Save Toll Charges
The UberSmartPhone (USP) Tollsaver function is a mechanism that is used to avoid long distance toll charges levied by your cellular provider. This function is displayed on the bottom of the dialer tab. Tollsaver only works if the user has multiple phone numbers – and one of them is local or an 800 number. If an agent is connected to only one phone number, the Tollsaver option is not displayed.
How Does Tollsaver Work?
Tollsaver works by directing your outbound calls through the Tollsaver number. It appears that your phone is dialing a local number when placing a callusing a local number in another city. But what happens is that the first leg of the call – from your smartphone to Twilio will be with the local number – which does not incur long distance charges. The last leg of the call – from Twilio to the called party – is made using the number in the other city. The caller ID that the called party sees will be the other city.
Tollsaver Example
Tollsaver is normally turned off. Whether or not the Tollsaver feature is needed really depends on your cellular phone plan. So let’s illustrate by an example.
In Canada most cell phones come with Canada wide toll free calling. However if you call a number in the USA it will cost you typically 40 cents/minute. If you have an UberSmartPhone (USP) number in the USA, the Canadian cell phone provider will levy 40 cents/minute when you make an outbound call using USP. This is because outbound USP calls are placed from your cell phone to your Twilio number. Then at Twilio they are re-directed to the number that was dialed.
In this situation, if you also have a Twilio Canadian number, you can turn Tollsaver on and select your Canadian number for outbound calls. Since there is no concept of “long distance” in Twilio your call will be routed 1) from your phone to your Canadian number, 2) through Twilio to the number that you dialed. The person you are calling will see your USA number on their callerID display. Since your smartphone is calling a Canadian number (and assuming you have Canada wide toll free calling), there will be no toll charges from the Canadian cellular provider. Though cellular air-time charges may apply (depending on your plan).
