Telephone Service Review: Primus TalkBroadband

[hugh]

I am currently wanting to do an article on Broadband telephony providers and I would like to get feedback from users of the Primus TALKBroadband service. (please no employees or user of other services)

I am only interested in objective feedback (not rants) that discuss the pros and cons of Primus.

Be sure to let us know how long you've used the service and any other services you may have tried.

One post per member, this thread is not for discussion just everyone's opinion.

[tonyblunt]

I have used Primus for over a year. I have two lines, one for voice, one for fax, out of the one adapter. I run the adapter into a router into the cable modem (Shaw, extreme).

In the first few months there were some problems:- my first adapter failed; and Primus had some server problems. However after that service has been acceptable. Especially given that my Telus monthly bill of over $80 is reduced to just over $30.

I do not use many of the features, but one I find very useful is the emailing of .wav files of voicemails. If I am on the road I no longer have to dial back home to check voicemail, I can do it from any internet connection.

My wife claims to hear some echo at times, but I have not noticed it. Calls to the UK are like calling next-door.

[Styvas]

It's no surprise that I would vote extremely positive with my Primus service. I've had TalkBroadband since October of 2004. Since then i have experienced virtually no problems, and this is particularly significant as I am a Shaw user. Perhaps my slightly rural location means that my Shaw node does not suffer from the problems that city users might face.

At the beginning I shared others' complaints that customer service and support took an unreasonably long time to reach (often in excess of an hour). In recent months this has not once been an issue for me and most calls get through immediately to a live person.

For me the positive aspects of Primus have been the multitude of useful features (far more than I ever had with Telus/BC Tel) and at a very reasonable price. I pay less than half what I did when with a landline through Telus.

Although it can sometimes take them longer than I'd prefer to respond, when Primus brass does come onto the discussion forums, their contribution is always appreciated. I am also astonished at how forthcoming they usually are when commenting after the fact on system outages or problems (on the rare occasion that they occur). The more vocally negative customers don't often appreciate the seriousness with which Primus takes its service and their commitment to maintaining a quality network. I've been fortunate to be privy to some brief discussion between Primus senior management regarding the TBB service, and I was impressed with their sensitivity to customer needs balanced with maintaining a reasonably priced service.

Another thing that I appreciate about Primus is their commitment to the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Sam) in deploying new features and equipment. While companies like Vonage appear to be saturating their customers with various hardware options, Primus has taken the approach that they are a telecommunications service, and not a hardware reseller. This makes it easier for both customers and tech support to keep their service up and running with as little complication as possible. Certainly there are disadvantages in regards to competition with companies like Vonage, since customers will always want the latest and greatest equipment. But that equipment can be purchased "after market" and still remain compatible with the Primus service.

One thing that I do consider lacking with the Primus TBB service is a soft phone. I was able to discuss this briefly with one of the Primus brass, and I understand their perspective on not offering a soft phone at this time. However, from a competitive point of view, this is one feature that I do think will keep customers a away from Primus in the long term. With the popularity of Skype and the move by major competitors to introduce soft phones, I simply view this as an issue of keeping up with the digital Joneses. At the very least, Primus should offer a soft phone at a small fee (e.g. $3 per month) to try and recoup on associated infrastructure costs (i.e. increased server space and CPU usage needed to maintain service standards with an increased calling load--due to Soft Phone usage).

Otherwise, my experience with Primus TBB is one with virtually no complaints. Perhaps I've been fortunate, but I can only speak from a personal experience that has been nothing but positive. I've used Skype and been relatively unimpressed. I've also had fairly regular exposure to Shaw Digital Phone (as my parents use it at their home) and have no complaints as far as call quality and tech support go. But the price is simply too high and the features too limited to convince me to switch.

Steve

[westmanguy]

You didn't specify on what service from Primus, so I assume it doesn't have to be about it's VOIP service. Here goes, i voted extremely positive. I had been paying 7 cents / minute for my long distance in Canada from MTS and my long distance came to $40 + a month as I frequently call Vancouver. I switched my long distance service over to Primus Long Distance

http://primus.ca/en/residential/long...ted-canada.htm

It is called Truly Unlimited Canada. I pay $19.95 / month and get Unlimited calling in Canada, and besides that the Plan includes a great 5 cents / minute rate to the United States, which I call to occasionally. When I was with MTS I limited my long distance talk time due to fear of a high bill, with Primus I chat as long as I want. When I switched I was able to do it online. I never had to contact MTS, Primus did it for me. And the switch over happened the day after I signed up. I dialed that 1-700 number and it confirmed my long distance was routed through the Primus Network. So overall I am very please d I am sick of MTS over charging me for my phone bill and as a result I a year back I switched my wireless to Rogers, my internet to cableco, and long distance to Primus, I only pay money to MTS for my local landline fee, I even dropped that ridiculous Wire Watch fee. VOIP is not available in my area, and if it was I would switch all my service over.

[hugh]

I guess I should have been more specific. I did say Broadband telephonybut I have updated my first thread to read TalkBroadband (their VoIP service) but thanks for the feedback on Primus in General since I'm sure some people may be interested and some folks may not appreciate the Primus offers both POTS and VoIP telephony service.

Cheers

[Skippy31]

I voted positive too. As already mentioned in other threads the service just works for me. I really appreciate getting the calling features and unlimited north american long distance for under $30 a month. I have had some minor issues on occasion with call quality etc, but I can count the number of occurances on one hand and this has been since March of this year.

Skippy31

[infidean]

I have the $20 primus package (no unlimited LD) on Shaw extreme-I. There have been no problems at all, works just like you would expect a phone to.

[Kevin270]

Primus Talkbroadband is my most favorite VoIP service of all. I have been with Primus since October 2004. I am also a Vonage subscriber. My Vonage line is used for different purposes than my Primus line. For the most part, the voice quality is great on both Vonage and Primus. Primus has saved me money in other areas. Long distance is $29.95 for unlimited calling both local and LD per month. That's fantastic! I also have a virtual number located in a completely separate province through Primus. They charge me $3.99 per month for that which is also fantastic.

Primus VoIP can be simple, or it can be a bit more complex depending on what you like. They have more calling features, and more online options. For example, my system is setup so that calls from my family will be routed to my work phone number Monday to Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. At 4:30 PM, the forwarding is automatically stopped. I never have to worry about it or touch it. I also like the fact that when I call someone my Caller ID information includes my name (even someone on a POTS line). Not all VoIP providers have the name working. It works on incoming calls, but not outgoing.

Features that Primus offers that I really enjoy are:

Phone book listing
No hook-up charge
No penalty charge for leaving them
Air Miles rewards
Remote Phone (which allows you to set call forwarding from remote phone)
Call Screen (which allows you to block numbers from calling you)
Do Not Disturb (sends all calls to voicemail without ringing your phone)
Privacy Guard (Asks people for their name if they at a blocked number)
Speed Dialing (You only need to dial 4 digits for any party – local or LD)

There are many more features with Primus, but those are my personal favorites. What others decide all depends on their needs, and their calling patterns. I find the audio volume is a bit higher with Primus.

Primus TalkBroadband is definitely an awesome service. This is one VoIP provider that is continuously upgrading their features. Primus offers both SIP and MGCP protocols. It appears as though Primus will be converting over to mostly SIP due to SIP being the industry IP telephone standard. My current Primus ATA is an MGCP box. Primus offers a new LinkSys ATA that is strictly SIP. I am very satisfied with my D-Link DVG-1120, so I will not be switching.

[congo]

I've signed up to Primus' 20 dollar plan and have had the service for about 1.5 months. So far the outgoing service is OK but I cannot receive incoming calls from non-Primus callers as they have yet to port my Bell number over. They have been generous in giving me credits but I want to get off Bell .

One technical complaint I have is that when I receive an incoming call from friends who have Primus, their voice is often jittery. It can be remedied by them hitting the flash button, putting me on hold, then they would hit the flash button again to get me back. It's a pain but it works. This does not happen if I make outgoing calls to non-Primus friends. Amybody know how to resolve this issue? Bandwidth shouldn't be the issue as we are all on Rogers high speed or extreme.

[kymics]

but I put it as somewhat positive. The service seems to work well and has been reliable.

There was an issue where they said they didn't have my authorization to port over my alternate number even though I had requested it in my application, but after I clarified that they got things cleaned up. After that, people were getting a busy signal when trying to call my number. I got on the line with Customer Service within 3 minutes and they had the issue resolved within 10 minutes, so I was happy with that. Finally I've discovered that the distinctive ring patterns for my two numbers no longer work with my modem software as they did in the past but I need to do a bit more investigation on this one.

I probably should have said extremely positive because these above issues are pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

[jonnyfreeze]

After testing my line with the Primus TBB bandwidth quality test and being satisfied with the result, I signed up on Aug. 16. However, I found out that in order to use Primus TBB with Telus DSL, I'd have to get Telus to install DryLoop DSL on a 2nd line, which required a visit from the Telus technician. That happened Sep. 1 and my number was ported one week later. Before the number was ported, I was able to test the outgoing service and had no issues. With the number ported this weekend, I'm happy to report that I've had no issues. In fact, I would be hard pressed to tell the difference in quality.

I've had a few email correspondences with Customer Service and one phone call, and they've been very responsive, so I give them good marks there too.

I voted "Extremely positive"...

[jonnyfreeze]

One minor quibble that I need to add. I seem to have trouble accessing my voicemail at work. We use some type of Cisco VoIP system (at least I have a Cisco phone at my desk) and whenever I punch in the numbers to enter my ID and password after dialing into the system, invariably it seems to mess them up. Whether I type the numbers fast or r-e-a-l-l-y slow, it doesn't seem to matter. I have a feeling it has to do with a little jitter on my line and the fact that the Cisco system seems to be overly sensitive. For example, I can dial into a couple of difference audio conferencing services that my company uses and enter my ID and password without too much problem there (occasionally I have to slow down the rate that I enter the numbers).

So, like I say, it's probably more of a line quality thing than anything else, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I have a work cell phone so it's really not too much of a bother either.

[mot_guy]

I've been with Primus TBB since June 2005 and I've had excellent results. I've recommended it and received referral credits for 5 or 6 other people and so far they are also very happy. 10/10 rating.

[jem]

I've been with Primus for over two years. At first, there were a lot of problems, dropped packets, etc. When an upgrade was finally installed, the service became great. Aside from the occasional echo, which I really only notice when the other end of the call is a cell phone, I have had no problems with Primus. I love the features that are standard with the package, especially the various call forward options.

[lou_boumian]

I am an ex customer of Primus. Their service was ok but they have a poor billing policy in case of problem and can be abusive of CC information:

After being a customer for 3 years and paying my bill in time, I missed one month because my Credit Card had been renewed and I forgot to change the number in my Primus account as I was in France at that time. Their reminder letter got lost in the pile of mail I received on my return and they decided to bill me an extra $60 for the next following month. When I finally realized what was going on, I call them to apologize and explain the situation but they would not reverse the penalty despite the fact that the bill had always been paid through automatic CC payment for 3 years. I cancelled my account but they managed to bill me for the two months that followed despite the fact that the service was taken over by another company.