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 Review by killabee44 
UPDATED: 147 days ago
member for 5.5 years, 978 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Hollywood,Broward,FL
 $5 per month
 "Great value, tech support"
 "none yet.."
 "call quality and reliability have gone downhill in the last 6 months... too bad."
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Edit: 6-28-09
Well, I am done with voicestick. Tired of the outages, crappy call quality, etc. This has been going on for several months now. I will weigh my options.
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I found out about this company from reading posts on the voip forum and decided to check them out. They are excellent so far (one week).
Plan:
A lot of people don't know about them so I guess they are a best kept secret. I am using an adapter I already have and have a byod pay as you go plan. Its called the nexttonothing plan. For $10.00 you get to make outgoing calls at 2c a min and incoming are 1.2 cents a minute. You use the $ on your account per your usage and anything left at the end of the month carries over to the next month.
Free voicestick to voicestick calls. You do pay a minimum of $1.00 a month. E911 is included. They have other plans (unlimited, international) but this one was best for me since I do not use many minutes at home.
A very big plus is NO extra monthly charges at all!
Features:
They have a great feature called i2bridge. You can call your voicestick number with your cell phone and (after you set it up beforehand with your cel phone number) you get a dialtone! You can then dial out to any international number at voicestick's super cheap rates.
You can also use the i2bridge to make local calls if your cel minutes are running low.
This is a great feature. Also there is global call forwarding. They will forward all your incoming calls to a number anywhere in the world at the rates you would get with your calling plan. Very good and inexpensive option.
There are also all the other options you would get with any other voip provider.
Tech support:
I emailed tech support for settings for my device settings (Linksys spa3102). They emailed me back within 3 hours with settings even though they do not officially support devices other than the one on their site. That was on a Saturday.
Summary:
Well overall I am very satisfied. No contract, very low fees, and they have someone (Bruce N) who posts at the broadbandreports.com voip forums on a regular basis. Their website is not the greatest, but I read that they are working on a new one.
I am surprised to not see many reviews here and would suggest to Bruce N to send an email to new subscribers asking them to review their service here or in other forums they frequent.
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Review by artisticcheese
Posted: 338 days ago
member for 5 years, 1338 visits, last login: 8 days ago
Carrollton,Denton,TX
$17 per month (12 month contract)
 about 3 days
"Cheap, reliable, unique feature of using your home VOIP for external calls"
"much less features then competition and poor website"
"Recommended if you can live without extra features you got used to from bigger competitors"
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I used 4 different VOIP providers before so I know how to compare things in VOIP world. VoiceStick does exactly what they promise to do which is provide ability to call anybody with cheap rates. That's pretty much it. Since bunch of other features you got used from competition is lacking from VoiceStick. For me it's not very important but for some might be. No incoming Called ID with Name for example or call hunt or sumul ring. Bunch of others as well are missing.
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Review by aniskhwaja
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 7.7 years, 77 visits, last login: 301 days ago
Huntington,Suffolk,NY
$16 per month (12 month contract)
about 1 days
"Good voice quality, immediate provisioning, excellent customer service"
"Website doesn't mention BYOD or ATA options, LNP info is also not readily available"
"Best there is right now"
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Update Nov 10, 2008 -- had a few minor issues along the way nothing to write home about, but the excellent customer service always wins...they are a great company and I hope they remain profitable and continue to provide excellent service
I have had service with several VOIP providers including Optimum Voice, ATT CallVantage, VoicePulse, and ViaTalk in the past. I provisioned this line for in-laws who currently have CallVantage. The problem with CallVantage is their price and we have an old Centiallum ATA which refuses to work properly behind the router and if you put it in front of the router it slows down the rest of the network also doesn't give control over things like setting up port mappings etc. Since I couldn't convince ATT to give me a new ATA so bye bye ATT.
Lost OV when I got Fios.
Left VoicePulse after a great year and went to ViaTalk after VoicePulse started missing incoming calls and randomly sending them to voice mail even when we were not on phone. BTW we are on Long Island and have FIOS and a very good router so no room for excuses.
ViaTalk has been rock solid, but then a few months ago they started dinging us with the BS charges every month, originally I had planned on setting my in-laws up with ViaTalk but this just killed that idea. The worst part was their CS rep's attitude towards the whole thing, "oh this its our right to amend the charges at will" Why the heck did you sell me 199.00/yr with a free year, if your definition of 199,00 is 199.00 + whatever we want from you. If I knew you were going to rape me at will I would have stayed the hell from you. VTBrendan, another lost sale for you and when my contract is over it will be bye bye ViaTalk.
Anyway back to VoiceStick, I called their support number at 5:30 p.m. on Friday after their official closing time, got through to a tech rep, asked him if I could do BYOD since I have a PAP2 and didn't see it on their web, he said sure. I also asked him if it was possible to get the line provisioned immediately. He said that would be fine, as soon as I place the order he will process it. I asked him to stay on the line since it was after hours and I had a customer service rep, didn't want to take the chance of losing him. He stayed on the line, no pressure on my to hurry things up and like, He made me miss my days living in Roswell, good manners and respect are very scarce these days. He also emailed a comprehensive document and SIP settings immediately and I also got the account info email immediately. The signup forms are quite simple and one page for basic info, and one page for credit card info. I had to ask the rep about LNP since it is not covered in the FAQ or anywhere else readily apparent. The link is way down near the bottom of the front page, you have really scroll down to find it.
I downloaded their Soft Phone a little later at night and it worked without issues on my macbook pro running Leopard. Things got a little rough when it came to provisioning my PAP2, they have a couple of different proxies one on port 5060 another on port 80, I was assigned the proxy on port 80. PAP2 required additional settings for this configuration which were not covered in their documentation or anything I could find on forums, so I opened a ticket at 1 am or so, also sent an IM through dslreports to BruceN, who answered it at 7:30 and gave me additional info. By that time I had figured out the settings by trial and error and gotten the line to work. In any case it gave an opportunity to work their customer service and measure their responsiveness and I was impressed by both the personal attention and the timeliness of the response.
My only concern about their CS are the timings 9-5 EST on weekdays only means that if I have a problem that requires troubleshooting, I will have to be home during business hours. They should extend the CS hours to 7 or 8 and should have some coverage on the weekends.
It has been only a day but so far all calls in and out have been fine. The voice quality is better than CallVantage, and we haven't missed any calls so far.
I will update this review after a few weeks if something bad happens. VoiceStick so far appears to be one of my better VOIP experiences.
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 Review by espaeth
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 8.5 years, 2028 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Minneapolis,Hennepin,MN
$3 per month
about 1 days
"No junk fees, e911 included, company involvement in forums, great call quality, free porting!"
"Existing swtich feature set is limited, CID is quirky"
"Works great for what I use it for!"
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I signed up for VoiceStick under the Asterisk plan they have put together: $2.99/mo for 250 minutes, then 1.1c/min in or outgoing after that. It takes some futzing to get the service setup initially because of the SIP proxy configuration they use, which including having to set host file entries so that i2telecom.com resolves to the SIP proxy IP.
The bad:
- Incoming CID has no CNAM, CID is 7 digits when the calling number is in the same areacode, otherwise 10 digits. You can correct for this in Asterisk with a couple lines, but it's annoying to have to do so.
- Incoming call ring duration is not configurable. I ported my old cell phone number to VoiceStick so that incoming calls would ring both my home phone and my cell phone simultaneously. Unfortunately VoiceStick would terminate the call to a "Nobody is available to take your call" message before my cell phone voicemail would pick up. I've been able to work around this by having Asterisk answer every inbound call immediately and generate the ring tones, but it's still annoying (and potentially more expensive).
- No ability to set outbound CID via SIP. (can't use the trunk for forwarded calls to my cell)
- No call forwarding based on SIP registration status. Calls could dead-end if my Asterisk box tanks.
The Good:
- VoiceStick is working to improve their feature set by converting to new opensource phone switch platforms. The VP is active in the BBR forums, and seems to be very open to input on ideas to help grow the service.
- e911 is included! This allows me to not have to pay $2.37/mo to Call Centric for e911 service; for just a few pennies more with VoiceStick I get a DID and 250 minutes of US calling along with e911.
- Tollfree termination is free. I currently use VoiceStick for dialing into conference bridges for work. The call quality is excellent.
- Reliability has been good
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 Review by dot_null
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 1797 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Kennesaw,Cobb,GA
$3 per month
"Excellent prices, great US based support, Asterisk Friendly and NO JUNK FEES!"
"Their web portal leaves much to be desired, though I understand it is soon to be overhauled"
"Overall a wonderful deal for the budget conscious VoIP user"
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Well, I've had a Voicestick account for a good while, probably about 2 years now (just checked and I signed up in October of 2006). Voicestick service was decent overall then, but when BruceN left Voicestick things went downhill almost immediately. The new management instituted junk fees for users with a DID, and at this point I converted to an outgoing only account and pretty much let that account sit dormant.
Now Bruce is back and changing Voicestick for the better! ALL of the junk fees are GONE! He has answered all of my queries, and his excellent support heavily influenced my decision to port my number over.
Recently my promo with another provider was about to expire and I was looking for the best place to host my main number. I was looking strongly at the Next2Nothing plan ($1 minimum usage per month, US outbound @ 1.9¢, Incoming minutes priced @ 1.18¢ - as of this writing). The no junk fees policy was very attractive to me as very few other companies subscribe to this policy, and my previous company was going to start charging these fees at the conclusion of my contract.
Recently, Voicestick rolled out the plan I'm currently on, their new Asterisk plan where you pay $2.99/month and have 250 incoming/outgoing minutes, subsequent minutes either way are 1.1¢ per minute - more details here: »[VoiceStick] Asterisk program- NEW- you asked for it.
Upon signing up with this plan I chose a local number to evaluate the service for about a week, then I ported my current number to them. The porting process was lightning fast, it took I believe 8 days from start to finish. The person who handled my porting request did so expeditiously and without incident.
I have had a couple of tiny issues with the service and Asterisk, but they turned out to be issues completely on my end (mainly a firewall issue that I have since corrected). Voicestick technical care is great also, when I had an issue with the service (which as stated above, wound up being an issue on my end) they worked with me to find the root cause of the problem, and the tech even gave me a configuration he uses on his personal Asterisk box for me to try. Otherwise it has been rock solid.
For anyone that has a calling pattern consistent with the Asterisk or Next2Nothing plans, I would wholeheartedly recommend Voicestick. $2.99 for 250 minutes with E911 is an absolute steal, in my opinion.
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Review by DSLHeadaches
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 8.8 years, 988 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Woodland Hills,Los Angeles,CA
$3 per month
"High Value, Excellent Voice Quality, BYOD and now Asterisk"
"None So Far"
"No Excess Fees, Get what you ask for VOIP provider"
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I signed up with VoiceStick last week and I was able to utilize a BYOD ATA (Sunrocket Gizmo) device right away. One of the senior marketing guys BruceN is active in the VOIP forums here at DSLR. Thus far call quality is exceptional and exceeds all my prior years experience with about 6 different VOIP providers; I was concerned about the Atlanta based hub and my higher ping times with my being in L.A., but it seems so far not to be an issue. It would be nice if they added a West Coast SIP server.
I am on a pay as you go plan and happy with it. The E911 and other services without all the fees is great, not sure how they do it, but I guess they've figured it into their cost models. They seem to have a plan for just about everyone in the VOIP market, hopefully they can support that broad of a market.
I can't rank Technical Support, because I haven't needed it, other than the online help facilities, which enabled me to go BYOD without needing to contact them.
BruceN keeps promising a new switch soon, we'll see what that brings.
Some very good niche plays in the VOIP market with using your cell phone for international calling; enabling unlimited cell phone US/Canada calling for cheap on Sprint, TMobile & Alltel; and a device somewhat similar to MagicJack (without some of its pitfalls), may help this provider succeed.
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Review by bigbear74
UPDATED: 1.6 years ago
member for 5.6 years, 42 visits, last login: 257 days ago
Stockton,San Joaquin,CA
$24 per month
about 1 days
"Excellent Customer Service,Best International Rates,free softphone download from website"
"USB Device Stick Not very easy to install on Windows XP! Website Needs Improvement"
"Best internatinal Rates and Certain Countries or cities are free with Global plan!"
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I ordered the $24.99 Global Talk plan that includes calls to certain countries and cities for free! Downloaded the free softphone from there website and was able to immediately start making calls using a headset! I didn't care for the USB Stick Device because it gave me an error and wouldn't install on my computer! Ordering was fast and after credit card was approved was able to start using service immediately! I love the i2bridge feature, which let's you use your cell phone or landline to make international calls at low rates or free to certain countries and cities!
Update: Customer care is sending me a new USB Stick for free! They determined my USB
Stick was defective!
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 Review by prestonlewis
Posted: 1.6 years ago
member for 6.6 years, 1783 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
$5 per month
"Reliability, call quality, tech is online in the forums, low cost, instant use"
"Web page is pretty behind the times."
"Well worth the money."
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For most average users, you have to use between 700-800 minutes/month in order to pay for a flat rate plan from a VOIP company. If you use less minutes, you're better off going with a pay as you go plan like VoiceStick offers. VoiceStick is consumer friendly: use can use an adapter instead of their software, you don't need the "stick", no waiting time either download their software or setup an adapter after your account is created, you can choose the entire 10 digits in our phone number they give you for free unlike other providers who only allow you to choose the area code and prefix.
Everyone wants something different in their VOIP usage. Perhaps having the transportable "stick" works for you. However, I like adapters and being able to setup my account, choose my own entire phone number, and get registered in literally minutes was fantastic. Combine that with reliability, call quality and tech support and you can't beat VoiceStick.
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 Review by Prayer
UPDATED: 1.6 years ago
member for 7.9 years, 1180 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Warminster,Bucks,PA
Contract price not specified.
"Low amout needed for N2N, clear talking & listening, Bruce came back"
"I got too many VoSP."
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Next2Nothing is $0 monthly if I make no calls. Works great as backup VoSP. I have so many accounts that I don't use VoiceStick every day. It works every time I try to use it. Clear conversations. In a year I'll choose the best to keep and reduce all the extras. These guys might be a winner then.
Followup comments:  BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Thanks! Thanks!
Bruce Nicklin | |
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Review by Hilbe
Posted: 1.7 years ago
member for 6.9 years, 3570 visits, last login: 1 days ago
New Albany,Franklin,OH
$1 per month
"Quick and easy setup. Good call quality."
"Billing oddities since the plans seem to be changing."
"Very cheap and easy solution to store a number."
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I signed up with VoiceStick Next2Nothing plan. We rarely use our home land line anymore, so I don't see a reason to pay $10 to $20 a month for it. I enjoyed that I'm only out $1 per month (minimum charge) at worst case. Its nice that I can port my existing number in, have E911, and keep the charges down.
I had a hard time finding the SIP information required for VoiceStick. Once configured correctly, my PAP2 was working like a charm with VoiceStick.
Right now there is new leadership and plans are changing. As a result, some of the billing is wacky and VoiceStick has been very good at addressing these issues.
Overall I think VoiceStick is the low cost provider everyone who wants the security of E911 but not the expensive phone bill to keep that luxury.
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