Phone Service Suggestions Needed

[chefann]

Hey, all!

I'm putting this in Business Tips because it affects my ability to make phone calls for my business.

DH and I have VOIP (Voice Over IP) phone, also known as internet phone. Vonage is probably the most well-known provider. Well, our contract was up last week, and we've been unhappy with the quality of our provider. So we're going to switch.

For some reason, DH doesn't want to go with Vonage - I think he's looking for a better deal. Our last 2 providers (one of whom folded last year) cost about $200 for 12 months, and that's for local and long distance. He's checked into Comcast's phone and internet package, but we'd lose speed on our internet yuck and it includes local phone only.

If you have internet phone, who's your provider and are you happy with the quality of the calls and the service? (Traditional phone is not an option, because we can only get ATT around here, and it's ridiculously expensive.) I'm thinking about going to a cell plan with more minutes, but that would only apply to calls to ME - and I have our current phone number on all the materials I've handed out over the past 7 years. That's a lot of info to invalidate.

 

[sk8rgrrl99]

I had Vonage and I was very unhappy with them and ended up cancelling their service. I had many many dropped calls and then the router they sent me when I signed up stopped working and they told me it would be $220 for a new one. Yikes! So I switched to Time Warner Cable's all in one service with the phone, road runner internet and cable tv. They have two packages and I got the lesser one which ran me $107 a month. Eventually I decided I didn't need a home phone at all because I was never home to use it so I'm just using my cell phone. But I was very, very happy with Time Warner's service.

 

[chefann]

Unfortunately, we're limited to only Comcast here in my city. I guess I should have stated that. So we have to keep Comcast for cable and internet, but we're looking for a new VOIP provider. Our first one was Sun Rocket. But they went bankrupt, so we switched to one called VOIP. And we've had echo on the line and drop-outs since then. Plus occasional problems with the voice mail, and the caller ID stopped showing names. It just shows numbers, which does us no good.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

We have Vonage, and totally love it! Why doesn't DH want Vonage?

We aren't using the router they sent us though either - I had already purchased a router when we decided to go with Vonage.....so the one they sent will be for back-up.

I've never had any problems with them in the 2 years that we've had Vonage - and I love that if there is a power outage, all calls are automatically forwarded to my cell - so I don't miss anything! All of my family is long distance, as are many of my hosts and guests, and I also love that I can call anytime, anywhere, and it never costs me any extra, or uses cell minutes!:thumbup: Oh - and we could keep our phone #, so that was a big plus too.

I don't get echo, I've never had a dropped call, and no problems with voice-mail either! Caller ID works fine too.

 

[chefann]

I don't know why DH doesn't want to go with Vonage, other than the cost. Our first VOIP provider was significantly less expensive than Vonage, and I think DH thinks he can find one for that price again. Well, 2 1/2 years later, that's just not going to happen. And, speaking for myself, I'd rather give my business to one of the smaller providers so as not to contribute to a monopoly.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I don't know why DH doesn't want to go with Vonage, other than the cost. Our first VOIP provider was significantly less expensive than Vonage, and I think DH thinks he can find one for that price again. Well, 2 1/2 years later, that's just not going to happen. And, speaking for myself, I'd rather give my business to one of the smaller providers so as not to contribute to a monopoly.

Wow - I have never thought of Vonage as expensive! For everything that is included with Vonage, it would cost us 3 times what we pay if we were going w/ a traditional service provider.

(we pay $24.95, plus the taxes - so it's $30.12 total)

 

[PurpleAngel]

I have given up on a 'house' phone all together. I just use my cell (currently through Sprint) for all of my local and long distance. I have been doing things that way for the last three or more years.

Hey, all!

I'm putting this in Business Tips because it affects my ability to make phone calls for my business.

DH and I have VOIP (Voice Over IP) phone, also known as internet phone. Vonage is probably the most well-known provider. Well, our contract was up last week, and we've been unhappy with the quality of our provider. So we're going to switch.

For some reason, DH doesn't want to go with Vonage - I think he's looking for a better deal. Our last 2 providers (one of whom folded last year) cost about $200 for 12 months, and that's for local and long distance. He's checked into Comcast's phone and internet package, but we'd lose speed on our internet yuck and it includes local phone only.

If you have internet phone, who's your provider and are you happy with the quality of the calls and the service? (Traditional phone is not an option, because we can only get ATT around here, and it's ridiculously expensive.) I'm thinking about going to a cell plan with more minutes, but that would only apply to calls to ME - and I have our current phone number on all the materials I've handed out over the past 7 years. That's a lot of info to invalidate.

 

[erinb]

I have Vonage as well and have no problems with it. It costs me a total of $30.59/mo. but they do have an option to pay for a full year in advance and it saves you. One thing I really like is that there is an option for you to automatically have your number forwarded to another phone if the service gets interrupted.

 

[pamperedpals]

I have given up on a 'house' phone all together. I just use my cell (currently through Sprint) for all of my local and long distance. I have been doing things that way for the last three or more years.

I wish I could do that. However, I don't get reception at my house on my cell.

 

[chefann]

Wow - I have never thought of Vonage as expensive! For everything that is included with Vonage, it would cost us 3 times what we pay if we were going w/ a traditional service provider.

(we pay $24.95, plus the taxes - so it's $30.12 total)

Yeah- DH is still trying to find a $200/year deal. I told him that I'd just as soon go with a $25/month plan and get the quality and unlimited long distance.

I have given up on a 'house' phone all together. I just use my cell (currently through Sprint) for all of my local and long distance. I have been doing things that way for the last three or more years.

I've considered that, but I don't want to have to worry about minutes. I'm just not ready to take that "no home phone" plunge.

 

[SLDOWDY1978]

i tried doing that and i got no reception at my house. so my business took a serious dive! now, i have the house phone back and i am BACK IN BUSINESS!

Sandy

 

[chefann]

Just found out from DH that one of the issues he has with Vonage is the taxes. Apparently, we didn't pay taxes on our 2 other services.

 

[buckeyefan08]

We have "majic jack" you pay $30 upfront. They send you the thing you plug into your USB port and you are good to go. It is $19.95 a year!!! The first year is included in the $30 start up fee and there is a 30 day free trial. We like it so far, sometimes the sound is a little low but you can run a program through the website called Majic Fix and that makes it better.
magicJack

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

We can't have VOIP around here because in order to have that you have to have Roadrunner (Time Warner) for internet ... so AT&T is actually less expensive. You pay one way (for pricey cable internet but cheap phone) or the other (overpriced phone but cheap internet.)We also don't like the idea of having no phone when the power goes out ... even though our only non-cordless phone is in the basement.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Just found out from DH that one of the issues he has with Vonage is the taxes. Apparently, we didn't pay taxes on our 2 other services.

Hmm, interesting, because the taxes aren't from Vonage - they are MI taxes, and a local 911 tax, and something else.....too lazy to look up the bill - it's on my email.

 

[chefann]

I guess, for whatever reason, he thinks we didn't pay them on the current plan. They were probably bundled into the yearly fee.

 

[cathyskitchen]

Wow, that Magic Jack looks cool! I'm going to have to tell DH about that! Thanks, Lisa!

 

[buckeyefan08]

No problem! The only thing is when the power is out you won't have a phone. If you have a cell phone you won't really go without though. We have underground wires so it's never been to much of an issue for us.

 

[stephanieboyd]

I have Vonage too and love it!! I don't have any issues with dropped calls, echos or service interupptions. I have several friends over here who have other services (Lingo, Skype, etc), they have troubles with their phones. We all have the same internet provider, as Germany believes in monopolies, so it's really the phone service that is different. The Vonage has not caused one second of trouble compared to the others. The unlimited domestic long distance was the kicker for me. I was spending a fortune on calling HO's 800 number from my German phone. Even at $.03 per minute, between paying for 800 numbers, calling family and the Euro rate it was costing a fortune!!

If you husband doesn't want to pay that extra $5 per month on taxes, you can do the referral plan with Vonage and get two months free when you sign up. That would offset more than the cost of the taxes/911 fees. Mine is $360 per year after tax, minus the two months free for the refer a friend $60, that puts you at $300 per year out of pocket.

I am sure that Becky or someone else will be happy to send you the Vonage referral email, but if not I would love the 2 months free too!!!

 

[dianevill]

I'm another one that says thumbs up to Vonage. If you would have asked me a couple of years ago, I would have said NO WAY! We had problems with echos, dropped calls, etc., but they cleaned up their act (and a new router - they provided after numerous complaints from me) and everything is working wonderfully. I think it's cheap - $30 versus the $82 we were paying with MCI, and everything's included. I love that long distance, voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, are all part of the package. Tell DH to come to the dark side - we have cookies!

 

[chefann]

I took a look online at the MagicJack, and I don't like several things about it: we wouldn't be able to keep the same number, we'd have to leave a computer on all the time, and there were several reports of unnatural sounding calls (not echos, but weird). But thanks for the suggestion!I'll pass on the comments about Vonage.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

No problem! The only thing is when the power is out you won't have a phone. If you have a cell phone you won't really go without though. We have underground wires so it's never been to much of an issue for us.

With Vonage, if the power goes out, phone calls are automatically forwarded to the phone # of your choice. I have mine forwarded to my cell, so I've never lost a call that way.

 

[buckeyefan08]

I've never had an un-natural sounding call... now you have me curious, or maybe a little scared!

 

[chefann]

Google "MagicJack reviews" and you'll get a lot of hits. (That's what DH does every time we see an infomercial that seems too good to be true.)