ObiHai + Anveo replacing Google Voice

[Samardh]

Hi,

Am another one of the ObiHai/Google Voice users thats thinking of switching to Anveo.  A few questions for the experts

a) Anveo call quality - anyone have experience with how their call quality is vs. the quality on Google Voice?
b) Outgoing calls on Anveo/ObiHai - I see that one can "spoof" the outgoing caller ID to be the Google Voice number.   However, can we still route our calls through Google Voice?  i.e., be able to seamlessly use our Google Voice account (and their call rates) to make International calls for e.g.?


Thanks

Sam

[giqcass]

Hi,

Am another one of the ObiHai/Google Voice users thats thinking of switching to Anveo.  A few questions for the experts

a) Anveo call quality - anyone have experience with how their call quality is vs. the quality on Google Voice?
b) Outgoing calls on Anveo/ObiHai - I see that one can "spoof" the outgoing caller ID to be then Google Voice number.   However, can we still route our calls through Google Voice?  i.e., be able to seamlessly use our Google Voice account (and their call rates) to make International calls for e.g.?


Thanks

Sam

a)  Not sure, I don't have enough Anveo usage.  Many other people have said their call quality was very good, even better then Google Voice.
b) Not really seamless.  US calls will be seamless because Anveo covers that.  International calls are another story.  To do that you must call your Google Voice number, enter your pin(if you selected that option), press 2 to make a call, then finally enter the number followed by the # key.  Another option is to initiate the call from the Google Voice website.  You could of course just add prepaid credit to Anveo for international calling for truly seamless calling anywhere.

There are also many Good providers you could use for low international rates instead of Google Voice.  You should have a look at Anveos international call rates.  The provider you choose for international really depends on where you plan to call most often.  

[Samardh]

Thanks.  Very helpful  and Anveo's international call rates are indeed inline with Google's.

Does anyone know if Anveo's $39.99 plan is only for the first year, ie does the price go up after one year?


Thanks

[giqcass]

That information is not available but the beauty is you can always switch to whatever company is the most competitive.  By the time the year is over there may very well be better offers.

[steelmans1980]

I encourage you to look away from unlimited plans. They tend to bundle things together that you will most likely not use and you pay more than if you go with a PAYG plan. You should note as well that calls to US/Canada are currently between 0.003USD/min and 0.007USD/min, so with 1$, you can talk for 300 minutes. Do you really talk more than that in month?
As for incoming US/Canada numbers, you can get one for as low as 1USD/month. You could even port in your GV number to other providers.
If you need extra features advertised by other Anveo, and you don't think you should pay for them, consider http://www.freelycall.com as your next provider. They have a flexible softswitch, so they provide the extra services for free (your own caller ID, voicemail, fax, IVR, voicemail to email, fax broadcast, video). Note that they do not have 911 service yet, so you might want to keep a second provider such as http://www.callcentric.com as backup.

[NotAPhoneGuy]

Hi,

Am another one of the ObiHai/Google Voice users thats thinking of switching to Anveo.  A few questions for the experts

a) Anveo call quality - anyone have experience with how their call quality is vs. the quality on Google Voice?
b) Outgoing calls on Anveo/ObiHai - I see that one can "spoof" the outgoing caller ID to be the Google Voice number.   However, can we still route our calls through Google Voice?  i.e., be able to seamlessly use our Google Voice account (and their call rates) to make International calls for e.g.?


Thanks

Sam

I've been on Anveo for a few weeks now. I think the call quality is very good, better than GV.
I've been having issues forwarding my GV call to Anveo, others have the issues too. So I'm in process of porting the GV number over. FWIW I also have Callcentric for a second DID and they have GV forwarding issues there too (spotric).

[nitzan]

By the time the year is over there may very well be better offers.

I seriously doubt it. After May 15th most such offers will disappear. VestaLink has already indicated they'll raise prices, and I bet others will too.

[AlanB]

Call quality is great. No guarantee about future pricing. My account shows it renewing at a monthly rate equivalent to my current rate but my renewal is still 10 months away.

I wish people would just answer the question and not keep telling you to consider their service.

[Taoman]

One of the requirements to become an Obihai "Approved Service Provider" is that the "Obi" plan must renew at the same price point.

This information came from a PhonePower employee...........who hopefully would know. It also is listed on the PhonePower web site. The same will apply to the Anveo "Obi" plans.

Q: What is the Renewal rate following prepaid term?

The annual rate for your service will remain the same.

http://www.phonepower.com/Obihai_info.aspx

[c3c3]

One of the requirements to become an Obihai "Approved Service Provider" is that the "Obi" plan must renew at the same price point.

That's an unenforceable requirement.  If both Anveo and PhonePower want to increase prices, is Obihai going to dump them both of the only two ASPs?  Extremely unlikely.  Hopefully the market competition will keep everyone in check.