VOIP. It really works. Try it, you'll like it!

[Lena]

Would like to relate my experience with VOIP, since I read so many skeptical and negative posts on the subject.

I just had Verizon FIOS installed a few months ago and considered dropping my land line in favor of VOIP. I was excited about all the 'features' offered by the VOIP providers as well as the lower price and did some Internet research for offerings and customer reviews. Looked hardest at Vonage, VoiceWing (Verizon) and CallVantage (AT&T). (When I started comparing prices, the unlimited packages from Vonage, VoiceWing and CallVantage were $25, $35, and $30; since then VoiceWing has dropped their price to match Vonage). Since I didn't use enough Long Distance to pay a flat fee every month, I looked at the packages with unlimited local calling and per minute long distance. Wasn't interested in a plan with limited minutes of local calling. CallVantage seemed to fit my needs best at $20 per month plus $2 for call filtering, total monthly bill with taxes about $27. The customer reviews for voice quality with CallVantage were very good (and that proved to be true for me).

When I tried to 'port' my number from a local CLEC online, the application was denied, and a CS rep explained that AT&T does not have a porting agreement with that phone company. He suggested I port my number to Verizon, then to AT&T. I wanted to try out the service before committing my home number of 40 years to AT&T. So I signed up with another local number. Worked great from the get-go. As soon as the Telephone Adapter (TA) arrived, I plugged it in to the FIOS wireless router and after a brief automated setup, I could use the phone. (Some configurations suggest putting the TA between the router and modem so that the TA can channel enough of the bandwidth to provide high voice quality. But with that configuration, I could not access the Internet with my computer. At 5M/2M with FIOS, there was plenty of bandwidth when the TA was plugged in to the router. The TA typically needs 90K of bandwidth to operate.)

I called Verizon and signed up for a landline package. At the end of the conversation, I mentioned that I had DSL on the line with the CLEC. Can't port a number with DSL on the line. Didn't make sense to me, porting means canceling the service, doesn't it? So I called the CLEC and asked to cancel my DSL. (One doesn't dare cancel the phone service or the number evaporates and it can't be retrieved.) Twenty five business days to cancel DSL!!! My porting to Verizon was put on hold for six weeks. Finally, one day without phone service for about 4 hours, I figured the CLEC must be doing something with my line, and I called Verizon for the go-ahead with porting my number. Eight business days. The transfer went through without a hitch, and I wasn't without phone service for more than a few minutes. I felt bad about 'using' Verizon this way, just to port my number to AT&T. But then I got my first bill, and the $28 for the package exploded to almost $40 per month with all the taxes and fees. I distinctly remember being told by the Verizon customer rep that long distance was 6 cpm. (It was a new package, not shown online). The paperwork showed the cost was 8 cpm. Doesn't look like a big difference, but it's a 33% increase over what I was told.

I figured I'd give Verizon a month and then ask AT&T to port my number to my VOIP service. No, I didn't want it as a second line, I want to cancel the number I got from AT&T and use my home number when it is ported over. It would take about two weeks. Later in the first week, I get an message from AT&T that they can't detect my TA on my line, so the transfer will be delayed another week to give me time to set up my TA. A call to CS and the problem was resolved. I was 'told' that the installation would happen on the coming Friday, but the emails kept telling me it would happen a week later. I canceled the number AT&T gave me initially, and tried to reprogram the TA. Didn't work. Another call to Tech Support and the helpful person registered my "MAC address" {What does that mean? I'm using a PC :>)} I have a dial tone and can make outgoing calls, but incoming calls still go to my landline. Except my son, who has AT&T VOIP, calls my home number, and it comes through on the VOIP phone.

The day arrives for porting. Both phones have dial tones. I call my home number with my cell phone and the VOIP phone rings! Wahoo, I've been switched at last! A friend who has the same exchange as we do calls, and my land line rings. I've been partially switched? Call Tech Support. He says Verizon will probably pull the plug around midnight. Next day, my landline is dead and all calls are coming into the VOIP phone. And to think that all this could have been avoided if the better half was willing to change our number. Geeze, we change email addresses about once a month; a change in phone number once in 40 years shouldn't be so painful.

Now to rewire the house, so I can use the house wiring for multiple phones. Before my service was shut off, I measured the voltage and polarity of the incoming landline and wrote it on the wall. As the instructions indicated, I disconnected the incoming wires (I have an old house, old installation, and the wires are easily accessible). I unplugged every phone and answering machine in the house. Plugged a telephone wire into the back of the TA and into the nearby telephone jack. Measured the voltage where all the lines come together and found that the POLARITY WAS REVERSED!!! The instructions say nothing about checking the polarity, or reversing leads on the jack that the TA plugs in to. I tediously reversed the red and green wires on the back of the jack that I was using for the TA, and rechecked the voltage and polarity at the junction of all the phone wires. Polarity correct. Plugged one phone in at a time, tested for a dial tone, and every one worked.

It now appears that my VOIP phone is set up exactly as the landline was with a few differences. No need to dial 1. An occasional requirement to verify that I haven't moved the TA when the power goes out. A lot lower bill than even the most basic landline provides. And a ton of useful features that would cost an arm and a leg if purchased through Verizon's smorgasbord.

For over a month, we have been using VOIP and have had none of the problems that I read about from other users. The voice quality is as good or better than a landline. We have had no problems making or receiving calls. No one has called us and said they tried our number and couldn't get through. There is hardly any difference between using the VOIP phone and a landline Obviously, the router must be kept on. The modem is always on and has a Verizon installed battery backup system, good for about ten hours without power.

We lost power in a thunderstorm a week ago for 23 hours. Calls were automatically forwarded to my cellphone. I shut down the battery backup for the router and computer, since our cordless phones didn't work anyway without power. The battery backup for the modem died after 10 hours. When power was restored, everything came back on normally with no resetting required.

The only "issue" I have with the service is that in order to comply with the requirements of locating a VOIP phone for 911 is that every time the telephone adapter (TA) loses power, it notifies AT&T, and before the first call can be made after a power loss, I must endure an automated announcement to verify that I have not moved the TA. Unfortunately, the TA sends a power loss signal even if the power loss duration is less than a second. It would have been a more intelligent design if the power loss signal only happened when power was out for over a minute. Who could move and install the TA to a new location in under a minute? In an attempt to reduce the frequency of the power loss glitches, I purchased a small battery backup unit for just the TA. Time will tell if this fixes the annoyance.

Currently, there is a problem with the time that AT&T sends with the Caller ID information on an incoming call. In my case, I must add three hours to the indicated time. The call log on my account online shows the correct time of incoming and outgoing calls. AT&T is aware of this problem and it will be fixed. Speed dialing through the AT&T system is impractical. To dial the number in speed dial location 9, for example, one must dial ATT9# That's FIVE keystrokes to dial a ten digit number. We use the speed dial provided on our cordless phones; quite a bit easier. AT&T provides speed dialing for only 9 phone numbers. Our cordless phones provide for 20.

My experience with VIOP so far has been very satisfying, and I have no regrets about giving up an expensive, spartan landline in favor of an inexpensive, feature packed broadband phone system.

[v_v]

Thanks Lena, for such a good, long, and detailed post. It was very informative.

v_v
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Justice, Equity, and Meaningful, Productive, and Fulfilling Lives to All Earthlings

[Lena]

Just a quick update: in my long-winded post, I mentioned that there was a problem with a power glitch causing AT&T to think I disconnected the Telephone Adapter, and I had to go through an automated system to verify that I did not change my address (part of the E-911 verification). The small UPS that I purchased fixed the problem, and I believe the old UPS was causing the problem. It is beeping occasionally, indicating that the batteries may be failing.

I also mentioned that the time on the Caller ID was off. So is the information provided through the help menu from AT&T. There is a method to correct this issue for the Cellentium TA by going in to the "localization" portion of its program and setting it to the proper time zone. It is preset to Pacific time.

So far, the CallVantage service has been fantastic. No noise problems, no lost calls or disconnects. AT&T recently lowered the cost of their unlimited local and long distance package to match Vonage and VoiceWing, at $25 per month, only $5 more than I was paying for unlimited local and 4 cpm LD. I signed up immediately. Just knowing I have the freedom to call anyone anywhere anytime without worrying about the cost is worth the $5 per month to me.