Canadians Get RFed

[DavesNotHere]

[quote=RF.com Staff;181]
"Being in Canada means that we now offer a local calling POP to those who sign up with RF.com in Canada. "

Eric,
By now you've learned that Canada's GSM operators don't provide 'local' calling across the country as does AT&T. Thus, your Toronto POP will only offer free (local) calling to those iPhone users who are geographically local to your POP. That means part of 416 and probably part of 905 regions, depending on the NNX of your 416 access number.

To avoid confusing Canadian readers who may not be familiar with how RF works in the US, it might be worth posting a clarification or FAQ on your website. It's not generally known that an AT&T iPhone plan gives free nationwide local calling across the US. (the locals here would rise up and tar/feather Ted Rogers is they knew that...)

There are a couple of options available to Canadian users outside of the Toronto MTA hoping to take advantage of your system. Rogers customers can subscribe to a MY5 option that gives unlimited calling to a list of 5 registered numbers (a buddy list). Your 416 access number could be registered as one of the MY5 destinations. If memory serves, the MY5 LD plan is $35/mo, and gives unlimited calls to 5 numbers anywhere in Canada. This option would give RF users anywhere in Canada unlimited access to your Toronto POP. I can't imagine anyone paying $35/mo more just to use RF, but a Rogers subscriber that already has (or is considering) a MY5 plan could devote one of the buddy list slots to RF and be real happy.

Fido subscribers have no such MY5 option. (Fido is the other GSM network in Canada, and happens to be owned by Rogers). The only relevant option I know of is a monthly bundle of 100, 300 or 1000 Canadian LD minutes. (My son got 1000 LD minutes bundled in as part of a retention place:-). That would allow Fido users across Canada to call your 416 POP, and then get free LD to the rest of the world via RF.

RF is an exceedingly clever app for the iPhone, and I'd love to become a user. But I live in Ottawa, a region that likely won't be on the top of your list for POP expansion. After Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver make much more cents for you. At Fido's regular LD rates of $0.35/minute to Canada/US, I can't afford to make many calls to your Toronto 416 POP.

Dave

[marcelo]

Thanks all for the great feedback.

Yes, we learned the hard way (by launching before looking) that there is no real way to offer a single incoming POP in Canada for users throughout the country.

We are deep into changing our back end systems to accommodate more than one phone number in a country.

This will allow users to choose the access number most convenient to them. Unfortunately, we won't be able to cover all of Canada this way. But we will definitely get to all the major cities (that DOES include Canada's capital).

We are close (weeks, not months) . . . so please stay tuned and keep the feedback coming.

[DavesNotHere]

Marcelo,
Given the usurious rates and onerous conditions attached to iPhone plans in Canada (can you spell "Three Year Contract" or "Capped Data Plan"?), there is a fair amount of angst among iPhone users and potential users in the country North of the Border. Some subscribers are downright hostile when it comes to discussions about our incumbent GSM network operator.

So if you can get your POP deployment right (and I'm sure you will), you should be able to attract a strong community of interest from coast to coast. Please just get a POP in Ottawa in the next couple of months. Winter is just around the corner here, and once it's 20 degrees below zero, we don't get out much. Who needs mobile data and telephony when there's 14 feet of snow outside...

When you need a beta tester for the 613 area code, just let me know.

Dave

[ozzyg007]

Anxiously waiting for a Montreal access number (514). Would gladly be a beta tester.

[opensip]

Are we going to get a halifax POP sometime ?
Pls let us know
The AOL/AIM Voice services team in halifax would like to use RF along with AIM Call Out on the iphone.
Thanks
http://aimcall.blogspot.com

[nsasch]

I'm glad to see current support for Montreal. Thank you!

However, I changed my phone number's location from Canada(Toronto) to Canada(Montreal) and now my phone number is listed as "lols."

I'm glad to see the developers at least have a sense of humour when it comes to placeholders in code

I assume you're aware of this already though.

[sam]

nsasch, I wish you could have heard the laugh you just provided me! It was certainly a belly laugh.... I've fixed it. I can't believe I did that...

Thanks for trying out the service and let us know if there are any problems with local calling in Canada!

[nsasch]

Hehe, thanks for fixing it.

In my rush to keep using RF, I registered a new account (since logging in by phone number or e-mail wasn't working). Now login is working again, and it's logging into my old account (based on favourites and history).

That's fine, but I can't seem to add my number now, since it says "That phone number already exists in the system." I'd delete the number as registered in the new account, but I don't know how to login to it (same e-mail address I believe.)

Also, while I'm reporting bugs, and you're listening, I added my phone number including the "+1" prefix, and the software added an additional "+1" prefix, so my number came out as "+1+1514..."

[nsasch]

Posting again after more impatience...
I registered under two different e-mail addresses, so I was able to delete the new account phone listing. It works now.

I can't change the default calling service from Rogers Wireless to VoicePulse Connect or another SIP proxy I had setup before. The page refreshes as if it's saving the change, but displays "Rogers Wireless" in the combo box as if nothing happened.

Thanks again. And as a side note, RingFree saves me about $30/month(extra cost for a US-inclusive business plan) and the inconvenience of a calling card.

[sam]

I see your phone number in the system but I don't see it with the +1+1514. I'll log the bug and make any changes I need to fix it, thank you for alerting me to this!

To remove the phone number from your old account login with the phone number including country code, and delete the phone number, log out and back into your old account. For yours, it doesn't include two prefixes, just +1514...