Toll Free Number for non Business accounts

[John Wolf]

I run a web ministry and could use a Toll Free number. However I do not wish to pay Ring Central or other services that extra money. But it would be nice if HostGator incorporated a Toll Free number into every account and also allowed Voice Mail to be stored in the cpanel, accessed via a phone, or emailed to me as Ring Central allows. I have voice Mail with skype, however it cant be emailed, accessed via a phone, or accessed in anyway outside of the Skype application (I have a Mac).

John

[Chimpie]

You want a free 800# to go with your hosting?

Why should get something like that for free?

[Dwight]

Originally Posted by John Wolf

I run a web ministry and could use a Toll Free number. However I do not wish to pay Ring Central or other services that extra money. But it would be nice if HostGator incorporated a Toll Free number into every account and also allowed Voice Mail to be stored in the cpanel, accessed via a phone, or emailed to me as Ring Central allows. I have voice Mail with skype, however it cant be emailed, accessed via a phone, or accessed in anyway outside of the Skype application (I have a Mac).

John

There are 800 services that offer prepaid minutes that might be cheaper than Ring Central. However, with the cost of calling as low as it is today with unlimited cell phone minutes, VOIP plans, etc, I'm seeing less need for 800 numbers at all.

[esl]

Originally Posted by Chimpie

You want a free 800# to go with your hosting?

Why should get something like that for free?

HostGator has one plan like that already because people like it.

[EarlyOut]

Originally Posted by esl

HostGator has one plan like that already because people like it.

Yes, and the cost of the plan reflects the cost of providing the 800 number.

"There's no free lunch."

[Chimpie]

Originally Posted by esl

HostGator has one plan like that already because people like it.

Link to said plan?

[novastar]

Originally Posted by Chimpie

Link to said plan?

http://www.hostgator.com/shared.shtml
Business plan, down at the bottom under e-commerce features

[GatorDHanna]

The reason you'll notice a difference in feature offerings among our shared plans is because they all have unlimited space and bandwidth.

Back in the day (this is web hosting, so the "day" was maybe 2-3 years ago), plans were primarily differentiated by the amount of space and bandwidth offered. Now that space and bandwidth is either unlimited or such a huge limit that it's inconsequential, we (with "we" being competitive web hosting companies, not just HostGator) have to differentiate between our plans through other means.

At HostGator, we differentiate our shared plans as follows:

• Our Hatchling plan is cheap, but it only allows you to have one domain name.
• Our Baby plan is still cheap, but it lets you host unlimited domain names under one account.
• Our Business plan, which is our most expensive shared hosting plan, not only allows you to have unlimited domain names, but also gives you a free dedicated IP address / private SSL certificate, as well as a free toll-free number and 100 minutes of free forwarding.

The idea is that the increased feature set justifies the increase price. Not everyone has a need for a free SSL certificate and/or a free toll free phone, so they will choose their plans accordingly. We don't want to ask our customers to pay for things they don't need, which is why we offer as much flexibility as possible with our shared hosting plans.

Hopefully this explanation helps. If anyone has any follow up questions or comments, feel free to let me know. I'm happy to discuss this.

[mrintech]

Friends,

I have a small query (you can call it silly but just want to confirm):

I am from India and want to know that if I dial HostGator Toll Free Number, than will it connect? or better say will I get charged?

[EarlyOut]

Toll free numbers generally apply only within the U.S. and Canada. I don't think you can dial the toll free number at all, but if you can, it won't be free of charge. In fact, depending upon how the call is completed, it might actually cost more than dialing the "local" number.

You can call free by using Skype - see the "Contact Us" page: http://www.hostgator.com/contact.shtml

[mrintech]

Originally Posted by EarlyOut

Toll free numbers generally apply only within the U.S. and Canada. I don't think you can dial the toll free number at all, but if you can, it won't be free of charge. In fact, depending upon how the call is completed, it might actually cost more than dialing the "local" number.

You can call free by using Skype - see the "Contact Us" page: http://www.hostgator.com/contact.shtml

Thanks for your Reply