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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Looking to replace my phone provider.
Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 10:34 AM on 12.14.10 |
->> I am looking for FIRST HAND reports from members who use a phone provider OTHER THAN Comcast or Vonage. In September I switched from Vonage (mediocre to poor quality) to Comcast (even worse than Vonage).
I am toying with the idea of just adding another cell to my account ($10) or going with a different Voip provider. If I go with a voip I'd like to be able to use an adapter similar to the Vonage or Comcast boxes that allow me to have several cordless phones around the house.
As far as features go, I am mostly looking for the basics plus selective # blocking and DnD....
So if you are using a voip that meets those needs and are happy with the service please toss them my way.....
I've been looking around but lets face it, it's all marketing hype....I want to hear from people who count on their phones daily and that I can trust. |
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PJ Heller, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 2:00 PM on 12.14.10 |
| ->> Try oooma (www.ooma.com) |
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Jeff Brehm, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Salisbury | NC | USA | Posted: 2:29 PM on 12.14.10 |
->> +0.5 Verizon (good coverage, lousy customer service, especially in retail locations staffed by the intelligence-challenged)
+0.1 Sprint(so-so coverage and CS)
-1,000 AT&T (awful everything, EXCEPT good overseas coverage in some countries)
No experience with any of them in Voip |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 3:14 PM on 12.14.10 |
| ->> Have always had the best experience with traditional landlines, the consumer-level VOIP just isn't there in terms of quality assurance. If you have a T1 or better, it improves, but short of that I'd stick with the local phone company or cell. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 4:56 PM on 12.14.10 |
->> Israel copper landline is out. Lack of features and pricing worthy of a DoD contract just makes it too unappealing. Cell is a strong contender. I can add a third line to my cell plan for $10. I have 3 or 4 spare cellphones in a draw and this http://www.myxlink.com/index.aspx has my attention.
A solid voip provider would still be my first choice and if anyone has a length of chain and a tow truck and is willing to pull Comcast's head out of their ass, there is still a tiny chance that I'd stay with them.
In the last three weeks I've has one customer, one SID and one editor all email me because they got a recording telling them that my number was not in service. All the while I am still getting 99.9% of incoming calls and no issue making outbound calls. I just don't want an SID thinking that we're in some kind of trouble and not paying our bills, and that our number is shut off. Just a VERY bad image for business.
E |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington/Normal | IL | United States | Posted: 5:35 PM on 12.14.10 |
->> You need Frontier. they call me 3 times a day to try and sell me more services. At least they know my line is ringing!
Skype? Never used it, but some brag on it. |
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PJ Heller, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 5:44 PM on 12.14.10 |
->> OK, here's more info on ooma for anyone interested.
It's VoIP; you basically buy the ooma box and plug it in and you're good to go. No other charges, unless you need to dial overseas(then you can put money into your ooma account). There is also any upgrade option for, I think, $99 a year, which gives you a host of other features, which includes porting over your original phone number.
Ooma allows call blocking, call forwarding, you can go online and hear your voice mails or see who is calling, etc. etc. See the web site for all the details.
I have the older ooma setup, which came with the ooma box and what they called a "scout" which allowed hooking up a second line. Once I got it all set up, it's worked great.
I think you can get a good deal on the ooma hardware at Costco. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 5:59 PM on 12.14.10 |
| ->> PJ thanks I'll go through their website |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 8:59 PM on 12.14.10 |
->> Eric,
As Alan mentioned Frontier is worth a look. If you have your cell for outgoing, and all you need is a dedicated incoming line, they are pretty cheap. I pay less than $30 a month - but all that I use it for is incoming and the answering machine. (Call me paranoid, I just think the landline is more reliable enhanced 911 - that and it doesn't go dead like my kids' cell phone batteries do so I can normally get them to answer...." |
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Bryan Rinnert, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Kent | OH | United States | Posted: 10:07 AM on 12.16.10 |
| ->> If you just need another number with features try Google Voice. It's free and forwards calls to your current phone (or phones), allows you to block numbers, voice mail, and record calls. I've used it to keep my old cell number and get a new local number when I moved. I don't worry about publishing the number because I can always block calls. |
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Jonathan Castner, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 11:00 AM on 12.16.10 |
| ->> I have been using Skype for the last 6 years as a land line for outgoing calls. My office is in the basement of my house and I get lousy reception on my cell. I have never had quality complaints and the price is killer, about $35 a year for all domestic calls. I have it set so that my cell phone number, my main contact, is read as the caller id. I love it. |
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