TELCAN'S TOLL FREE SOLUTION JUST WHAT TELECOMMUTERS ORDERED


By Ian Palmer
A Canadian-based telecom has announced plans to market one of its long- distance solutions to telecommuters in North America. The initiative, announced by TelCan President Anton Mendoza, means telecommuters who sign up for the company's TelCan800 solution need only pay a low per-minute fee to enable their North American-based family, friends, and coworkers to contact them cost-free.
While callers must be based in either Canada or the US, TelCan clients can be located anywhere in the world, irrespective of country, geographic region, or time zone.
"The specific benefits are that they can be reached at one number regardless of where they are," says Mendoza. "Our solution also enables clients to use one number to ring multiple numbers at once, without the need for call forwarding. Clients can also set up a virtual office environment where they can add company greetings, menu options, and voice mail when clients call their toll-free number." In a marketplace dominated by large telecoms such as AT&T, BellSouth, SBC Communications, and Verizon, TelCan plans to provide an alternative for telecommuters who want to remain accessible whether they are sitting in their home offices, flying overseas for meetings, or walking to the local post office to mail letters.
TelCan's Toll Free solution enables telecommuters to:

• Stay in touch with co-workers and employers - an important consideration if the work-from-home arrangement is to be successful.
• Designate which line their 1-800 number transfers to, so they can avoid having to miss calls.
• Avoid the added cost, stress, and inconvenience of having to install additional phone lines.

Mendoza adds that while the major telecoms provide toll free services, TelCan offers an affordable, practical, and dependable solution specifically designed to address the needs of telecommuters. "Our virtual office features provide small businesses and home offices with a first class image," adds Mendoza. "In addition, we deliver call details in real time over the Internet, which can be downloaded into any application. This feature is crucial when measuring advertising campaigns."
As more and more workers across North America start to telecommute, the need for solutions to facilitate the work-from-home working arrangement will become more and more necessary, experts say. One recent report revealed that telecommuting in North America has been growing at a 15 percent clip since 1990. The same report also mentioned that up to 80 percent of Fortune 1000 firms are likely to implement telecommuting options within the next two to three years. Another study released in April 2002 by Cahners In-Stat Group suggested that about 31 million Americans - 25 percent of the US workforce - telecommute during at least part of their work week.
Furthermore, Access Markets International Partners, in a report released in March 2002, added that 67 million people - accounting for more than half of the US domestic workforce - will be telecommuting by 2006. North of the border, an EKOS study released last year revealed that 11 percent of Canadians primarily work from home and 40 percent of Canadians telecommute from home at least part of the time. The study also revealed that over 50 percent of Canadian workers are interested in telecommuting.
What this means, says Mendoza, is that TelCan is well positioned with its TelCan800 solution to help the current and future group of telecommuters to make the most of their time whether at home, at the office, or on the road. Because time spent with TelCan800 is time well spent.
TelCan
3050 Confederation Parkway, Suite 305
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5B-3Z6
Contact: Anton Mendoza, 1-647 - 258 - 5000 x 254