International 800 service?

[Gen]

Hello, all.

This may seem like a simpleton's question, but please indulge me.

What is the state of "international" 800 service these days? Is it
still such that virtually every country has its own 800 number space?
If so, does one incur a monthly charge for every country every month
regardless of traffic?

We do international business and are thinking about pursuing such
service but, if we have to provide a list of dozens of different numbers
depending on originating country, maybe we'll just keep the domestic
one and leave well enough alone.

Thanks.

[John Levine]

Post by Gen
What is the state of "international" 800 service these days? Is it
still such that virtually every country has its own 800 number space?

Yup.

Post by Gen
If so, does one incur a monthly charge for every country every month
regardless of traffic?

I would assume so, although the monthly charge can be rather small.
I pay 49 cents/month (plus traffic) for my US/Canada 800 numbers.

There is a service called UIFN that provides international toll free
numbers in the 800 pseudo-country code, dialed + 800 XXXX XXXX (where
+ is the local international access code.) It seems to be pretty
popular and lets you publish one number that works in a lot of
countries. You need to pay per-country, but any of the large
international carriers can set it up for you.

[Morten Reistad]

Post by John Levine

Post by Gen
What is the state of "international" 800 service these days? Is it
still such that virtually every country has its own 800 number space?

Yup.

The International 800 prefix, and the EU one, are both total
shambles handled by incompetent morons.

Nation 800 service is available in a number of countries. Go look
at a forwarding site like www.tollfreeforwarding.com for a review.

Remember, mobile and payphones may not be covered. Check extensively.

Post by John Levine

Post by Gen
If so, does one incur a monthly charge for every country every month
regardless of traffic?

I would assume so, although the monthly charge can be rather small.
I pay 49 cents/month (plus traffic) for my US/Canada 800 numbers.

There are cheap Internet sites for this.

Post by John Levine
There is a service called UIFN that provides international toll free
numbers in the 800 pseudo-country code, dialed + 800 XXXX XXXX (where
+ is the local international access code.) It seems to be pretty
popular and lets you publish one number that works in a lot of
countries. You need to pay per-country, but any of the large
international carriers can set it up for you.

And it costs a bundle, is not available in a lot of locations, and
may not even be free in the other end. Lots of carrier problems.

-- mrr