Creston Masonic Hall Association wanted to be rid of the expensive telephone service which was rarely used and replace it with a more useful system. The single line telephone was mostly used when folks were in the hall, for outgoing calls. As cellphones became ubiquitous, we questioned the need, as it was not at all useful for individuals to contact the organizations affiliated with the hall.
An exhaustive search for alternatives led to a roll-your-own VoIP service based in Toronto. As numbers local to our community were not available, we selected a memorable toll-free number, with a fee of $1.49 / month. When a caller dials the number, the call is answered with one of two possible messages: if between 9:00 PM and 9:00 AM the caller is asked the call again during the day; if between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM they are given the opportunity to select from a number of choices to reach the Secretary for each of the groups using the hall. Once the caller has selected an organization, their call is forwarded to the respective Secretary. At no time is the phone number of the member related to the caller, thus maintaining privacy of our members, at least to the point where their personal phone is answered. Since we have no names or personnel directory on our system, a change in representative is as simple as adding a new phone number through a web interface. We have no telephone in the hall itself any more, all calls are directed to one of the group Secretaries.
There are many other options offered by our VoIP provider: cascading voice prompted menus, redial services whereby you can call the toll-free number and redial another at very cheap rates, point to point calling (extensions), multi-ring, cheap international calling, the ability to have a phone number just about anywhere in the world, and much, much more.
Similarly, the phone number on this site uses the same VoIP service. As needs change, it is pointed to different phone numbers: cellphone, home phone, a SIP client on a computer or tablet; any of these can receive a call.
Costs are: $1.49 / month to host the number, and 3.5ยข / minute for incoming calls, and we now pay less per year to maintain a telephone presence that we formerly paid monthly!
Check Voip.ms for more information!