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 Review by usa2k 
UPDATED: 172 days ago
member for 6.8 years, 3675 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Canton,Wayne,MI
 $40 per month (month by month)
 about 4 days
 "They support T.38, and send outgoing name, solid performance"
 "Some start-up devices need help and patience"
 "They are a Price/Features leader"
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Update 6/03/09
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This product seems to only exist for legacy customers.
They have their focus on Commercial/Business clients.
Home users look elsewhere.
»[Broadvox Direct] I think I am getting the hint.
Update: 6/15/08
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Not much to add because I left Broadvoxdirect some time ago now. No bad reason, just wanted to try something different. I think they abandoned the Residential world. therefore, I say it is likely best to look elsewhere.
New 03/28/2005
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The pricing I have is higher now, but a reseller »voip.net still has these prices.
NEW in 2005, BroadvoxDirect changed their unlimited package back to $29.95. Existing customers have not been adversely affected by changes for new customers.
»www.BroadvoxDirect.com has been such a good experience for me that I am leaving Vonage after 18 plus months of perfect service to use BroadVoxDirect as my preferred and primary phone service.
The presence of jgwilliams has not hurt them any. He is fair and supportive of other competitive services, and responsive to BVX questions. You can note he rarely initiates a topic; only speaks where he can offer perspective or help.
My stated monthly cost of $40 is roughly what Vonage started at for unlimited calling in all 50 States and Canada. Now I have two unlimited lines and two free virtual lines for the same price. Plans are getting cheaper (Vonage is $25 unlimited and for the same features I would pay around $56 a month.)
MY NUMBERS
734-437-xxxx Livonia MI
734-437-xxxx Livonia MI
647-722-xxxx Toronto Ont (Virtual)
904-482-xxxx Jacksonville FL (Virtual)
I feel Vonage is continually redefining the phone adapter they are using, and it is their down-fall with the manufacturing problems they have been having.
ATT CV also is floundering with the D-Link adapter. The bandwidth hogging, and troubles behind a router, and a NON-SIP protocol. Now they are going the Vonage use lots of different devices route. (And $30 too.)
BVX did start with the Sipura, and now is using the Mediatrix 2102. They have readily exchanged adapters for their customer base. The Mediatrix is a solid performer with T.38 supported by the adapter, and by the BVX switch. This is a first in reliable FAX transmissions.
A reliable Telephone Adapter(TA) combined with a reliable service at a decent price makes BVX the only smart choice for those served by Rate Centers they currently have. Their coverage is wide, but I hope they will expand further in North America.
The BVX click-to-call web interface will allow any phone to call any phone via their web portal. This counts as two calls, but on the Unlimited plan this is an amazing feature. I can force home to call my Nextel that has free incoming minutes as an example.
BVX does not offer incoming NAME; just NUMBER. I expect NAME and NUMBER in the first half of next year. They do offer an address book in their portal that will display any name you define. This is almost better because I can put my daughter's friends in instead of a parents name that I cannot remember or at least connect to the right kid.
The call treatments, and Follow-Me features are great to send an unwanted call that has a number passed to a busy signal, and to have family ring your cell phone if nobody answers at home 
BVX has a directory listing form. This sets your outgoing name (give it 3 weeks) and allows you to be listed in the local white pages. You can even receive a phone book.
Personally, I like to stay unlisted. I'm not on a do-not-call-list, and I still don't get all the telemarketing noise. VoIP seems good for that where numbers are widely available so you are not re-using someone else's number.
In LNP, they let you select to keep you existing number as a Virtual number, or have it ring the newly moved number for a temporary time, or just ditch the old number like I've decided to do. The LNP is web based and is intended to work with little human intervention. I am optimistic of a swift LNP report.
I also like that their portal will state useful updates/problems/announcements and you can look back at any of those notices in a calendar.
In summary I want to say you cannot compare price and features of BVX with any other service and feel short-changed. And yet there are new cool things coming yet.
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 Review by nunya
UPDATED: 3.8 years ago
member for 8.9 years, 3338 visits, last login: a few hours ago
O Fallon,Saint Charles,MO
$20 per month
about 4 days
"Sound Quality, Price, Extra # included, # of exchanges avail."
"Lack of Documentation, Quirky Install, Website Portal"
"Avoid Broadvox Direct at all costs."
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I have not been using Broadvox too long, so I will update as time goes by. So far I can tell you that sound quality is better than Vonage (in my experience) but still not up to par with POTS.
You can definitely tell that this is business service that has been stripped down for a residential offering. They have a little work to do there.
The web portal to access your account needs a lot of fine tuning as well.
I would say their biggest problem right now is a lack of documentation. (For example, the "Knowledge Base" has disappeared completely.)
Overall for my general use, things have worked well once up and running.
Compared to Vonage, I am happy with Broadvox so far. Hopefully they are working on hammering out the kinks. I'll update.
**Update**
2-20-05. Working well. A few VM hiccups. Beats the pants off of Vonage in quality. Sorry to see Broadvox raised their price. I was going to add a second line until I realized that they now charge $29.95/month.
***Update II***
11-13-05 and BVD has been working pretty well. I don't really have any complaints. I may be leaving BVD for a BYOD provider that works with Asterisk and costs less (not sure yet). I'll probably trial a new provider before leaving BVD. I do have to take points away from BVD for their customer support. They need to work on it. I am adding points for their portal web page because it has stabablized and I haven't hab any problems with it in a long while.
**Update**
01-08-06 BVD has worked well for me. I canceled the service because I went to an Asterisk system and do my own termination now. I would reccomend BVD to the average user if they could get in at the $19.95 price I had. There is still a company somewhere that resells BVD at that price. I had much better luck with BVD than Vonage. If BVD would/could lower their price back, they could snag a lot of customers.
***Update 5/30/06***
Broadvox direct has continued billing me for service after cancellation and equipment return. For, get this, 6 months! I'm in the midst of filing a lawsuit now because they will not stop billing me. My CC company isn't helping much either. Stay away from BVD is my only advice!!
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Review by mir
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 9.2 years, 710 visits, last login: a few hours ago
undisclosed location
$19 per month
about 10 days
"You can chose pretty much any area code"
"Call Quality, Call drops, No Telephone support, Can't fix the problem"
"Dont go with them"
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I been using them almost a year. At first they were good.
Then slowly they droped their serices to bottom of hole.
Its been 4 months since I have reported I can't make 3 way call. Till todays date I can't!
It took them 2 months to fix Call waiting issues
I can't keep the call more then 10 minutes either it will hang up or become dead air.
THey no longer have a phone support (They are in phone business aren't they?)
I am thinking of dropping them!
********
Sep 26 2005
I agree with broadvox, I need to take my business else where. They say the will refund the money, instruct me how to send me the adapter back to me
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Review by nanobug
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 4.2 years, 1468 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Herndon,Fairfax,VA
 Business customer
$34 per month
about 2 days
"Supposedly support T.38 faxing"
"Advertise free fax line w/ SOHO plan but that's a lie."
"Stay away!"
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I ordered the SOHO Regional service for $34.95 which, according to their webpage, gives a free fax line. After installing the device and not seeing any way to activate my fax line, I used the ticketing system to inquiry about the way to do it. The next day, I received an answer that it would cost me an additional $9.95/month plus $19.95 setup. I'm cancelling service just one day after activating it. These gives don't deserve anyone's business. And the lack of phone support totally sucks!
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Review by buffman697
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 4.2 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.2 years ago
Boston,Suffolk,MA
$19 per month (month by month)
"None"
"Everything"
"Stay away from this service"
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I ordered this service because it was the same price as compeditors but I didnt have to pay for a virtual number. After paying the extra money for setup and shipping, I received my device and plugged it in. I signed on to the website like they said to enter my MAC address and nothing happened. By the this time it was past 9pm and they were closed so I had to wait till the next day to call "tech support". I called the next day and they walked me through setting it up blaming it on my network. I am a network administrator by profession and I know my network is set up properly. They opened a trouble ticket for me and sent it to their techsupport department. Two days later I received a phone call from them, surprisingly he was very smart and knew what he was doing (I have no idea why he was working for this company). He moved me out of the provisioned table to the active table and my device started working. It worked fine for a few days and then started to disconnect and I would have to restart the adapter. I also put in my request for my virtual number when the service started working. I cancelled my service 22 days after I first signed up and my virtual number still hadnt been assigned, despite multiple calls to the support department. The tech support line couldnt figure out why my device wasnt working and kept opening tickets for them to troubleshoot, but no one got back to me. The customer service department was a joke and the hold music was just a local radio station out of Miami. I got to listen to the weather and traffic reports every time i was put on hold. I cancelled my service and they refused to give me a refund and told me I had to return the adapter or I would be charged.
Final analysis: Stay away from this service, you can listen to a fast busy signal for free.
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 Review by Da Geek Kid
UPDATED: 4.3 years ago
member for 6.1 years, 2259 visits, last login: 277 days ago
Mclean,Fairfax,VA
$29 per month
"none that I can say"
"International Long Distance Pricing"
"Free Calls to Canada and good local calls..."
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After Upgrading my service and the DSL Modem all the problems have gone away and I now can guestimate that the problem was mostly based on the SpeedStream Modem, since it was having a hard time keeping the connection...
Well,
I do have a 1.5mbps and even with the new BVD device and 90kbps high quality sound the voice sounds a bit choppy and not so clear and for the first time I got disconnected last nite for no apperent reason... That was the first. I'll keep you updated...
Low quality is worst than then cell, and the High quality is cell quality @ best...
another anoyance is that the BVD device seems to run hot all the time..
Well, after having this for a while I have discontinued the service because the Customer Service really sucked... I had ordered to replace the HOT box with a newer one and they canceled the service when I sent the old one back.. I tried to get the fone back on with no luck for 4 weeks... This people were very amateur in what they did... BIG disappointment...
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Review by tru215
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 4.4 years, 51 visits, last login: 3.7 years ago
Quantico,Prince William,VA
$21 per month (month by month)
about 10 days
"fairly inexpensive, but more than other services that offer more"
"terrible web site, calls dropped, tech support non-existent, no refund of money"
"STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. THEY WON'T LAST"
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I have had Broadvox for 7 months. During that time I have had many problems. I was willing to live with the problems because I was saving money over POTS. However, over time I found that this service is not up to par. The web site and login portal has not been improved in all this time, and it is, to put it mildly, a joke. Tickets I would open would not be handled at all, but just sit there and be miraculously "closed" without resolution. They are virtually impossible to get ahold of by phone, so whatever problem arises is basically just "there" because tickets aren't being taken care of and phone support does not exist.
At the end of May I had it with them, decided to go to another provider that offered more features for less cost and is reviewed highly on Broadbandreports. It is a huge difference all around, I am happy with the new service. To put the icing on the "down in the dumps" cake, Broadvox Direct pretended to not having received the adapter back from me for a few weeks. They finally acknowledged that they received it back, just that there was a mixup in their receiving department, and that a credit would be put back on y credit card shortly. Now, over a month later, there has been no equipment credit given back to me. They are probably going to keep my money, will never issue my credit.
Bottom line: Stay as far away from this company as possible. They are reviewed near the very bottom of the pack on Broadbandreports for a good reason. BAD COMPANY ALL THE WAY AROUND.
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Review by Rzak
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 170 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
Canada
$9 per month
"Cheap... well, for the $9.95 plan"
"Customer Service, Tech Support, Call Quality, LNP Department, should I go on..."
"Stay away - there are many other options out there that do a WAY better job..."
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Well, I enthusiastically subscribed to BVX at the end of October 2004 as it was one of only a few US based companies available to Canadians and because, at the time, they were reasonably inexpensive. I signed up with the assumption that I could port my phone number over to BVX (I was told I could prior to signing up) and make them my exclusive phone provider. Well, that was wishful thinking on my part. I received the adapter in good time, tried it out using the temporary number that I was provided (this while I waited for my primary number to port over) and wasn't too impressed. Call quality was well below my Primus TBB service I was/am still with. However, I remained hopeful and decided to remain patient. Anyways, I waited, and waited, and waited... and after eight months of trying to port my number over I cancelled my service. While I was enduring this very unfortunate experience, I became more and more disappointed by the lack of customer service and tech support. I tried everything I could on my end to make things work but this sort of effort was not reciprocated by BVX. Tickets were answered in a very untimely manner, I could never get a straight answer re: my lnp application, and the portal never improved. In fact, things got much worse - prices went up and phone support was completely removed (you can only contact BVX via the ticketing system or email at this point). I am still embroilled (actually, not really since I've given up) with them over a billing/credit issue but do not believe this will be resolved. Whatever I guess... glad I got out while I still could...
To sum it up, stay away from BVX. There are a whole lot of providers out there that are more customer oriented and actually give a sh!t...
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Review by qalam
UPDATED: 4.5 years ago
member for 4.5 years, 16 visits, last login: 4.4 years ago
Urbana,Champaign,IL
$19 per month
"Online features: follow me, conect calls, free virtual number"
"Poor customer service, canceling service without notice due to usage, Misleading advertising of Unlimited service"
"IF I had to do it over again, I would pay the $29.99 SBC domestic Long distance +4.99 UNLIMITED Canada Plus plan."
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[edit/update review- I felt I should update my review becuase when I wrote it, I used some really harsh and maybe incorrect terms]
[And Everyone Must know about the Terms Of Service TOS so I am quoting from it here at the beginning:]
TOS quote:
"B: Customer-Only Traffic. [cut]. In the case of residential service usage is limited to those persons residing within the dwelling as listed with Broadvox, or visitors of the dwelling. Any attempt to resell or otherwise distribute the services delivered under this agreement will result in immediate cancellation of services. In addition Broadvox may bill subscriber for individual service lines, per minute usage; including domestic calls exceeding 3,000 minutes in a given 30 days cycle, at the highest published rate over the preceding 90 days. "
I signed up for Broadvox 3 months ago when they were offering the service for 19.99. Seemed like a good deal with a ton of features.
Quality: I barely had any problems with it. Occasionaly there were dropped calls and occasional voice quality was affected but no big deal. I would just reconnect and I am not a business user to worry about customers.
[cut] Here is where the interesting part comes. My service suddenly stopped working. I called customer service and they informed me that becuase the last month I had Abused my plan [according to Terms of Service usage of over 3000 minutes and pattern of usage maybe deemed commericial and automaticaly cut off without explanation].
The whole reason I got VOIP is so I didnt have to pay over $29.99 to SBC to have unlimited domestic long distance including a canada plan for $5 more.
OK if you are stil reading, this is how my encounter went with them:
I called and talked to a CSR lady. My call got answered in less than 5 minutes.
The lady said let me check the ticket you have openned. After a few minutes she returned my call and said the system has locked you out and your account has been cancelled. You will need to return the adaptor back to us within 14 days or you will be charged a fee.
I asked, but whats the reason. She said it seems you have abused your service. I was confused and I inquired further what they meant by abuse. She said you have used xx number of hours per month which is automaticaly considered abuse by our system. After further inquiry and looking at the TOS (much later) I found out that the magic number is 3000 minutes.
I really needed the phone becuase I knew how much it had cost me in the past with calling cards and with SBC and 19.99 is unbeatable (except now with Sunrocket).
I said ok well I didnt know about this since you had advertised UNLIMITED service. Just re-instate my account and I will stay under 3000 minutes. I guess I have to reduce my calls to my wife in canada.
She said unfortunately there is NOTHING she could do. I could sign up again once I have returned the adaptor. I said, wait a minute, why go through this whole hastle of me sending the adaptor and then you sending it back to me. She said thats the only way to do it. Then I said, well now its 29.99, it seems you signed me up at 19.99 and now you are forcing me to switch to 29.99. Not only that but you want me to resign and pay set up fees, shipping and all that.
At this point I was upset but I have dealt with worse CSR;s of other companies such as Dell, Cingular, T mobile, so I asked for a manager to clarify this ludicrous idea of canceling and re-signing. The manager, Denis Diller, the name I was given, said the same thing over and over and over again. Very inflexible until the end when he transfered me.
Please Note that I expected more from the manager of Broadvox so my frustration grew as time went on. And at no where in the conversation did he offer to help me out or explain that it maybe the TYPE or Pattern of Usage that may also be involved. I learned about the Pattern of usage issue much later when I actualy joined this forum.
I said to him well this is fraud to advertise Unlimited residential service but you really offer 3000 minutes. He said it is in our Terms Of Use. I said where on your website is that, please show me. He said he doesnt have time to navigate everyone in their website. But he said thats what you agree to when you sign up. So I said ok, thats the only way I will be finding your terms of use is to go through the sign up process. Your advertising on your website is completely a a fraud. Unlimited means no Limits in every dictionary I own.
He just sounded like a machine repeating the whole thing over and over. I was getting no where.
I told him I could report him to the FTC, our local district attorney for false advertising. Other companies like blockbuster [advertised no late fees but actualy charged them somehow] and compusa [I believe issues with rebates] have been busted. He calmly replied that they have a team of lawyers and they can defend themselves.
Then I said, in addition to that, I will make sure every forum online knows about this. At this point, he softened up--maybe got scared?--or felt sorry for me--whatever it was, he said let me switch you to our COMPLIANCE department. I am thinking, what the heck is that? [Is this a good thing or a bad thing.]
I was ready to fight it all the way. And it wasnt about the extra $10 I was going to save. Heck I would give them $10 in charity every month from now on. It was fact that I was accused of abusing it and not given even a chance to remedy it. Nothing was worth the headache I got and the time I put into it and pain and suffering I felt afterwards...not even 10,000 dollars.
A guy answers and I just repeat the whole thing to him and how it is a scam they are running. He said, if you say SCAM one more time, he will hang up. So I agreed not to say 'scam' anymore. lol Fair enough!
He was very very professional. I was surprised that they are finaly reviewing my case rather than just denying
He checked my calls and asked me about almost every phone number I have called or called in and said that they have reasons to believe that I may have commercial activity going on. I said there is no such thing. Most of my calls, 90% are to a couple of numbers, my cell phone, my wife's cell phone and her/home/work. We use follow me, click to call and forwarding options, you can check it out in my online profile.
After another 10-15 minutes, he said that he has restored my account and I can continue using it.
I was thinking to myself why am I even dealing with this company. But then I wanted an open line to canada until I switched to another company. So I said, thank you for restoring my service.
In closing I asked, Can you please confirm that I should use only 3000 minutes a month? He said, no it is really unlimited.... He said that their computers are set to detect 3000 minutes. But you should be fine [since we have noted your account]. At this point I didnt know if he was just getting rid of me or what.
But one thing I had to ask him. So I went ahead and asked, What is up with this cancelling and then telling me to resign at 29.99. He said that you would not have been able to sign up again. YOu would have been shut out.
[He contridicted the other two people I had spoken to including the MANAGER. ]
At this point I was furious that not only did the 3 different people I talked to contridicted each other but clearly had an agenda of bait and switch at the begining. Or possibly they just told me that I could re-sign but then would block me once I tried since "i was not a profitable customer". [These were thoughts running through my head but of course may not be true]
Oh and the interesting thing was that earlier when I checked my email, I had recieved their cancellation email and guess what it said?!
"per your request, we are canceling your service, please return your adaptor..."
Per your request??????????
Anyways, my service is stil active but only becuase I need to call canada. And I am looking for other options.. other voip. But now I am generally skeptical about all of them. They all seem to be running some kind of campaign to acquire as many customers as possible with sweet features, low prices and then screw them up later on!
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Review by kpop501
Posted: 4.6 years ago
member for 4.6 years, 0 visits, last login: 4.6 years ago
Milpitas,Santa Clara,CA
$19 per month
about 10 days
"none"
"everything else"
"Rip off! Don't deal with this company. Read the Fine line!"
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I've had this service for several months now and the service has been horrible. The call quality is always poor, with constant statics, echos, and frequent dropped calls. Their user portal is ridiculous. I cannot configure any features. I've issued many service tickets, but all I ever get is basically "we are working on it" type of response. Their tech support is essentially non-existent. Their promised call waiting feature never worked for me. When I called several times about this, their last response was that their system showed everything was working fine, so it must be my phone. So I went out and bought a new phone, but same thing. I never get any chirping sounds and the incoming calls go to my cell phone message (figure that one out!).
I've checked into other VOIP services, but it looks like everybody else is having similar problems. So, I think I'll just wait until I find a better company to switch over.
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Broadvox Direct
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