Internet Based Phone Service

[minha_raposa 0]

Hello everyone!

For those of you who have a highspeed internet connection and are interested in saving 100's of dollars on international (and national) calls, I want to tell you about a VoIp company called Broadvoice.

Broadvoice Website Here

Broadvoice is identical to other companies such as Vonage and Lingo but have calling plans that are MUCH cheaper and the call quality is generally excellent. Broadvoice offers 3 different plans ranging in price from about $10 to 25: Unlimited in State($9.95), Unlimited World (includes 21 countries $19.95), and Unlimited World Plus ( includes 35 countries $24.95).

Another great feature is calls to the UK from US (and vice versa) are considered local for an extra $1.89 per month.

The most inclusive calling plan is the Unlimited World Plus for $24.95/month, and includes unlimited calling to the following countries (from the website):

VoIP Phone Rates

BroadVoice Unlimited™ World Plus: $24.95 mo

The BroadVoice Unlimited World plan lets you talk all you want. For just $24.95 per month you get unlimited calling to 35 countries including the United States.

BROADVOICE UNLIMITED WORLD PLUS:

* Unlimited calling to 35 countries including the United States:

Australia, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Belgium, Singapore, Canada, Spain, Chile, Sweden,China,

Switzerland, Denmark, Taiwan, France, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Ireland, Vatican City, and Italy (NOTE: these are the countries included in the Unlimited World Plan for $19.95/month)

Additional countries included in Unlimited World PLUS:

Argentina, Luxembourg, Brazil, Malaysia, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Finland, Poland, Greece, Portugal, Israel, San Marino, Japan, South Korea

* All basic and advanced features included free (caller ID, Voicemail, 3-way calling, call transfer, etc.)

* Calls to other BroadVoice users, even in other countries, are always free

* Calls to mobile phone numbers included (mobile numbers within US and Canada only)

* Use the BroadVoice online Account Portal to check voicemail and personalize features

There are several methods in which you can call but basically, only one party needs to have a highspeed connection and you call directly to a regular telephone. However, I have the VoIP Wi-Fi phone (in place of the adapter)and use it just like a cell phone anywhere there is a Wi-Fi hotspot (coffe shop, airports, etc.). I also use a "soft phone" on my computer to make calls when I'm traveling. YES... you can use the service even in other countries...anywhere you can get a highspeed connection...and the price stays the same.

I've had Broadvoice service for almost two years now and I am totally thrilled. My wife talks to her family in Brasil almost 3000 minutes every month and we never pay more than the price advertised other than FCC charges and taxes...still, the bill is never more than $28/month.

Please know this: My only interest here is that I believe in this company and want everyone to know about this option. I do not work for them, nor do I earn anything if you do or do not sign up. I am a consumer and nothing more. I've tried Vonage, VoIP.net, Lingo, Linefire and Sunrocket, and NONE of the others can compare to Broadvoice for price and features.

If you want to save money and talk to your sweetheart without worrying about cost then at least checkout their website.

Best of luck to you.

Mike

[flipside 0]

I've actually heard good things about these guys. I have Vonage and they piss me off.

I wish I could try another company without having to buy all the equipment and pay activation fees again...

[Anastasia 1]

We used to have Vonage for a few months and it was horrible. The quality of calls was bad, many times if my husband was downloading things from the internet the phone wouldn't work at all. Maybe this one Broadvoice company is better, but I don't think we want to try any other phone companies that work through internet anymore after that one bad expirience

[Tiksman 1]

they dont cover Thailand so It would not work for me

[CarolineM 0]

hopefully in two weeks we won't need long distance anymore

[minha_raposa 0]

I've actually heard good things about these guys. I have Vonage and they piss me off.

I wish I could try another company without having to buy all the equipment and pay activation fees again...

You actually can. They have a program called BYOD (bring your own device) and the start up is only 9.95 plus activation (I think). You can download a soft phone from Xten to try the service out before making the commitment for full cost. Broadvocie provides the configuration settings on the website, but you must call them for a user name and password for the device. ONE caution: In the past, it was hard to get a hold of a CSR but they only had one call center number (now they have several). Fortunately, I never have problems with the service so I have no need to call them.

The thing about Vonage (other than price) is the telephone adapters are "locked" and cannot be used with any other service. Broadvoice is very flexible and allows you to use a BYOD and they will help you set it up.

Definitely checkout the soft phone option if you have any interest. Sure, you still pay something, but it is cheeper than a full comittment until you know you are satisfied with the service.

Take care. Mike

hopefully in two weeks we won't need long distance anymore

Sounds like good things are soon to come! Congrats!

they dont cover Thailand so It would not work for me

Yeah...not all places are included. I think the service is best for those countries listed. They do have per minute rates for all other countries that are comparable to other phone services across the spectrum, but unless the rate is much less, I do not recommend Broadvoice because you will not really save anything.

[minha_raposa 0]

We used to have Vonage for a few months and it was horrible. The quality of calls was bad, many times if my husband was downloading things from the internet the phone wouldn't work at all. Maybe this one Broadvoice company is better, but I don't think we want to try any other phone companies that work through internet anymore after that one bad expirience

Understand...however, you can try very cheap (see my reply to flipside) using BYOD.

[Sinergy 3]

IDT is an wonderful phone service. No need for your computer for it, its a phone company. Its $35 flat rate a month, with unlimited calls anywhere in the US and i believe Canada. And when i call my fiance in Romania it only costs me $.80 a minute, where when i had bellsouth it cost me $2.45 a minute.

Ive been using IDT now for 3 years and I highly recommend it.

[minha_raposa 0]

IDT is an wonderful phone service. No need for your computer for it, its a phone company. Its $35 flat rate a month, with unlimited calls anywhere in the US and i believe Canada. And when i call my fiance in Romania it only costs me $.80 a minute, where when i had bellsouth it cost me $2.45 a minute.

Ive been using IDT now for 3 years and I highly recommend it.

I agree...Bellsouth is terrible. There are lots of great traditional phone services out there that are much cheaper and it sounds like you have one thats working well for you.

VoIP is up-and-coming but is definitely not for everyone at this point. Although it does not require you to even have a computer, it does require you to have highspeed internet access. Obviously, you would not want to get highspeed just for this since it is expensive, but I only want to point out that you use the service with a regular telephone and you don't have to sit and talk through a computer unless you want to.

Mike

[flipside 0]

IDT is an wonderful phone service. No need for your computer for it, its a phone company. Its $35 flat rate a month, with unlimited calls anywhere in the US and i believe Canada. And when i call my fiance in Romania it only costs me $.80 a minute, where when i had bellsouth it cost me $2.45 a minute.

Ive been using IDT now for 3 years and I highly recommend it.

If you already have high speed internet access, you might want to look into one of the internet phone company's.

Calls to romanian land lines are 0.16 cents a minute, and 0.38 cents a minute for mobiles.

At worst case you're saving 50%.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I'm glad Vatican City is on the unlimited plan. The Pope has been bugging me about calling him more.

(all kidding aside... thanks for the tip)

[minha_raposa 0]

I'm glad Vatican City is on the unlimited plan. The Pope has been bugging me about calling him more.

(all kidding aside... thanks for the tip)

[minha_raposa 0]

they dont cover Thailand so It would not work for me

Thailand is $0.06;minute.

Edited March 6, 2006 by minha_raposa

[russ 1]

I've used vonage (not impressed).

Using sunrocket now ( http://www.sunrocket.com ), and I have been very happy. Mostly calls to Russia, Ukraine, UK and The Netherlands. Everything has been less than 10 cents/minute (usually 3 cents INTL). We talk a lot.

Bills have been about $70/month on average. (they would be about $2,000/month with a normal long distance carrier). Calls do get dropped about once an hour. Quality is outstanding, though this depends a bit on your internet connection as well.

I've also used skype, which I like. (I've even used this on the internet connection on airplanes, and it works fine).

If you are a computer nerd like I am, there are better deals to be had. They will be more work, though (setting up your own SIP device, etc, etc with an IP-based exchange). I honesty don't have the patience at this point to set anything else up.

[sparkofcreation 0]

I've actually heard good things about these guys. I have Vonage and they piss me off.

Why? I've had them about two years now and absolutely love them. Only thing that annoys me is they've raised prices to the UK twice ... but it's still only 4¢/min. Our phone bill is nearly always under $20 and never over $25. And we have gajillions of features. And so on and so forth.