B. Mann Consulting

One thing that Vonage Canada offers over Primus is a much better deal on the Call Forwarding and Call Transfer features. It's difficult to find this information because it is not well advertised by Primus until you finally get your telephone adapter unit. They include a sheet of paper entitled "TERMS OF AGREEMENT". The terms clearly state that even if you have the unlimited long distance plan through Primus, calls that are forwarded or transferred to a long distance number will be charged at their current long distance rates. How they are able to use the wording "unlimited long distance" bewilders me. Transfering or forwarding to a long distance number is a feature that Vonage offers free of charge if you have their long distance unlimited plan for $45.99 per month. I currently have service with Vonage Canada. I live in Ottawa, but my Mom lives in Halifax. She has a sister living in California. Occasionally Mom calls me and I transfer her to her sister. None of us pay any charges for the call, and she can feel free to talk as long as she likes. This is an amazing feature and an incredible savings thanks to Vonage. Vonage also allows us to call Hawaii. Primus does not include Hawaii in their unlimited plan.

Last summer I went to Halifax to visit my family. I logged onto my Vonage account and transferred my Ottawa phone number to my Mom's phone number in Halifax. All of my calls were routed to Halifax, and there were absolutely no additional charges for any of these forwarded calls. This is quite a powerful feature to have at no charge. I am glad that a company has finally come along who gives people value for their money and plays fair. Bell and all of the other land line phone companies have been ripping us off for years. I think Primus is doing pretty good, but they really need to tweak their features to make them more identical to Vonage. After all, Vonage is a major competitor for them.

The features and expenses associated with these features are not something that you will easily find on the internet or on the Primus website. Vonage mentions on their site that the Call Forwarding and Transferring will not incur charges on your account if you have the unlimited long distance service. Primus doesn't mention anything about these features except that they have them. It is rather sneaky that they include the fine details in the box with the phone adapter. I thought I'd give them a try, but I quickly sent the whole package back when I read the terms of agreement and realized that I would be billed extra for forwarded/transferred calls to a long distance number. What a waste of time and money this was for me. I'm hoping that this article that I have prepared will be picked up as a hit on the internet search mechanisms so that others will not experience the same waste of time and trouble. It could be a significant factor to some people when considering which service is going to save them the most money. It really depends on how you use the phone service. The call forwarding feature and call transfer features may not be of interest to some. However, one never knows when they will be traveling and when they may wish to forward their number to a long distance number. I think it is something to consider.