in your phone and you are in the US, someone calling your Canadian number will be able to reach you in the US (on your US phone number).

But, as @wetcoaster mentioned, if you need a more permanent solution from a Canadian carrier, it might be worth shopping around with other providers to see what the cost difference will be.

[CDNRick]

I'm not too techy of a guy... Does anyone know if there a way to get a US number and have all calls forwarded to me without me being a citizen of the US? And also allow me to call out of the states? 

I don't mind switching SIM's every time I cross the border. I just need to keep the same number or at least recieve all calls that are made to my current number.

[wetcoaster]

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@CDNRick wrote:

I have a new job that requires me to travel back and forth from Canada to the United States at least 3-4 times per week. I need to be able to call our Canadian office anytime from over the border. Is there anyway to get a plan that could accomodate this? I can't find anything that looks like it works. All the add-ons are only for 10 day blocks.

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If you are looking at an actual plan with a Canadian provider and not a work-around / US provider like @youbme mentioned: This is a need covered by first and - potentially - second tier providers. Public Mobile is not offering North American wide calling other than the 10 day roaming add-ons.

[youbme]

Hello @CDNRick,

Currently the plans offerred do not include any options for regular calling from the US to Canada. If the add-ons are insufficient, you'd probably have better luck using a VOIP service to make calls over wifi or get a prepaid SIM card in the US that might be a better deal to swap out when you are across the border.

Note that with a Canada-wide and US calling plan, you could forward your calls to a US number - so you don't miss important calls to your Canadian number.