$5 phone number in Canada

Ever since Skype started its SkypeIn service where you can get a regular phone number and accept calls on your computer, I wanted to get a phone number in Toronto.

Unfortunately, it does not look like Skype has much interest in Canadian VoIP market -- the company does not provide SkypeIn numbers.

Today I found an easy and cheap solution. Here is how you can get a Canadian number and start accepting calls on your computer:

1. Download and install Gizmo Project.
2. After you register as a Gizmo user and login, your profile will show SIP number. It looks like this 1-747-NNN-NNNN.
3. Register an account at CallCentric.
4. You can now purchase a real phone number in USA or Canada:
   http://www.callcentric.com/did/
   Currently, they have numbers in Alberta (403, 780), British Columbia (250, 778), Manitoba (204), Ontario (519, 613, 647, 905), and Quebec (514).
5. Use Call Treatments page to forward incoming calls to your Gizmo SIP number. You will need to enter the number as 747XXXXXXX@proxy01.sipphone.com

That's it! Now all calls to your real phone number will be sent to your Gizmo SIP phone. The phone number at CallCentric costs $5.99/month (plus one-time $5.99 setup fee).

This setup takes care of incoming calls only. For outgoing calls you can use Gizmo or Skype directly.

Also, you can get even cheaper numbers at DID World Wide and then map it to your CallCentric account.

One more thing... Gizmo can also provide you with a free area 775 number (Nevada, USA).

UPDATE (Dec 3, 2006): Now there is a way to get a number in Canada forwarded to your Skype.

Comments

Thanks buddy. This is really informative. I was looking for similar type of thing and you gave me a hint. I also heard about vbuzzer recently. Have you had any experience or knowledge about it?
They are also providing Canadian numbers.