voip.ms discussion - Page 31 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

99semaj · 2009-08-06, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 99semaj

Hmmm...without making any changes to my settings, I see a 57 minutes conference call I had last night was charged out at $0. Nice!

...and now today a one hour toll-free call cost $0.65. I guess the change were delayed in rolling in.

sapstar · 2009-08-06, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 99semaj

...and now today a one hour toll-free call cost $0.65. I guess the change were delayed in rolling in.

go change your settings on the portal. They now have a seperate setting for TF

dennism3 · 2009-08-06, 01:07 PM

Re: timing and delay. I forgot about tracert. From BC interior to go to Montreal the route this morning was almost direct but to Toronto was ....San jose, San Francisco, Vancouver BC......, Colorado, Toronto.
To Houston was Seattle, .....Chicago...., Portland, Sacramento, etc.
To LA takes 6 hops just to leave the Telus world.
So that does explain some of it

99semaj · 2009-08-06, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sapstar

go change your settings on the portal. They now have a seperate setting for TF

I did, with an interesting observation: I changed the settings from premium to value in the last few minutes of the call, and the whole 75 minute call was billed out at the $0.00 rate.

apn · 2009-08-07, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holymoly

I am not so tech savvy, but how can one take their number with you if you travel?

You won't need to haul around a phone and PAP2T if you're traveling w/ a laptop; just grab a cheap headset and you can use one of the many soft-phone apps e.g. zoiper

dennism3 · 2009-08-08, 03:37 AM

So I have tested my toll-free number extensively and it was used by family for a few days. The first time I go out of town and decide to try it I get at least three different results on 3 calls, none successful, all errors. This looks like it isn't worth the trouble unless voip.ms get's it to work permanently.

dennism3 · 2009-08-08, 04:39 PM

They had a problem with their "value routing" and it's fixed. Didn't help me yesterday when I tried to use for the first "real" time.

Typhooon · 2009-08-09, 04:14 PM

So I'm trying to decide between Callcentric and Voip.ms and would appreciate any feedback on the following questions:

1. Does voip.ms support fax?
2. Is the pricing on their website tax included?
3. How reliable is their service (in terms of call quality and server availability)?
4. Do Canadian toll free numbers go through?
5. Can I buy a DID to test their service before porting my number? Is there any cancellation charge to replace the DID with my ported phone number?
6. How does their CNAM work for Canadian incoming calls? Does it fully work?

Thanks in advance.

FunkyTown · 2009-08-09, 04:52 PM

Hi Typhooon,

I'll give you my findings to your questions.

First and foremost, when switching to voip you absolutely require a solidly working Internet connection. If your ISP does not deliver good bandwidth forget it. Voip does not work well on "lite" plans, nor does it work well through a satellite connection.

If you are using a router, it's imperative that you have a router that supports QoS. This stands for Quality of Service. It shapes the traffic through your Internet connection so that VoIP gets what's called "Real Time" service. In other words, there cannot be pauses in the transmission of voice data.

1.
Faxes are never guaranteed to work through voip. However if you use the highest quality codec which is G711U, it will most likely work well for you. I have had no troubles with sending faxes. My ISP is Videotron. The bandwidth is excellent.

2.
Billing is in US funds. Using Paypal or a credit card you can prepay for your service. Tax is charged on the pre-payment. So if you purchase $25.00 US, you'll be taxed on that and your total charge will be $28.25 US. However, only $25.00 will go towards your service. So in theory you are charged tax on top of those prices. It's just done differently.

3.
There are 2 tiers of service. Premium and value. The premium service is virtually the same quality as a Bell line. Value quality varies. Sometimes it's as good as premium, but other times it's more like cell phone quality. I find the quality to call Halifax on value routing is not as good compared to calling Toronto or Ottawa. Although once in a blue moon it's just as good.

4.
On the value toll free route all Canadian toll free numbers I've tried work. On the premium route, toll free numbers seem to work for the US, but not Canada only. Just set toll free routing to value. Value is also free for toll free calls. Not so on the premium route.

5.
There is a one time setup fee of $1.00 US to create a DID. There is no fee to cancel. Porting a number costs $25.00 US. The recurring monthly fee is additional. $4.95 or $5.95 for 3,500 incoming minutes or $1.49 for pay-as-you-go. All outgoing calls incur a charge.

6.
I have not noticed any problem with CNAM except there is a charge for each lookup. You can turn this on or off. Voip.ms does cache the caller id for a few days. So repeat calls incur no CNAM charge. I have this feature turned on and find it quite reliable.

Typhooon · 2009-08-09, 05:13 PM

^^^Thanks for your thorough explanation Funky.

My ISP is Novus with tons of bandwidth. So hopefully speed is not gonna be an issue. Currently, I am with a local voip phone company (PeopleLine.net). The service is cheap but they lack my favorite features. Fax is a hit and miss, although I have set the codec to G711u.

I am going to buy a DID just for testing. I'll try their service out for a few weeks to see how good they are.

TO FunkyTown: Have you experienced any service outages? If so, is it something that may happen regularly?

FunkyTown · 2009-08-09, 05:50 PM

You're welcome.

I've been with Voip.ms since January 2009. I was with Primus since 2005 but started having mega issues with their service. I started testing several other voip providers in Canada and the US and found voip.ms to be the best. It would be great if they offered an outgoing call package. That's really my only beef with them. I find the service very reliable. Their website was down once that I can remember for a very short time. As far as I can tell phone service has not been disrupted. Any time I call someone I get through. There have been no complaints from people calling me.

Many people are skeptical of voip and with good reason. Many voip providers are offering terrible call quality. This is a very new technology in the grand scheme of things. It's important the voip providers give the best quality possible to build up consumer confidence in this new form of telecommunications. I think Voip.ms does an excellent job in this area.

tbusa · 2009-08-09, 05:51 PM

with regards with CNAM, for Canadian calls, you don't need it, only US incoming calls you'll need it.

And if you pay with paypal, you dont get taxed, but if you pay with your credit card you do.

go figure

FunkyTown · 2009-08-09, 06:56 PM

I did not know that. I've been using my credit card. I guess I'll be using Paypal. :-). Thanks for the tip. It makes voip.ms even more economical.

As far as CNAM goes, my June invoice has a charge of 25 cents on it and July shows zero. So this new company they are with must provide it for free?

Typhooon · 2009-08-09, 09:14 PM

So I just bought a local DID to test their service. Seems like I'm out of luck with this one. For the first 30 min. everything was good. Then, none of the incoming calls would go through! Nothing at all! The calling party hears the ring but my phone doesn't ring at all. I tried different servers, settings... with no luck. I have already sent them an email with no response yet...

FunkyTown · 2009-08-09, 09:19 PM

Are you making sure when you change servers that you are also updating your voip gateway with the new server too?

2009-08-09, 04:14 PM	#458
Typhooon Rookie Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Vancouver Posts: 28	Need Some Feedback So I'm trying to decide between Callcentric and Voip.ms and would appreciate any feedback on the following questions: 1. Does voip.ms support fax? 2. Is the pricing on their website tax included? 3. How reliable is their service (in terms of call quality and server availability)? 4. Do Canadian toll free numbers go through? 5. Can I buy a DID to test their service before porting my number? Is there any cancellation charge to replace the DID with my ported phone number? 6. How does their CNAM work for Canadian incoming calls? Does it fully work? Thanks in advance.

2009-08-09, 05:51 PM	#462
tbusa Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Oshawa Posts: 175	with regards with CNAM, for Canadian calls, you don't need it, only US incoming calls you'll need it. And if you pay with paypal, you dont get taxed, but if you pay with your credit card you do. go figure Last edited by tbusa; 2009-08-09 at 06:12 PM. Reason: fixing it up

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2009-08-06, 01:07 PM	#453
dennism3 Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 531	Re: timing and delay. I forgot about tracert. From BC interior to go to Montreal the route this morning was almost direct but to Toronto was ....San jose, San Francisco, Vancouver BC......, Colorado, Toronto. To Houston was Seattle, .....Chicago...., Portland, Sacramento, etc. To LA takes 6 hops just to leave the Telus world. So that does explain some of it

2009-08-08, 03:37 AM	#456
dennism3 Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 531	So I have tested my toll-free number extensively and it was used by family for a few days. The first time I go out of town and decide to try it I get at least three different results on 3 calls, none successful, all errors. This looks like it isn't worth the trouble unless voip.ms get's it to work permanently.

2009-08-08, 04:39 PM	#457
dennism3 Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 531	They had a problem with their "value routing" and it's fixed. Didn't help me yesterday when I tried to use for the first "real" time.

2009-08-09, 04:52 PM	#459
FunkyTown Join Date: May 2006 Location: Gatineau, QC Posts: 1,158	Hi Typhooon, I'll give you my findings to your questions. First and foremost, when switching to voip you absolutely require a solidly working Internet connection. If your ISP does not deliver good bandwidth forget it. Voip does not work well on "lite" plans, nor does it work well through a satellite connection. If you are using a router, it's imperative that you have a router that supports QoS. This stands for Quality of Service. It shapes the traffic through your Internet connection so that VoIP gets what's called "Real Time" service. In other words, there cannot be pauses in the transmission of voice data. 1. Faxes are never guaranteed to work through voip. However if you use the highest quality codec which is G711U, it will most likely work well for you. I have had no troubles with sending faxes. My ISP is Videotron. The bandwidth is excellent. 2. Billing is in US funds. Using Paypal or a credit card you can prepay for your service. Tax is charged on the pre-payment. So if you purchase $25.00 US, you'll be taxed on that and your total charge will be $28.25 US. However, only $25.00 will go towards your service. So in theory you are charged tax on top of those prices. It's just done differently. 3. There are 2 tiers of service. Premium and value. The premium service is virtually the same quality as a Bell line. Value quality varies. Sometimes it's as good as premium, but other times it's more like cell phone quality. I find the quality to call Halifax on value routing is not as good compared to calling Toronto or Ottawa. Although once in a blue moon it's just as good. 4. On the value toll free route all Canadian toll free numbers I've tried work. On the premium route, toll free numbers seem to work for the US, but not Canada only. Just set toll free routing to value. Value is also free for toll free calls. Not so on the premium route. 5. There is a one time setup fee of $1.00 US to create a DID. There is no fee to cancel. Porting a number costs $25.00 US. The recurring monthly fee is additional. $4.95 or $5.95 for 3,500 incoming minutes or $1.49 for pay-as-you-go. All outgoing calls incur a charge. 6. I have not noticed any problem with CNAM except there is a charge for each lookup. You can turn this on or off. Voip.ms does cache the caller id for a few days. So repeat calls incur no CNAM charge. I have this feature turned on and find it quite reliable.

2009-08-09, 05:13 PM	#460
Typhooon Rookie Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Vancouver Posts: 28	^^^Thanks for your thorough explanation Funky. My ISP is Novus with tons of bandwidth. So hopefully speed is not gonna be an issue. Currently, I am with a local voip phone company (PeopleLine.net). The service is cheap but they lack my favorite features. Fax is a hit and miss, although I have set the codec to G711u. I am going to buy a DID just for testing. I'll try their service out for a few weeks to see how good they are. TO FunkyTown: Have you experienced any service outages? If so, is it something that may happen regularly?

2009-08-09, 05:50 PM	#461
FunkyTown Join Date: May 2006 Location: Gatineau, QC Posts: 1,158	You're welcome. I've been with Voip.ms since January 2009. I was with Primus since 2005 but started having mega issues with their service. I started testing several other voip providers in Canada and the US and found voip.ms to be the best. It would be great if they offered an outgoing call package. That's really my only beef with them. I find the service very reliable. Their website was down once that I can remember for a very short time. As far as I can tell phone service has not been disrupted. Any time I call someone I get through. There have been no complaints from people calling me. Many people are skeptical of voip and with good reason. Many voip providers are offering terrible call quality. This is a very new technology in the grand scheme of things. It's important the voip providers give the best quality possible to build up consumer confidence in this new form of telecommunications. I think Voip.ms does an excellent job in this area.

2009-08-09, 06:56 PM	#463
FunkyTown Join Date: May 2006 Location: Gatineau, QC Posts: 1,158	I did not know that. I've been using my credit card. I guess I'll be using Paypal. :-). Thanks for the tip. It makes voip.ms even more economical. As far as CNAM goes, my June invoice has a charge of 25 cents on it and July shows zero. So this new company they are with must provide it for free?

2009-08-09, 09:14 PM	#464
Typhooon Rookie Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Vancouver Posts: 28	So I just bought a local DID to test their service. Seems like I'm out of luck with this one. For the first 30 min. everything was good. Then, none of the incoming calls would go through! Nothing at all! The calling party hears the ring but my phone doesn't ring at all. I tried different servers, settings... with no luck. I have already sent them an email with no response yet...

2009-08-09, 09:19 PM	#465
FunkyTown Join Date: May 2006 Location: Gatineau, QC Posts: 1,158	Are you making sure when you change servers that you are also updating your voip gateway with the new server too?