Cool new features will keep you in touch this summer

You're heading off on vacation. But you're expecting some important phone calls on your home phone. What to do?

You've got two options, depending on whether you need to actually talk to the caller, or just get the message as soon as it comes in.

If you really need to answer that call, our Call Forwarding feature lets you re-direct your home calls to an alternate number—usually your cell phone—but you can choose any other number. Your caller dials your home number, but "invisibly" gets re-routed to whatever number you've selected. Don't forget, however, that forwarding your calls to a number which is long-distance from your home phone will incur long-distance charges. For example, let's say you're spending the weekend at your brother's in Toronto, and your calls are being forwarded to his home phone number. The person calling you will still dial your local number, but the call will ring through to your brother's house in Toronto. You'll pay long-distance for the call as if it was a call you made to Toronto. So, while it may not be not ideal for every situation, if you really need to be reached when you're away from home, Call Forwarding is a great solution.

But maybe you don't need to actually answer that important call, but you would like to know as soon as it comes in. That's when you'll use our Voice Mail Deluxe feature. Instead of the calls being re-routed to your designated phone number, VM Deluxe logs the call as usual on your home Voice Mail, then immediately sends you an email containing an audio file of the message that was left on your phone. You get instant notification on your smartphone or computer (or wherever you check your email) of that important call you've been waiting for, and you're able to listen to it immediately.

Not sure if you have these calling features on your WTC home phone? Check with our Customer Service department at 1-866-547-6939. If you're already a subscriber to these services, you can find a guide to using all of your WTC Calling Features.