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Review by piggygirl 
Posted: 28 days ago
member for 1.7 years, 99 visits, last login: 1 days ago
 New York,New York,NY
 Contract price not specified.
 "Very clear"
 "expensive without triple-play"
 "only got it for the triple-play package"
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More features would be nice..like filters.
Best part--very clear
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 Review by sandman9r
UPDATED: 31 days ago
member for 4.9 years, 1431 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Bronx,Bronx,NY
$10 per month
 about 7 days
"With Triple Play, You Only Pay $10"
"Occasional Error Dialing Out"
"The Perfect Complement to Optimum Online"
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SEPTEMBER 2008
Good service although lately, I've noticed that I'm experiencing more dropped connections. Sometimes, when dialing out, I receive error messages.
Despite these small nuisances, the service remains a must-have for Optimum customers for its unbeatable price to performance ratio.
DECEMBER 2006
Optimum Voice is an impeccable service. It is no wonder why cable providers are becoming the leaders in the VoIP market.
UPDATE: JUNE 2006
Nothing new to report. The service is still perfectly reliable and virtually indistinguishable from traditional phone service. The Find Me feature is one of my favorites. I never miss a call to my landline.
UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2005
Optimum Voice is undoubtedly the best VoIP service in the Northeast if not the United States. Cablevision recently added Caller ID with Call Waiting in addition to other nifty features. They also claim that approximately 1000 customers a day are joining. I'm a bit worried that inevitably the service will deteriorate due to its growing popularity but I understand that there are others who want this cool service.
Unlike those overrated, useless, static-filled cell phones, you never have to even think of the dreaded word "minutes" or dropped phone calls with OV. Your calls are sent through Cablevision's network to ensure reliability. Talk all you want whenever. Receiving your voicemails through emails is ingenious. I don't know if other phone services offer this feature.
Just as with Optimum Online though, I wish that the price wasn't as steep. Even with its current price, the service is indeed worth it.
SEPTEMBER 2004
Enhanced voicemail is Cablevision's best idea ever. When you receive a voicemail, you can be notified via email. Once you get used to this, you will be spoiled. I was never a heavy phone user because of the threat of a high phone bill. Ever since I received Optimum Voice, I've been calling my friends across the country and never worry about a steep bill. Calls are digital with no lag whatsoever.
The only "negative" is the fact that the service operates on power. Honestly, this doesn't worry me one bit because the only power failure that I've ever experienced was the east coast blackout of 2003. The chances of a power failure in my area are very slim.
Before OV, I had Verizon with absolutely no features whatsoever. My phone bill was high even though I didn't make many phone calls. I discovered that surcharges easily added $10-$15 to my bill. I love Optimum Voice's flat rate.
Overall, I've had nothing but a smooth ride with Cablevision thus far. Great broadband with Optimum Online, great satellite service with Voom and now, exceptional phone service with Optimum Voice.
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 Review by cowboyro
UPDATED: 50 days ago
member for 7.9 years, 328 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Bridgeport,Fairfield,CT
$15 per month
about 5 days
"Crystal-clear sound, free long distance, all features"
"They re-adjusted the international calling package"
"I love it"
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I've had OV for over 1 year now, absolutely no issue. I've had international calling when the package was 500min@$20/month, dumped it when they reduced to 250 min. Otherwise it's all good. E911 worked the one time I needed it. I'll stick with them as long as they don't raise the price.
Update 08/2008: With regret I had to leave OV as I moved to a place not covered by Cablevision. Comcast wants $40 for unlimited voice, no thank you... I'd rather increase my cellphone plan a bit if needed, I don't talk on the phone so much.
Followup comments:  PX Eliezer
join:2008-08-09
Wickatunk, NJ
 ·voip.ms
·Callcentric
edit:
September 1st, @12:57PM
| Optimum Voice Thanks for the review and followup.
I agree that they are a great service. Have one of their lines at work. Used to have two, but after the first 12 months the discount ends so the pricing is not as good. They are cheaper than telco, but I do wish their prices were a bit lower.
For residential use, they charge a lot for number porting (usually $ 40 I believe). That's high, and in the long term it's a bad business decision. They'd get even more people switching otherwise, although they DO have a lot of OV customers now regardless.
Don't feel too bad about moving out of Optimum territory. It's pretty clear that the parent company Cablevision will be bought by someone else in the next couple of years. I just hope it's not Comcast....
Oh---I DO want to say that Optimum Voice uses a weird database for showing you the CNAM (Caller ID name). Remember that when you RECEIVE a call, the caller ID NAME is usually provided by YOUR carrier, not the sending carrier. They match the incoming number to a database. Often OV gets it wrong. For example, a call came in from a local hospital, and OV said it was from a real estate broker. Seen this happen often. | |
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 Review by NjOlds
Posted: 57 days ago
member for 4.7 years, 1649 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Clifton,Passaic,NJ
$34 per month
about 2 days
"Everything but the web site."
"The web site to admin my line."
"If you're going VoIP and want POTS like reliability go with OV."
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I don't have anything bad to say about them execpt for their web site. I miss all the features Vonage, Viatalk, and VoicePulse had on their web sites but I can't see myself ever trading reliability for features. My time is precious and I didn't mind tinkering with settings but I just need it to work. Also, the wife is happy now that she doesn't have to call me from her cell to tell me the phone isn't working.
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 Review by njsurfer
UPDATED: 146 days ago
member for 5.7 years, 1577 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Wood Ridge,Bergen,NJ
$30 per month (12 month contract)
"Voice Quality is very good, Nice"
"Caller id sketchy"
"Very happy and much lower monthly than Verizon POTS Service"
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I have been very happy with the service. Like the ability to forward the phone from a web page. I would be nice if they had a less graphically accessible web page to allow me to change phone options from my mobile phone.
Continue to have no issues....voice quality is good.
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 Review by mab631
UPDATED: 226 days ago
member for 5.1 years, 1260 visits, last login: 3 days ago
Mastic Beach,Suffolk,NY
$20 per month
"All the calling i want for 20/month WOW thats a great deal"
"Lost service for like 1 hour in the first month"
"Get it if you have io/OOL"
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I think it still worth it if you have just OOL for 35/month but if you have io its really worth it i mean 20/month i can make all the calling i want and have tons of features. Got the battery backup from moto for like $50 power goes out i got that covered by battery and a corded phone plus everyone in the house has a cell phone.
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 Review by mastermind278
UPDATED: 267 days ago
member for 7.2 years, 3905 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Newark,Essex,NJ
$20 per month
about 14 days
"Value for the Money, Good Call Quality"
"When cable service is down, Phone is down"
"This is a great value for your money. Everything works good!"
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I called to get OV and it took about 2 weeks to get an appointment on a desired date for myself. Since I wanted to port my number they wanted to charge me $40, however after speaking to a CSR for a while they told me they would waive the fee. They also had told me that I would to have a tech come install, though the tech really did not do anything, except put the new modem (which anyone can do themselves).
The tech just checked the signals and had my number ported.
When we got our bill however, they charged us for Porting the number along $20 for installation. I had to speak with a CSR and have to explain how I was told it would be free. After talking for a while eventually they did waive the fee. However, it was a pain to get it done. Make sure you get the original CSR's name and information if you can get the fees waived to make life a bit simpler if they try to charge you.
I am planning to get a UPS soon to in case I have a power outage. However this will not help if the cable service goes out. I already had one outage, where all the TV, OOL and OV were all down for about 6 hours. However, outages have been pretty rare, and I hope they continue to be like that.
We are also enrolled in the World Call Program. It is very useful as we call mobile phones in Portugal, and if we get charged by the minute calls get very expensive soon. So this was an attractive feature that other VOIPs do not seem to offer. It really was the turning point to getting OV instead of other providers.
We are paying $15 more for OV because we already had OOL and iO. We also pay $20 a month for the World Call Program. The $35 total that we are paying now is cheaper than what we used to pay for our POTs without long distance calls. This is a great value for the money.
As for sound quality, it is good. Some people even think it sounds better than what it was when we had POTs. It is definitely is great service if you can get it.
Edit:
We are now paying $20 a month of OV as they now have a smaller discount than before for having the triple play. Still cheaper than the POTS line. So far our only problem was after we deactivated World Call, it took almost a month to get everything settled and get the prepaid International Calling to get working.
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 Review by s bassaw
UPDATED: 292 days ago
member for 2.3 years, 619 visits, last login: 4 days ago
New Rochelle,Westchester,NY
$14 per month
"Superb reliability and call quality"
"Without Triple Play package from CV, it is quite expensive."
"For someone considering bundling services, this is an excellent option!"
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When I first signed up for this service, I had doubts about call quality. It was my first experience with VOIP service. I have always had rock-solid performance with cable Internet from Cablevision so I suspected the VOIP would be just as reliable. Installation was a breeze and porting over my number cost about $40.
I really enjoy the perks of the service in regards to free 411 calls, unlimited calling to Canada, Puerto Rico, and all fifty states. Caller ID being included is also a huge plus. I am not a huge fan of the voicemail system because to access mail, you have to dial a separate phone number. (or you can listen to your messages online!) My simple workaround for that is an answering machine! Another interesting feature of Optimum Voice (exclusive to Cablevision iO customers) is that you can see Caller ID information on your television screen.
I am in my second year of service from Optimum Voice. Within this time period, I have experienced two outages, each lasting no longer than four hours. All in all, it is a wonderful service that can handle the needs of any family's communication needs!
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 Review by stormy
UPDATED: 295 days ago
member for 344 days, 195 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Wood Ridge,Bergen,NJ
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 60 days
"More cost effective and reliable than Verizon!"
"None that I can find- so far"
"Excellent, high quality service!"
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I went with the triple play package from Optimum. This is my first experience with OV. So far I love it! I can actually hear people better then when I had POTS from Verizon. To tell you the truth I had nothing but trouble with Verizon service. I had intermittent static and noise problems on the line for over 10 years! At times the phone was un-useable due to the noise. Verizon had techs at my house ten times or more and the problem continued. Some techs told me the problem was with my inside wiring, when the noise was clearly evident at the interface box coming directly in from the line with my house wiring disconnected!
I've only had OV installed for 2 months, but so far never a problem. I'm also saving quite a bit each month. Verizon hits you hard with taxes. They tell you their Freedon plan is $44.95, but when you get the bill there's an additional $13 in FCC and local taxes. Good bye Verizon!
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Review by grimace
Posted: 355 days ago
member for 6.6 years, 25 visits, last login: 217 days ago
Jackson,Ocean,NJ
$14 per month
about 7 days
"Price when bundled with Digit Cable and Optimum Online ($14.99). Fax modem works, so does central station alarm monitoring."
"None that I could think of."
"Sorry I did not switch sooner."
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Order process was very easy. Decided NOT to pay extra to have old land line number ported over. Install process was VERY simple. They sent me a new modem set it up and plugged in the phone line and viola, VOIP. I never paid for any extra services with my local phone company, those being call waiting, voicemail, caller ID, etc. I had bare bones service, just a pone line, and paid over $16.00 a month just for the basic service excluding long distance.
I had a centrally monitored home alarm which is working with the VOIP line. I have a UPS back up for power for the modem and router. The backup power lasts over an hour. I wired the alarm line to capture the phone line just like it used to do with the land line. I was fortunate here as I had the home wired with cat 5 when it was built and all I had to due was plug the modem phone out into my existing panel. The panel already had the proper jack so the line could be captured by the alarm dialing out.
The fax modem attached to my PC works too. I am able to send faxes without issue, but I have yet attempted to receive one.
If you already have optimum onilne, you probably have digital cable, why would you pay more to use another company?
In addition to the extra $20.00 savings a month brining the total phone line down to $14.99 a month, you get Optimum Rewards. I only mention this becuase my wife can take the kids to Clearview Cinemas on Tuesday's an only have to pay for one person as two enter free.
I have had the service over a year now and am kicking myself for not switching to VOIP sooner. Optimum has been great and I have never had an outage when I wanted to make a call, nor has a call ever been dropped.
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Optimum Voice outbound sound cuts out