Review by (hidden by request) - Location: Raleigh, Wake, NC, USA
- Cost: $19 per month (month by month)
Cheap with a lot of features If you don't care that the phone might not work they are for you Intermittant service. Down 1-3 times a month for 1-3 days at a time
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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I have had voice pulse for over a year. At least once a month for over a day each time I am unable to call out due to a fast busy. I open so called "tickets" but they take their time getting back to you. Right now today I have been without a phone for 2 days and counting... You open a ticket and get no ticket number or email acknowledging they have opened a ticket. Their own support site admits the following: " *Not seeing your old incidents?* VoicePulse is in the process of migrating to a new customer relationship management system. During this migration, you may not see some of your older tickets via the account center. " I would have SEVERAL "old incidents"... If you don't mind intermittent service then this is the company for you! I about ready to ditch them. (review was emailed from domain bryanalbers.com) lodged 11.2 years ago
VexorgTR join:2012-08-27 Sheffield Lake, OH |
I've heard similar......You're not alone. I've heard other similar stories. Nobody is perfect I guess, but I guess VP is having a rough go lately. | |
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Review by mm - Location: Summerville, Dorchester, SC, USA
- Cost: $17 per month
- Install: about 30 days
Great filters using caller id name Unreliable chronic issues Totally unreliable, I have to use my cell for most calls
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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I have been with voice pulse for about 3 years and these last 8 months it's been frustrating. Constant Voice Mail issues and calls not getting connected to me. They have great customer service but with these chronic issues the service has become too unreliable since that 2010 summer meltdown last year. I also have many complaints from the other end of the conversation that the voice quality is poor, on my end it sounds fine. I use FIOS as my provider which is great for low latency numbers so I doubt that is the problem. The complaints started after the meltdown. My last conversation with customer service left me feeling they really don't care. I was disappointed that they just want to pass the buck and blame YouMail. They picked YouMail and it's their partner and they need a better communication between the companies and stop pointing fingers and just fix the issues. 2/2012 update Things have calmed down with the voice mail issues. I still have some voice quality issues. I tend to use my iPad with TalkaTone to make outgoing calls and most of my friends tell me it sounds better than Voice Pulse. 9/2012 update Voice mail indicators are getting worse, it's basically useless. Last night my phone would ring and nobody was there. I called my own number, it would go to voice mail after one ring and my VP phone was still ringing. Pickup and nobody was there. Calling support these days is a waste of time. No after hours support either. They were down a few weeks ago around 9pm at night and they don't even know it or resolve the problem until the next day. This service feels like it's run out of someone's garage. 11/2012 Pulled the plug. Message waiting indicators still not working. The usual routing issues came back and most calls inbound were dead space. My friends kept calling me on my cell. It just was not worth opening another ticket with these guys, yes they would fix it, but wait a week and the problems come back. They don't know how to permanently resolve the problems. I switched to VOIP.ms. Easy config. So far no issues. member for 23 years, 5709 visits, last login: 4.5 years ago updated 11.4 years ago
VexorgTR join:2012-08-27 Sheffield Lake, OH |
EekSounds like it might be time to make a change. East Coast provider CallCentric comes to mind as a good option. | |
| | mmI Did It My Way Premium Member join:2001-04-07 Summerville, SC |
mm
Premium Member
2012-Sep-7 7:45 am
Re: EekOne feature I want that seems to be an issue is call blocking by callerid. With VP I can setup a rule to block calls with words in the callerid. For example I have a rule with the word 'research' and that sends all those calls to the dark hole. I really don't want to give up this feature, it saves me a lot of headache not getting all those BS calls everyday.
But I do want to drop Voice Pulse. I was looking at VOIPo but they don't offer the blocking I want. | |
| | | j1349705 Premium Member join:2006-04-15 Holly Springs, NC |
j1349705
Premium Member
2012-Nov-14 6:25 pm
Re: EekVOIPo allows for call blocking by caller ID. Many BYOD providers including (but not limited to) VoIP.ms and Callcentric also allow you to block or re-route calls based on Caller ID. | |
| | | | mmI Did It My Way Premium Member join:2001-04-07 Summerville, SC |
mm
Premium Member
2012-Nov-14 6:30 pm
Re: Eeksaid by j1349705:VOIPo allows for call blocking by caller ID. Many BYOD providers including (but not limited to) VoIP.ms and Callcentric also allow you to block or re-route calls based on Caller ID. VOIPo blocks by CallerID number which they all do. Very few block by CallerID name. | |
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| VexorgTR join:2012-08-27 Sheffield Lake, OH |
What draws you to VOIPo? I only consider them mediocre in a pool of many excellent carriers. | |
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Re: EekVOIPo provides good quality service at very good prices, especially for the customers who don't want BYOD. | |
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Review by shadow700 - Location: Collegeville, Montgomery, PA, USA
- Cost: $15 per month (month by month)
- Install: about 2 days
Feature set. Low Price. Declining quality since major outage last year. If you are looking for a VOIP provider, keep looking.
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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*2/27/2011 Update:* Ever since the major outage some time ago, VoicePulse service has been getting steadily worse. It is to the point where I am probably going to switch providers soon. I have been with them since 2004 and, up until the major outage, I had nothing but praise for them. I had been extremely patient giving them the benefit of the doubt after recovering from the outage and switching to a new system, but it's been over six months and the problems not only continue, they are getting worse. Here are a list of the continuing issues: (a) Generally poor call quality. Nowhere near as good as it used to be. I get lots of complaints of either echoing or sounding too quiet. I've tried a few other VOIP providers recently from home (CallCentric, Ooma) and their call quality is what I used to get from VP. (b) Features that used to be available no longer are. Scheduled DND, for example. Custom incoming Caller ID supposedly no longer supports characters other than A-Z, 0-9. This change coincided with recovery from their extended outage. I had used '&', parens, and '-' in my IDs to include whether the identified caller was calling from home, cell, work (ie - "Dad (W)", or "Dave & Jill (Home)". Funny thing is that contacts that I haven't updated in a while still show the "bad" characters. (c) Random DMTF tones during conversations. It seems to be worse when the caller is on a cell phone, but I often get inadvertent DMTF tones which drown out the conversation (as if I pressed the keypad, but I am not). VP has claimed this is a firmware issue and they can't fix it. Again, it started happening right after the outage. (d) Voicemail issues. I have not received a voicemail message of over 10 seconds in length that did not have multiple 3-4 second drop-outs in at least two months. (e) Callers unable to hear me after I answer, or even more strangely, when the call is connected the caller hears audio from a different call! I might head back to VZ for a year since their current FiOS triple-play bundle (with phone and more TV services than we have now) is the same price as we are paying in our double play bundle + VP cost. That, or I will end up at another VOIP provider. Regardless, if you are looking for service, try someone other than VP. *8/2004 Original Review:* I've given VOIP a chance several times over the last two years. Each time, I felt it just wasn't ready. Well, this summer, we bought a new house and would be losing our home number, so, I figured it was a good time to try VOIP out again. First, I tried Vonage. Their quality and features were "OK", but I was having a lot of issues with Customer Service. There were a number of small issues, including all calls were handled by people with heavy Indian accents that I had a hard time understanding. After getting nowhere on a couple of issues, I canceled the account. So, I searched around and found VoicePulse. What a great service! Beyond the fact that the calls are as good as or better than Vonage, they have an amazing feature set that no one else can touch. I love the ability to be able to set the incoming Caller ID info to what I want ("Moms Cell" instead of "PENNSYLVANIA"). "Do Not Disturb", "Anonymous Call Rejection" and "Hunt Groups" have really come in handy. For my area (SE PA), their local calling area is WAY larger than any other service - unlike other VOIP carriers, central PA and SW NJ are local for me. Now, it did take a little time to get things running smoothly with VoicePulse, though. I was having issues like echoes during certain calls and some cell callers would get "All circuits are busy" during the afternoon. After a few emails and telephone calls (all tech support people I talked to were easy to understand and had NO accent), the issues were resolved. Like I tell everyone about this service, if you are ok without 911 (we decided that our cell phones with E911 on them were "good enough") and are a little patient, then VoicePulse will be for you. VOIP is the bleeding edge, so you have to expect a few "cuts" along the way. But, VoicePulse has been incredibly responsive and is now saving me upwards of $500 / year. member for 19.7 years, 1343 visits, last login: 9.2 years ago updated 13.1 years ago
rmrper join:2006-06-13 Wylie, TX |
rmrper
Member
2011-Mar-28 5:03 pm
Same Here...I too have noticed an increase in call quality problems, including the DTMF tones, Caller ID issues, and voicemail wackiness ever since the outage last year too. I too am considering switching (maybe the Fios Triple Play). Their service was really good when I first signed up, but has really been a lot more shaky lately. Their tech support is still responsive, but doesn't really seem to be able to do much. I too was given the "firmware issue" for DTMF tones with not ETA on a resolution. Some days its ok, and some days it happens 10 times or more on a short call. | |
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kk60
Anon
2011-Apr-3 11:20 pm
Re: Same Here...Ditto. We have 3 (separate) lines with VoicePulse and have the same problems on all: sudden random DTMF tones, Caller ID issues, features not working. The most annoying is loss of dial tone every few weeks (requiring a support ticket.) "Engineering" has never given a reason for this ongoing problem. We've had them for 4 years and prior to Summer/2010, I rarely gave the service a second thought, it was that good. My patience has run out now and I'm researching alternatives. (I wasn't too happy with the transition to the 3rd party voicemail system - but that's a personal preference.) | |
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Review by n4mwd - Location: Loxahatchee, Palm Beach, FL, USA
- Cost Contract price not specified.
- Install: about 15 days
They are handy on a hot day because they are so shady They are crooks Run for your life
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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I have had Voice pulse connect for several years now. When I got my service, the terms were simple, no monthly fees, pay in advance, the money stays in your account until you use it. A few years ago they decided to change those terms and required everyone to sign a new CONTRACT in order to refill minutes. The gist of the contract was that they would now allow prepaid accounts to run negative, charge you a penalty on your credit card if it did, and automatically charge your card for more minutes. In addition, they had a clause that said that if anyone hacked the account and used it without authorization, you would still have to pay for all the unauthorized use. I refused to sign that contract and my account stayed dormant for all those years with $5 in it. I was OK with just leaving it there just in case I needed the account for testing or something. Now, just the other day, they have decided that they are going to charge a minimum monthly usage fee of $10 a month. So I get this email that said that they have charged my account that only had $5 in it $10 - that followed by another saying that they are going to charge an illegal regulatory fee (taxes on internet services are illegal) - then followed by a third that said I went negative and they tried to hit my credit card without my permission for $54.04 and it was refused because the number had changed. Now when I went to complain about this by email, they get my complaint and then promptly block my email address so I can't attempt to get any resolution. I know this because they sent a response to my initial complaint wanting me to call them long distance from another account (they disabled the VP account). After that email, every email I sent them was blocked and bounced back to me. I forwarded that back to their main customer service email, but that email has been ignored. I have long since switched to another VOIP company. They don't play games. If the account hits zero, it just stops working just like it is supposed to do on a prepaid account. The bottom line is that I would NEVER recommend voice pulse to anyone. member for 18.5 years, 31 visits, last login: 8.7 years ago updated 14 years ago
RLF2 @sftmyr01.fl.comcast. |
RLF2
Anon
2005-Dec-1 1:40 pm
Unqualified customerIt looks like you purchased the wrong service from VoicePulse. If you go to the VoicePulse Connect site at: » connect.voicepulse.com/d ··· ult.aspxyou will see that it says "The VoicePulse Connect! service is intended for Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs) and VoIP solution developers. General residential and business users should take a look at VoicePulse Broadband Phone Service." Also, on the "Specifications" page it says "VoicePulse does not provide technical support for configuring user agents beyond providing a sample configuration file which has been tested and approved. If you require on-site support, please contact a Solution Provider near you." If you are not a Telephony Service Provider of VOIP solution developer capable of properly configuring your user agent device then you should not have signed up for this particular service from VoicePulse. | |
| | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
n4mwd
Member
2005-Dec-1 6:33 pm
Re: Qualified customerWell, first off, I had no problem configuring the grandstream. As I said, I configured it to work on several other services with no problem. I even had it working properly on voicepulse when I first got it (with the exception of the CID issue that VoicePulse accepts blame). AND I could make VoicePulse calls to 1-800 and cell phones, but not to land lines.
UPDATE: VoicePulse called today and made a good effort to resolve the issue. The problem was that VoicePulse is unexpectedly finicky about what gets sent in the NAME field. The NAME field must be the USERID and not the name. That means that if I put the USER ID in three fields - SIP ID, AUTH ID and NAME - I can make calls just fine. This is still not fixed, but its a good workaround. As long as it keeps working, I'll be satisfied.
2nd UPDATE: While I was writing the above reply, the CID feature started working so it appears that Voice Pulse has gotten on the ball and is working on a permanent solution.
Dennis. | |
| | | RLF2 @sftmyr01.fl.comcast. |
RLF2
Anon
2005-Dec-2 9:29 am
Re: Qualified customerGlad to hear most of your problems have been resolved.
Your experience with VP were so far off what almost everyone else's experience has been. | |
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to n4mwd
Might I suggest that you consider adjusting your low review ratings for VP? It's obvious that this is an unusual situation and that they are/have made great effort to reslove the issue. | |
| | | innoman- Premium Member join:2002-05-07 Seattle, WA |
to n4mwd
You really need to delete this comment and post in the VoicePulse Connect section anyway. That or update your comment to be something better because you are doing their ratings harm by posting bad stuff in the wrong section. | |
| | | | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
n4mwd
Member
2005-Dec-19 7:34 am
Re: Qualified customerThe company I dealt with is voice pulse. This is the section for voice pulse. I did bump up the rating a little, but they still have some issues that need work.
I will point out that their tech support was non-responsive until I posted here. Then they did help me find a workaround to a bug in their system, for which I do give them credit. Its been working for the most part ever since.
However, they ruined all that good credit when the next morning there was an unrelated service outage on their side that I complained about and they responded with a comment that, in essence, read "Your too stupid to use voip, go find somebody else to help you."
I have been programming computers since 1980, using the internet since 1985 and using sound cards since 1990. Their comments were not appreciated. | |
| | | | | innoman- Premium Member join:2002-05-07 Seattle, WA |
innoman
Premium Member
2005-Dec-19 1:24 pm
Re: Qualified customerFrom reading your post, it appears that you were using VoicePulse connect... Maybe I am mistaken... There is a VoicePulse Review forum and a VoicePulse Connect Review forum. They are the same company but two different services. | |
| | | | | | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
n4mwd
Member
2005-Dec-19 2:08 pm
Re: Qualified customerIt is voice pulse connect. I found no other review forum for voice pulse connect. They have two other products, America Unlimited and Local Unlimited +200. I see no separate forums for them either. | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
n4mwd
Member
2005-Dec-20 11:36 am
Re: Qualified customerI didn't see anybody else listed that has a different forum for each product. The voicepulse connect forum should be deleted and merged with this one.
I still believe that I posted in the correct forum. If you feel strongly enough about it, you should contact the webmaster and ask him to move this thread to the other VoicePulse forum. | |
| | | | | | | | | innoman- Premium Member join:2002-05-07 Seattle, WA |
innoman
Premium Member
2005-Dec-20 12:06 pm
Re: Qualified customerTo be honest, I really don't care... My reasoning for even pursuing the issue was that there is a difference in the two services. One is managed my voicepulse and the other mostly by you. With the connect service, you are able to configure it pretty much however you see fit. Including the ability to hook it up to asterisk. There is a reason they have a different section for VoicePulse connect. I digress, if you would rather leave it in this forum... Do so. I won't loose any sleep Have a wonderful Holiday Season!!! | |
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sirsloop Premium Member join:2004-02-18 New York, NY |
sirsloop
Premium Member
2005-Dec-3 4:06 pm
999 days??999 days????? | |
| | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
n4mwd
Member
2005-Dec-4 4:38 pm
Re: 999 days??They didn't have a "Not Working Yet" option. I changed it above to 15 days. | |
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Be careful with loose accusations.....I am not defending VP (actually your complaint is with VP Connect which is rather different from the regular VP consumer plan). However, it is not accurate to accuse them of charging illegal fees. [You said "...they are going to charge an illegal regulatory fee (taxes on internet services are illegal)..."] VoIP providers certainly ARE subject to taxes and fees, and they ARE allowed to pass them along to the customers. Some companies just include them as part of total price, others itemize them separately. Thus, major providers such as VOIPo, PhonePower, ViaTalk, and many others, DO charge the customer for taxes (such as the Universal Service Fund which is FEDERALLY REGULATED) and fees (such as Regulatory Recovery Fee added by many companies). Please be careful when you use accusations of illegality. PS: Your review more properly belongs here » User reviews - VoicePulse for Business & Wholesalerather than here » User reviews - VoicePulse | |
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The fee is not illegal and was just increased by the FCC | |
| | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
n4mwd
Member
2010-Mar-21 3:58 pm
Re: The fee is not illegal and was just increased by the FCCSo the feds say that VP must pay 15% of their revenue to the USF. I get that. My usage has been $0.00 last month. So how did they take 15% of $0.00 and get $2.95??? Charging everyone the same rate regardless of their usage is just plain sleazy. In other words, their goal is to screw the little customers for the benefit of the bigger customers. The USF thing is a tax on THEM and not me. Its simply a cost of doing business - just like the rent and electric bill. They should figure that into the cost of the services. In my case, they are bound by their original terms of service which did not allow for ANY fees or minimum charges other than actual minutes. This is because I never agreed to the new terms and never signed their contract. | |
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UnfairThis is a highly unfair review. First off, simply because you don't like their new policy, its unfair for you to lower your ease of installation, call quality, reliability and tech support not nil. They are solid on all the aspects. I can understand you lowering your value for the money down however. You need to realize that the connect account is meant for business so the $10.00 per month is adequate. There is no contract, contrary to your claim, although you must keep a certain balance, you may cancel at any time. This statement of yours is a lie and they will refund your money, I have seen it several cases. You said they just decided to charge you the $10.00. If you bothered to read your email, they sent you an advance notice of the change. I will concede that it is a bit short notice, however it was something. Because of all the inaccuracies in your review, I highly doubt the blocking your email claim. If you're a home user, I suggest you stay with a plan from a carrier that caterers to your needs, Vonage seems to be up your alley. | |
| | ptrowskiGot Helix? Premium Member join:2005-03-14 Woodstock, CT |
ptrowski
Premium Member
2010-Mar-17 10:21 am
Re: UnfairI agree with liquidman. While there may be certain areas obviously you don't like (I wouldn't either) how does that change the ease of installation, etc? | |
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to liquidman
said by liquidman:This is a highly unfair review. First off, simply because you don't like their new policy, its unfair for you to lower your ease of installation, call quality, reliability and tech support .... Obviously, the OP (n4mwd) is just p.o.'d at VP and wants to get back at them by giving them the lowest rating possible. I'm guilty of the same sort of shenanagins in reverse when I give VP 100% across the board, mainly to counter the unrealistically high ratings given to some less-than-perfect VoIP Operators. I think the ratings are skewed and folks who want a true picture of a VoIP have to read, read, read review after review and determine for themselves the quality of the service based on the quality of the review. Read this review and it becomes apparent quickly that it is just a rant. | |
| | n4mwd join:2005-10-01 Loxahatchee, FL |
to liquidman
My review was truthful and an accurate representation of what they have done to me. I still have the emails they sent (and bounced) and can forward them to anyone if they want. But there are some inaccuracies with your post. First, They never gave me any advance notice of any $10 monthly fee or any regulatory fees. Second, I got three emails from them within the same hour. One said they are charging a $2.95 regulatory fee, the next said they hit me with a $10 monthly fee and a third saying they tried to hit my credit card without permission for over $50.
As far as the statement that there is no contract, well there isn't with my account because I never signed it. However, they did request that I print it out, sign it and then mail it back to them. I read it and refused to sign it and that means I keep my original terms and VP is not allowed to change them.
Now when I tried to resolve this issue, I replied to their email and complained. They then sent me a trouble ticket and demanded that I call them on a non-toll free number. Note that their email is working just fine at this point and they said they had disabled the account because they had the wrong credit card number. So I couldn't call them on their own system. I replied via email to the trouble ticket because I didn't have time for a lengthy chat with them on my nickel. A few minutes later I get a bounce notice that they had refused my email. The next day, I reply again and another bounce follows. I then sent a third email to their main customer service address (with the bounced email attached) explaining that I don't appreciate them blocking my email and that if they didn't resolve the issue, I would tell EVERYONE what they did. I waited another day before I posted here.
So NO, my post was not unfair. I gave them plenty of opportunity to resolve it. They refused. VP is unfair. If they don't like bad reviews, they should stop their dishonest business practices. As far as why I have VP connect instead regular VP, its because when they were a new company they were selling VP connect to anyone with an asterisk server.
I mean, why would anyone think that a company was even remotely close to honest when they let their PRE-PAID accounts are go negative just so they can charge people with a penalty fee?
Read your contract with them. If its like the one I read (and didn't sign) it says that (paraphrased): a) If hackers get your account numbers, you have to pay for all their use; b) If the hackers run your balance below zero, we will hit your credit card with a penalty; c) If hackers cause you to get a negative balance penalty, we will hit your card for more minutes to keep the hackers happy; d) You agree that we are allowed to screw with your credit card any time we want and that you wont try to complain about it to the credit card company. So did I miss anything? It did not have any term requirements, but it was still a contract.
So yes, every time the subject of voice pulse comes up, they will be told of this incident and they kind of business VP is. And that reminds me, I need to go add funds to my voice account at another VOIP company so that the balance doesn't hit zero and stop working. | |
| | n4mwd |
to liquidman
said by liquidman:... its unfair for you to lower your ease of installation, call quality, reliability and tech support not nil. They are solid on all the aspects. ... Ease of installation: It was a nightmare to get their service up and running. There was an issue with proper caller ID not being sent. Tech support failed to resolve this and it was only my experimenting that actually got it to start working with my system. After that, they changed their system around so frequently to the point where I gave up trying to keep it working. So as for this category, I stand by my low rating. Call quality: There are long delays in VP calls compared to the new company I deal with. Reliability: When you dial a US number via VP, you expect it to go through. If it can't for some reason, you expect to get a message that says something like: "All circuits are busy, please try again." Unless they have changed it, VP simply gives a standard busy signal. This effectively LIES to you indicating that the call would have gone through, but the person on the other end was already talking on the phone. This LIE was discovered by calling that person on a cell phone and getting through immediately. Essentially, at least at that time, not all areas in the US were served by VP and calls to those areas were routed to a fake busy signal to make it look like they covered more area than they did. So, because of this, their reliability goes negative. Tech support: Well, I have been able to contact them in the past, but with this last situation, they refused. So they get a zero on this for sure. So, again, they were once a decent company, but they have gone bad. I'm with another company now. I wont be going back to VP and I'm sure they are happy about losing another customer. | |
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Why is it?Why is it that companies like VoicePulse take their licks and have good and bad reviews and still have a 4+ average, but someone posts one bad review of the newer companies like VoIPo and it gets mysteriously removed? | |
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Re: Why is it?said by csudsu11:Why is it that companies like VoicePulse take their licks and have good and bad reviews and still have a 4+ average, but someone posts one bad review of the newer companies like VoIPo and it gets mysteriously removed? Have you seen that? I'm not doubting your word, but I hadn't noticed that. VOIPo has mostly good reviews, but a few negatives are posted. » User reviews - VOIPOSame for PhonePower. Almost all reviews are good, but a few negatives. » User reviews - PHONE POWERSo it does not look to me that there is any funny business. What reports have you seen removed? | |
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Review by bellorusha - Location: Brooklyn, Kings, NY, USA
- Business customer
- Cost Contract price not specified.
NONE False Advertisers, Scam with prepaid money DO NOT USE THEM
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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First of all they False Advertise, they said unlimited incoming call with DID, but I got the call yesterday and they said two of my accounts using too much minutes ( more then 2000) and that I have to go somewhere else. Can you believe that? Also for outgoing calls they pulling a big scam, if you put $20 prepaid for the outgoing calls, when the balance will drop below $0, they will charge you $20 fee for that. I mean this is a prepaid, the whole idea is to put some money for that time I have money. P.S. I'v been using VoicePulse for 2 years now, and first they lost me as a client because of outgoing prepaid issue, but I still left them all my clients with outgoing calls, and now I have to take all my clients elsewhere. Stay away. They False Advertisers and scammers. member for 21.6 years, 14 visits, last login: 14.3 years ago lodged 14.3 years ago
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There's some part of the story we don't knowThere's some part of the story we don't know here because it is extremely rare to hear about VoicePulse invoking Terms of Service on an account and shutting it down without a good underlying reason.
As far as the fee for going negative, I'm pretty sure you saw these items during sign-up, since you're required to check the box next to each one to complete creating an account:
* I understand that I must keep a positive balance in my account at all times. * I understand that VoicePulse will make every effort to keep my balance positive and phone service active, including correcting a negative balance situation by adding funds to my account even if auto-refill is off. * I understand that I may be subject to a negative-balance fee if my account reaches a negative balance in an attempt to deplete remaining funds.
VoicePulse makes every effort to keep your phone service active, even if your IT guy is on vacation and forgot to add more credit, which is appreciated by most of us. If you don't want a negative balance fee, don't overuse your service. That's how it works in real life. | |
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Re: There's some part of the story we don't knowAgreed.
All VoIP providers have restrictions on "unlimited" accounts, especially if designated residential accounts.
Many PAYG providers have auto-recharge provisions and/or fees for going below zero.
The review seems to be more of a tirade.
When people see tirades, they discount them. | |
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bellorusha2
Anon
2009-Dec-23 10:46 am
Re: There's some part of the story we don't knowif they have limits on incoming calls then PUT IN ON THE WEB SITE, and loose most of the business, because who will want to deal with a company who has limits on incoming, when plenty of companies who does true unlimited.
The idea with unlimited calls is like in food buffet, that with some clients you loose and with most clients you win. VoicePulse only wants to win.
I have 10 clients there, 8 are not using too much and 2 voicepulse blocked, so i'm taking all 10 clients out. Who is winning now damn voicepulse. This pushed me to go out there and do a research for a new company, and I did find a better one. But I had a lot of stress and headache for 2 days.
My point is if I knew that this would happen, I would NEVER EVER dealt with voicepulse. So new clients STAY AWAY from VOICE PULSE | |
| | | | suppafly Premium Member join:2009-11-27 97000 |
suppafly
Premium Member
2010-Feb-15 1:08 pm
Re: There's some part of the story we don't knowWell if other providers support the "real" unlimited then that would raise the price for ALL the customers, because there are always people trying to use the system for business usage, and truly cost a lot of money to companies. They have no choice but to pass the cost to all customers..
I´d rather to have an "unlimited" at a lower price and with restrictions that would not harm residential users | |
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Review by fourbear6 - Location: Okeechobee, Okeechobee, FL, USA
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Price, Features Tech Support, Reliability Value is not good with poor Reliability and support
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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VoicePulse How can this company stay in business? After one year of service I started having problems and my phone would not work. Voicepulse said there was a problem with my router and wanted me to contact Linksys. So I called Linksys and they said my router was working fine. Then voicepulse wanted me to contact Sipura about the adapter, so I did and Sipura said they thought the adapter was bad and for me to contact voicepulse. Now voicepulse still says it my router so I buy a new router and still the phone does not work. Now voicepulse says maybe it is the adapter and wants me to pay for a new one. This is two weeks later with no service and I was not willing to spend any more time and money on voicepulse so I requested them to cancel my service. They still charged me for the month of October while I had no service. Today I get a call from voicepulse saying I owe them over 100 dollars because my service is still active and also I have to pay for the broken adapter. Well you can guess what I told them! Oh and I have signed up with a new VOIP and you know what both old and new routers work fine. Dont Use VoicePulse! member for 18.5 years, 15 visits, last login: 17.1 years ago lodged 17.2 years ago
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bad adapter?From what you stated, the router was o.k., then it most likely was the adapter that was faulty. It is a shame that you did not pursue this one step further, replaced the adapter, and you would have nothing to complain about other than a premature adapter failure. What I gleaned from your ranting review is that you did not mention any problems with the quality of the voice when the service was working. You did not mention any myriad of problems prior to this one incident of an adapter failure. You stated you "requested" that your account be canceled; however, there is a link on your online account that you could have followed to cancel your account. If you 'requested' that your account be canceled when speaking to a tech rep about your problems, that 'request' probably fell through the cracks. Tech reps are there to fix technical problems, not account/billing changes. It is unfortunate that VoicePulse failed to overnight to you a new adapter in exchange for your old one. They would have retained a customer and you would have been happy. I hope your new VoIP is trouble free. | |
| PCInTechkeeping art alive since 1953 Premium Member join:2004-06-07 Massena, NY |
PCInTech
Premium Member
2007-Feb-8 7:44 pm
Sorry to hear thatGood luck with your new service. I'm sure you know that you're in an extremely small minority in your dissatisfaction with VP. Maybe something else will make you happy. | |
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one2mark
Anon
2007-Feb-9 6:00 am
I'm satisfiedThis is my first post here, VP has worked well for me, and they seem to respond in a timely manner. I've recommended them to friends who are also satisfied. | |
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rosh400
Member
2007-Feb-14 10:55 am
You gave up to easilyIf your router was working okay, it was probably your adapter. I would have insisted that they replace the adapter by overnight service and elevated the issue if the first tech support guy did not help. | |
| ga2522 join:2005-08-18 Ravena, NY |
ga2522
Member
2007-Feb-18 1:25 am
Bad adapter likely the culpritI had issues the first time that I signed up with VP but it turned out to be a bad adapter. I had no trouble getting a new one and tech support has always been more then willing to troubleshoot problems to resolution. I find the staff to be easy to talk to and accommodating. | |
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Wish you all the Best with VPI didnt have many problems; service was OK until I needed support and this is were they let me down.
Customer Support was Bad, no return calls, kept getting the run-around, Poor records of my issues. The voice quality was fair. Voicemail was on and off sometimes hard to understand, cutting off the first part of message. Call hunt did not work with voicemail this did not bother me that much. No Credit for non-service. Would not unlock adapter after 1 year of service. After one year of service VP said I had to pay them an early term fee. After one year of service VP told me I had to return the adapter I didnt care it did work anyways.
Yes the cancellation link, have you tried this? All it does is takes you to a page that says you have to call them. And the tech I talked with said he could cancel my acct.
Tech reps are there to fix technical problems, not account/billing changes. The tech that was helping me with my issues is the same one that canceled my acct. and now is the same one calling about my over due bill!
The Malfunction with the adapter was not the issue; it was the lack of care I received from customer support. I did insist that they replace the adapter and got no where. I tried to ask for a supervisor and the tech told me he was the supervisor. I tried to open a ticket online for a supervisor to contact me and guess what it gets routed to the same tech. This is when I got frustrated and canceled with VP.
Also a little word of advice, the only records of transactions they keep are the ones submitted online. This is why every time I talked with them they kept saying the issue was resolved with the problem being my router. Keep your own records of tech issues and what they tell you. It may come in handy later, it did for me.
Maybe it was just the person I had to deal with, Maybe VP fired him, Maybe VP is sad they lost a paying customer.
I dont mind being the Small Minority I just hope nobody has to go through what I did and wish you all the best of luck with VP. | |
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Review by gpslouis - Location: Olney, Montgomery, MD, USA
- Cost: $15 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 4 days
Simple to set up if you read the simple instructions. Worked first time. Amazing list of features. Help desk closes at 7 PM EST/EDT. Problems can take days to resolve, if they are ever resolved. Great until recently, then went rapidly downhill. Stay away.
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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SEE UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF REVIEW. STAY AWAY FROM VOICEPULSE. _______________________________________________________________ I got VoicePulse about two weeks ago, and so far it's been a very easy ride. I ordered the service on a Thursday afternoon via their web site, and the equipment (VOIP unit) arrived the following Monday. I plugged the VIOP adapter into my router (WRT54G), waited about two minutes per the instructions, and I was making and receiving calls. Right now my VOIP is flowing over my Cavtel / Phonom DSL link (512 KB down, about 256 KB up), but I'll be switching to FIOS in a few days. Sound quality is MUCH better than the Phonom VIOP, even though it's over the Phonom DSL connection. For incoming calls, caller ID with name works correctly, but if you don't like the name that is displayed, you can set your own value for the name through the VoicePulse web site. For outgoing calls, caller ID with name shows "out of area" on the recipients caller ID unit because Voicepulse does not register the name of the line owner with Telcos. Depending upon your point of view, this is either a good or bad thing. The supplied Sipura VOIP box rings my 9 phones with no problem. (The total ringer equivalence is about 5 in my house.) However, it has trouble driving voice on more than one phone at a time. In other words, If two phones in my house are off-hook, the volume for all call participants drops to a very low level. The customer support web site is very easy to use. There are endless features that can be quickly activated and configured via their web site. It's also very cool to be able to see the log of all outgoing and incoming calls. Just be careful about using any feature that does call forwarding if you bought the $15 / month plan, as there is apparently a per-minute charge for using call forwarding under that plan except when forwarding to a voicepulse number. VoicePulse does not support 911 service yet, which happens to be contrary to FCC regulations. Based on the letter (see link below) from the CEO of Voicepulse to the FCC, it looks like they are pursuing activation of 911 service, but are significantly behind the January 2006 commitment that they made in the letter to the FCC. » gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/e ··· 18183606I'll update again after a few weeks. ___________________________________________________________________ Update of March 19, 2006 My FIOS (5 MB / 2MB) circuit was installed last Friday so I moved my VoicePulse Sipura box over to the FIOS router (DI-624 supplied by Verizon). I didn't have to make any changes to the Sipura configuration, and the Voice Pulse service continued to work perfectly. The slight jitter that I experienced when using the Sipura on the Cavtel/Phonom circuit is gone on the FIOS circuit. Voice quality is absolutely perfect, as good as or better that POTS. I'm not going to bother with a detailed FIOS review, as there are so many reviews already that I don't think that I have anything to add. I will mention, though, that the FIOS iInstallation was performed on the requested date by a very courteous installer who did a top notch, very neat installation job. I should add, though, that he had a relatively easy installation job, though, since all he had to do was mount the FIOS equipment on my networking equipment board and run the FIOS cables from the board to the outside interface. ____________________________________________________________________ Update of December 1, 2006: Until the last few days, my VoicePulse service had been perfect. Then, two days ago, I could no longer receive calls. (Outbound calling still work fine.) I've called support 5 times over the past 24 hours, and although it's easy to reach a live person, all they'll tell me is that the problem is being caused by a provider downstream from them. They have no fix ETA and they won't give me any additional information. They won't even promise a fix within a week. I'm no longer very happy with VoicePulse. ___________________________________________________________________ Update of December 4, 2006: Still no incoming calls and no indication of when the problem will be fixed. I spoke to Customer Service Manager Ryan Gibbs today (who reports directly to the owner of VoicePulse). His "I don't care" attitude and lack of ability to provide any information about the cause of the problem or an estimated fix date are causing me to recommend that this failing provider not be used. I have also submitted a written, online complaint about VoicePulse to the FCC. __________________________________________________________________ Update of December 5, 2006 Still no incoming calls. No word from VP on when the problem will be fixed. Attachments: member for 19.4 years, 185 visits, last login: 11.9 years ago updated 17.3 years ago
thdesha join:2004-10-19 Knoxville, TN |
forwardingAs long as you forward in your local call area there is no charge. I've forwarded hundreds of calls to my work and cell phone in the same area code with no charge.
Welcome to the best... | |
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Re: forwardingThanks for the clarification. Various posts on BBR mention conversations with voicepulse CSR where the CSR says that there is a charge for forwarding to your local area, and other posts claim that there isn't a charge for forwarding calls to your local area.
In any case, I haven't seen any posts where someone was actually *charged* for forwarding calls to a local number.
The statement on the voicepulse web site says:
"Absolute forwarding allows you to forward all incoming calls on a line to another phone number. Calls forwarded to a non-VoicePulse number will be billed the same as regular calls made from your account (the local, regional, and long distance rules of your plan will apply) for those on Unlimited calling plans. Forwarded minutes on local calling plans will be 3.9¢ per minute."
Is that confusing or what?
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| | | gpslouis |
Re: forwardingIn the support section of the voicepulse website, there is an "UPDATED" entry (Answer ID #26) that says:
Question Do I get charged for forwarded calls?
Answer Yes, with the Local Unlimited +200 calling plan, all local and long distance calls that are forwarded (including Call Forward, Line Unavailable Forward, Filters, Call Hunt, etc) will be charged 3.9¢/min.
With the America Unlimited calling plan, there is no charge for forwarded local and long distance calls. | |
| | | | thdesha join:2004-10-19 Knoxville, TN |
Re: forwardingHowever if you read it states "calls forwarded to a non-VoicePulse number will be billed the same as regular calls made from your account (the local, regional, and long distance rules of your plan will apply) for those on Unlimited calling plans" the local is an unlimited plan. There is no charge to forward in your local area. It's the same as dialing the number from your service, if long distance applies it will be at 3.9 cents if you have used up your 200 included minutes. Try it and let us know, I use it at all times in case the cable modem is on the blink, it automatically forwards to my cell.
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Re: forwardingI'll give it a try for a short call. At worst, I'll be billed a nickel or so. I'll post the outcome when the bill comes. | |
| | | | | | Taskbar join:2001-02-11 Lake City, FL |
Re: forwardingOkay, update on 3/14/2006 at 6:36PM eastern time. Several of you chimed in to say I was incorrect in saying that there is a 3.9cents per min charge for those of us on the $15 a month plan. Okay... here's a copy/paste of the response I received as a followup to the telephone conversation with VoicePulse:
"Hello ,
As per our phone conversation, with the Local Unlimited +200 calling plan, all local and long distance calls that are forwarded will be charged 3.9¢/min.
This incident will now be set to resolved. If you feel this incident is not resolved, you may contact us by replying to this email or calling Customer Support at (732) 339-5100 M-F 9am-7pm EST." | |
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Outbound callsI live 5 miles from you, have FIOS internet and have no problems with my service. Have you tried unplugging routers and ATA and rebooting everything? | |
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Re: Outbound callsI am having this issue also with 2 of my 3 lines. The two that are down are 410-985-71## numbers. The one that is not was ported over from Verizon. | |
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Re: Outbound callsMy line was ported over from Verizon via Quatumvoice. | |
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Re: Outbound callsYes it seems like numbers that were assigned by Voicepulse (not Ported) are the problems. I wonder if they actually did not have the rights to use those numbers, and now the real owner wants them or the owner forgot they have the numbers assigned to VP. | |
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mushusker
Anon
2006-Dec-5 2:24 pm
Day 7 of no inbound callsI live 6 miles from Olney... Still no real explanation--just the same "it's an upstream provider issue." I think SVTCobra2003's explanation makes sense: it can't be software, or it would affect everybody. It can't be hardware--a cut fiber optic cable or fried router could be fixed in 24 hours, max. In my experience, a problem like this points to some issue between two parties. That's where you usually get delays. Somebody forgets to pay a bill and is auto-disconnected, or something of that nature. SVTCobra2003's supposition would also explain why only some users are experiencing this. My number is a non-ported number. Maybe Voicepulse "borrowed" these numbers from somebody | |
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Re: Day 7 of no inbound callsMy VoicePulse number is a Kensington exchange (301-551-xxxx), but I live in Olney.
VoicePulse customer service manager "Ryan" is very evasive about answering any questions. All he'll say is that their technicians are working on the problem.
I have decades of experience in data and voice communications and there's no way that it would take a week to solve a technical problem of this type. It's a business problem, not a technical problem. That's for sure. | |
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Inbound back upTested this morning and inbound calls were back up! Ryan called me too later to test the line. When pressed, the only explanation he gave was to say the engineers had an inbound routing problem that they resolved (right.....)
Come to think of it, I've had this problem on three previous occasions for 12-24 hours, and just ignored it. | |
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Re: Inbound back upMy inbound is also back up as of this morning. VoicePulse is giving me one month of service credit.
Nothing that Ryan said would indicate that this type of outage or this length of outage is unusual. Given the lack of communication from VoicePulse about the problem and the length of time that they took to restore service, I would not recommend them to others. | |
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| gpslouis |
to rosh400
Yes, cycled power on everything. VoicePulse knows it their problem. They've told me that the IXC that routes calls to them is not routing calls to certain VoicePulse numbers in my area. In other words, they claim that the VoicePulse switch isn't even seeing the inbound calls. | |
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Review by jchin - Location: Staten Island, Richmond, NY, USA
- Cost: $35 per month
- Install: about 2 days
Fast working service Charge for forwarded calls to local and VoicePulse-to-VoicePulse numbers! Deceptive Billing - charges for forwarded calls
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money:
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We have 2 VoicePulse lines on 1 TA; both using the "Unlimited Local + 200 Long Distance plan". And have been on the plan for 18 months. We were just hit with a $55 overage charge last month. When asked why, we were told that our "call hunt" (a free feature from VoicePulse) charges 4-cents per minute on calls forwarded (even to our other VoicePulse number). Later we found out that our "absolute call forwards" to our local cell phone number was also charged 4-cents per minute. NOTE: they advertise the plan that we are on as "unlimited local + 200 long distance" ... in reality it is NOT! It only applies if you make the calls, not if the calls are automated from their features (such as forwarding or call hunt). BEWARE !!! We've repeated called VoicePulse support and they all tell us this is the case and that they have been "charging this since the beginning". I don't think so, cause my bills for the past 17-months have not been charged an extra $55.10. They automatically charge your credit card and send no invoices. So be sure to read your bills in your account portal online! member for 18.5 years, 62 visits, last login: 15.7 years ago lodged 17.7 years ago
N9MDToo busy to chat Premium Member join:2005-10-08 Boca Raton, FL 1 edit |
N9MD
Premium Member
2006-Jul-18 11:27 am
Not a Fair ReviewGiven that your perception of wrongdoing by VoicePulse was shown to be wrong by virtue of posts in the Forum from other VP users, don't you think you should retract or correct this review. I don't use VP --- but several clear and direct responses with references to information on VP's website were posted in the Forum, showing you why your position is incorrect. I don't use VP --- but I am one of those who has become dischanted with people who post a review of a VOIP provider based misguided information. For others reading this nonsense, here's the actual thread started by the reviewer: » [VoicePulse] unlimited local is NOT unlimited | |
| | jchin join:2005-10-05 10300 |
jchin
Member
2006-Jul-18 4:02 pm
Re: Not a Fair ReviewNo I do not think I should retract my review.
After being a VoicePulse customer for 18+ months and they change the "unlimited local + 200 LD" plan without notifying the customer. We haven't changed our usage, which is 90% local (and 20% of that is VoicePulse-to-VoicePulse), I feel that I am in the right to give them a bad review for labelling something as "unlimited" when in fact their $14.99 plan is not really unlimited local.
All of the other VoIP providers out there do not charge for calls forwarded to other same-VoIP customers. VoicePulse charges for those calls by the minute on their "local unlimited + 200 LD" plan while promoting that they have features which allows your calls to follow you. That is outright deceptive to me.
Again, this is only my review and my opinion of VoicePulse. There are plenty of good reviews of them here.
Granted, other than this "not-so-unlimited call charge" deception, I've been generally happy with their service. It is slightly above average compared to other VoIP services; pretty much on par with Vonage (the grand-daddy of VoIP). | |
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the charges are clearAs of this date, it is absolutely clear on the VoicePulse website that all forwarded LOCAL AND LD calls on the "local unlimited + 200" plan are charged at the rate of 3.9 cpm.
Either the "plans" page was modified since the review, or the reviewer was unaware of the clearly stated charges. | |
| jchin join:2005-10-05 10300 |
jchin
Member
2007-Feb-19 7:44 am
VoicePulse updatedVoicePulse has since changed their website (more than once, I might add) to "more clearly reflect" their intended charges.
WARNING: they do NOT send out change notifications to their customers, so you'll have to check in to them (either by phone or their website, hopefully updated) to see what has changed. | |
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