Reviews Of VoIP Phone Services
Depending on which countries you wish to call, I would recommend different VoIP phone services. I have been using this kind of services for four years now and I have tried many different kinds. This time I would like to share my experience with you.
Rebtel allows you to call many countries in Latin America and Western Europe from your Skype account or your cell phone or home phone for free. If you are calling from your cell phone or home phone, it will give you a local phone number which will connect you to your friend’s phone number. You will be given about a minute to ask your friend to call you back. The number that your friend needs to call will appear on his screen and will be a local number for him or her. Once you join Rebtel, you will be given 10 dollars for free and another 10 dollars will be added to your account each time one of your friends joins. You can also call countries that are not on the Rebtel list for very cheap, but it has been my experience that they do not offer the cheapest rates for many countries in Eastern Europe.
For countries like the Ukraine and Russia, I would recommend using Yahoo phone out, where you can call Russian mobile phones for 6 US cents per minute. Also, if you just want to call to say hello or short phrases like “I love you,” don’t hesitate to use evaphone. This website allows you to call almost ANY destination in the world for a few seconds. Some of the destinations only allow you to speak for a 10 seconds, whereas others (like the US) allow you to speak for a couple of minutes. This website is great news for those of you who want to call India, because it is the only website that lets you call India for free.
Skype is also a good VoIP service if you want to call one of the countries on their list or want to have an unlimited plan to call the US and Canada. They even offer packages where you can choose to have a local US number that is connected to your Skype so that your friends and family can call you when you are abroad. I also found that ring2skype allows me to have various numbers in different countries (including the US) that will connect to my Skype account. This website lets you have these numbers for free, but they only work when you are online. The advantage of buying a virtual number directly from Skype is that it allows you to have an answering machine, as well as a service which will connect that virtual number to your phone.
Related posts
VoIP Phone Services: Vonage
Vonage is one of the many internet-based VoIP phone services available. My roommate and I became Vonage customers two years ago, when we moved into an apartment that didn’t have a phone line installed, and tended to be a dead zone for our cell phones. It was a promotion that drew us into the world of Vonage; $24.99 for an unlimited calling plan, free Vonage adapter, and two months of free service.
Because of the quality and reliability of Vonage, I was able to save money by switching to a less comprehensive cell phone plan and using the home phone more often. The amazing part is that the cost is less than half of what it would cost monthly for a land line from the phone company, not to mention saving on the costly installation fees. I’m not the most technologically inclined person out there, so when I received the Vonage adapter and instructions in the mail, I was immediately concerned about being able to set up the service. It did take me a few tries, as I needed to rearrange some of the electronic devices in the living room to see what needed to be plugged into what.
All in all, though, the setup process was relatively painless. When I called in to Vonage in order to set up and activate my account, customer service was very friendly, patient, and cheerful. Nowadays, most calls to a customer service hot line involve 10-20 minutes of hold time, but not with Vonage. They answered my call immediately, even though it was 8 PM. At first, I was skeptical about the quality of a VoIP phone service, but the call quality with Vonage is as good, if not better, than a traditional landline phone. Unlike cell phones, Vonage doesn’t drop calls or have difficulty getting through to another party during peak usage.
The only negative I’ve ever experienced with Vonage is that they’re not particularly effective with sending a bill out to you on a regular basis. At one point, I hadn’t received a bill for almost 6 months, despite giving them my correct e-mail address. (They do not send paper bills or statements via mail, in an attempt to keep costs low.). By the time I’d received a bill, it had added up to a fairly hefty amount. However, many customers may see it as a plus that Vonage’s billing is somewhat erratic; they’re definitely not the sort of service to disconnect your phone when your bill is two weeks overdue. I truly can’t recommend Vonage enough. If you’ve got a decently fast computer, cable internet, and don’t mind keeping your telephone close to the computer, you have a very good substitute for the traditional landline, minus the long distance charges. Especially if you’re like me, young and on a budget, but with friends and family you’d like to feel free to talk to as often as possible, Vonage is a must-have.
Related posts
VoIP Phone Services: Vopium
VOIP technology has revolutionized the way we communicate. This technology however complex in its form is a breakthrough in low cost calling and staying connected with the loved ones. The advent of this technology has mainly been loved when the international costs come into play. The cheap bandwidth and sophisticated systems assures of crystal clear sound and flexibility with a lots of features.
Today we are going to review one of the many VOIP phone services available. This one is from from Canada and is a company called Vopium. This company has been in the limelight recently with its lucrative offers and flexible services. It has been getting rave reviews about itself from various sources. To catch up with it, we decided to join the league and register with an account on the website. The website was really intuitive and very easy on eyes. It looked professional and relieved us of any paranoia one could have about trying a new VOIP service when there are other major league players in the market. The registration itself was fairly easy and took no more than 5 minutes to make us good to go. The plans were very easy on the pockets and the very existence of the pay as you go plan was a deal maker for us.
This VOIP service also had one very lucrative offer which offered to make unlimited calls to the loved ones in Canada. How cool is that? Vopium provides a software that sits on your mobile phone and whenever an international call is to be placed, the software comes into action and routes your call to the Vopium servers which then proceeds to forwarding that call to the desired international number. The software was flawless and it did not take us much to be accustomed to it. It worked every time we used it without a fail.
The voip rates are very good and varies from country to country. There is a particular group of international destinations that were given with a very cheap pricing. Pricing for the rest of the countries were well in the reason and lower that most of the services out there. We were interested in calling to UK and the rates were 0.02 euros for the land line 0.15 euros for the mobiles. These were amongst the cheapest rate we could find all over the internet.
The voice quality from our 3g network was average and had a lot of popping sound while we tried to call a destination internationally. It varied from location to location and also from time to time. The calls to landlines were really clear and without any disturbance but popping sound was there when we connected to a mobile phone. The customer care was supportive and we were told that due to temporary maintenance the popping sound was there. They followed up with us multiple times and were very professional with their technical approach. This VOIP service successfully got us glued with its robust service with amazing call rates and bagged for themselves the following rating:
Reliability: ****
Pricing: *****
Voice quality: **1/2
Customer Support: ****1/2
Bottom line: Very good VOIP service with very intuitive plans. Recommended.
Related posts
keep looking »Recent Posts
Topics
Posts Of Interest
Tags
bandwidth communication technology computer high speed internet connection international calls internet internet connection laptop long distance phone phone service skype technology telephone telephone system voice over internet voice over internet protocol voice over internet protocol voip VoIP voip phone voip phone service voip phone services VoIP Rates voip service voip services vonage