VoIP Service Provider Choices all in one place?

[jcrouch]

Hi all,

The GV deadline is looming, the wife is nagging and my brain feels like mush from information overload! I have been looking for a simple, no-frills replacement for GV for a week now. But it is very hard to find and compare all of the choices out there. I need some help.

Has anyone put together a comprehensive list of all of the VoIP service providers, along with their plans and costs, all in one place? I have been peice mealing my own sort of list based on my needs, which are few. I just need a home phone, nothing else really. Call waiting, voice mail, e911, caller-id... those would be nice but not 100% necessary.

... rantings deleted, wasn't contributing much to the conversation, sorry.

[Shale]

I don't mind paying, but anything under 2000 minutes a month is a scam IMO.

Everybody should contribute to paying for your gabby wife? That is unreasonable.

[jcrouch]

I don't mind paying, but anything under 2000 minutes a month is a scam IMO.

Everybody should contribute to paying for your gabby wife? That is unreasonable.

Did I say that? Nope. But I have looked at alot of plans with a 200-300 outbound minute limit. Thats just 10 minutes a day. Unless you are only using it for emergency use in case you need it I don't see the purpose of such a plan.

My main reason for posting was to see if there was 1 place where all of the plans were listed together. I should have kept my rantings to myself

And I just happened upon Phone Power... I think i might have to go with them.

[Shale]

Many people have calls, at least outbound, a la carte. Many people would have free nights and weekends on the cell plan, and be at work much of the day.

Many providers don't charge for calls to users of the same SIP provider, just as many cell phone plans allow unlimited calls within the same provider. You can call OBi to OBi free.

I think you would now agree that too to have offerings that don't meet your names would not make the offering a scam.

Regarding a comprehensive list, the most popular here a few months ago were probably Callentric and VOIP.ms. You might check their offerings, but you may find they are not offering the big packages that you want.

http://blog.obihai.com/ has this list which lists those where the setup has been largely automated:
OBiTALK Compatible Service Providers:

    Anveo
    Broadvoice
    Callcentric
    CallWithUs
    Localphone 
    OneSuite
    Phone Power
    Vitelity
    VoIP.ms   
    VOIPo

But there are more.

[bluechip]

I have been using Localphone on SP1 for the past 3 months. A subscription for 800 outgoing minutes/month costs only $1.60. There is no commitment to continue and you can switch to another VoIP at any time. $1.60/month x 12 months = $19.20/year. With the subscription, it costs only $1.60/800=0.2 cents/minute. Other subscriptions are also available. Unlike some of the other VoIP, there has been no charge for making calls to toll free numbers. Localphone also offers a first-time signup student discount. Localphone tech-support by email has been pretty good, with usually a next business day solution. I'm using Callcentric for outgoing call backup and for sending FAX.

[JH2011]

+1 Callcentric

[AlanB]

Has anyone put together a comprehensive list of all of the VoIP service providers, along with their plans and costs, all in one place? I have been peice mealing my own sort of list based on my needs, which are few. I just need a home phone, nothing else really. Call waiting, voice mail, e911, caller-id... those would be nice but not 100% necessary.

Nope, that's been asked several times.  There are just too many plan changes and options.  There are many forums and posts that discuss individual providers coverage in detail.

You'll get lots of votes for different companies, just like you got one for Localphone and Callcentric already.  Callcentric is not the cheapest for outgoing, but they do offer free DIDs, and it's super easy to add / cancel options on their website.  But, as Shale said, there are many many other providers, and just tons of options (including free Obi to Obi).

[Shale]

I just went into OBiTalk as if I were setting up a new SP. Here are the current choices:

Configure Service Provider Accounts

Please Choose Your Service Provider:

 Anveo
   Broadvox
   Callcentric
   CallWithUs
   Engin
   freephoneline
   Google Voice
   InPhonex
   ippi
   Localphone
   OneSuite
   Phonepower
   RealCalls
   RingCentral
   Telecube
   Vestalink
   Vitelity
   voip.ms
   VOIPo

   Generic Service Provider

Setting up a "Generic Service Provider" is not hard. The info needed is pretty standard. But this is a larger list of providers which you might find useful.