[TriLUG] OT: TDM voice, voip gateways, and toll free calling

[Ryan Leathers]

OFF TOPIC - not Linux related - 

Since there has been a lot of interest lately in VOIP I will hazard an
off topic related question

Suppose I want to advertise a single toll free number to my users around
the country.  The users dial this number using any old phone on the
PSTN.  What I want to happen next is for the call to be converted to SIP
and reach my VOIP service (basically a conference) as inexpensively as
possible.

My guess is that a single phone number reaching a single gateway is more
likely than a single number being directed to one of many geographically
distributed gateways.  So, the TDM network and toll free number will
likely continue to be a significant cost.

Is there a better solution?

If not, I have a static IP address for my service and I need to connect
to it via SIP.  I suppose I could build my own gateway and purchase a
toll free number terminating service at the gateway.  Is there a service
provider out there who could handle this for me?
   

 
-- 
Ryan Leathers <ryan.leathers at globalknowledge.com>
Global Knowledge