CallCentric has rolled out new North America Basic outbound plan $1.95/mo

[gmercator]

I received an email earlier today from CallCentric announcing a new North America Basic plan for outgoing calls...

http://www.callcentric.com/rate/plans/north_america_basic/

As stated, the plan includes E911 and 120 minutes of outbound calling and unlimited calling to toll-free numbers for just $1.95/mo.  There is a one-time setup fee of $1.50

I was already paying $1.50/mo for E911 alone, so this plan adds just 45 cents a month to what I was paying

I signed up for it since it will serve as "GoogleVoice Insurance" (in case GV has issues), and it will come in handy for calling toll-free customer service or tech support numbers

When I signed up, it prorated both the allowance of minutes and the monthly fee from the date of sign-up to the end of the month, then it will continue with a full allowance and full fee in future months

This plan will certainly NOT fit everyone's needs, but for those who are already with CallCentric for E911, it is a great add-on for 45 cents

My obi110 has both GV and CallCentric installed and working

Hope this helps

DISCLAIMER:  I have no connection with CallCentric other than being a satisfied customer since Dec 2012

[SteveInWA]

+1

The other significant improvement, is that unlimited outbound toll-free calling is now included in all paid outbound calling plans (120/500/1000 minute plans).

[PPTAZ]

How good is voice quality?  I will add that my
internet speed is 12 Mbps download, 1 Mbps
upload.  I tested today and it marked 11.31
download, 0.82 upload.  I'm worried about
the upload.  How will they hear me? 

[SteveInWA]

How good is voice quality?  I will add that my
internet speed is 12 Mbps download, 1 Mbps
upload.  I tested today and it marked 11.31
download, 0.82 upload.  I'm worried about
the upload.  How will they hear me? 

I've been using Callcentric for many years, and overall, the voice quality has been consistently fine for me.

VoIP voice quality is determined by many factors, some of which can't be generalized, because of too many variables in the end-to-end network.  Assuming that you're comparing Internet Telephone Service Providers (ITSPs) that are all using the G.711 PCM CODEC, a voice stream only uses about 80-90 Kbps (64Kbps audio, plus network overhead).  Other factors, such as network jitter, dropouts, etc, can have a greater impact than raw speed.

• Quality of the backbone IP network used by the ITSP
• Quality of the CLEC carriers used by the ITSP
• Quality of the other party's telephone service
• Quality and reliability of your broadband network service
• Other bandwith-using activity using your home or office broadband connection
• How you have configured your LAN
• Non VoIP issues, like a defective telephone or cabling

For the low price, why don't you simply try it yourself and find out.   We can speculate all day long, but ultimately, the only way for you to know how it will behave in your particular combination of broadband service and home network setup is for you to try it out.

[wallbobbyc]

Is inbound unlimited?

[SteveInWA]

Is inbound unlimited?

Go read through their website to understand pricing.

Inbound and outbound calling plans are sold a la carte (separately), so you can tailor it to your needs.  You can either pay per minute, or unlimited.  They do offer some NY State inbound numbers with unlimited inbound calling, but if you want a local inbound number (DID), then you have to pay.