Review by Fisamo  UPDATED: 11 days ago member for 5.7 years, 2154 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Apex,Wake,NC
$8 per month (12 month contract)
"Good feature set, with plans for more. EXCELLENT customer service!"
"Documentation still needs to be beefed up."
"Definitely a solid primary service, but web portal still needs work."
| Web-site: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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9 November 2009: Update.
I've officially been a paying customer for over a year, so I'm comfortable posting a review update with a reliability rating. While I have given them a 5, the rating does come with the caveat that I did find CallVantage to be more reliable. The difference isn't enough to justify downgrading Voipo to a 4, but CallVantage was a tough act to beat (until they decided to beat themselves into oblivion). Since CallVantage decided to shut down, I ported our primary line to Voipo, so it obviously gets a LOT more use.
Updated rating categories:
Website - 3 (no change), because the user portal is not intuitive enough for my liking. While I have no trouble getting what I need out of it, the user portal still lacks built-in user cues and help screens to make it more user-friendly.
Ease of installation - unranked, because I'm a "grandfathered BYOD user".
Call quality - 5 (no change) I've heard occasional echos, but not sufficiently bad to lower the rating.
Reliability - 5 (first rating) We have had a few RARE instances of calls not ringing through properly, but IIRC, those only occurred while we had their SimulRing feature active (still beta, but that particular problem's been resolved). The other oddball problem was that a few of my calls were sent with the incorrect CallerID number. It seems that the issue has been resolved on a case-by-case solution applied to my account, because a few other customers have experienced a similar problem. These problems are not severe enough to merit lowering the reliability rating in my book.
Tech Support - 5 (no change) top notch, polite, happy to help. Can't ask for better.
Value for money - 5 (increase) given the reliability over the past year, tech support, etc., there's no reason to not give top marks. Fair notice - as a customer who was in from the beginning, I have an extreme discount on my pricing for as long as I have my account.
6 April 2009: Initial review.
OK, so I've been a Beta user/customer since the "second" beta period opened. Overall, reliability _for me_ has been excellent--it rarely went down during the beta period, and I have only had sporadic troubles since, but I still use CallVantage as my primary line, and I don't use the Voipo line enough to give a reliability rating much weight at this time. Right now, pricing is excellent for everyone willing to pay for 1 year up front ($99/yr), and as a "Founder" I will get that price as long as I maintain the account. Since I also have been promised the ability to connect via my Asterisk system, it satisfies my 'hobbyist' interest in having an inexpensive (even though, for my use, a PAYGO provider might be even less expensive) line.
In any case, below are the details of the numeric ratings I gave.
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Website: 3 - vPanel is plain, I'd like more checkboxes, checkboxes/radio buttons instead of dropdowns for binary features, more prominent voicemail, better contact input system. The principal reason for the relatively low mark is the lack of documentation of "how-tos". Lists of star codes, voicemail code, setup configuration, etc., should exist in very-easily-found "For New Customers" web pages, etc. In addition, clear descriptions of how features work, what they are, etc., (ideally, quick-text help links near each feature) are lacking. The feature that causes the most confusion is the 'telemarketer block.'
Ease of Installation: [unranked] I participated in the beta and continue BYOD. I know what I'm doing for configuring my account, and if there's a glitch, it's usually on my end. Therefore, it's not appropriate for me to rate this aspect of their service.
Call Quality: 5 - All calls have been clear. Not much more to say there.
Reliability: [Unranked] - OK, admittedly a cop out, but I don't use the line enough to give a fair assessment. If a gun were to my head and I HAD to choose a number, I'd probably give a 3/5 due to the complaints of issues (and acknowledgement of Voipo staff/owner) with the hope (and expectation) of raising it over the next month or two.
Tech Support: 9 - Unfortunately, I can't really give them a 9, I'm limited to 5. They've always been extremely responsive and the responses are substantive, not vacant script-reading in nature. When I wanted outgoing CID Name (LIDB population for my line), I unfortunately had to change numbers, but tech support handled it quickly, professionally, and the right way the first time.
Overall Value: 4 - Sorry, I can't give a 5 rating with reliability at a 3 (even though I haven't "officially" ranked it). If the 'wrinkles' have been ironed out, this score will definitely rise.
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