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Review by lingosucks 
member for 57 days, 0 visits, last login: 57 days ago
updated 47 days ago
 undisclosed location
 $35 per month "affordable calls to Europe with World Unlimited plan" "customer service reps who are slow, purposely put you on hold, and lie brazenly." "stay away from Lingo"
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Lingo is a terrible VOIP company. I had them for 7 years, since July
2005, so I should know. Only being able to make cheap calls to Europe
and the lack of competition that was any better for most of those years
kept me with them. Every call to customer service took at least 30
minutes. Several times, calls to random numbers would not work.
Technical issues were eventually solved, but billing issues were always
a war. The last straw for me was when I was billed for a number supposed
to be free (I provided customer service the number before calling), was billed anyway, and
when I requested a refund over 5 separate calls and a 3 week period, I
was refused, and never received promised calls from the supervisors.
When I disputed the charge with my CC company, Lingo sent me a letter
threatening collections action, and when I called them and pointed out
that a disputed charge is not the same as a late payment, they suspended
my service (on the same day the letter arrived!). In disgust, I made the
payment, and cancelled the service. If your time and peace of mind mean
anything to you, avoid Lingo like the plague. Use Google Voice to make
free calls in the US or Canada. There are other VOIP services which are
better. A leading Consumer magazine has a list of them.
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Review by slawek
member for 9.7 years, 135 visits, last login: 35 days ago
updated 227 days ago
- 10028
- $24 per month
- (12 month contract)
 about 4 days- "price, works on high-speed 'anywhere'"
- "Calls don't get thru"
- "ok for the money"
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(June 2004) I got LINGO before there was a category for it... I did write a review, but have no idea where it went. Sign-up was simple, got LINGO box in a few days, took about a month+ to port my 212 number - and now there is a monthly charge for it!
I had numerous problems with the service - busy signal (even calling my land-line -- I am glad I kept one!), "number not in service", voicemail was off for months, etc. See my 'other' post:
I have Lingo from day one (maybe two), and if not for low price and 'free' calls to Europe, I'd drop it. Most 800 calls don't connect ("That number is not in Service"), some international calls end with the same message, they charge for 800-555-1212, voicemail is spotty (but it goes to my email). Tried to use it on high-speed in Europe with mixed results. Customer service in India is hopeless... very polite and totally clue-less. How many times I had to explain that VoiP light is not on... duh. And lastly - I have to stop all upload activity for ppl to hear me clearly... my up speed is low (that is Earthlink problem).
Fast forward many years (2011) and I am still with Lingo. Changed package to bare bones $10/month (no contract) and use it only for incoming calls (outgoing 4 cent/min). got new adapter and take it on trips to Europe.
Comments:
 | | Maybe it's time to switch There are other choices that are less expensive, higher quality and much more travel friendly. When you're not home, you can forward calls inexpensively to your cell phone, using a prepaid local SIM card, and make outbound calls via click-to-call or callback.
For first class, consider Callcentric. You could port your 212 number and pay $1.95/mo. + $0.015/min. for incoming calls, or $5.95 for unlimited incoming. Or, get a new 347 number at $2.95, unlimited incoming. For all of the above, add $1.50/mo. for 911 (not needed if using it from outside US). Outbound domestic calls are $0.0198/min.; forward to e.g. France mobile, $0.1309/min.
Lower in quality and reliability, but IMO as good as Lingo, try Localphone. $0.99/mo. for an unmetered 646 number (sorry, no porting or 911), outbound domestic $0.005/min., forward to FR mobile $0.069/min.
There's also Google Voice. Used with the Obihai OBi100 adapter, you can make and receive free domestic calls from (US or foreign) home. The OBi can also relay calls to/from your mobile inexpensively, making use of other service(s) as desired. | |
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Review by Mango
member for 3.3 years, 1928 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 1.6 years ago
- Alberta
- Contract price not specified.
- "This company spams forums - avoid."
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This company has spammed at least eight forums (including this one) that I've found so far. First "browynscott" or "alisonfarell" makes a post that says, "I am planning to switch to Internet phone. Heard good things about Lingo, how is it?"
Then, "philipwinthrop" or "pwinthrop" shows up a few hours later and says that "as per their website and some of my friends", they have "got good rates and neat features". In one post, he said he may even sign up himself! If that's not a testimonial, I don't know what is!
In the spirit of keeping spam under control, I recommend you avoid this VoIP provider.
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 Review by marcusj3000
member for 8.9 years, 1467 visits, last login: 186 days ago
updated 1.8 years ago
- 71303
- $28 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 14 days
- "Great call quality, features, and price"
- "CALL do not email for support!!!"
- "Great value for phone service!!!"
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July 20, 2010
Still going strong no down time and calls always sound great. Price is as good as it gets and I have no problems except when internet goes out.
September 22, 2009
All is well only needed one reboot because router went down and didn't give VOIP adapter a IP address(I have it set as a static one now). plan keeps getting better with adding free calling to more countries. rates are cheap for even those that they don't agreements for. I see a lot of complaints that are mainly internet issues, equipment setup problems, general lack of knowledge, and congestion. A lot of people are not internet and technological savvy when it comes to dealing with stuff like this and it shows in their post. You can't have the cheapest internet plan and expect this to work with it because these adapters require a somewhat speedy and stable internet connection. If you already have problems with disconnects, slowdowns in speed,throttling, packet loss, or really low upload speeds from your internet provider, VOIP use is probably not your best bet. Be smart and do your research before you just order service for VOIP. Another warning is to check and see if you will have 911 service before you buy otherwise you might have an emergency and that's the wrong time to find out your VOIP is not 911 or E911 compatible. Lucky for me i checked and lingo had E911 access for my area. Might take them a week or two to get it setup. Your mileage may vary.
Feb. 2009
I came from being charged extraordinary amounts from AT&T having phone service through them but thought it was time to shop around. Tried Vonage but they didn't provide numbers for my area and I'm glad they didn't because Lingo is amazing unlimited to common countries like US/Canada/Mexico but having unlimited calling to 22 other countries like Western Europe is something the others don't have. One tip though is if you get VOIP you need to have enough bandwidth otherwise you will have call quality problems.
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 Review by bbrlogue
member for 8.4 years, 975 visits, last login: 37 days ago
updated 2.2 years ago
- 22302
- $20 per month
- "Quick shipment, quick activation of number, DND, Advanced Forwarding, ATA"
- "No external VM access number, VERY DIFFICULT TO CANCEL"
- "Solid for 5+ years, but expensive and poor customer service"
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EDIT 02/04/10: I've been trying to cancel Lingo for almost two weeks and still have not heard from their account department. We called CS every day, but the CS in India can't do cancellation and they can only forward us to the Account Department, so we would be on hold for a long time only to get a voice recording that they're not available. Tired of calling, I sent an email notice of cancellation and got a reply back from CS that someone from the Account Department would call us, but no one ever did.
I had to take the last resort: I changed the credit card on my account to a virtual credit card number (Citi) and set its max to $20 (and my last bill should be less than that). If that's not enough to cover the last bill, then they need to call me (pun intended).
No more Lingo and their poor customer service and their non-competitive pricing.
EDIT 01/04/10: Lingo has been rock solid with no issues for 5 years now. I've only had two CS call a while ago, and both resolved the issue immediately. Given that, I am on trial with Voipo and PhonePower for their cheaper service. I find it suprising that some features that Lingo has had for years are still on beta phases on Voipo, and not available on PhonePower. That tells you how far ahead and how stable Lingo is.
EDIT 01/27/06: Still happy with Lingo, but when is name caller id coming??
EDIT 12/27/04: With the help of caseydoug and voip forum, I also found out that I can program the UTS-Starcom adapter so that I can use my back up POTS line for certain calls (e.g, 911).
I have had Vonage (and still do) for over a year, and have had Packet 8 as well.
I am currently trying out Lingo and SunRocket. Vonage has been stable for me, so the primary reason for testing Lingo and SunRocket is to get two feature that Vonage doesn't have: anonymous call rejection and do not disturb. (EDIT 12/27/04: I canceled SunRocket)
So far, I am have been mildly satisfied with Lingo. Call quality is decent and I have had no technical difficulties. Numbers are activated instantly. When I signed for additional numbers on the Web, the number was activated just within minutes of pressing the submit button (compared to SunRocket, which took 13 business days to activate just the primary number!)
Customer service is so-so. I've had to deal with them twice - the first one was horrible (got forwarded to tech support by a lazy CS who didn't even forward me correctly, and then the tech support had a bad English and had trouble understanding me who was already speaking slowly and repetitively). The second experience was much better.
Their Web portal is not good, both from the performance and usability perspective. Users have to go through several clicks to get to the call details or features control. The feature control page is actually on a different server and it makes things even slower.
Their features are ok. The do not disturb feature only has an on or off setting. I was hoping I could control it to be enabled during certain time of day (VoicePulse has this). There is also no option for the caller to get pass the screen, so important or emergency incoming calls will still get rejected. (EDIT 12/27: I now use the Advanced Call Forwarding feature to do scheduled DND).
Another disappointment is the lack of caller id with name, and even more disappointing, the lack of voicemail portal numbers. Vonage has these two features and it has tons of local access voicemail portail numbers. I can be away from home and check the voicemail during a meeting or in a car, without having to call my home number and possibly disturb the family.
Finally, if Vonage has anonymous call rejection (and less critically, do not disturb feature), I would continue with Vonage. For the time being, I still prefer my Vonage service. (EDIT 12/27: Looks like the Advanced Call Forwarding and ACR feature would be enough for me to go with Lingo. Added with CallWave which I already have for $3.95/mo, I can have set it to be the VM so I get an outside VM portal).
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Review by wolfmanjm
member for 2.3 years, 7 visits, last login: 2.3 years ago
updated 2.3 years ago
- San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
- $32 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 10 days
- "good features, good quality voice, free international calling"
- "support sucks, unreliable"
- "Do not recommend anymore"
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I had this for over two years, and up until this weekend (Jan 10 2010) it had been working great. It has been down for about 2 days now. You can't get through to tech support (which always sucked), there is no information on the web indicating there is a problem, and according to other users, they either deny or admit there is a problem. An outage this long indicates a severe level of incompetency, nothing can be down that long short of the building falling over. I'll be switching.
UPDATE I switched to ooma, see my review there.
UPDATE again then I switched back to Lingo
still looking for an alternative that offers working simultaneous ring
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Review by moyeti
member for 6.4 years, 38 visits, last login: 129 days ago
updated 2.4 years ago
- Spring,Montgomery,TX
- $30 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 10 days
- "Low cost and high features are really, really cool"
- "Calls dropped / last yr maybe 6 days unuseable"
- "Just finished 1 yr Starting to Look around again..."
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Got Lingoed Aug '05 thru a referral. My friend never got his $25 either. He is w/ SuperiorVOIP now. Wants me to follow him there, says its' got better quality. Who knows.
Back to Lingo. Overall it has been OK, but there are times where the service is ether not useable, or poor. Not very often, but there are times. Like all day today. My idea to switch, so I get blamed each time and reminded of it. That is a drag, but I've learned to say use your cell in the interim.
I like the savings and features, but want better phone quality. I'm going to try and resolve a problem I am having right now with incoming phone calls that after 1 or 2 rings drop. If that gets resolved quickly and a good explanation as to why I get charged over 30 when I signed up for 19.95, I'll stay. I believe it has something to do w/ my "extra" line, but I did ask them to switch it over using my existing line. I'll update when I get the poop in. Looking at ViaTalk, however...
Update 8/28/2006 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My problems with the dropped calls have been resolved somehow. Just a 1 day occurenc for some reason. Could have been my ISP, Lingo, don't know. At any rate I still need to find out about the charges and some other features before deciding to stay or go. I don't think there are too many that much better though. Seems all of them have had about the same amount/type of problems I've had.
Update 8/28/2006 PM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Looks like I've been charged 4.95 all along for using my old # instead of the Lingo assigned one. I wonder if Vonage would charge me for that, and they seem (according to the boards) have better voice quality. Hmm....
Update 8/30/2006 PM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Calls are dropping again. I'll have to get w/ Lingo to see if this can be rectified. Will post at that time.
Update 9/2/2006 AM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It was the simultaneous ring back to my 2 cell phones. Each one costs an additiona 128K upload width and apparently my drops (earthlink cable 5M) to a point where this doesn't work. I turned off the simulatenous ring. Recycled and will turn back on and report back.
Updated 9/3/2006 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It appears that was the problem. I reduced the simulataneous ring back to just one cell phone and there hasn't been a problem. The customer care was very curtious and prompt. I'm going to stay with lingo. It is working for me. I have upgraded their review settings, but if it heads south, I'll be back. Best of luck. If you want to contact me as a referral feel free thru the site here.
Updated 11/4/2006 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I've given up using any simultaneous ring back function. No calls getting thru again, so i turned off the remaining one. Upload speeds were OK too, but as soon as I turned it off at the lingo website, I started getting my calls thru. Turned on, no calls, then turned off. Haven't looked back at this funciton. It was pretty cool when it worked though. I'll have to get a lingo cust rep on it and see why none of it is working.
Updated 11/14/2006 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, the more you think you know. Got this reponse:
Simultaneous Ring feature is nothing to do much about bandwidth. It just needs proper configrations and also all the numbers which you have configured should be active and working. When you have one of the phone numbers are switched off or not working may cause problems recieving calls.
So I guess I'll try it one more time.
Updated 2/10/2007 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I haven't turned on the simultaneous ring feature, but all else is extremely well. I wish I could crack this not (simult ring) and use the feature. I'll try again and let everyone know. Who knows, they have gotten better and better over the last yr so maybe this quirk will work out.
6/12/2009 update >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
all i well and the service is really stable, Only time an issue has been w/ cable conn is poor.
11/21/2009 update >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Service flawless, really. Looking at uverse replacement because of deals and tv logistics.
11/28/2009 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Going to Uverse on 12/7 and will be terminating Lingo service. I'll report here if there is a problem w/ termination, else see review in Uverse section. I'll be assimilating w/ the fiber network. It is futile to resist. 
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Review by Fillimerica
member for 3.7 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
lodged 2.5 years ago
- 07034
- $33 per month
- (month by month)
- about 14 days
- "Generally reliable service, good voicemail system"
- "Increasing cost, prohibited from switching to best plans, fees, support"
- "A decent technical provider near the bottom of the value proposition"
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Have been a Lingo customer for five years and can echo the opinions of many long time customers. The service started out as a great value and they have steadily increased the cost and added punitive fees.
Last year I tried unsuccessfully to switch from the $22/mo plan to an annual plan (Talk-365). It defies comprehension why they wouldn't want to lock in a good customer willing to prepay but they won't! Have also seen the taxes and fees escalate to 50% of the base charge got me looking elsewhere for a lower price and an annual contract.
The quality of the calls were generally good, with clear reception except that sometimes the person on the other end would complain about breakup. I couldn't hear it on my end.
I only had to contact technical support about call routing issues a few times. Not much to say except they took the message and the issues got fixed a few days later.
Contrary to what many other reviewers have stated, my cancellation experience was quite positive. I dialed the 917 number, chose cancel and was on hold for less than 5 minutes. A nice CS person politely closed my account without much fuss. Too soon to see if they try to keep on billing the CC, but I do have their confirmation email. Since I am beyond the 24 month term, they didn't want the ATA back nor was there a termination charge.
Moving on to PhonePower, which has also been a very positive experience so far!
Comments:
PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
Zarephath, NJ
kudos:12 | Why is Lingo so dumb? Excellent review.
Lingo has become less and less relevant in the VoIP marketplace.
It is almost as if they have a death wish.
I hope that you have a great experience with PhonePower! | |
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Review by curro
member for 8.5 years, 1108 visits, last login: 58 days ago
updated 2.6 years ago
- 77586
- $31 per month
- (month by month)
- about 7 days
- "Reliability and quality of voice are above average. E911 works!"
- "Fees/taxes are as bad as traditional phone lines"
- "Not economically worthwhile for the average residential user"
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UPDATE 9/29/09: Well after being with Lingo for over five years is time to move to 'better value for the money' VOIP companies. Lingo has really gone 'South' in terms of their cost and all the fees. Just take a look of my latest bill:
Federal Taxes & Fees: 0.19
Universal Services: 1.78
State Taxes & Surcharges: 1.82
County/Local Taxes: 0.50
Texas USF Surcharge: 0.96
Presubscribed Inter-exchange Carrier Chrg: 0.00
Subtotal for Tax and Surcharges 5.25
Regulatory Recovery Fee for xxx 1.99
Emergency Services Fee for xxx 1.99
Subtotal for Fees 3.98
Total Fees, Taxes & Surcharges: 9.23
Unbelievable!!! Back in 2004 it wasn't even three dollars! Yes I still need to call overseas but I am now trying CallWithUs plus Callcentric for incoming. In a few months I will do a review of these providers. Ciao Lingo ...
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I have been looking at VOIP for a while and I was going to give Broadvoice a try until I learned about Lingo through BBR and their three-month offer with unlimited calling to W. Europe for $39.90 ($29.95 activation+$9.95 shipping). It caught my attention their international plan because I noticed that on the average I already spend around $10/month to call Spain so I could see spending $15 a month for 500 minutes to US, Canada and W. Europe. Besides, their rates to other countries I was interested were pretty good too. I placed the order through a very helpful customer care representative in Virginia (Irina) and after I got the equipment the installation was a breeze following their instructions. I have to say that the voice quality is pretty good (as good as POTS on many instances) and the reliability is average with some improvement in the last week. I'd say average because at the beginning there were dropped calls when calling Europe and some incoming calls did not go through. Being new to VOIP I am impressed of the technology and I expect it to improve significantly in the upcoming two or three years. Oh by the way, the same customer representative who I ordered from gave me a courtesy call back to ask how is my service. Very nice indeed!
In general I like their web portal but there are some issues:
* There are a number of bogus calls shown in the log that although do not generate further costs to me they should be removed from their system.
* Every time I want to access various sections of "Manage Features" I need to reset my password. This is quite a nuisance. I haven't had a chance to call tech support on this so I cannot rate them yet.
I have not have a chance to test the caller ID yet but hopefully soon. I also like the fact that I can store up to eight numbers in their speed dial system.
Overall I am excited to try this technology and so far I intend to keep it especially if they continue improving their reliability and web interface. At this moment I do not see Lingo VOIP as a replacement of a traditional phone line or cellular service (which we have). I hope I can post an update later this year about Lingo VOIP.
Thanks for reading ... curro
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UPDATE 7/8/05: Well it has been over a year with Lingo and my overall impression is favorable with some comments. Lingo reliability is not A but more like a B+ because on the average you have to reboot the ATA once a month and also sometimes functions like 3-way calling do not work. Also so far I have not be able to do a call transfer (I have the original ATA made by Azatel). I call the first party then I press flash and get a dial tone, then I call the 2nd part and press flash again (so far so good). Everybody can talk to each other but when I hang up the other two parties get disconnected and this is gainst what Lingo says in their website.
At $22 a month with the international plan (we have family in Spain, Romania, Canada and other parts of the world) I am willing to put up with some occasional glitches. I am going to stick with Lingo for the time being. We have cell phone service for backup purposes.
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UPDATE 7/3/06: I have been with Lingo two years and I still believe they are a good value provided you use the international calls to Western Europe. I just tested their 911 service and it works as promised (E911). I have also referred Lingo to several friends/family with 80% retention. The down side is Lingo's customer service. Recently Lingo decided to turn off 'Selective Call Forwarding' to everybody without notifying the customers (Lingo claims fraud from some subscribers). Off course I was very upset about this and it took over three weeks to get this feature back for me! So if you are with Lingo and need customer/tech service it might take a while. On the other hand if everything works then just keep talking on the phone because the bill won't change much ($25 with all the fees) unless you call international numbers outside Western Europe/Canada.
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UPDATE 6/27/07: 'Knock on wood' the reliability is good for me after three years and Lingo futures are above average in my view. The caller id does not always show the name, especially when it comes to cellular calls (then again maybe this is expected). I have referred a couple of more folks and so far they have stayed with Lingo. I will continue to give them my business as long as they offer the current value or better.
Comments:
| | Also ditching Lingo after several years, same reason Good luck with your search for a new provider. I'm porting over to voip.ms and I'm quite impressed so far. | |
|  |  crazyk4952Premium
join:2002-02-04
united state
kudos:1 | Re: Also ditching Lingo after several years, same reason Yeah I would not put up with that either. There are plenty of other providers that are honest about the cost of their service when you first sign up and do not tack on $10 worth of "fees" after their base price. | |
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Review by AndyCLT
member for 3.1 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
lodged 2.6 years ago
- 28278
- $21 per month
- about 3 days
- "Excellent call quality, reliable, Lingo routes calls around local telco's downed switching buildings (great during/after storms)"
- "Not a single one!"
- "I wish Lingo had always been around!"
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I've had Lingo for a bit over 4 years. The service is exceptional although the last time I called their technical support department (about three years ago) it was a miserable experience. But then again, calling AT&T's customer service is horrible as well. So here's why I like Lingo:
1) Great price! You just can't beat the price and Lingo offers so much more than Vonage. Lingo's FREE international long distance is the icing on the cake for me.
2) Excellent features. Once I locked myself out of my home (I left the keys inside) but I could open the door via my phone. I used my cell phone and call forwarded Lingo to my cell so that when the door would ring the home phone I could open it from my cell. Only Lingo could do that!
3) Most reliable service ever! Lingo worked great during both hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. When AT&T's switching offices went down and land line calls and even cell phone calls could not get through, Lingo routed calls around those switching offices and I was able to reach family and friends. Only Lingo could do that!
4) Detailed and accurate billing. I get more detail than I really want but I am not complaining. The whole thing is paperless and effortless. I can download PDF's of my bills and file them away on my PC.
5) Awesome call quality. Lingo sounds much better than AT&T's network. With Lingo I do not hear the persistent hissing that is ever present on modern land lines.
6) Do you travel internationally? Well, take Lingo's box with you! I took mine when I was in Paris and plugged it into my hotel room's internet jack. I was able to receive and make calls as if I was back in the states. I even sold my home in Florida while I was in Paris without incurring outrageous international call fees. All thanks to Lingo!
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