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read 468 reviews (318 positive) (97 negative)
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Six Month Rating

Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:


$18 per month avg ($8 to $50)

3 year trend

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Review by SuperHemp See Profile
UPDATED: 192 days ago
member for 2.3 years, 603 visits, last login: 1 days ago


Burnt Hills,Saratoga,NY
$12 per month (12 month contract)
about 1 days
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    Been a smooth go with the company. If I had any problems they where resolved real fast. I have both a residential line and business line. They all work great and have no problems recieving or sending faxes.

    Followup comments:

    B Philips

    @swbell.net

    Great service with the lowest price

    I have been a customer of Viatalk for almost three years now with no big issues. I pay $200 for two years and get two lines, I use one for voice and one for fax. Would recommend viatalk to any one.
    Forums » comments on review of ViaTalk






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Review by DA See Profile
UPDATED: 194 days ago
member for 7.6 years, 2944 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Greenville,Greenville,SC
$10 per month (24 month contract)
about 14 days
"Low cost and a lot of features"
"The company has been experiencing some growing pains lately"
"Good deal if you don't mind a bit of do it yourself work."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·Charter Pipeline
    Viatalk has a very large set of features, the cost is low but when they do major upgrades everything goes south. Since I have been with them there has been 2 upgrades, one of which almost broke my service until I figured out what ports needed to be forwarded.

    Followup comments:
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Review by mrminator See Profile
Posted: 195 days ago
member for 3.3 years, 11 visits, last login: 195 days ago


Astoria,Queens,NY
$14 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
"Affordable, Good Feature Set, Free 2nd line"
"None so far"
"Excellent value, I am happy."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    I signed up about 18 months ago and was a Vonage customer previously (and briefly Sunrocket). The call quality has been nearly 100% excellent. I am on RCN in New York and have my PAP2 behind a router running DD-WRT with QOS. Once and a while I'll have a dropped call, but overall I am extremely satisfied with the service. I had one support issue that I had to submit and they responded in about 36 hours with a response to my problem (don't remember what it was for though).

    A friend of mine, and my parents have now both replaced their home phone lines with ViaTalk at my recommendation. They both are also happy. I can recommend them without any hesitation.

    Followup comments:
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Review by CajunWon See Profile
UPDATED: 205 days ago
member for 3.9 years, 1040 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Cary,Wake,NC
$15 per month (month by month)
about 3 days
"BYOD available & Well attended external support forum"
"Self inflicted issues related to my equipment"
"Works and passes WAF test"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    VOIP is still not for the masses. You must be willing to either learn of user work-arounds or call for occasional technical support otherwise stay away from VOIP (imo).

    My first VOIP experience was very positive with SunRocket (SR) for 18 months (total/net cost of $199). However, returned from a mid July vacation to find the phone service was dead, found that SR had closed its' doors stranding nearly 200,000 without phone service. I quickly restored service on a forgotten proxy server which worked well for 1.5 weeks, then only outbound service until mid August.

    Signed-up with ViaTalk (VT) on the day I discovered SR was out of business. I had 2 ATA (internet phone adapters), so signed-up with VT BYOD (bring your own device) monthly service. I then locked-down both ATAs with custom password. I was live with a new VT # 3 business days later with the same good phone quality as with SR. Setup call-forwarding so I (hopefully) wouldn't have to give out a temporary number.

    3 minor issues:

    1. LNP/Port: I wanted to keep my same phone# & knew the VT number would be temporary so I grabbed a GrandCentral number. This was in-case my old number stopped forwarding before the Port occurred. The Port took 3.5 weeks (my fault but in line with the 20 day expectation), 4 days after the old number stopped forwarding, therefore I did have to give out the GrandCentral number (which I plan to keep as a second number).

    2. DTMF: I performed a factory reset on the adapter I used for VT which disabled touch-tone passing to automated phone systems. I hadn't read the manual, but quickly found the solution on this forum.

    3. I masked this whole event from 'the boss' for 3 weeks. During the 4th week I instructed her to give out the GrandCentral number to important contacts. This would not have been necessary had the Port taken just 4 less days.

    This whole event has been a worse case VOIP scenario. If the above are not minor issues to you, then stay away from VOIP and stop slamming your chosen provider on the forums (imo).

    btw:

    5(best) rating to Tech Support -I've seen the +/- threads/posts but I've not had to contact them. Apparently their support is top notch yet contacting them is difficult.

    4 to phone quality -I had 1 issue when it took an hour to restore service after selecting an alternate proxy server (prior to 8am on a Saturday).

    & I'm not an SE -I've only received 1hr of a 3hr DOS class in 1987, so if I can do this anyone can.

    6 Month Update: All is well with ViaTalk service. I haven't looked into my ATA for months. VT did just increase the monthly net price to $17.45. WAF still under repair from SR incident, prior to which she had noticed only positive change from POTS. Still use GrandCentral for half incoming calls to remain prepared for quick change of service if required.

    Over 1.5 years now: All remains well with Viatalk. Less and less new threads on the support forums indicates they are having less issues. Seems they have returned to service levels reported prior to the Sunrocket melt-down. VT500 is now ~$20/month after fees.

    With the help of DSLR virtual friends (mazillo, dcurry, dogface05, to name a few) I now have a fully functional 2nd line. Rings with and has same features as line 1. I do this through Gizmo5, so line 2 does have a separate number, but transparent in this setup. I can receive a call directly to line 2, but it is a number from another state so not likely.

    Followup comments:
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Review by bmize13 See Profile
UPDATED: 216 days ago
member for 3.6 years, 963 visits, last login: 24 days ago


Dallas,Paulding,GA
$8 per month (36 month contract)
about 3 days
"Price, Website, etc..."
"At this point, all is grand"
"Excellent VoIP Provider..."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·VOIPo
    ·PHONE POWER
    I feel guilty, as I've not updated this review in quite some time. The reason for my lack of update is that things have been so uneventful with VT, that I've simply forgotten!

    For quite some time now, I've had phone service that works... Very few down times. In fact, the most recent outage that I was aware of was a result of two thing; I switched ISP to AT&T, and they don't play well with two lines, and I bought a faulty router.

    VT has become a solid performer for me, and I'm finding myself quite sad that my contract is expiring. Given the current economy, it behooves me to search out the best deal on VoIP, and VT just isn't the best deal now. If they get smart and lower their fees in the next two weeks, I'll happily keep my service with them. Otherwise, I fear, it'll be time to start over with a new company.

    Bottom line for this review: If you really want a high-quality VoIP provider with decent customer service and an expansive list of features that are sure to tickle your fancy in some way or another... Then ViaTalk is a perfect fit. A solid, dependable phone company that has exceeded my expectations for most of three years.

    *****************************************************************************

    Update: 10 AUG 2007

    Another update... And a piece of advice. If you are looking for VoiP, stay away from ViaTalk. I've been with this company for about 16 months now, and haven't had a two-month stretch without major problems. With the recent SR fiasco, VT has been nearly killed. Tech Support lines that are 4 hours long (then you get hung up on, I'm told), zero response to tickets... No incoming calls, no outgoing calls... Incoming, but no outgoing, then outgoing but no incoming.

    Even with the price being what is was ($199 / 2 years), it's hardly worth it if the phone *doesn't* work. I can pay anyone $9 / month and get nothing in return. That doesn't make it a good value.

    I had high hopes that VT would right the ship, but it seems to be gaining more and more water. Might be time to bail out very soon.

    *****************************************************************************

    Update: 13 JUN 2007

    I'm updating this simply to state that the service is having loads of hiccups. At one time, it was a service that I could feel good about recommending to friends and family, but not any more. I am simply losing my confidence in the company.

    *****************************************************************************

    Updated 8/07/2006

    In the months following the infamous "sale," I have seen a calming down of many issues. Tech Support has returned to normal, quick service. I am able to reach a live person within just a couple of minutes on most calls. Resolutions has been more than adequate, with ViaTalk seeming to reach the extra mile to ensure that my phone service is top-notch. This is the company I signed up with! I should have updated this sooner, but I wanted to make sure the changes were going to last... I'm a happy dude!

    ****************************************************************************

    Update 5/09/2006

    Tech Support levels have dropped drastically. I have been waiting 10 days now for ticket resolution regarding dropped calls and poor audio. It seems that response times are sporadic at best. One ticket may get a response in 45 minutes, while a higher-rated ticket might take 3 days. I have found no rhyme or reason to the delays other than their continued backlog brought about by total lack of preparedness from their recent sale.

    At this point, I wouldn't recommend friends or family to this company. Perhaps later, after they have had a chance to straighten matters out. But certainly not right now.

    *****************************************************************************

    Update 5/01/2006

    Service has been off-and-on. Sometimes, we are able to receive calls, but other times require two or three attempts to actually make the connection. I've also noticed ticket response time via Internet has dropped drastically... I do understand the backlog of trying to sign up so many new users as a result of the recent sell, but should that impact the quality of service that I expect to receive?

    I have ordered Sunrocket, and will be comparing the two side-by-side for a while. I'm hopeful that VT will be able to resolve their issues and get back on track rather soon...

    *****************************************************************************

    Purchased Viatalk last week after a nightmare adventure with a company called VoiceEclipse nearly left me completely out of the VoIP world. Initially, I had selected Vonage as my provider, and was very satisifed with them... until I had to call Tech Support. During a recent storm through the southeast, my Vonage PAP2 was hit by a power surge. Having no phone, I had to wait until I returned to work on Monday to order a new box. The tech rep at Vonage by way of Bombay could not understand that I needed a box. I understand they have a script they must go by, but I was actually trying to PURCHASE a box! After getting nowhere with Vonage, I decided to find a company whose tech support people spoke and understood English. This led me to VoiceEclipse. Signed up with them on Monday, signed up with Viatalk on Wednesday. VoiceEclipse couldn't provide what their sales staff (and website) promised. I happened upon this site (www.dslreports.com) during the course of my frustration with VoiceEclipse, and began to read about ViaTalk. Then I followed a link to their website and began researching price and features. Here is a sample of that thought process...

    "Hmmm... tech support based in New York. That's an English-speaking place. And they offer all the features of Vonage? Wow. And I can use a softphone for free?" It went on and on from there. To clear up a few items, I actually called them and spoke with a member of ViaTalk's staff. All my questions were answered well beyond what I expected. I went for it... Signed up for the 12 month plan and used DSLREPORTS as a coupon code. Life was grand...

    Then I saw my invoice. No coupon applied. So, I picked up the phone and called 'em. Took about 4 minutes, and then I had an email in my inbox telling me that they were correcting the problem and would be crediting my card $35. Oh, and it also said, "We are sorry." Wow!

    I received the box on Saturday, hooked it up, and... IT WORKED. We had quality phone service again! And my wife was very happy with this company. She liked the email response to the coupon code, as well as a couple of other email responses to questions I had asked. We were in VoIP Heaven...

    Until Saturday night. There was a brief outage at the exact moment I needed my phone to work. Trying to plan family events for Easter is difficult at best when the phone DOES work. Wife and I talked about it and decided to see how long it took to get service back on line. We submitted a ticket and sat back to wait. About 20 minutes later, I was making my calls. Then it happened... We received another email apologizing for the failure of our service! I mean, when did actual Customer Service come back in style?

    Though we have only been active with them for a few days, we are pleased beyond our expectations with the features, quality, customer service, and price of ViaTalk. If you are looking for a high-quality company to provide you with VoIP service, then look no further. I sincerely believe this is the best of the best.

    ************************************************************************************

    UPDATE 04/18/2006

    We used several of the "neat" features yesterday while my Bride was sick in bed. Do Not Disturb was perfect to insure that she was able to get the sleep she needed without telemarketers calling and disturbing her. Also, we were able to place a few 800 numbers in the call block section, and it seems to be working as well.

    Two annoyances noticed: When placing a call, we occassionaly have to wait maybe 5 to 10 seconds before it actually places the call. Not sure what this is about, but it is mildly annoying.

    #2: We signed up to have our number ported from Vonage. Used a home fax machine to send in the LOA authorizing transfer. First attempt: Didn't connect. Second attempt: Connection succeeded and fax sent (or so I thought). Received message the next day to send in the LOA, as all they received was the bill from Vonage. Resent from my office on a regular line, and it seems to have gone through perfectly. Not sure if the fax feature works as advertised, but I can live with as I do very minimal faxing from home.

    Still loving the service overall. We signed up to have our number ported from Vonage yesterday. Hopefully, everything will go smooth with that transfer.

    ***************************************************************************

    UPDATE 4/20/2006

    ***************************************************************************

    Today is my first day of disappointments with ViaTalk. For starters, they did some server work that knocked out my incoming and outgoing call logs. I can deal with that... I think. When I came home from work, I found that I had NO phone service. That one is a bit tougher to swallow. Less than a week on ViaTalk, and already TWO outages. No problems, though... I just need to call the 24-Hour Tech Support line. So I did. And it isn't 24 hour tech support. "Phone support is currently unavailable." does that mean their phones are down, or just mine?

    I submitted a ticket with the hopes that all would be back up and running within just a few minutes. No such luck. Here I sit, 4 hours after getting home, and still no service. In addition, I'm still unable to reach the 24-hour tech support.

    NEXT DAY: I will now say that I do not believe their tech support is, indeed, 24/7 on the telephone. I was unable to access help from them until after 8:00 AM, which would lead me to believe that they work in shifts. This is a big downer for me. I was finally able to restore service, but only after they sent my information and I noticed that they had changed my password. They (apparently) were unaware that they had changed it.



    Followup comments:

    Running Away

    @comcast.net

    Viatalk Scam

    We ordered service, they billed us, the adapter was never shipped, we had no service for three weeks, we tried calling but you wait two hours on hold only to be disconnected by viatalk and never get to talk to anyone, we emailed and entered help tickets and surprise!, got one reply which asked us for our credit card number (which they already had and we had provided our customer id number and names in the emails already).
    We canceled on August 10th and they charged us on the 15th for the phone adapter which they didn't send. We are charging back everything they charge and my best advice is RUN FAR AWAY FROM VIATALK. It's a nightmare.
    We called another phone provider on Friday and they sent our adapter next day, free. Free adapter, free set-up, free next day shipping for us. We are up and running with this new provider and Viatalk sends threats that they are transferring our phone number now. What a surprise to hear from them at all.
    They are a huge scam.
    RUN!
    Forums » comments on review of ViaTalk

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Review by shareef777 See Profile
Posted: 218 days ago
member for 7.1 years, 60 visits, last login: 70 days ago


Worth,Cook,IL
Contract price not specified.
"Cost, free second line, and customer support"
"None yet"
"Great value, and even better customer reps that keep the communication going."

    My Other Reviews·Teleblend
    I know most forums are used for venting/complaining about service (as I've done with Teleblend), but I'd like to first say thank you very much to viatalk. My service is working wonderfully with no surprises. I had such a nightmare experience with Teleblend that I didn't expect for you guys to actually get everything done like you actually stated. Very professional, and you have a very loyal customer that will be telling everyone about your wonderful service. Thank you VERY much, again

    Followup comments:
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Review by Hookem99 See Profile
UPDATED: 218 days ago
member for 2.3 years, 925 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Pflugerville,Travis,TX
$17 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
"Cheap price, great quality!"
"Tech or cust. support calls can take time"
"Best provider, best features, best price"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)

    I spent a year with vonage and a month with Sunrocket( I got out before the bottom fell out) before I found ViaTalk. After 4 months of use, I am totally satisfied. I did have a few minor hiccups at the beginning, due to a bad adapter. After fixing that, all systems are go!

    Update 3/19/2008:
    After nearly a year, I have had very few issue's. Still as good as always and I am preparing to renew.

    Update 4/30/2009:
    Two years and still going strong. Still very few issues, and great call quality. I am about to renew, and take advantage of the 6 months free deal for current customers. I also tried the 'GotFax' feature. It came with a 30 day trial. So far I am impressed with it. I updated the rating on the 'web site' from 4 to 5, as new design and features are great.

    Followup comments:
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Review by nitecourt See Profile
UPDATED: 229 days ago
member for 5.1 years, 1039 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Erie,Erie,PA
Contract price not specified.
"Cost"
"Sporadic Problems, One way audio"
"Not reliable for important calls, ok for family"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·RoadRunner Cable
    Update: 4-16-2009 Sent my ATA back via Priority Mail. When they received it a ticket was opened to cancel my account. No longer a ViaTalk customer.

    Initial Review - (Over 6 months ago) I ordered Viatalk when Sunrocket went bust. It took a while to get the hardware since there was a big influx of users from Sunrocket. Call quality was great until a year later when I received an email saying they were upgrading the network and I had been upgraded. Since then I've had calls drop to a fast busy signal. Calls going to a fast busy signal. And one way audio where I'm on a call and all the sudden I hear the other party is saying "Hello? Hello?" and then they hear me again after 5-20 seconds. Support always make changes to my configuration but it doesn't seem to help. Email support is slow to respond. 2-5 days on average. I haven't called in to support often but when I do I usually have to leave a call back number and receive a call back in an hour.

    Followup comments:
    Vizzzoip

    join:2006-02-16
    Boston, MA

    Still?????

    "Email support is slow to respond. 2-5 days on average. I haven't called in to support often but when I do I usually have to leave a call back number and receive a call back in an hour."

    This looks like this is all in the same review as your update, but I don't believe it is. When was the last time you called???? Where I had issues before, since they upgraded to the new network about 4-5 months ago, I haven't had any issues.....with audio quality, and especially wait times. I have called about 4 times since the upgrade for info, and have waited less than 5 minutes each time to speak to a LIVE person. This is an unreal short wait time for tech support in my opinion...with any company, any industry. I called TW last week and waited 25 minutes, just to get transferred 3 times before getting an answer. Also, I submitted a support ticket last week to ViaTalk, and waited about 4 hours for an ANSWER. That is pretty quick compared to the 24 hours I wait for most companies to give me a script answer about how I am important to them and will hear back shortly with a remedy for my issue.

    ViaTalk has greatly improved in all aspects. I was in the same boat as all the people on DSLR against ViaTalk, but can see the effort they made to correct things. From customer service to support, ViaTalk is now 10 times better than 99% of the phone service companies out there.

    I am glad I stuck with them, and would encourage anyone to jump aboard. They are actually adding services, features, and making improvements while other providers simply sit idle.
    nitecourt

    join:2004-10-19
    Erie, PA
    ·ViaTalk
    ·RoadRunner Cable


    1 edit

    Still had problems

    I was still having problems back in Feb. that they could not resolve. The last straw was when my wife was on phone to a hospital. She was talking to a doctor and it dropped to a fast busy signal. No such problems with my current provider. I had 6 months of free service left on ViaTalk but my service with them was to unreliable to stay onboard.

    I will update my review where the initial review started to eliminate any confusion. Unfortunately I do not remember the date of the original review.
    Forums » comments on review of ViaTalk

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Review by poolek See Profile
UPDATED: 230 days ago
member for 6 years, 1390 visits, last login: a few hours ago


Austin,Travis,TX
$15 per month (12 month contract)
about 6 days
"Lots of features, great price, responsive tech support"
"None"
"Great Service, Crappy referral rewards program"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)

    **4-19-2009**
    All continues to work well. No real complaints. The service is stable, the feature set is rich and the price is more than fair. I've been a VT customer for 3 years now and am quite pleased.

    **9-21-2008**
    Viatalk continues to work well for me. I'm not a big fan of the 'extra' charges that keep popping up, but can't complain about the service otherwise. We're back in the US now and the phone service continues to work well.

    **2/4/2008**
    Viatalk continues to work well. I took a long-term business assignment overseas, and took the adapter with me. It has worked perfectly and saved myself and my family tons on international long distance calls. Features like programmable Do-not-disturb allowed me to work around the time-zone differences to ensure my phone wasn't ringing at 2:00 am. I just recently added another year of service.

    That said, I'm tempted to remove my review. Viatalk has had a 'Get Free Service' promo where you get a discount on service based on referring new customers. Only problem is, they won't let you use that discount on renewal offers - only on list-price stuff. So, the end result is that the thing is worthless. Since Viatalk doesn't value my recommendations, I figure I should delete my positive review. However, I like DSLReports and hopefully my content will be useful for them.

    So, in short - good VOIP service, crappy referral rewards program.

    **3/5/2007**

    I've had Viatalk for over a year now, and it's as close to perfect as I can expect from voip. The phone works every time I pick it up, sound quality is great, they keep adding features and my bill is stupid cheap. I don't know what else to ask for. It's been one of the better purchase decisions I've made in the last year.

    We had our first child last year and I decided to switch back to DSL with the mandatory basic landline for use as a 911 outlet for additional peace-of-mind whenever we have baby sitters. It makes me smile each time I recieve my ATT bill and see that I'm paying more each month for 20 local calls with zero features than I do for unlimited calls with more features than I can think of with Viatalk.


    **7/25/2006**
    I've had Viatalk for about 6 months now. The stability has been fine - I don't recall a time the phone didn't work. Viatalk has continued to add features and has addressed all of the 'rough edges' I'd mentioned in my first review - I can access VM by dialing my home number, the call logs have been reformatted, DTMF issues have been addressed, and they've added more and more new features. I almost miss the old voicemail lady now!

    I have absolutely no complaints. The service has been stable, the feature set covers every need I have (and then some) and the price is 1/8th of what I was paying on average for POTS. Keep up the good work!

    **5/1/2006**

    My number port went through a few days ago without any issue (22 calendar days after submitting the request), though porting numbers does require you to re-enter all of your settings (Voicemail prompts, Custom CallerID settings, ACR settings, etc), which is a pain.

    Call quality continues to be pretty good. Possbly more inconsistent than Vonage, with a little more static - though I may just be listening for problems more attently now.

    Viatalk added new regional servers recently. My ping times dropped by ~50%. I haven't noticed any change in call quality due to this, but it should help maintain quality in times of net congestion.

    Customer Services seems overwhelmed right now. When my number ported, the configuration for VMWI got wiped from my adaptor. I submitted a TT to have the setting updated again and it's been open for 4 days now. I ended up chaging the setting myself and disabling provisioning to make it 'stick'. I'll re-enable provisioning when the ticket is finally closed. Not a big issue because the problem isn't a big deal - but I'd be upset if I were having real problems and had to wait 4 days for response.

    Reliability seems ok. Calls continue work inbound and out. I've seen a few notices on BBR of Viatalk downtime, but either they've been on different servers, or were fixed prior to me testing the phone.

    The 'Rough Edges' I mentioned in my prior review are still there, though the lady on the voicemail is starting to grow on me. Still wish I could access VM by dialing my home number. Still wish I could see how many minutes I've used against my 500 not counting outbound Toll Free.

    Bottom line : It seems to work as well as Vonage, with all the features I need. The price is a bit cheaper, too. If they can get caught up on Customer Service issues, and maintain the level or reliability I've experienced, I'll be a happy customer.

    **4/17/2006**
    I'd used Vonage for a few months, but lack of name on outbound callerID became an issue, so I decided to search for a new provider. I ended up going with ViaTalk based on the price of their 500 minute plan, availability of the feature set I wanted and overall positive feedback I'd seen on this site.

    I signed up for the 12 month 500 minute plan, got 2 months free and used the DSLREPORTS coupon. Add in the $10 shipping charge, and that comes to about $8.50 a month - about half of what I'm paying for a similar Vonage plan.

    I ordered late on a Tuesday, had the account set up and number assigned on Friday and the adaptor was here on Monday. I plugged in the adaptor and had dial tone in less than a minute. Inbound and outbound calling worked just fine. I forwarded my Vonage number to the Viatalk account and spent a couple of weeks evaluating the service.

    The Good Stuff:

    Call Quality: Call quality is the same as Vonage - which means it's as good as or better than the POTS line it replaced. I've also never experienced any of the nagging little issues that I occasionally had on Vonage - such as not hearing the called party for the first couple of seconds of the call, voicemail indicator getting out of sync, etc. The service just works.

    Features: Name on Outbound callerID works as it should. I notice more people answering my calls now. Custom CallerID is an excellent feature that I never thought I'd use. ACR falls into that category as well.

    Tech Support: My VMWI light wasn't working when I first installed the adaptor. I submitted a ticket to Tech Support and the issue was fixed within an hour. They also provided me with the admin password for the PAP2. I don't really need it, but it is nice to have.

    Presence on BBR: I love that Viatalk maintains an active presence on BBR to facilitate feedback on their product. It's also awesome to see that they actually take that feedback and improve their product based on it. I can only hope they can maintain such a 'grassroots' feel as they grow.

    The Rough Edges :

    Voicemail: It's completely functional, but seems a step behind Vonage and other VM systems I've used. The voice prompts are very computerized and mechanical, some prompts suggest actions that don't work (ex: pressing '#' when leaving a message does nothing, though the IVR instructs you to do that), and you can't access your VM by dialing your home number.

    Web Site: Works well, but some things could be improved. Call logs are all based on EST time. If you're not on the east coast, everything will be off. Time used on outbound calls doesn't account for usage of toll free numbers not counting against your 500 minutes, so if you call toll-free often, the total time used feature isn't very useful. You log in using your phone number, so when you port a number, you have to set everything up again.

    Features: I haven't been able to get Call Recording or Call Transfer to work. I don't use the features, so I haven't bothered to submit a trouble ticket to see if I can get them to work.

    Still to be seen :

    Reliability: So far the service seems pretty stable. I had one time where I tried to call and the call didn't seem to go through. I made the call using my Vonage account and everything worked. I tried again a few minutes later on Viatalk and it worked there too. May just be coincidence, but I have been spoiled by the stability of my Vonage account, so I'm sensitive to things not working. Otherwise, things have worked as expected and I've had no known downtime.

    My Bottom Line:
    I'm quite pleased. The things that I listed as 'Rough Edges' are relatively small issues to me and don't diminish from the usability of the service as a landline replacement (though I would like to see them addressed one day). Add in the additional features, strong tech support, willingness to improve service based on feedback and better price and I find Viatalk to be a better choice for me than Vonage - assuming the reliability is similar. Time will tell on that, but it looks promising so far. I’ll follow up in a couple of months.

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Review by digger16309 See Profile
UPDATED: 236 days ago
member for 2.4 years, 110 visits, last login: 227 days ago


Raynham,Bristol,MA
$13 per month (18 month contract)
about 7 days
"Low cost, fairly rich feature set."
"Support can sometimes be frustrating. Too many unbundled fees."
"Not a bad option overall."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

    My Other Reviews·VOIPo
    I ordered ViaTalk service in the Spring of 2007, before Sunrocket collapsed and the company was flooded with refugee customers.

    My uptime with ViaTalk was very high but I have a Linksys router and cable modem to match the Linksys PAP2T and they all play with each other nicely. I also have a cable connection with 1 Mbs upload speed.

    I dealt with support a handful of times for various minor issues. Most were solved quickly. Sometimes they answer electronic support tickets, sometimes not. It depends on how busy they are, and how much employee turnover is going on.

    ViaTalk also has a frustrating habit of insisting the ATA belongs in the router DMZ and that it is secure to do this. I was also not a fan of "blame the customer first" tech support.

    For me, ViaTalk worked well, but I think I was lucky in having the right non-wireless router. I had about 5-8 outages over 16 months. These outages were widespread to some degree, usually caused by a server crashing or some upstream provider not playing nice with ViaTalk. Some of these outages were explained by the company, some not.

    If you are looking for a cheap VoIP option, with some decent features, but will not mind being frustrated on occasion, or you are interested in the technology and like to tinker with it, ViaTalk may be for you.


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