voip.ms discussion

[TotalDistinction]

FeinDenz,

I've been using voip.ms since July 2009 with good results. I ported my phone number away from Vonage because I felt I could get more value with the "pay as you use" method with voip.ms. I started out using voip.ms' value rates but switched over to using premium rates exclusively when I encountered intermittent callerID issues using their value call paths. For the cost savings vs. Vonage, I'm still saving money while getting all of the call features I need.

Voip.ms doesn't guarantee callerID when using their value rate packages. I bought my Linksys PAP2 voice adapter from Canada Computers and haven't looked back.

I don't find the 2.9c quoted rates insulting. Remember, that for every 10 calls, you save a penny, every 100 calls is 10c and so on and so on. I'd rather the pennies in my pocket than in someone elses.

Anyway, I'm satisfied with voip.ms and don't plan on moving away anytime soon.

[99semaj]

While I agree that $xx.99 pricing is a stupid marketing psychology trick that makes most people roll their eyes, voip.ms doesn't do it on purpose. They have a very precisely defined rate matrix that varies by the fractional penny based on their markup requirements.

The fact that the tollfree rate landed at $0.029 is just coincidental, IMHO.

[TotalDistinction]

99semaj

In the interest of being transparent, if you select Value Routing for toll-free calling from voip.ms, the calls are free and routed through Canadian servers if you have a Canadian DID.

[Mango]

As far as reliability, in terms of uptime, VoIP.ms is very reliable - I have not noticed an outage in the past year I've been with them which quite frankly astounds me.

If you were referring to faxing, VoIP.ms is not your best choice for faxing. The reason is that VoIP.ms talks to their carriers using VoIP. This is not inherently a bad thing. Actually, it's good for us because it makes the price lower - I know of a competitor to VoIP.ms that uses TDM trunks to connect to the PSTN (public switched telephone network) and charges almost double. While VoIP technology is great for voice calls, it's not particularly useful for faxing. It is theoretically possible to fax with VoIP and the G.711 codec but unreliable enough that most people do not use it for anything over a few faxes per year.

I also use MyFax because they are, as far as I know, the only non-VoIP internet fax service that can port Canadian numbers. They use TDM trunks to connect to the PSTN which makes them more expensive than VoIP but astonishingly I have had a 100% success rate. It's completely different technology but imho VoIP.ms and MyFax are both the best at doing what they do.

I find it somewhat sad that I am astounded or astonished when things actually work. But, I'm glad they do.

m.

[FunkyTown]

For faxing, alarm systems, or any sort of data transmission you should be using G.711u. That's going to give you the best audio quality even though it using 8 times the bandwidth as G.729a. Some voip providers tell you to dial #99 or *99 before your number. This basically switches you to G.711u if you aren't using it.

I believe primus uses G.729a compression, which could explain why it possibly did not work. The other problem with Primus is you have no control over your parameters nor do you use your own equipment. Primus does not support BYOD. They do have a bandwidth adjuster on their web portal, but from tests I did the highest setting still only gives g.729a.

Your line could need replacing or your Internet connection could be unstable, or you may have you jitter settings and other settings wrong. There's no guarantee that voip.ms would work. You'd have to try them.

[99semaj]

Originally Posted by TotalDistinction

99semaj

In the interest of being transparent, if you select Value Routing for toll-free calling from voip.ms, the calls are free and routed through Canadian servers if you have a Canadian DID.

Agreed, but I thought the poster was talking about incoming charges his own toll-free DID, as opposed to calling out to a toll-free. You can order toll-frees from voip.ms

[tbusa]

been using the voip.ms for while now, and at my house I've tweaked line 2 from my pap2t for analog data ( ?) and had zero issues using toronto servers for all my Bell stbs when they call home in the middle of the night (around 4am last night.) I have not tried it for faxing but one day If I need to, I'll try it out

[LorneChesal]

I have sent a ticket for this, but no resolution yet.

I wish to set up a callback for a cellphone in Cambridge ON, a 519 number. The cell phone can be called from any of my Voip.ms DIDs. If I designate that number as the number-to-be-called in the portal, it won't ring. Outbound from the 519 cellphone, I get the busy signal, I hang up and nothing. If I use the same configuration, but change the number-to-be-called to my 905 cellphone, it works as advertised.

so my DID 226-474-xxxx will callback correctly to 905-515-7443, but not 519-222-xxxx

Any experiences like this in the group? Tech support had me switch SIP servers, but that did nothing.

The 519 cellphone is a Koodo if that matters and callerID is active and working. User has unlimited incoming.

thanks in advance!

Lorne

[Mango]

Interesting issue.

Are you able to call your cell phone using VoIP.ms? Perhaps there is some routing issue that prevents outbound calls from VoIP.ms from reaching your phone.

Less likely but theoretically possible is that Koodo is blocking callback services. Perhaps they prevent your phone from receiving calls a few seconds after an outgoing call gets a busy signal. Perhaps this could be resolved by increasing the "Delay before callback".

You mentioned that CallerID is active and working. Did you mean you configured CallerID on the VoIP.ms callback configuration? Try playing with that (change it to another number or Anonymous) and see if that makes any difference.

Please let us know how the problem turns out. I'm curious.

Mango

[LorneChesal]

yep, I can call this phone using Voip, so that's not a factor.

You can leave this field blank, but I had, without a reason not to, used the number of the cellphone itself. On a hunch today, I changed it to 5191234567. It now works.

I guess Koodo's workflow prevents a phone from calling itself? The cell has voicemail, and that's how you access it, by calling your self... but .. ???

lesson learned... place a bogus value there...

thanks...

[Mango]

Perhaps what happens is Koodo routes calls to a cell that appear to come from itself to voicemail. So your callback was happening but it was reaching your voicemail.

In any case, I am very glad it's working

[marunio]

Hi,
I got the account for my home setup with PAP2T-NA and a DID no problem.
Seems like a good service.
The only issue outstanding that I have is when I call a local number the phone rings with long distance ring - confuses my friends.
Any suggestions?
TIA
m

[sapstar]

Use the premium route.

The value route indicates an 819 area code number. That's why it rings as a long distance.

[FunkyTown]

Yeah it never used to come up with an 819 number. In the past the value route would always show my number, but no name. They must have switched carriers again. The good news is the sound quality of this new carrier is much better. The old one had very inconsistent results. I guess i'd take better sound over a funtioning caller id. It would be great if both could happen on the value route. Maybe someday.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by FunkyTown

It would be great if both could happen on the value route. Maybe someday.

Then they would call it the premium route