Opinions on Voice over IP Services (1 Viewer)

[Yahya]

This ordeal happened around may of '04 and at that time I spoke to 4 people and got the same answer. It was "my responsibility" to make sure I had a long distance plan even though everytime I dialed out I got a connection (some times a good one)and had a plan before moving. So basically everytime I dialed a long distance number I was charged $3.95 for the connection to a long distance carrier and then whatever rate per minute that carrier offered. This has been MY experience, I'm not saying it's the norm of verizon's practices but that they screwed ME over forcing me to look for other options. I'm really glad they did becuase now I'm saving about $40 a month on phone service.
I totally agree with your point of view on the voip not being for everyone. I've got parents too.

 

[Steve F M]

I'm confused. Who was you LD provider before you moved? When move your Verizon service you are only transferring your Local Service with you unless you have Verizon as your LD provider before you move(Which if you did they would ahve asked if you are also moving your LD also). Sounds like you had a someone other then verizon for your LD provider and they royally hosed you. Just because the bill comes from verizon doesn't mean they charged you for your LD.

This is a prime example of why Verizon gets a bad rap. You see a bill from Verizon for $500 and everyone assumes it Verizon thats hosing you.

 

[Yahya]

.....As clearly as I can put it.....

Before I moved I had a Verizon long distance plan.
After I moved I didn't have ANY long distance plan.

So in conclusion steve VERIZON hosed me.

~FIN

 

[Steve F M]

If you didn't have any LD plan after you moved who then charged you $400 for you LD calls? Was it Verizon or another LD provider? If it was Verizon your plan should have been the same as anyone else's that thas Verizon LD. They have a basic LD plan that everyone uses that has there LD service.

 

[Yahya]

I couldn't find any carrier names on the bill besides verizon's. Their reasonings to me for the $3.95 connection charge each time I dialed was the fact that I had no plan. I hope you can see how I felt I was getting the run around.

I get the feeling that this thread has become some kind of verizon bussiness practices discussion due to my posting. I'm new here and don't know how the moderators on this forum feel about "thread hijackings" so let me be the one to say that we can continue this through the PM function steve in the hopes of leaving this thread for VOIP disscussion. I apologize to whoever started this thread and to any of the moderators/admins for my part of any offence.

 

[Steve F M]

Sound good.

Getting back to VOIP. I'm going to try out Voice Wing in a week or so and I will give my thoughts on how well it works compared to Vonage.

 

[Cees Alons]

Accepted here.

I know of worse cases.


Cees

 

[Christo Ramo]

Steve, my cicso ata crapped out, and they sent me a better adapter, the linksys pap2, it has faxing capabilities, so hopefully I will be able to get me tivo's to dial out. Try to ask for it, I will let you know how I make out after my phones come back online.

 

[SarahG]

Would love to hear the comparisons. Will be interesting to hear how a POTS company is transitioning into VoIP. I haven't really heard a lot of reviews of their service.

 

[Christo Ramo]

PAP2 is definately much better than the Cisco ATA, I know they are the same company now, but I would imagine the Cisco to be a little better. The linksys can defiantely handle the load better.

 

[BobbyPerry]

Have you tried VoiceWing yet? I'm getting ready to look into VoIP and am curious about comparisons between different providers.

 

[SarahG]

If you are curious, you should def check out reviews on places like broadband reports and similar sites. There is some good information there. Each one has its ups and downs but there are some, I think, that have recieved better reviews all around. I'm happy with my provider and I got some good information from those reviews.

 

[Marvin]

Are there security issues for VoIP services as there is for data sent over the internet? For example, you're not supposed to enter credit card numbers on internet sites unless the site is "secure" (I guess that means it encrypts the data). Is this applicable to VoIP?

 

[SarahG]

The way I understand it is that there are minimal security issues with voip. I've heard that it is very difficult to break the encription with voice data, but it's still possible. I think this is right. Obviously I don't want someone to be able to listen in on my phone conversations, but if somebody wants to work that hard to do it, they're not going to find out much of any importance. In other words, I don't really think it's going to happen.

 

[Gary Seven]

Resurrecting an old thread....

Hello fellow forum citizens...

I'm considering dropping my land line and going VOIP, probably Vonnage. I will, however, retain my cell phone service.

What I wanted to know from the experienced are these answers:

1. The startup kit apparently provides a phone router and a phone. I have a cable modem hooked up to a wireless router. Where does the phone router fit in this scenario?

2. I need about four handsets for the house (maybe three). Do I need a phone router for each handset? How does that work?

3. I have BellSouth. They put on a heap of taxes so that when all is said and done, the cost is always way above what they might advertise for the service. What taxes apply to Vonnage service?

4. My wife calls Brazil quite a bit. What are the international rates via this service?

Any other info you can provide would be nice. Thanks for any help you can provide.