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Best VOIP provider?

Started by CmdrWestside, November 07, 2013, 01:17:04 PM

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CmdrWestside

Just discovered that Google Voice isn't going to be available...

Any suggestions on a replacement VOIP provider? A lot of people might be interested in the near future.

gderf

There is no 'best' one. There are many to choose from with all varying prices, call routing, feature set etc. So you are going to get numerous recommendations which you'll have to evaluate for yourself.

Good luck.

Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

sunmercury

I certainly am interested in the answer. My browsing in this forum returns a few commons: callcentric, anveo, voip.ms, localphone, and callwithus.

From the US point of view, localphone seems to be the cheapest at .5 c us outgoing rate, while the rest is around 1c. Callcentric seems to be the most expensive at 2c, though they do provide free incoming DID.

I have not used any of the services (and do not plan to till May 2014) to know more about call quality and reliability. Hopefully some others in the forum can give us more insight ...

ProfTech

I'll throw my 2 cents worth in. I've tried just about all of the ones you mentioned. Used Callcentric for about two years. Your observation that they may be slightly more expensive may be correct. However, for ease of setting up I don't think they can be beat. You can choose pay-as-you go or a package deal. If you take a package 911 is included. If not, it is $1.50 per month. Call quality and reliability are both good.

If you don't care about 911 CallWithUs seems to have good call quailty. I haven't used them enough to determine reliability. They are strictly pay-as-you-go [outbound] but you pay zero each month except for the calls you make. I plan on using them for outbound sometime in the future.

I recently set up with Anveo. There is no question they have lots of features but you may find their web page and setting up your service to be daunting. Call quality seems very good. I'll be able to make a better judgement after I use it for 90 days.

I tried LocalPhone, Voip.MS, and two or 3 others and didn't find the service to be acceptable.

Just my observations.

Johnny

My views.

I have paid accounts at Callcentric, Voip.ms and an unpaid account set up at Anveo.

Price wise:  Voip.ms seems to me to be the cheapest.

Easiest website and set up:  Callcentric

Support:  All offer pretty good support, although in my case Voip.ms went the extra mile and really helped me with issues I was having on all voip accounts, whereas Callcentric couldn't help with the issues.

I was going to pay for an account at Anveo, but their features and terminology and especially their website left me thoroughly confused.  Shouldn't be that hard?

I've been told that Anveo is geared toward the business community.  Maybe they're smarter in the business community. :)

Voip.ms is offering free porting and their prices are excellent.  Their website was a little tricky at first but after using it for awhile I am not having any problems with it.

Callcentric as I noted has the easiest website to navigate and the features are pretty easy to figure out.  Their support while very fast, was not always effective, at least not in my case.

Their prices and porting fees are not as competitive as the others and when I tried to get Callcentric to match some of what the other providers were offering, I was told that they were unable to do so. 

With Voip.ms I found that they will work with you in most cases, so in that regard, they are more flexible than Callcentric.

Bottom line:  All providers are dirt cheap in my opinion, and support is pretty good as well.  Heck, try a few different ones like I have and then you will be  better able to make a decision.

Good luck...................

sdb-

And with every OBi you can use more than one provider.

The OBi1x0 boxes have two fully functional primary provider 'slots' while the OBi20x have four slots.  However both devices also have voice groups that can be easily configured to route outgoing calls thru other SIP providers so long as two simple conditions are met.  1) you have a standard SIP provider configured in a standard slot, 2) the additional SIP provider does not require the OBi to register in order to make calls.

For example, you might configure callcentric or anveo as primary providers and use localphone as an additional.  You can force a call to go out with the provider of your choice, or set up digit maps or routes to automatically select based on the call destination (and still override if desired).  All the information has been posted elsewhere in these forums.

sunmercury

The providers are cheap if you don't make many calls. In my case, my 70-year-old mom is on the phone easily more than 1 hours each day. So at around 2000 minutes plus per month, it will be around $20 even at 1c per minute. With callcentric 2c rate, it will be $40. I might as well go back to AT&T. I am hoping that localphone is good enough so that I can pay their $5 per month package for 5000 minute, though I am concern about call quality (not really care about features or how easily to navigate the provider website).

Thanks for all the informative input so far ... You are all a great help to the community.

dircom

#7
If you have older parents, and they have limited income, you can probably get a "Lifeline" rate for a local POTS line
My mom has a Cox bundle, and pays about $5 - $10 a month for the phone part (no long distance)
For free Long distance calling I set up local GrandCentral #'s that forward to all the kids.
After May 2014, she can use a calling card or Onesuite to call LD

carl

there is no such thing like a " best provider".  It always depends on your needs. As far as performance/cost ratio, I think that Localphone is the clear winner. However, will not work for everyone. You want to retrieve your voice mail from a remote phone/cell phone? Cannot be done. 3 way call? Nope. Most star code features? Will not work.
There is about a dozen of very good providers and you have to pick one or two or more to fit your needs. I use Localphone and Callcentric and for the time being GV.

CmdrWestside

Quote from: gderf on November 07, 2013, 02:36:07 PM
There is no 'best' one. There are many to choose from with all varying prices, call routing, feature set etc. So you are going to get numerous recommendations which you'll have to evaluate for yourself.

Good luck.


Thanks.  I guess I was interested in the things that you can't quantify, reliability, tech support, that sort of thing.

carl

Quote from: CmdrWestside on November 09, 2013, 04:47:57 AM

Thanks.  I guess I was interested in the things that you can't quantify, reliability, tech support, that sort of thing.

Reputable providers- Whether it is Localphone, Callcentric, VOIP.ms, Voxbeam, Anveo, Callwithus, Vitelity, Future nine or some others- have per definition a high degree of reliability and a good to excellent customer service.

sunmercury

Quote from: carl on November 08, 2013, 05:41:58 PM
there is no such thing like a " best provider".  It always depends on your needs. As far as performance/cost ratio, I think that Localphone is the clear winner. However, will not work for everyone. You want to retrieve your voice mail from a remote phone/cell phone? Cannot be done. 3 way call? Nope. Most star code features? Will not work.
There is about a dozen of very good providers and you have to pick one or two or more to fit your needs. I use Localphone and Callcentric and for the time being GV.

Yes, localphone is the cheapest, but their performance is my big concern, especially after reading review such as these:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews260147.html


Rick

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as is "reputable", "reliable" and other adjectives.

Last year Callcentric was down more than it was up for a few months due to attacks it was unable to deal with for way too long.  Then, when the big storm hit everyone realized that they didn't have generators or a co-located data center, so when the building's generators went out in NYC, they were down. 

Not to mention their 911 partner's database got corrupted earlier in 2012 and 911 calls for some didn't reference the right info.

I ran for the exit after the storm.  That's not "reputable" or "reliable" IMHO, but that's just my opinion. 

carl

#13
Quote from: sunmercury on November 09, 2013, 10:21:25 PM


Yes, localphone is the cheapest, but their performance is my big concern, especially after reading review such as these:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews260147.html



That's a perfect example of fraudulent reviews made by competitors.  If you want to see a different picture, go to DSL reports and check out the Localphone reviews there.  One of them is from me. The fact that Localphone received an Industry award for best VOIP company on consumer level in the UK should be one sign that they are not that bad. But more importantly, I have been using them now for 2 years an after some hick ups in the first month, their performance for the last 18 months was stellar. Especially my western European DID's have a land line quality. Yes, they have their limitations and yes, their termination in certain Asian locations is not great, but for my North American/European calling I can give them 5 stars. i would not use them if Ii had issues with them.

carl

Quote from: Rick on November 10, 2013, 03:27:54 PM
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as is "reputable", "reliable" and other adjectives.

Last year Callcentric was down more than it was up for a few months due to attacks it was unable to deal with for way too long.  Then, when the big storm hit everyone realized that they didn't have generators or a co-located data center, so when the building's generators went out in NYC, they were down. 

Not to mention their 911 partner's database got corrupted earlier in 2012 and 911 calls for some didn't reference the right info.

I ran for the exit after the storm.  That's not "reputable" or "reliable" IMHO, but that's just my opinion. 

Yes, Callcentric's geographic redundancy is a big issue and indeed what happened last year made me to lower my reliability rating significantly. But their customer service is very good and since the woes of last year, I had only one issue with them regarding a certain international termination which did not work properly.
e-911 service is generally of a questionable value and for $ 1.50 overpriced but their free NYC DID is awesome and I am happy to have them as a second provider.

Alyson

I think I will be going with netTALK Duo.  Basically $30/yr plus tax for unlimited calls in US and Canada.  That I understand.  Just have Google Voice number ring netTALK Duo.  I have looked at the various VOIP services and they are not easy to decipher.  I don't think any of them would cost me less than $2.50/ month.  I love my obi with Google voice.  I hope they find a work around so I won't have to put this plan into action.

gderf

How about unlimited calling to US/Canada for $39.99/year total cost with your OBi?

And yes, you can forward your GV number and set it as your outgoing CallerID.

Help me OBiHai PhoneOBi. You're my only hope.

kallsop

Quote from: gderf on January 19, 2014, 07:27:15 PM
How about unlimited calling to US/Canada for $39.99/year total cost with your OBi?

And yes, you can forward your GV number and set it as your outgoing CallerID.

If you are referring to the announced Obihai offer, it clearly states "a set-number of outbound calling minutes", not unlimited. If you know of a deal at $40/year for unlimited outbound minutes, post it, you'll be very popular.

N7AS

Quote from: kallsop on January 21, 2014, 04:45:40 AM
Quote from: gderf on January 19, 2014, 07:27:15 PM
How about unlimited calling to US/Canada for $39.99/year total cost with your OBi?

And yes, you can forward your GV number and set it as your outgoing CallerID.

If you are referring to the announced Obihai offer, it clearly states "a set-number of outbound calling minutes", not unlimited. If you know of a deal at $40/year for unlimited outbound minutes, post it, you'll be very popular.


obivoice is what you are looking for.

Grant N7AS
Prescott Valley, AZ
https://www.n7as.com

A journeyman electrician sent his apprentice with a 5-gallon bucket and was told to put the ends of the service drop in the bucket and fill it with volts. He was there all day.

tw18

Check www.pingshow.net. They can offer $40 per year with unlimited call in US & CANADA for GV numbers. Email to support@pingshow.net for more information.