I routinely dial a toll free 866 number from my cell phone to retrieve e-voice calls. They do not have a regular local number for this purpose.
It costs me .35/min from my cell phone (no long distance plan). It could cost me .03/min if I could use my calling card. The calling card does not allow toll free calls.
Are there any calling cards, methods or services that would solve this problem?
Your advice is much appreciated.
Dartonbud
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I personally think this (35 cent surcharge) is the intention of your cell phone provider. I will tell you why I say this: (1) there is _no such thing_ -- at least not in the 866 range -- as a toll free number without a 'regular local number for this pupose'. A few of the real old, a/c 800 numbers are, or were delivered via T-1 direct to the recipient with no direct dial number involved ... very few, long ago; maybe some still. But 99.8 percent of all 'toll free numbers' these days do have a 'regular' number they translate into. If your inbound call is delivered via T-1 circuit direct to the voicemail thing nowdays, then that is the way the owner/ proprietor wants it to work, i.e. much of the 35 cents is for him. And (2) if he (voicemail proprietor) is collecting 35 cents per minute, then whether he gets it via his 866 arrangement or if he gets it via a calling card direct dial, in any event, _he_ is going to collect it. And I can tell you that any calling card you wish to use is not about to charge you _three cents_ for what someone along the way is charging them _35 cents_ to give out, whether that 35 cents is a legitimate charge or not ... and these days in telecom, there is virtually nothing which _legitimatly_ costs 35 cents per minute to deliver.Unless you have some vested interest in using your 35 cents per minute voicemail (the nature of the contents provided, for example; does it include news/weather/sports/features?) my suggestion would be there are lots of voicemail services for two or three cents per minute to which you might subscribe instead. Combine those with a 'forward on busy/no answer' feature on your cell phone (you _do_ have that; your cell phone uses it now when you otherwise do not answer) and re-direct your calls to _your_ personal voicemail account. PAT]