chgoeditor

I posted earlier this week about having a landline (well, two actually). I'm doing my 2014 financial reconciliation and realize that I'm spend about $1200 on pretty bare-bones phone services. I think it's time to consider a change.

My needs are pretty simple:
* 1 voice line (porting an existing number)
* 1 fax line (porting an existing number)
* I'm a relatively low-volume user (maybe an hour of talk time a month + a fax or two)
* Would prefer to continue to use my analog equipment
* I'd like all of the nifty features such as caller ID, call waiting caller ID, automatic forwarding if my internet is down, voice mail via email, etc.

In the other thread, Cubbie mentioned Viatalk, which seems to have great rates. I'd love to hear other people's experience -- good and bad, common problems -- with various services. I looked at the prices of ITP, PhonePower and VOIPO, and they all seem to have packages that would work for me (though it's not clear with most of them if there's a price break for bringing over my fax line).

A friend is a VOIP reseller (primarily for business). I spoke to him today and it sounds as if I went with him I'd spend an extra ~$150 a year compared to these other services. I know I'd get great service, but I do wonder: How often do most of you who use VOIP actually need to contact your service provider for support?

Oh, and a note to ScottC and gfunkdave: I did search and it looked as if there hasn't been a recent VOIP thread, but feel free to merge if I missed one.

ajGoes

I'm not a residential VoIP user though I do have a home VoIP extension to my office exchange. I pay extra to use a friend's ISP. It means I can reach someone who understands the problem when I have one. He can also bump trouble tickets up the queue. That recently got one of my landlines restored three days earlier than the phone company had quoted me.

I live at the end of the line for DSL, with no cable available, so I also spend extra money for two landlines mainly so I can do a quick line condition check by listening for dial tone and static. The landline phones are also almost completely reliable, which is sadly not the case for my DSL.

gfunkdave

I use an ObiHai device with Google Voice. It provides a free landline for calls to the US/Canada. Doesn't work with 911, though.

cblaisd

Ooma.

corporate666

I use Anveo for home which I started using because I loved it so much for my business.

At work I have 8 voice lines, a fax line (actually any of the lines can receive faxes) and a 1-800 number. I think my total cost is around $15/month for the lines and I pay perhaps $10/mo for usage (several hundred minutes, much of it international).

At home I pay perhaps $8/mo which includes 3 lines (2 USA numbers and one in the UK for family to call me as a local call)... all of those numbers can receive faxes and SMS messages, and have all the call-waiting, conference calling services, etc.

Telephone service in general costs very little to provide except for the cost of running and maintaining the lines on the pole. VOIP costs a fraction of what analog service costs. IMO, any VOIP company charging anywhere near analog rates is ripping people off.

With Anveo, you wouldn't be able to use your existing analog hardware, but IMO the digital hardware has a lot more functionality anyway and isn't expensive. I have a work extension at home, and I can make calls using my home account from my cell phone or through my PC, etc. Giving up the analog hardware opens up all the powerful features of VOIP.

deltame

I am happy with Ooma and also Obi + Goggle Voice. Did not contact service provider for support -- as everything went smoothly including porting a number over to Ooma.

edweird

I used an ObiHai device with Google Voice. That solution worked fine for me for almost a year.

There was an announcement made about Google Voice stopping that service (which didn't happen) so I went ahead and switched to using Anveo VOIP service with my ObiHai. Same analog cordless phone is plugged into the Obi. That's been working great for almost a year now.

gfunkdave

Yeah, instead of blocking Google Voice on Obihai, they made Obihai an official partner for Google Voice or something like that.

Jaimito Cartero

I've been thinking of a similar thing the last couple of months, so I'll piggyback here.

I am in Asia for months at a time. I need to be able to answer my phone there, without having the phone ring a lot before it connects to me.

Most of my calls come in on my 800 number, which is sent to my normal land line in the U.S.

I'd need to be able to connect either via wifi, or Ethernet cable. I've had a suggestion of Ooma. I actually bought one of these 5-6 years ago, but had problems with the installation and returned it to Costco.

chgoeditor

Thanks for all of the suggestions thus far! I honestly had no idea where were some many variations on VOIP.

corporate666

I do a similar thing when traveling. I hate to sound like a shill for Anveo, I have no connection to them other than being a long-term happy customer, to the point where I've emailed asking if they will ever support XYZ, and they reply saying "we just asked our developer and he said sure, so he added it to the system and now it's available". Amazing.

Anyway, Anveo has what is called a "call flow", where you graphically drag and drop blocks of functionality to determine what happens with calls. For example, there is a block that lets the user press a button and depending on the button pressed, the call will go to the block connected to that number press.

So, you can have it setup where all your calls just get automatically transferred to wherever you are at the time and the user is unaware they are being connected to Asia. Or, you can have it where it could say "Hi this is JC, I'm out of the office but if you need to reach me, press 1 to be connected to my mobile phone". Or you could have an extension which is actually your mobile phone and if someone at your work wants to reach you, they dial that extension (or forward an incoming call to that extension) and it will ring to your mobile.

You could even bring a VOIP phone with you, plug it into a network jack (or use a Wifi version) and get and receive calls wherever you are just as if you were on your office phone network.

unmesh

Another happy Obi+GV user. I added Xfinity Digital Voice when I heard that GV was going to stop supporting XMPP and therefore Obi but passed the (now analog) voice through the Obi so that people could call me on either "line".

Since the cutoff never happened, I'm out for a year's worth of Xfinity Digital Voice that I have never used. Here's hoping I remember to cancel service when the year is up

Jaimito Cartero

I'm often in locations outside the US for months at a time, so an easy plug in function is what I'm hoping to find.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

unmesh

Google Voice with an Obi100 device is super easy to set up over a wired network. Once set up, you can plug it into a wired Ethernet port with Internet access anywhere and it will just work. (Unless you're in a hotel or other location where they are restricting traffic). Incoming calls are free as are calls to the US and Canada and calls to other countries are pretty cheap.

For wireless, you'd have to get an Obi200 and an ObiWiFi dongle. I haven't used this combination myself but the instructions seem straightforward.

boberonicus

Fax is often problematic over VoIP services. Be sure that any solution you choose can accommodate this requirement.