thinking about signing up, need advise
kaniki:
I have been using a voip service for years. It is phone power. and when looking something up, I heard about Obihai devices, then clicked on a link and found that obi service through them, they said would be something like $60.. vs the 150 i am paying now. That sounds great as I went to VOIP services due to the low cost vs the old POTS lines. Well, I basically have been happy with my service through phone power over the years, but hey, if I can save a hundred dollars a year, or more, (am paying 150 for the service plus 50 something in taxes), I am all for that. but there are some things that I am not sure about.
How is the quality, reliability and service? My service now is good, but I have seen some that have delays in communication, like if you said something, by the time it got to them, it took a second or two, so you end up constantly doubling up as they are already talking when you start because you dont know that they are yet. I have also looked into and seen things like magic jack, and even have a friend that has tried it and have seen all the problems that go with it. Some times, it works great, other times, you get messages like they can not be reached at this time, or something like that, voice quality that constantly breaks up, etc.
Basically what I am trying to figure out is, is it really reliable? am I going to notice any difference vs the VOIP service that I have through phone power now? Is there much, if any downtime on it? Is there any downfalls to going to it besides if the power or internet go out, so does the phone, just like with my current VOIP service.
Also, I have a cloned line feature. basically, it is like having 2 lines on the same phone number. On the device, there is 2 phone jacks, and if someone is talking on one line, someone can pick up the phone on the second line and call someone else. Is something you can get with this service too? I am figuring that if that is a yes, that I will have to get the 202 model to do it, or use that feature if so.
and lastly, I have seen the many models of this device. other then one having 2 phone jacks, or 2 ethernet jacks (one in and one out), is there anything that makes one version better then another?? reliability, quality, features, etc??
Sorry for all the questions, but I am completely new to the obi thing and am just trying to figure out, is it worth trying? Is it worth getting into? What am I going to loose vs sticking with my current VOIP service? etc. considering that the one with 2 phone jacks is about 75 on amazon, that is a good amount of money to put into something just to say, I am going to try it. that is why i am trying to figure things out now. Thank you for any help that you might be.
ProfTech:
You're on the right track, but may not want to jump just yet. I'm not familiar with Phone Power but they do have a pretty impressive list of features. The US government has just made some rule changes that may raise the price of some of the VOIP services. The Obi 202 would be the right one to emulate what you have already, but you're going to have to pick the right service provider and will need to configure everything yourself. Some of the cheaper VOIP providers will not have as many features as what you have now. Bottom line, if you're happy with Phone Power and like the features they offer you may want to think twice. If you do decide to try Obi I highly recommend Callcentric for a new user. But their price for the unlimited plan will cost more than what you are paying. If your usage is very low you can cut the cost but that is about it.
Taoman:
Are you currently on the Aquarius network on PhonePower? If so, you should notice no difference in call quality or reliability if you were to get a PhonePower "OBi" plan.
No, these plans do NOT support cloned lines. Cloned lines are not supported for Bring Your Own Device plans.
kaniki:
well, I can live without the cloned line thing. that just happened to be a bonus to signing up with them. as for the company, I noticed that phone power was also one of the companies that you could sign up with for service using this device too. and since I was already with them, I did not know how much things would change, with the exception of no tech support for the device through them, and I would have to buy one vs using the one that they gave me. But hey, if it cost me $75 for the device, and $60 for a years service, I am paying a little over $200 now with taxes for the year. So if things stayed the same, even with the cost of the device, it would still be a drop in price of around $70 for the first year. As for features, about all that I actually use is the call forwarding, where it rings a couple of times at my home, and then if no one answers, it transfers to my cell. That and caller ID. So I dont really use most of the features that phone power has.
Where I was not really sure much about was reliability, call quality, is there service lag or delay, does it always work or is there problems during certain hours (kind of like with magic jack service for example). Just how reliable is the service and quality?
Taoman:
Quote from: kaniki on February 28, 2015, 06:23:21 pm
I did not know how much things would change, with the exception of no tech support for the device through them,
Where I was not really sure much about was reliability, call quality, is there service lag or delay, does it always work or is there problems during certain hours (kind of like with magic jack service for example). Just how reliable is the service and quality?
Although that is what they state publicly (since they certainly can't be expected to support every device out there) every PP support tech I have dealt with has been more than willing to give me direct support on my OBi. Some were quite knowledgeable about OBi ATAs while others..........not so much.
As far as reliability goes you need to answer the question I asked in my previous post. What network are you on at PhonePower? When you log into the PP web portal it is stated right on the landing page right below your Contact Phone. I will assume you are on the Aquarius network and not on the Capricorn network. If so, you should expect the same reliability and call quality you are experiencing right now along with all the features you are currently using (minus cloned lines). AFAIK, you would basically have the exact same service you have right now just without cloned lines and you would be using your own ATA and you would be on an "OBi" subscription plan. One other restriction is that on an OBi plan you can only register OBi devices (and the PP softphone). So you couldn't plug in a phone to your existing ATA and try to register that on an OBi plan.
If you can get by without the cloned line feature do you really need a 202 with the second phone port? You may wish to consider an OBi 200 that is cheaper and less complex.
Edit: So I assume you will want to keep your existing PhonePower phone number? That could be tricky. I'm not sure how PhonePower will feel about that. It wouldn't be a port because the number isn't going anywhere. So PhonePower would have to change your existing plan to an "OBi" plan? But I thought you could only get an "OBi" plan by signing up through the Obihai web portal? I'm so confused.
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