The Y Combinator-backed startup TellFi announced today that it was launching a virtual phone service that would give one year of free service – and a local phone number – to anyone in Canada.
Since Google Voice dropped its Canadian service in in 2009, there have been no free virtual phone options to customers and businesses in that country. and TellFi, which also offers service in the U.S., has stepped in to fill that gap.
TellFi positions itself as an enterprise version of Google Voice, and its aim is to make it simple for businesses to set up an Internet phone system. TellFi’s features includes the ability to transcribe voicemail into email, ring specific phones depending on day and time, and setup virtual extensions. There are different pricing plans available for the service, based on the number of minutes and number of extensions.
But it isn’t simply a matter of offering more business-oriented features. TellFi boasts better support and better quality phone calls too.
TellFi’s offer of free service is only available for Canadian numbers. This includes one local number (chosen from any available number with any Canadian area code) and one year’s free service. Upgrades (with their associated fees) are available so that businesses can add additional features like toll-free numbers and multiple extensions.
TellFi launched its service in late February, and in the words of co-founder Jason Corwin the company was “flooded with new Canadian users, so we decided to give away TellFi free to everyone in Canada.”