 Review by benjamin 
UPDATED: 166 days ago
member for 8.9 years, 2900 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 New York,New York,NY
 $32 per month
 about 2 days
 "Excellent call quality, good tech support, many calling features, great account web site"
 "No option to set automatic forwarding to another number if network is down"
 "BroadVoice is a very good value, offering crystal-clear calling, a slew of advanced features and great international rates"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
|
6/14/2009 UPDATE
Once again, there isn't much to report. On the downside, few new features have been introduced. The two exceptions are "multiline" and "multipresence" support, which allow several lines on one account/device, or several devices on a single account. These options can definitely come in handy but it would be nice to see other features that have been missing for years, such as the ability to automatically forward calls to another number on network failure, scheduled do-not-disturb, and other such enhancements.
Reliability has been good. The proxy servers have issues from time to time (about once every few months) but they are usually promptly fixed. Overall, call quality remains very good and pricing excellent (despite the rate increases discussed in my last update).
Bottom line: BroadVoice is still an excellent choice, especially if you call abroad a lot and the countries you dial are included in one of the World plans. As mentioned in this review's comments, the BYOD plans are also a welcome option for the technically advanced who bring their own devices.
11/05/2008 UPDATE
Not much to report. Service has remained very stable. Only some very small outages that didn't last long, and that could be avoided by switching proxy servers.
A couple of notes on the downside:
- First, rates increased quite a bit earlier this year, under the guise of new "taxes" or "fees"--but these were in fact hidden rate increases and NOT taxes. Service is now about $32/month (not counting premium features), compared to $20 originally. (Review table updated to reflect this.) This is still an excellent value, considering the number of free countries included and the numerous calling features upon which I have come to rely.
- Second, no new features have been introduced in ages.
EDIT (11/08/2008), two new features added: Well, a couple of features were added the day after my review update:
- The ability to add inbound numbers to the second port of supported ATAs. This means that an alternate number can be answered (on a separate phone) while the primary line is in use. A very nice idea of no great use to me but certainly of value to those who need a dedicated second line for inbound calls.
- BroadVoice has also finally added the ability to manage multiple lines from one account. This has been in the works for a long time.
Hopefully this means the company has started innovating again and other new features will start appearing soon!
BroadVoice continues to offer excellent service with a large array of existing features and still very competitive pricing. I have many family members and friends using the service and there have been no complaints. I maintain my 4 1/2 star recommendation.
--------------------------------
02/10/2008 UPDATE
Can't believe I've been with BroadVoice for over 4 years now. Following the 2005 outage, service has continued to be ideal for my needs. There have been no outages since my last update. Reliability and call quality have been excellent.
My only peeve is that BroadVoice still doesn't offer the option to have all calls automatically directed to an alternate number if their network fails. Luckily there haven't been any outages, so this hasn't really mattered.
After BroadVoice started offering unlimited free calls to 20 countries, other providers started following suit but, for my needs, BV remains the best value around. I don't really have anything negative to say at this point.
--------------------------------
12/19/2005 UPDATE
Things have been running smoothly for the last 6 months. Excellent quality/reliability. Some new features have been added to the online portal and BroadVoice seems to have hired more support staff to deal with the growth of its customer base. No downtime in a long, long time so I am very happy. Quality of international calls definitely improved after the outage in May.
--------------------------------
05/11/2005 UPDATE
BroadVoice's first big outage is over. Unfortunately the outage began right before a week-end, which must have made it harder to contain. Still, the company worked around the clock and service was restored by Monday. During the outage, I was still able to make and receive calls, though with less reliability than usual. Now things are back to normal.
What impressed me most during the outage was that Support answered phone calls within 10-12 minutes, very reasonable considering there must have been a very high volume of calls. Info was also posted in the portal. Considering service was rock solid for many, many months prior to this outage, BroadVoice deserves a little slack. If anything, such an experience will make sure they are better prepared in the future.
--------------------------------
02/12/2005 UPDATE
Given some of the negative reviews and updates posted recently, I wanted to update mine to report that service has remained rock-solid for me. The calling features still work, call quality is superb and BroadVoice keeps rolling out new services at great prices. Two recent examples: alternate numbers in the UK, and toll-free alternate numbers. So, here is a quick update on the new features and the quality of customer support as of February, 2005. (Original review below as well.)
TOLL FREE Alternate Numbers: I just added one to my account and it is working well. The amazing thing is that it costs the same as a regular alternate number: $1.95/month, which is lower than any other VoIP company AFAIK. This includes 60 free incoming minutes (and extra minutes are 2.0¢/min, VERY reasonable for a toll-free number). There were some issues with the toll free DIDs, where not all callers were able to get through but this has been fixed. I tested my DID from numerous lines (from different providers) and can now receive calls without a hitch. Really great for friends in other states, especially those on limited local service...
For those who may be interested, the alternate UK numbers are the same price but include unlimited incoming calls, just like US-based alternate numbers.
CUSTOMER SERVICE. Many of the recent negative remarks concerned ridiculously long hold times. I concur that this was a problem for a couple of weeks but things seem much better now. I called several times in the last few days and got through to someone within a reasonable delay. More importantly, the people answering the phones are still knowledgeable. BroadVoice is not outsourcing its support (as of yet) and clearly takes the time to train its representatives. Email support has remained excellent throughout.
--------------------------------
11/09/2004, COMPLETE UPDATE OF ORIGINAL REVIEW
In October, BroadVoice added unlimited calling to 20 international countries without raising rates, making it the best value around. Now the company has launched its brand new online portal, resolving the only other area that was lacking.
The new portal: in addition to excellent online billing options (statements, payment options, etc.), the portal offers complete control over accounts, allowing users to add alternate lines, change their calling plan and much more. Of course, all the calling features (basic, advanced and premium) can also be managed through the portal, and there are extensive call logs as well as a Call Manager feature that allows for online control of incoming and outgoing calls. The whole experience is very user friendly, making this portal the one to beat.
As of the date of this update, I have been using BroadVoice for close to 1 year and service is as good today as it was on day one. Prior to choosing BroadVoice, I looked at every VoIP provider on the marked. After these many months of usage, I am pleased to report that BroadVoice has gotten even better with age. There are more features, the call quality remains excellent, and the new portal makes managing any aspect of the service a snap.
-- VALUE:
There are many reasons to choose BroadVoice but the top one would have to be value. For the price of its competitors' offerings (or for less in many cases), BroadVoice offers a wide array of free calling features that make competing services look sparse. In fact, it seems to me BroadVoice offers more features than any other provider, most of them included with the price of service. Additionally, adding "premium" features costs much less than with the competition (for example, additional phone numbers are only $1.95/month vs. around $5-10 with other providers).
BroadVoice also recently added unlimited International calling to 20 countries (as well as a new plan with 34 free countries for only $5/month more), once again placing the company miles above the rest in terms of value. For any countries not included, BroadVoice has lowered rates to match or beat its toughest competitors. There is also a new referral program that makes earning free calls easy.
-- FEATURES:
As stated above, calling features are numerous. Some really nice ones include the ability to check Voicemails from any phone and any computer, via the account portal. One can also receive messages by email. The online portal offers complete control over all features, including the ability to set call forwarding, toggle features on/off, maintain a list of speed dial numbers and much more. All the features I need are included in my plan, although it is worth mentioning that "premium" features (such as music-on-hold) come with an activation fee. However, the monthly fee for these services is much lower than the competition, making them worthwhile, and many features are not offered by anyone else.
-- CALL QUALITY:
Call quality? One word: impressive. In fact, the quality is as good as a traditional phone line both on the calling and receiving end. This is the one thing that always surprises those I refer. A special note on International calls: the quality is as good as US calls, which is nothing short of amazing, since quality can be iffy over traditional phone lines or using a calling card.
-- TECH ISSUES, SETUP AND SUPPORT:
Support has been impressive from the get go, always answering phone calls and emails promptly, and fixing issues quickly (usually in minutes). Setup is a breeze. My Linksys router didn't require any modifications and I was up and running literally 30 seconds after receiving my adaptor. A router is of course needed to share your broadband connection with the BroadVoice adaptor and your computer but this is to be expected. This and many other topics are covered on BroadVoice's support web site, where you can find step-by-step guides and a great deal of useful information.
For the truly tech-savvy, BroadVoice is the only provider to offer BYOD (bring your own device) plans. The device in question can be hardware or software and all the necessary configuration information is provided, something unique in this industry. BroadVoice also automatically provisions your device immediately upon sign-up, so that the service can be used in a minutes.
Other technical issues (codecs, etc.) have been widely addressed in the BBR VoIP forum so I won't go into any details here. One additional hardware note: BroadVoice recently started shipping a new adaptor. Small and sleek, it is about the size of a deck of cards but doesn't skimp on features.
-- CONCLUSIONS:
Some prospective customers may be worried by BroadVoice's low rates, thinking this might translate into poor quality or bad support. This is not the case. Quite the contrary! I think this is what truly makes BroadVoice the best value: not only is the service easy to use and feature-rich but the call quality is top-notch and support is available 24x7. Having had BroadVoice from the very beginning (for close to one year now), I continue to recommend it highly.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of BroadVoice |
|
BroadVoice
(11)
·
