VOIP recommendations???

[AlecWest]

This is for anyone who is currently using VOIP service ... the kind where you can use a normal telephone to call people over your broadband line. I'm curious about which service you use and how you would rate their service.

Currently, I'm a Vonage.com user and have been one since 2003. And up until recently, I've been satisfied with the service. But, that changed last month. If you want to read the nasty stuff, click on the link below:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff152253.htm

In any case, if I have to switch from Vonage, I'd like to go to another VOIP provider ... not back to (ugh) Ma Bell. And, I'd like some options to consider based on "recommendations."

BTW, I've already discovered one service that costs roughly the same and has numbers available within my local area code. But they, and other services, are unknown quantities to me and I'd rather have choices based on input than on experimentation with a new untried service.

[jackal70058]

I have never heard complain about Vonage before. They always be the good one.

Why you want to change you voice number, is beyond me. If it not a local number, people calling you use their calling card to get you and using their minutes.

Their system checking the numers is right. If you address no match you ZIP code, you not getting the number. This waste number for other people living in the area code for that number. You lucky that they agree to do it at all.

If you just can't have Vonage, there has always AT&T for Broadband. I would try work out with Vonage, but sometime once you screw it up it will never be fixed again.

I never used the broadband phone yet. I am waiting for the Charter Telephone to come to my area. I have Charter Digital Cable now. You can check and see because some Digital Cable TV providers have the Digital Telephone servicing and Digital Cable has actually broadband.

[AlecWest]

Why you want to change you voice number, is beyond me.

You obviously didn't click on the link I provided to read my complaint. I had a very good reason for changing my number.

My main bone of contention is that I complained back on July 23rd ... and they obviously "drop-filed" my complaint, taking no action on it whatsoever. Beyond that, they're the only local VOIP provider I've found yet that doesn't have 503 Area Code numbers available. Portland, Oregon is not the biggest city in the world but it isn't Jerkwater, USA either.

FWIW, I have 3-megabit broadband via Comcast cable. While they've rolled out VOIP in other locales, they've not rolled it out in Portland yet. When I first signed up with Vonage in 2003, they were the only VOIP game in town. Now, they have at least a dozen competitors ... so, by the time Comcast gets into the game, they'll have to have a pretty impressive package to get users of other VOIP entities to switch back.

Anyhoo, I've already amassed a "short-list" of competitors with features that match or exceed Vonage (for roughly the same price or less). And, I'm hoping someone gives a good recommendation for one or more of them so I can narrow down the list ... if I have to. I may not leave Vonage if they give me all the services I'm paying for. But if they ignore my queries to customer service, I'll ignore them just as quickly. That's the beauty of capitalism.

Incidentally, for those interested in "shopping around" for VOIP service, here's a good place to start:

http://voipreview.org

They don't list all the companies offering VOIP in my local area but they do list quite a few of them. Two of them offer identical service to Vonage but are cheaper. And one of them, for $5 more a month, offers the same US/Canada unlimited calling as Vonage ... but extends it to 21 other countries around the globe (including Australia and the U.K.). And, all three of those companies have "advanced" e911 (not basic e911 like Vonage). The difference is that advanced e911 connects you directly to a regular 911 callcenter ... while basic e911 only routes you to the nearest PSAP (public safety access point), delaying emergency response times.

[Cobra]

Skype.

www.skype.com

Capmaster and myself use it all the time.

[AlecWest]

Skype.

www.skype.com

Capmaster and myself use it all the time.

I've heard good things about Skype. But alas, I'm looking for a service that allows me to use a standard analog telephone ... hooked through an ATA adapter to my broadband line. You pick up the phone like any normal home phone and hear a dialtone ... and then you punch in the numbers to dial. And when someone calls you, the phone rings ... just like any normal home phone.

FWIW, though, I think I've found myself a replacement VOIP provider in case Vonage drops the ball:

http://www.cingucell.com/VoIP/

For $2 more per month than I'm paying Vonage, I get a 503 area-code number, advanced e911 calling, and besides being able to make unlimited free calls within the US and Canada, I'd be able to make unlimited free calls to 21 other countries around the globe ... including Australia and the U.K. Heck (grin), I'm almost hoping Vonage drops the ball. 8)

P.S. And the ATA adapter I bought from Vonage is compatible with their system ... so I wouldn't even need to buy any new equipment.

[SquirrelDip]

Skype for Computer/Computer works fantastic - Computer/Phone works okay but sounds quite hollow.

[jackal70058]

Oops...reading over where it says about the telmarket calls. Must have skipped that part.

IT still going have long distance between you and Oregon.