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Review by wayne8888 
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 2.8 years, 881 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Baltimore,Baltimore City,MD
 $8 per month (24 month contract)
 about 9 days
 "Ease of set-up, Good Call Quality zillions of features"
 "A bit early to tell"
 "Love it so far"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I actually have ViaTalk and Vonage simultaneously while I port my home number to ViaTalk. I have had Vonage for 2 years and love it but I was enticed by the features of ViaTalk if Vonage had some of these features (in addition to the great web interface that they have), I would have stayed with them. Set-up with ViaTalk was as simple as connecting my adapter to the router and plugging the phone into the adapter. I am on the one year for $200 with an additional year free promotion (so like $4.17 per month for the first 24 months and $8.33 per month for the next year. Just hope that Verizon does not go after them too since I have already paid $200.00 LOL. Some of the features include: anonymous call blocking, wake up or reminder calls, ability to have the phone not ring during a certain time of day (except numbers that you deem can get through), blacklist numbers and so many more features. One thing I notice though is although the call quality is at least as good as Vonage (both are close to perfection for me using Comcast or Verizon DSL), the ViaTalk calls talk about 20 seconds minus dialing time to the first ring. But then all is fine. I also think that if I was going to make a lot of calls to Europe, then I would stick to Vonage with its unlimited calls to most European countries. I will update you all when the porting process is over and later still.
Wayne
Update: 3/23/07
My porting from Vonage is complete. It took 11 business days. I now have my old number (originally from Verizon to Cavalier to Verizon to Vonage now to ViaTAlk) associated with ViaTalk (although the vonage adapter still works). I will call and cancel Vonage on Monday. Again my 2 years with Vonage was great. I hope they survive and thrive. They just did not have all the features that ViaTalk has (love the wakeup call and the anonymous call rejection to name just 2 of the many). If Vonage every catches up, in terms of features I could go back. ViaTalk and Vonage both have good sound quality.
Wayne
Update 8/13/07
After nearly 5 months with ViaTalk I can say that the features are still great but I find that Vonage has better call quality and is more stable. Also I would have to add that ViaTalk's tech support is horrible at best. I opened an online trouble ticket on July 21st and now nearly a month later it is still open. The problem (that they can't or won't address) is that when I call my brother, another ViaTalk customer, his phone does not ring only his cell phone (with which he has simulring) rings. This was never a problem for him when we both had Vonage. I paid 2 years in advance (with the year free that is). He is probably going back to Vonage or to Comcast digital voice (he pays ViaTalk month to month). BTW he also filed a trouble ticket with ViaTalk on the same issue without answer. Also, when I try to call tech support, I am informed that I am 60 something in line.
Wayne
Followup comments:  
blake121666
@comcast.net | $200/24mo = $8.33/mo I think your math might be off. I just signed up for the same thing myself and I don't think I got what you did. I think it works out to $8.29/mo ($199/24mo). Or did I read it wrong? | |
| | wayne8888
join:2005-10-16
Baltimore, MD
 ·Cavalier Telephone
 ·ViaTalk
 ·Comcast
| Re: $200/24mo = $8.33/mo You are absolutely right Blake. I must have had my head in the clouds that day. I think what I did was divide the $200.00/12 months in half and (instead of stopping there) I divided it in half again. Instead of considering the normal price per month (after the promotion) as being $16.67 I divided that in half and accidentally considered $8.33 to be the post promotion (instead of the promotion) monthly fee. Thanks for catching that. What stage are you at now in the process. I was notified by ViaTalk on March 8th that they are beginning the porting process from Vonage (which might take 20 business days). So I have both Vonage and ViaTalk at the moment. The only slight annoyance compared to Vonage is that when I dial outgoing numbers, there is about a 10 second delay before I hear the ring on the other end (kind of like mobile phones at times). With Vonage there is no delay (like dialing out on landline).
Wayne | |
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blake121666
@comcast.net
| Re: $200/24mo = $8.33/mo This is my first voip account ever (other than the asterisk testing I've done using FWD). I'm hoping this will be acceptable. I just the other day signed up to port over 3 numbers and a fax line. I currently pay about $500/mo and so this will be a very large savings. They haven't notified me yet about when this should be all setup. I figured 2 weeks tops; but you're saying 20 days huh? | |
| | | | wayne8888
join:2005-10-16
Baltimore, MD
·Cavalier Telephone
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| Re: $200/24mo = $8.33/mo Apparently, the 20 business days average is made that long due to Telcos like Verizon's slowness to give up a number. Aparently Vonage gives them up faster (acording to ViaTalk rep). Hopefully yours goes faster. Here is the email I got.
Hello,
We have received your porting documentation, and we are working to process your request. Please allow approximately 20 business days for the transfer to complete. You will receive a confirmation email once your number is ported.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. Thanks for choosing ViaTalk!
- ViaTalk Number Porting Dept. | |
| | | | | | | wayne8888
join:2005-10-16
Baltimore, MD
·Cavalier Telephone
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| Re: $200/24mo = $8.33/mo Hi Icici,
I asked them about the delay and they fixed it immediately. Now the delay is gone and it is like placing a outgoing call with Vonage. You can get it done by either emailing customer service or by filing a trouble ticket online. Interestingly when I removed the Vonage router/adapter from the system (which still has my number) the only slight problem was that my brother's calls go to my cell phone (forwarded by Vonage) all other calls make it through. This is because he is a Vonage customer. So until you and I cancel Vonage (even though they no longer "own" our ported number), callers who happen to be Vonage customers will have their calls to us forwarded to our secondary number. Also, just like Vonage,calls go through with 10 digit dialing (no need to dial the 1). I only use the one in my online user name for web features.
Bests,
Wayne | |
| pdivi
join:2006-08-23 | update your rating "ViaTalk's tech support is horrible at best"
why have you given it 5/5? | |
| | wayne8888
join:2005-10-16
Baltimore, MD
·Cavalier Telephone
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| Re: update your rating said by pdivi :"ViaTalk's tech support is horrible at best" why have you given it 5/5? Whoops you're right I have now downed the tech support to the lowest possible score and lowered the value for the money as well. I still love the features that you can manage online.....but not much else. No doubt they seem to have tried to respond to the Sun Rocket crash without significant increase in Tech support budget. They may regret that sooner or later.
Wayne | |
| Tim618
join:2003-10-14
Garrettsville, OH | ok.. I agree, tech support is crap right now, but thats because of all the sunrocket refugees. Also about the delayed dialing, dial the 11 digits, or 10 digits and then press # after your done dialing, and it will go through. | |
| | wayne8888
join:2005-10-16
Baltimore, MD
·Cavalier Telephone
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| Re: ok.. Thanks for the suggestion. Tech support (when they were still accessible) fixed that problem by tweaking my settings months ago. Now I get no delay with 10 digit dialing. I just can't call the only ViaTalk customer I know..... my brother (at least ViaTalk to ViaTalk). We did an experiment with him removing simulring feature to see if that would fix the situation but it did not. When I call him ((using my ViaTalk) only his cell (the simulcasted phone rings). If I call his ViaTalk number with my cell phone or a landline phone he gets the ring no problem. He can call me ViaTalk to ViaTalk no problem.
Wayne | |
| |
mcantone
@comcast.net
| Unfortunately I'm a sunrocket refugee and 100% curse myself for going to Via Talk. They have made it the most unpleasant experience, hands down. In addition to the 4+ hours wait times(I wish that was only an exaggeration) for a human being and waiting 1 month to receive my VoIP box, they're charging me for a month's service I did not receive. I still have 4 tickets open, some dating back over a month. I should have swapped to the recommended vendors but thought I was above the curve when I signed up with Via Talk (They were mentioned in the NY Times column for Sunrocket - I signed up immediately once I heard of SR's demise.) I got all my porting info in and received an acknowledgement 2 weeks later that it will be 20 days to get my number. I have a simple phrase, buyout labor | |
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