Getting posted back to Ottawa next year and I'm considering VOIP phone service. Do any of you guys have this and if so what is your opinion ( good or bad ) I know about the power failure thing etc - but to me thats a non-issue as I have a cell for a back-up. Any opinions are appreciated.
dlb,Apr 28 2006, 04:01 PM Wrote:Getting posted back to Ottawa next year and I'm considering VOIP phone service. Do any of you guys have this and if so what is your opinion ( good or bad ) I know about the power failure thing etc - but to me thats a non-issue as I have a cell for a back-up. Any opinions are appreciated.
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I have Vonage for over a year now. I have the 19.99 plan which is 500 minutes in north america plus all the services bell offers. I have had no issues with echoes, dropped calls or bad reception. I highly recommend Vonage :)
if you sign up let them know I told you :D
your best bet is probably vonage.. they offer a lot of services included that both Rogers and Bell will charge you extra for.
including call forwarding and voicemail.
not to mention vonage-to-vonage calls are always free.. that's a pretty big network..
that, and a couple people I know who tried Bell didn't have very good connectivity either.
I have heard rhumors that a company provides total-ring features that would ring your VOIP line and call-forward ringer all at once.
Just make sure you're aware of the impact this will have for your 911 service. There are things you need to do to make sure emergency response doesn't go to a house you're not at in the event you're unable to tell the 911 operator which house you're really at. (this is definitely something people should think about if they have kids...).
on a side note, I find it curious that i can pinpoint the locality of an IP address, but VOIP companies can't forward you to your local emergency call centre automatically.
i have a voip account for work and the quality sucks sometimes. could be my provider dunno who they are sorry or my isp. its def a risk though. how about just taking the $20/mo and beefing up your mobile phone plan? i haven't had a landline in almost 6yr just my mobile..
darkpuppet,Apr 28 2006, 09:53 PM Wrote:on a side note, I find it curious that i can pinpoint the locality of an IP address, but VOIP companies can't forward you to your local emergency call centre automatically.
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I would assume that they don't want the liability of getting your location wrong based on an IP and send emergency services to the wrong location?
We're using Voctel (
http://www.voctel.com) for our VoIP system at home.
One of the nice parts about it is that they'll supply you with a loaner/free rental Linksys VoIP gateway router. All you do is connect whatever "normal" phone you have to one of the RJ-11 jacks and away you go.
Also, you can't beat $24.95/mo plus taxes for unlimited North American calling, 24/7. Done. No extra crap or fees or credit card numbers needed or contracts.
It saves us over $400/year compared to what we had with Bell.
You also get voicemail, call waiting, call display, message waiting notification, etc.
Send them an email off their website if you don't want to call (705) 223-2000. They've got access concentrators for VoIP gateways all over Ontario now, so their owner tells me. I actually connect to the Toronto gateway due to weird Inet routing paths.
Yes, it is Basic 911 as opposed to autolocating Enchanced 911. Ultimately, that will come in down the road.
Work provided me with VOIP at home, it's NORTEL I think but I don't use it much and have no idea what it costs. I can also use my laptop as a phone if I want.
One thing I noticed and don't know if it is the same for all is that you cant use the keypad for menus like if you were doing banking on the phone.
If you have a family be aware that 911 does not work on a VOIP, you should probably also have a land line.
2001 ZTS,May 2 2006, 01:46 PM Wrote:If you have a family be aware that 911 does not work on a VOIP, you should probably also have a land line.
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Yes it does. You have to tell your provider where the phone is located and when you move it, so that they always have an updated location for when you call 911. For Vonage I just log into my account and then change my location and I am set. Mind you if there is a power failure then you're out of luck unlike a landline :(
but are you going to pay $30 a month JUST for that safety feature?
2001 ZTS,May 2 2006, 09:46 AM Wrote:If you have a family be aware that 911 does not work on a VOIP, you should probably also have a land line.
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I have our cell as a backup, but it DOES work. You need to inform the dispatcher of your location and VoIP situation. They'll redirect the call or take the info and then relay the call for you.
I verified that 911 works before agreeing to the service... which was last April.
NOS2Go4Me,May 2 2006, 02:29 PM Wrote:2001 ZTS,May 2 2006, 09:46 AM Wrote:If you have a family be aware that 911 does not work on a VOIP, you should probably also have a land line.
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I have our cell as a backup, but it DOES work. You need to inform the dispatcher of your location and VoIP situation. They'll redirect the call or take the info and then relay the call for you.
I verified that 911 works before agreeing to the service... which was last April.
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kinda sounds like an echo but it's best you repeated me since he can't read what I type :)