If I implied that having multiple numbers on one account is impossible, that is indeed incorrect. Thank you for the clarification.

Unfortunately, with the 1:1 nature of channels to numbers, the pricing becomes prohibitive for my situation, even though the unit price is not that high. CallCentric would be much more competitive if they offered a 1:n possibility.

-Dennis

So as an example – if you buy a number in Los Angeles it comes with X number of channels (calls) depending on which product of theirs you buy; and you can ALSO buy another number in Miami that comes with Y number of channels. So you have 2 different numbers – they will both ring through to Asterisk or whatever you are using on your side; but channels on LA and Miami numbers (X and Y) are independant from eachother and not shared.

While this isn’t as flexible as having a “trunK” of shared channels you can accomplish having multiple numbers. Since their pricing is pretty reasonable (I consider it cheap) the fact that you can’t have a trunk isn’t really a consequence (at least to me).

The example I gave about LA and Miami using Asterisk is exacly what I have setup on my 1 Callcentric account.

Let me address your question for both CallCentric and Bandwidth.com, as they operate differently and I am not sure of which you inquire:

-Bandwidth.com – Yes, a single DID could have multiple inbound calls (call waiting) and each call would take up one channel; so the original call and the call waiting call would use two channels simultaneously. Yes, Bandwidth.com allows you to have more than one DID for a single SIP connection; in the case that you have multiple SIP connections (channels) and multiple DIDs, the DIDs are not necessarily tied to any one particular channel, but will go to any open channel to relay an incoming call.

-CallCentric allows multiple incoming calls (call waiting) on a single DID, on a single channel / SIP connection. And you are also correct that CallCentric does not allow multiple DIDs for a single SIP connection; you must purchase and register another SIP connection for each additional DID you wish to have which really defeats a lot of the purpose in VoIP and ruins the cost savings for incoming calls.

On the cost savings arguments — With AT&T CallVantage (my current home provider) for instance, I used to have multiple DIDs in different area codes so that my clients in different states could reach me without long distance charges. The nominal $5.00 monthly fee was worth it in my situation and I only had to have one SIP channel.

Sorry for the confusion and I hope that clears things up.

-Dennis