International sim with USA number

[MATHA531]

Photojim...

Although the issue is not as strong as once it was, I do remember there were language laws passed in Quebec about 20 years ago requiring among other things that signs could be in both English and French but the French had to be larger, that businesses were required to greet customers in French but could then switch to English etc. I assumed this was true of answering the phone. Have these laws been repealed?

Incidentally, as a side note and of no particular importance, I noticed that stop signs in France and Germany now say STOP and not ARRET or HALT...I wonder if this affects the stop signs in Quebec?

[PhotoJim]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

Although the issue is not as strong as once it was, I do remember there were language laws passed in Quebec about 20 years ago requiring among other things that signs could be in both English and French but the French had to be larger, that businesses were required to greet customers in French but could then switch to English etc. I assumed this was true of answering the phone. Have these laws been repealed?

Not repealed, but watered down. When the laws were initially passed, they had to be French only, in fact. The way you describe them is how the law reads today.

There has never been a requirement to answer the phone in French, though. Any company or organization that deals with francophone Quebecers will assuredly answer in French or bilingually, but there is no requirement for thus. If you don't care about alienating the French-speaking community, you can answer only in English if you wish. Bilingual or francophone answering is done for business reasons, not for legal ones.

"Stop" isn't entirely un-French - "stopper" is a casual word for "to stop" - but Quebec tends more strongly to use French words instead of francophied English ones. France has "le volleyball" and Quebec has "le ballon-panier", but strangely it's "le football" and "le baseball" in both.

[bbob]

get a isle of man 07624 card
Get a skype in number listed in the USA
Get a skype out account and forward all your calls to the 07624 isle of man number.

According to the skype dialing wizard (use google for a link) the cost are 1,7 cent per minute.

since most calls are free to receive (not usa altough) it only cost you 1,7 cent per minute to receive a call.

Skype offers skype-in numbers in many countries so you could also get a UK, France, German or whatever number.

I have just ordered my 07624 number and will try this next week using skype and call forwarding.

[jeffharris]

Originally Posted by bbob

get a isle of man 07624 card
Get a skype in number listed in the USA
Get a skype out account and forward all your calls to the 07624 isle of man number.

According to the skype dialing wizard (use google for a link) the cost are 1,7 cent per minute.

since most calls are free to receive (not usa altough) it only cost you 1,7 cent per minute to receive a call.

Skype offers skype-in numbers in many countries so you could also get a UK, France, German or whatever number.

I have just ordered my 07624 number and will try this next week using skype and call forwarding.

By the way, it should be noted, that in many countries, the combo of US number, forwarding to Skype, then Skype forwarding to Manx, cell forwarding, what not, creates a bit of an annoying lag. It works, but, if someone is calling you from a marginal cell signal, it will be a really crappy, delayed connection.

Yes, it was nice paying only 1.7c a minute incoming while people were calling my US cell while I was in Dubai (forwarded to Skype, forwarded to Manx) , but, the lag made many of the calls unacceptable (for a business conference).