VoIP Review

VoIP Review: Lingo

I was a Lingo customer for three years. They offered attractive international packages at amazing prices, cheaper then any other VOIP Phone Systems they were competing with at the time. I chose them after reading a VoIP review in an electronic magazine.

Within a year customer services had moved to Canada and the price went up but the Canadian customer service was also very strong. I had occasion to call them to hard reset my modem a couple of times due to cable or power outages which would throw the lingo box out and burnt out one of the ports as well. They were patient knowledgeable; taught me things I could do on my own to avoid customer service and succinct.

The actual VoIP phone services was good the phone line was clear and worked as if it was a real phone line with the exception of when the cable was acting up. About a year after this the price went up dramatically, customer service was moved offshore to India and Lingo became part of the problem instead of the wonderful solution it had been for two years prior.

The customer service agents were no longer free thinking technically apt English speakers but Indian script readers who were confused and bewildered if you tried to take them off topic or expressed any urgency or disinterest in going through the troubleshooting routine they were trained to do because you had already done it.

The modem completely burnt out and I had to fight with them to get another one sent out; it took an hour and fifteen minutes. The quality of the phone line seemed to waver a lot after the offshore move as well. I would dial a number and get a recording or an instant busy signal as if the number was out of order which was not the case as I would call the number on my cell phone and it work.

I started only using the line for incoming calls and buzzer phone calls. After many attempts at dealing with the customer service department and the line consistently deteriorating while prices were being raised again I gave up and closed my account with them and solely used my cell phone from then on.

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VoIp Review: Vonage

I have used Vonage since 2005 after reading a VoIP review, and I absolutely love it. The price of the service includes long distance in the United States and Canada, and some other countries as well. For the countries that are not free, the rates are excellent.

As far as quality goes, the sound is about as good as a cell phone call, and it is not as clear as a landline. I have found that a corded phone works better than a cordless one. Many of the bells and whistles that regular phone companies charge for are included in the price.

You get voicemail, call forwarding, call waiting, and other features included in the bundle. In addition, you can chose to have voicemail messages transcribed and e-mailed to you for an additional price. In addition, you have the option of adding a “soft phone” to your account. This is a phone number assigned to a computer. This is especially useful for people who travel abroad often, as you can make phone calls to the United States at no extra charge, as long as you have an internet connection.

Billing is also very convenient. You must provide Vonage with your credit card number, and the company then charges it automatically every month. You can log into their website to see your bill and usage. One drawback is that you do not receive paper statements.

Another drawback is that your actual bill will be about ten dollars higher than the nominal charge, because of taxes, fees, and surcharges. Emergency calls (911) are different from a regular landline. Since Vonage works anywhere you have internet, your phone number is not attached to a physical location, so the 911 dispatcher has no way of knowing where you are located. If you want the benefit of the emergency dispatcher knowing your location, you must register your address through the Vonage website. You must do this every time you move.

Though I believe Voice over IP technology has a long way to go in order to become as clear and reliable as landlines, the price is a huge incentive to switch. I would not go back to a regular landline after using Vonage for a few years.

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VoIP Review: Comcast

We currently use Comcast voice over IP home phone service and have for over three years. We were a little reluctant to sign up for this service at first, but after reading a voip review we realized that at the price offered to purchase it along with our cable and internet service, this was worth a try.

We have been very satisfied with this service and would recommend to anyone thinking about purchasing. The call clarity is just as good as the company advertised and the features that come with it are great as well. We get free long distance to anywhere in the continental U.S., free caller id, and free voicemail included with our service.

The long distance is a great feature for when we need to call family and friends and want the reliability missing from our cell phone service. We make frequent calls, and as I stated before, the clarity and reliability is great. We also love the caller id feature. Not only is the caller id like traditional phone service, but we have it set up to show up on our television screen so we do not have to get up to see who is calling while watching our favorite TV shows. This feature can also be easily turned off if this is not an option you think you would like.

The voicemail on Comcast that we receive is also a great feature. We don’t have to worry about the aggravation of a traditional answering machine to receive our calls that we do not want to take or calls that we receive when we are not at home. We only have to set it up once, and it continues to capture any messages, and it is very easy to use. This technology is truly amazing and a very great idea that telecommunication companies have developed and started offering.

Now that we have experienced the reliability and convenience of voice over IP, we would never go back to traditional assigned cable pair phone service. I would definitely recommend this service to anyone thinking about changing their existing service, or looking to choosing a service for the first time. We have been very pleased with our service, and we are sure that other people will be pleased as well.

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