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 Review by srm59 
member for 2.6 years, 646 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated a few hours ago
 Glen Cove,Nassau,NY
 $10 per month- (24 month contract)
 about 10 days "Price, Features, Customer Service, Reliability" "Haven't found any yet." "After 2.5 years still, the best service around!"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
=== UPDATE 02/2012 ===
Here I am after two and a half years and I am still very happy with the service. Have there been any bumps on the way? Well, yes, there has been one. After two and a half years my original TA (telephone adapter) finally died. What can you do? Nothing lasts forever. I made a call to customer service, my call was answered promptly and professionally. The Rep talked me through a few tests then had the second level support call me back.
The Second Level Tech called me within minutes and walked me through a few more tests. Finally determining that the TA was indeed dead. Within two days, I had a brand new TA delivered. It installed easily and has been working fine ever since.
I have to say that I was impressed by how professionally and quickly the matter was handled and resolved. In all the years I have been with Phone Power I have found the service to be reliable. The calls are clear and you can't beat the value they provide! I am happy to continue to recommend them.
=== UPDATE 11/2010 ===
Well, after being with PhonePower for about a year and a half, I am still a very satisfied customer. The service has been reliable. The Customer Reps have been efficient, courteous and always ready to help.
I do wish they would work on providing the same features on both of their network, Capricorn and Aquarius. I think that is a source of confusion for many new customers who may read about a feature that is not on their network. Having switched between the two networks, I can say that while the Aquarius network has been reliable, and I enjoy the expanded speed dial list and the newer call forwarding options. I do miss the music on hold, and being able to see my contact names on the Caller ID, Voicemail, and Blocked Numbers list. I do hope to see these items reappear some day. As I hope to eventually see Control by Phone features similar to the old AT&T had.
I also appreciate some of the new features like 60 minutes free international calling a month, Free Fax-enabled Voicemail and the Emergency Failsafe number.
But overall, I'd say that PhonePower continues to be the best VoIP experience, as well the best telephone service I've had.
===================
I am one of the AT&T CallVantage refugees. I was happy with CV and all the features. I will miss them but have found comfort in my new favorite phone company, PhonePower.
While they might not have every feature that CV had, the do have the important ones, Call Filtering (Blocking), Call Forwarding, Good Voicemail System, and reasonable international rates. Other key features such as Control by Phone are coming soon. They also have some new features that I didn't have before such as Music on Hold, Call Transferring and a unique second line clone.
I have been with PhonePower for a month now and I am very impressed. The install was easy. I was able to place the TA behind my router, right out of the box and it worked well. It is compatible with my alarm system wit no tweaks needed.
The only thing lacking is a more robust Voicemail system that would include the Caller Name in the notifications and allow me to control key features by phone such activating or deactivating Call Forwarding and allow me to place outgoing calls remotely. I used this feature frequently with CV when I wanted to place a call and show my home number as the Caller ID or to take advantage of the international rates. PhonePower does have a Click2Call option but it does require you to be in front of a computer. Although I have successfully navigated and utilized these features using the Opera Browser on my Blackberry.
Overall I have found the service to be reliable. The few times I spoke with Customer Service they were well spoken and knowledgeable. Plus I am impressed by their active participation these forums. I'm looking forward to the upcoming enhancements as well as many years of good service with PhonePower.
Comments:
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Review by ymhee_bcex
member for 5.8 years, 390 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 13 days ago
- Tarzana,Los Angeles,CA
- $11 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 3 days
- "Sound quality, features, value"
- "24-month contract, website can be confusing"
- "Excellent value for the money"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Update January 2012
===============
The service remains good. There was an outage a few days ago. Both the service and website were out for couple hours. More details here: »[General] PhonePower down?
Wouldn't be a big deal (especially, for me since it was on Saturday morning). However, PhonePower handled it terribly. First, it showed that a technical glitch can bring down *both* service and website - bad design. Second, there were no communications through other means (and ITIL teaches us that client communications are as important during incident management as is actual incident resolution). Last, PP scrubbed two forums on their website, replacing with a meaningless locked post by the administrator ( »www.phonepower.com/forum/topic.php?id=447 ). It gives a nasty smell of a cover-up. As I said in the original review, the techies seem to be high-class, but people running the business could use some coaching.
Original review - October 2011
=======================
I've been VoicePulse customer for 7 years (3 accounts); but when my cousin was moving her medical office I went with Phone Power. So far, I haven't been disappointed. Cloned line alone made the cost saving quite significant ($50 vs $11 per month - not all doctors are rich). I bought adapter in Fry's - last unit, and it was returned. Apparently, MAC was already registered, so I had to call support. less than a minute wait, and the lady fixed the problem while I was waiting. Second call was to tech support - I plugged the adapter before the service was on (email said "after 8PM", but I only paid attention to the date). Again, less than a minute on hold, the guy understood the issue even before I finished explaining, and turned on the service while I was on call.
Pleasant surprise - phone number was ported in less than a week. Don't know if Phone Power is so good, or the process got easier; just a year ago it took almost a month.
I haven't tried fax yet (we are using Extreme Fax and love it, but monthly allowance of 500 pages is not enough) - something that VoicePulse never got working. Hopefully, this will be another icing on the cake. *UPDATE* I tried fax and it works! Now I am really thinking about ditching VoicePulse...
Now, to the annoyances. The website says in big letters that the plan is $8.33 ($200 for two years), but the junk fees add 25% to the price (before anybody starts flaming, I am *not* saying that it's false advertising. I am saying that the company misrepresents add-on costs as government-imposed taxes and fees). Second, the knowledge base is very informative, but it is often not clear if the article applies to small business plan or to hosted pbx, or to sip trunking.
Last in the annoyances department. The adapter costs $80 with $80 rebate. It's a Grandstream HT502 which costs $34 at VoipSupply. Obviously, the cost is completely arbitrary (although I haven't got my rebate check yet. *UPDATE* I did get a check in 6 to 8 weeks, as promised). All I really pay is sales tax. But why would you set the price at double the retail?! Vonage and 8x8 on the same shelf cost $40!
It has been only a month, but now her partners want to move their PBX to IP, and Phone Power is certainly a top candidate.
Comments:
1 edit | Forum Support is responsible for cleaning the forums and in regards to the outage we try to keep everything simple and clear. In this particular situation there were multiple threads citing numerous problems with random speculations. In the best interest of keeping customers informed of the time frame and nature of the problem we removed any of the extra threads that contained speculation.
This wasn't done with the intention of covering anything up we just want to make sure customers understand the specifics of this incident. | |
| | Reviews:
 ·PHONE POWER
·VOIPo
·VoicePulse
| Re: Forum Look - you do what you feel is right; and customers and prospects make the decisions based on how they perceive your actions. You could lock the existing threads and put a note directing the readers to *your* thread. After all, there are four long threads here on DSLR. You certainly didn't have to lock the thread with a single (your) message.
Whatever the intent, the perception is clearly that you goofed in your response... I am saying that as a quite satisfied customer (on the technical side); with only 3 months into 2-year long contract. So my intention is to help you grow and prosper - something that I do in my day job with a number of large and small companies. | |
| | | DSM Fan
join:2010-10-04
New Orleans, LA
1 edit | Re: Forum As someone who has been moderated multiple times I don't understand your point. This a forum just like Phone Powers and the moderators reserve the right to moderate the forum. I have had my posts deleted and edited because I was off topic so the fact that posts that contained speculation were deleted is pretty tame.
To each his own though. | |
| | | |  ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4 | Re: Forum The threads could have been locked, not removed. Removing the threads looks suspicious. | |
| | | | | DSM Fan
join:2010-10-04
New Orleans, LA | Re: Forum Explain how the current situation looks suspicious.
There was an outage on ** date. Multiple threads were created were people thought the company was out of business and other bizarre things. The moderators moderated the threads and made an official company statement. The statement provided a time frame and the impact. Where is the cover up what is suspicious? If anything they acknowledged the problem and made an official statement.
This isn't area 51 there is no government conspiracy. On that note I don't remember anyone ever commenting about how threads/reviews get moderated on this forum(DSL Reports).
Getting uptight about a moderator doing their job is a little odd from my perspective. | |
| | | | | | ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4 | Re: Forum We can agree to disagree. | |
| | | | | | Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
·VOIPo
·VoicePulse
| I am talking about management screwup... We can agree to disagree. But when you bring area 51 and government conspiracy, I can see how a moderator would
said by DSM Fan:I have had my posts deleted and edited because I was off topic
| |
| | | | | | | DSM Fan
join:2010-10-04
New Orleans, LA | Re: Forum Hoping to prove a point. Forums do not belong to the users they belong to the companies that host them. If you don't abide by the rules of the forum prepare to be moderated. If the moderators don't think what you are discussing is relevant to the users prepare to be moderated. If you are going off on a tangent and discussing things that aren't relevant prepare to be moderated. If you aren't seeing a trend it is that a moderators job is to moderate a forum. This is par for the course with companies much larger than PP.
To post a review with a negative inflection about something that is par for the course is peculiar. Also I think it is in their forum guidelines. Granted it is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
My last statement still stands where is the cover up and what is suspicious. You make this out to be some giant scandal where PP is trying to hide something. An official source posted about an outage,stated the nature of the outage and the time frame. If anything this is the exact opposite of a cover up. | |
| | | | | | | |
2 edits | Re: Forum said by DSM Fan:Hoping to prove a point. Forums do not belong to the users they belong to the companies that host them. If you don't abide by the rules of the forum prepare to be moderated. If the moderators don't think what you are discussing is relevant to the users prepare to be moderated. If you are going off on a tangent and discussing things that aren't relevant prepare to be moderated. If you aren't seeing a trend it is that a moderators job is to moderate a forum. This is par for the course with companies much larger than PP.
To post a review with a negative inflection about something that is par for the course is peculiar. Also I think it is in their forum guidelines. Granted it is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
My last statement still stands where is the cover up and what is suspicious. You make this out to be some giant scandal where PP is trying to hide something. An official source posted about an outage,stated the nature of the outage and the time frame. If anything this is the exact opposite of a cover up.
I'm a big fan of Phone-Power and I agree where the mods at PhonePower are coming from. People are smart though and they are going to see the threads at DSLR not being modded, then go to PP forum and notice their posts being obliterated regardless of "rules, points, prerogatives, property, etc." and that will be all she wrote. My dad told me better to let people air out a little dirty laundry then have it overflow out of the hamper, which in this case would be the PP forum vs. public Internet. Which as we can all clearly see now in this review. siggghhh... Good, Bad, Right, Wrong, that is JMHO? »youtu.be/WJ_yQ02xwsM
--
I got the need for speed »bit.ly/topgunparody | |
| | | | | | | | | DSM Fan
join:2010-10-04
New Orleans, LA | Re: Forum Understandable that people feel their opinions or dirty laundry were removed. That is the job of a house cleaner. Moderators are forum house cleaners. Also no one has elaborated on this suspicious cover up. | |
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| | | | | | | ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4 | You are correct, a forum is not owned by the users. But if users fell that their comments are being removed the they will leave the forum and find another. | |
|
| | | | | | DSM Fan
join:2010-10-04
New Orleans, LA | quoted text pulled from your review
"It gives a nasty smell of a cover-up"
"As I said in the original review, the techies seem to be high-class, but people running the business could use some coaching."
As PPtech mentioned the techies scrubbed your beloved posts. | |
| | | | | | | | Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
·VOIPo
·VoicePulse
| Re: Forum DSM Fan,
Let me be very clear: my point was that PP management made a stupid decision to scrub the threads on PP forum, and that scrubbing gave a feeling of a cover-up.
You are now bringing a third irrelevant point. First, it was who the forum belongs to and whether the moderators have the right to remove the post. Second, something about area 51 / government conspiracy (PP conspired with the government? or something...). And now that techies scrubbed the posts (I suppose, taking the time away from designing, maintaining, and supporting the network? I actually give PP much more credit than you seem to).
No wonder your posts were deleted. Not because I disagree with them (I would actually very welcome somebody who thinks it was a good idea to delete those threads on PP forum) - but for being off-topic and irrelevant to the discussion.
As I don't have any power to administer the posts on my review - the only thing I can do is to ignore you in the future. So resolved. | |
| | | | | | | | | DSM Fan
join:2010-10-04
New Orleans, LA
4 edits | Re: Forum Let me be even more clear
"It gives a nasty smell of a cover-up."
This comment invoked my comment about cover ups. There is no clarification of what was covered up.
"Last, PP scrubbed two forums on their website, replacing with a meaningless locked post by the administrator"
Yes it was a very meaningless post the below quote is directly from the meaningless post also indicates everything they covered up
"At approximately 6:12am PST on 1/21/12 a core network element failed. This would have impacted registered end points, website and calls to support. Service was restored at 7:50am PST."
Lets break down every aspect of this meaningless post.
"At approximately 6:12am PST on 1/21/12" "Service was restored at 7:50am PST" Indicates date and time of failure. I found this to be extremely helpful in that I know exactly when the problem occurred and I don't need to wonder about what happened.
"a core network element failed" Indicates what caused the failure. Don't think at any point that you are entitled to the specific component that failed. The internet didn't die and this was a Phone Power only problem.
"This would have impacted registered end points, website and calls to support" Field of impact. Allowed me to know that the failures I was experiencing were directly caused by the service outage.
I have been on multiple forums and seen situations like this all the time. I think it was a good idea that they cleared the threads. I was reading over some of the commentary. Some of the users came across as chicken little. OMG the sky is falling it is sun rocket all over again.
Ironically looks like they reinstated them to placate the masses.
If anything my commentary has been on topic. Your review makes you come across as an overly paranoid consumer. Hopefully other users can see that and take it for what it is worth.
"I actually give PP much more credit than you seem to" Yes I slam the company that has provided rock solid service and US based support staff for minimal cost. I totally don't give them the credit they deserve. Maybe I should start a review slam the company and speculate that they are hiding things. That would totally be the credit they deserve based on your logic. | |
| | | | | | | | | |
1 edit | Re: Forum Easy there DSM...take a breath buddy  I chirped in to try and keep the peace and play devils advocate in a civilized way. Making comments like "Don't think at any point that you are entitled to the specific component that failed.", Your review makes you come across as an overly paranoid consumer., etc. will just add more gasoline to the fire! 
PhonePower has 131 good reviews and only 21 bad. The numbers speak for themselves. PP did the right thing, everyone is happy, let all hold hands and sing »youtu.be/YZ2mQKvKJMQ
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I got the need for speed »bit.ly/topgunparody | |
|
2 edits | DSM Fan you are getting a little worked up over something that is pretty trivial. The author of the review has a valid point and in hind sight we have restored the formerly moderated posts. In the future our forum protocol will fall in line with the suggestions of the users since the purpose of the forum was to encourage users to interact with each other. I would like everyone to know we didn't have draconian intent when we moderated those threads. | |
| | | |  Re: Forum
 | |
|
| |
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Review by Quo
member for 2.6 years, 5 visits, last login: 19 days ago
updated 22 days ago
- Kent,King,WA
- $25 per month
- (month by month)
- about 1 days
- "ease of transition from CallVantage"
- "Call quality issues"
- "Decent phone service, but I'm at a crossroads."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
**UPDATE January 2012**
So I've been with PhonePower for about 2.5 years now, as you can see from my original review. For the most part, everything has been great, but I started experiencing some call quality issues. Randomly, a call I received or a call I dialed would have a unusable amount of static in it, so much that I could not hear the person on the other end. The person on the other end, however, never heard any of it. I engaged PhonePower support, and jumped through a lot of hoops with no resolution thus far (reset the TA, use a different phone, power supply check, etc.) Their next support step was for me to call them so they could do a line capture to diagnose the problem, but of course in the times I called, the static was not there. My options now are to replace the TA at my expense, or accept it as it is. If I knew for sure it was a TA problem, I'd jump on replacing it because aside from this static, PhonePower has been perfect. But now, I'm very frustrated and looking for other service providers.
===========================================
**Original Review**
My company had me on AT&T CallVantage in my home office. When CallVantage made their announcement, we were allowed to find our own phone provider. After doing a lot of research and comparison, I chose the Phone Power month-to-month option for my home VOIP service. The telephone adapter arrived quickly and I hooked it up with no problems, was even able to make outbound calls on it immediately. When the date arrived that I selected to have my phone number ported, it happened seamlessly and without any action from me. Couldn't have been a smoother transition. The free cloned line is a great feature. I have had no call quality problems or drops or reboots (CallVantage was notorious for that) whatsoever after a month of service. My only complaint is that when someone calls me, I get a 1 before the 10-digit number in my caller ID. I did not have this with Qwest (land line), Verizon (land line) or CallVantage (VoIP). Not a big deal, just a visible format thing, but sure would be nice to get that stripped. I've emailed their customer service about it, and they respond quickly, but think it's a function of my phone.
Comments:
 44402812Hack The PlanetPremium
join:2006-08-28
Plattsburgh, NY | Caller ID It is your phone, mine is a 3 yo Panasonic and it does that also. However, my old cheap BellSouth (Big Lots Closeout) stand alone unit shows just the area code and number. I like the BS unit because it has 2 lights that represent New Calls and Voicemail. | |
|
1 edit | Call PP @ 1-888-607-6937
--
I got the need for speed »bit.ly/topgunparody | |
| gkreis
join:2012-01-21
Marietta, GA | Massive failure? What is up? The phonepower website is dead, calling their 888 number says all circuits busy, my phone won't work (says it is not registered even after power-cycling everything). It is like they are just 'gone'. Surely they can send out an email to subscribers, somehow, that tells them what is going on.
Did someone forgot to pay the power bill or did a backhoe cut their lines? Scary. I noticed my phone calls had a few problems of late (echo and warbling) which has NOT been an issue til now. I've been with them over a year and the service has been terrific.
I am crossing my fingers that they get this resolved SOON. | |
| | mike770
join:2012-01-21
Pikesville, MD | Re: Massive failure? same problem in baltimore | |
| | | gkreis
join:2012-01-21
Marietta, GA | Re: Massive failure? I see the website is back... but tech chat says I am 226 in the queue! So... it is a massive outage. | |
| | | | mike770
join:2012-01-21
Pikesville, MD | Re: Massive failure? working now | |
| | | | gkreis
join:2012-01-21
Marietta, GA | Since the website was back I decided to power-cycle my adapter again and service is back! Their network status post on their website said everything was fine --- 28 days ago. That needs to be updated several times a day.
There's some splan'in to do Lucy....  | |
|
| | gone baby gone I am having the same problem. Phonepower just disappeared with no warning. No dial tone. No website. No way to use the iphone app. 888 number dead. What the heck is going on?
| |
| | | | Re: gone baby gone Phone Service was down @ approximately
2012-01-21 11:00
Always check status page if having problems!
»www.phonepower.com/NetworkStatus.aspx
There was a hardware failure early this morning causing registration and website issues. Engineers have located and corrected the issue. yesterday
--
I got the need for speed »bit.ly/topgunparody | |
|
| | New Hardware Quo
Did that new device clear up your problems? | |
|
| |
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain nycap.rr.com)
lodged 33 days ago
- Altamont,Albany,NY
- $19 per month
- (24 month contract)
- "Its cheap"
- "I have problems making outgoing calls. People have problems making incoming calls."
- "It was good before I signed up for 2 years. Major regrets. Won't do it again."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
|
I am extremely disappointed with Phone Power. I had the service for two
years with minimal problems.
A month ago, I dropped to the lower rate and signed up for two years.
HUGE mistake. I can't wait until the two years are up. I will never have
phone service with them again. One of two things happens. When people
are trying to call me, they get a message that says I no longer have
phone service. I DO have phone service. The cost of it is automatically
charged to my credit card every month. There is no chance there is a
lack of payment problem.
When I called support for help with this problem, they told me that I
had to have the phone number from which this person (or people) called
and the time they called. How can I have the phone number and time of
the call when the person (or people) can't even call me to talk to me. If they can't call
me to talk to me, they can't call me to tell me they tried calling me
and were told I didn't have phone service.
My second problem is that when I try to make an outgoing call, I can
not. I get a message that says "We're sorry. Your call can not be
completed at this time. Please try your call later." Why? Why can't I
make a call? Nothing is wrong with MY system.
So now I can't make outgoing calls and I can't get incoming calls. Take
my advice. Do not use Phone Power for your phone service. You will be
sorely disappointed.
Comments:
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Review by jacobslive
member for 4.2 years, 55 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 37 days ago
- San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
- $20 per month
- (12 month contract)
- "Complete physical fax and alarm system support + fully functional 2nd line"
- "needs to improve customer support, lack of knowledge"
- "I may refer/recommend"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have been PP customer for nearly 2 years and was very happy until recently. However, their service start going down frequently and everytime we get a robotic response from the CS Rep that our engineers are working on it and they don't now when it will be fixed. When asked about why your services are going down so frequently... no response at all.
I have been writing +ve reviews about this company on different websites and referring my friends to them. However, it seems time to look around for more reliable service provider.
Update: 12/31/2011
Please see the attachment and read the recent experience for poor customer support.
What happened to those best PP customer care staff?
I was a phone-power customer for nearly 3 years and really enjoyed the service and outstanding customer care from PP. Nearly a year ago I have switched to another company to accommodate my requirement and budget. Right now I have 3 VOIP lines in the house. As we have moved from east to west, I have obtained a MJ plus with a very good phone number. Recently been to PP website and found pretty attractive deal that will accommodate my current requirements and I was expecting the same better service that I had in the past, oh boy I was wrong!
Day 1.
Went to local Frys to get a PP adapter bundle. Store 1 had a opened/customer returned pack which I didn't want to try because I didn't want to get messed up with the re-activation issues involved. Went to Store 2 and got a brand new pack. Came home and started activation process, here comes the starting trouble...
PP wont let me activate the adapter saying that it is not a retail adapter that I can activate online. Being a computer support professional for 14+ yrs I knew it is a adapter/mac authorization issue. Being a support guy I never pretend to be tech savvy when dealing with customer support as no one likes competition Assuming this is a technical issue, I started online chat with "tech" person and explained the situation and copy pasted the error message I got from PP website. To my surprise this guy transferred the chat to "sales" department :O. Ok, I thought I might be wrong and it is a sales issue and continued to chat with sales rep and she suggested me that I should call the "billing" department. Well, I called the "billing" department and learned PP "sales" and "billing" is same department. Here it goes again, explained from beginning, this girl understood its a technical issue and transferred me to "tech" support. Again, explained the situation (4th) time to the technical guy, after listening carefully this guys wanted to transfer me to "sales" department!!! Ok, time up, that is it, I lost my temper. I raised my volume this time and asked this guy to stop bouncing me from sales to tech to billing to sales! Ok now he started realizing I hate the bouncing game and agreed to help me. After putting me on hold for 2-3 minutes he figured out the issue as I guessed. Mac ID not in their authorized devices list! He added my device mac ID to their system and I was able to proceed with the registration. I thanked him and he wanted to know from where (store and location) I got this device and I gave him that info.
Completed online registration process and requested to transfer my number from MJ plus. I got a order confirmation email saying that I will get another email with the service activation notification.
Upon login to "my account" on PP website it says my service should be activated after midnight.
Day 2.
Midnight gone, mid day came. I got dial tone on my device, but wont let me dial any numbers. My account page stuck on after mid night message. Curious to know what happened I called the billing department and the lady told me MJ rejected my porting request and my service is not activated. Hello, PP should have shoot an email to me informing me the situation at least! Well I kept this thought to myself and asked the lady the reason for rejection. She said, MJ wants my account number and the pin number. Now, I asked the lady, will I be able to use the service during the number porting process or do I have to wait until the number porting completed? She said, I should be able to make outgoing calls while waiting for number porting, but incoming will work only after porting completed. But to do this, I should get the account number and pin from MJ and give it to PP. I knew she is right as I ported number to PP in the past and it was the same situation that time. I thanked the lady and hang up.
Now I called MJ and got the account number and the pin number. Called back PP billing again. This time another lady came to phone. Explained the situation, she checked the past call record. She took the account number and pin number. This time I asked her when the service will be activated so that I can start making outgoing calls. She said 3-10 business days! I said I am not asking about number porting but service activation, she said she understood that and repeated 3-10 business days.
I believe I am stuck now as PP initiated number porting and I don't want lose my number. So I have no other option but to wait 3-10 business days.
PP surely has to concentrate on employee training. Their customer support was not like this in the past. I never had such a horrible experience in the past with PP. Tech guys were so good as they exactly new what they were doing, not anymore! So sad! I was planning to move my other 2 numbers to PP, but now I realized that it would be another horrible mistakes, so never again!
UPDATE 02/01/2012:
Today I got a call from Ms. C from PP and apologized for the inconvenience. She promised me to activate the line with a temp. # until my number port is completed. Within minutes the service was up and running. I am able to make and receive calls to the temp. # assigned.
At this point I would request PP to insert a small info to their website advising for those who trying to port their number to PP with their initial order that the service will not be activated until number porting is completed, if that is the PP policy. I could not find this information anywhere in the KB or Order page on PP website.
I would like to thank and appreciate Ms. C for stepping in and correcting the situation. Apart from activation process, I would still request PP to advise it's care staff to carefully understand the issue and resolve it rather than bouncing between departments. That's where it makes the difference of PhonePower Customer Care 
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Comments:
ddwrtSit down and drink with me
join:2010-06-09
Albany, NY
kudos:2 |  PP Downtime
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| | | | | ddwrtSit down and drink with me
join:2010-06-09
Albany, NY
kudos:2
1 edit | Re: PP Downtime said by jacobslive:There was a time that I used to defend PP just like "ddwrt". However, if he get into others shoes who had issues with PP and wanted to make some very important calls and get some stupid reply and a call back assurance that never happens from the PP CS, he will learn about PP. I agree that they might be having better uptime and also agree that they have the better features compared to other VOIP providers. However, you need the service at the time you really wants to use it. Otherwise, even if they provide service for $0.99 a month, it is useless. I also sent an email to the customer care next day, that never got replied. It was not like that earlier. They were very prompt to reply customers and take actions. Time has changed and probably they started following their competitor V... by just ignoring customer concerns and emails and making false promises like call backs etc. I was in the same boat you were when PP suffered a brief outage that was drawn out longer due to my device taking time to re-register. S$%t Happens! With VoIP you have so many point of failure:
A. Power has to be going to everything
B. The ATA and cordless phones need to be working properly
C. Internet has to be up and stable
D. VoIp provider has to be online
If you need the 5 nines then maybe you would be better off service by Verizon. Did you call PP and listen to their new message before you reached support?
I don't have any documentation to comment on regarding the support aspect of your case. Did you check your call log to make sure they did not try to call you while your service was down? Regardless, I feel for what you went through and hopefully you won't have to go through it again. | |
|
 PhonePowerPremium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | Apologies My humblest apologies. We did have back to back issues. With the one yesterday starting at 5:57pm PST and ending at 6:12PM PST. You may have experienced a longer issue if your device had to re-register with the system.
This is related to a new feature we are rolling called “FailSafe”, where customers can have calls automatically routed to a backup number in the event they lose Internet connectivity or during a power outage. The feature was tested thoroughly in our lab environment, but unfortunately when it was put into our production system yesterday we again encountered a bug in the call platform. Our network operations team rushed a patch for this bug but obviously any downtime is embarrassing for us and takes away from our #1 mission which is to be reliable.
We do keep a very current and upfront Twitter powered network status page here: »www.phonepower.com/info/networkstatus.aspx It can always be accessed at the lower left hand corner of our website.
Sincerely
Ari Ramezani
CEO | |
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| |  35 minute downtime in 2010?!?!?
I have typically found PP to be reliable as well, but the 35 minutes downtime in 2010 is laughable. I got home from work at 8pm and had to make an important phone call. No dial tone, so I initiated a tech web chat. Brian told me that they had a known issue and he would call me when they were back up. He never called. I checked my phone the next morning- STILL DEAD! I had at least 12 hours of downtime yesterday into early today and lost that phone call. Unacceptable. | |
| | PhonePowerPremium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA
kudos:1 | Re: 35 minute downtime in 2010?!?!? We keep track of the time our network in offline. Your adapter is supposed to re-register and the overwhelming majority did. There are so many possible router/network configurations. Did you reboot your router and phone adapter?
What you experienced is not what the vast majority of clients saw. | |
| | | | | Re: 35 minute downtime in 2010?!?!? I re-booted the modem/router/ata twice to no avail. As I said, the tech said he would call me back but did not, which reinforced my belief that the service did not come back on that night. I have my own adapter that your techs put the SIP creds into. I don't know if the fact that it was not a PP ata could have been a factor in it not cycling back up... I have felt that PP has otherwise been reliable and customer service has been exceptional. | |
| | | | ddwrtSit down and drink with me
join:2010-06-09
Albany, NY
kudos:2 | Re: 35 minute downtime in 2010?!?!? said by twoyrcustomr :
I re-booted the modem/router/ata twice to no avail. As I said, the tech said he would call me back but did not, which reinforced my belief that the service did not come back on that night. I have my own adapter that your techs put the SIP creds into. I don't know if the fact that it was not a PP ata could have been a factor in it not cycling back up... I have felt that PP has otherwise been reliable and customer service has been exceptional.
Sorry this happened to you as well. If it makes you feel better I have had the same thing happened to me about a year ago? PP had an outage which was accounted for in this page
»www.phonepower.com/info/networkstatus.aspx
I kept checking my phone when I got back from a road trip. Sensing something was not right I called support and someone told me to reboot my HT-502. The device re-registered and has been smooth sailing since. PP also has took it upon themselves to state you should "unplug the Phonepower, routers, modems, etc. and wait 20 seconds when you call support. | |
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| | | | | PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
HuttRiver US
kudos:11 Reviews:
·callwithus
·voip.ms
·Vitelity VOIP
·Callcentric
·Optimum Voice
·Gizmo5
| Re: Thanks for candid review! said by jacobslive:Please see the update at the bottom of my review for current situation and my thoughts. I also upgraded the rating a bit for PP, will continue to upgrade if I get the service as expected from PP in the future.
I only that the process done smoothly rather than escalating things like this. But, hey things happens and and the end of the day it only counts what's the end result. So ultimately I am back to PP as a happy customer!
I am glad to hear that!
As per "Try to Remember" (Words by Tom Jones and Music by Harvey Schmidt) (from "The Fantasticks")
Deep in December it's nice to remember
although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December it's nice to remember
the fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow......
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| | | | | | Re: Thanks for candid review! wow, that was cool | |
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1 edit | Standard porting protocol not communicated effectively @Jacobslive
We're sorry to hear that your New Year didn't start off as smoothly as we all would have liked.
It would appear the initial greeting email our system sent out was vague on the situation. When transferring a number to us, we wait until we receive the transfer date before we can build your account with the telephone number specified. Most providers reply within 3 - 10 business days with the transfer date, which is why the email stated we'd be sending a follow up in that time frame.
Thank you for your feedback about the difficulties you encountered when trying to sign up. Such feedback allows us a chance to improve further upon our main pillar - which is support. | |
| | | | Re: Standard porting protocol not communicated effectively Thank you Victor, you guys rock! | |
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 Review by JohnInSJ
member for 8.3 years, 3858 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
updated 55 days ago
- San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
- $11 per month
- (24 month contract)
- "Clear voice calls, good feature set, nationwide calling, number porting"
- "takes a bit more than a week to port your number"
- "saving me $24/mo not even including LD savings"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I've been itching to get rid of my POTS landline for years. I finally got around to looking into the millions of viop-based "land line" replacements, and after a lot of searching settled on Phonepower.
Good choice, if the initial experience is any indication
1) order kit from amazon - wait for kit to arrive
2) once kit arrived, signed up for 2 year prepay (with ALL fees for both years, it works out to about $11.50/mo - compared to AT&T's $35 for local service with no long distance, barely any local calling, with caller ID and call waiting... not even voicemail!)
3) instant dial tone* - outgoing calls worked right away, and on the day promised (which was 10 calendar days including 2 weekends after the order date late Friday) the old landline went dead and calls to the ported number ring on the PP phone.
Feature set is comparable to other providers, call quality is better than the noisy AT&T 70 year old copper lines could give me, and the price is right.
So far, no complaints at all.
Update 9/8/11: wow - 7 months already? No issues at all with the service - love the various methods of notification, call quality is fine, and compared to my previous AT&T wired pots line, from here until the end of the two year term is "free" - yep, it costs about the same for 6 months of AT&T fairly basic POTS (forget about long distance!) for two years of Phonepower (two lines, includes long distance, includes all kinds of calling features, etc, etc...) Since singing up, they opened up the SIP interface, so now I can use any SIP client I want to be able to make/receive "home" calls from anywhere. Nice.
Update 12/14/11: had a week of ISP/broadband issues. Just wanted to point out that the Phonepower failover to backup number worked fine during MY broadband outage.
Comments:
| | # porting
Nice meeting you in the forums and thanks for the feature suggestion you recently made. BTW make sure to activate your 2nd and check out their softphone. Have a good day and say hi to Cali 4 me!
--
I got the need for speed »bit.ly/topgunparody | |
| | | Not happy They post on their site a 30 money back guarantee. But when you cancel within that 30 days and request a refund, they tell you that the first month is non-refundable! Where I come from, that's called LYING. When I asked what about the 30 day guarantee listed on the website, I never got a reply.
Quality: It may have been my internet or where I am in Missouri but the quality wasn't always there. Sometimes it was, but more importantly sometimes it cut out. Felt like I was on a cell phone in a bad coverage area. Not something that can happen on business calls, especially sales calls. I had to resort to typical landline and pay twice as much. | |
| | | Not Happy Phone Power offers a 30 days satisfaction guarantee on all plans. These 30 days begin from the moment your phone is activated. Phone Power feels 30 days is sufficient time for you to try out the service and determine if you would like to keep the plan you chose or not. The 30 day Satisfaction Guarantee allows you to upgrade or downgrade the plan you initially ordered without any additional charges, As well as it allows you to cancel your contract plan without an early termination fee or cancellation fees. All we ask is that you pay the initial month of service and shipping and handling charges are non refundable. | |
| | JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
 ·Comcast
| Re: Not Happy I just checked, and listed under TERMS OF SERVICE here »www.phonepower.com/services/term···tos.aspx
quote:
8. TERMINATION BY SUBSCRIBER. Subscriber may terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason by providing Phone Power LLC with a thirty (30) day written notice in the form of a valid written termination request and paying all fees and other charges accrued or otherwise payable under the terms of this Agreement. Initial charges, including first month service and shipping and handling charges are non-refundable immediately upon submission of an order.
So it is exactly as the tech says, and disclosed on the site. Where I come from, that's called fully disclosed, small biz.
--
My place : »www.schettino.us | |
| | | | | Re: Not Happy Stay away from Phone Power! Note all the disclaimer talk - in "written", "paying all fees"... what fees? It's very simple - pay for month service and shipping -- but, nope you have to wait for them to tell you what additional fees they are going to charge.
Much simpler to return electronics to Wal-Mart! -- now that is sad!
STAY AWAY | |
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Review by samutah
member for 64 days, 0 visits, last login: 64 days ago
lodged 64 days ago
- Kaysville,Davis,UT
- $24 per month
- about 90 days
- "better than vonage and cheaper"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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i had been with vonage for years but thier taxes and surcharges became about 10 dollars a month. so after an extensive research online for a better Voip company, i chose phonepower thanks to this website and i have been very,very satisfied. my phone number was not transferred smoothly at first so i had to call them but afrer that everythiing had been working great.Right now i am on their monthly plan but i am seriously considering getting a 2year contract or maybe even the prepaid option which is a lot cheaper.i also like 60 minute free international calling because i call Korea a lot. even if i go over the 60 minutes,it is only 2,3 cents per minute with no annoying connection fee as with Skype. phonepower is THE best internet phone service company. i am a one happy customer. i also like thier mobile app which will let me make calls free from overseas.
Comments:
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Review by Typical
member for 2.1 years, 32 visits, last login: 64 days ago
updated 64 days ago
- Berkeley Heights,Union,NJ
- $12 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 10 days
- "Very good customer/technical service. Good line quality virtually all the time"
- "Very rare poor quality sound."
- "Satisfied customer"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I have been a customer of Phone Power for one year. With the exception of a few isolated downtime incidents, the service has been excellent. I have had the occasion to call the Tech Support and Billing Support a few times, and I have been very impressed with their courtesy, patience, and willingness to solve the problem at hand.
All told, I am very happy with PhonePower service (the line service side, as well as the people side).
Update:
I just started my third year with Phone Power. The call quality continues to be excellent - I might even say that it has got better in the past six months or so. I will recommend PhonePower without hesitation.
Comments:
| | Rebates Try emailing GM@phonepower.com and explain your position. They are usually pretty sympathetic to a situation like this and will do what they can to make it right. | |
| | | | New Potential User I have a question....I'm looking at the forum comments on PHone Power (PP) and think I may want to join but not sure how to make the switch from Vonage.
Don't like paying taxes either but the 24.95 plan at Vonage is easily 34.00 or so after taxes. Your service seems comparable and may end up nearer to the 24.95.
Questions:
I have been with vonage for a couple of years....how do I quit them and keep my numberr?
How do I use my phone during the transfer process if vonage gives me my out or doesn't and I have to get a new number? Have had my number since 1994, and would like to keep it.
Tks | |
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Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
| Issue Diagnosed and Resolved
It turns out that I needed to meet certain specific requirements in order to receive the rebate from voip-rebates; and I missed one of those steps. Just the same, PhonePower issued a service credit to me for a portion of that rebate.
PhonePower handled this issue very gracefully and I continue to be happy with my move to PhonePower. | |
| | | | Re: Issue Diagnosed and Resolved said by Typical:I wrote to PhonePower address that was given here. Someone looked into the details of this incident for me. It turns out that I needed to meet certain specific requirements in order to receive the rebate from voip-rebates; and I missed one of those steps. Just the same, PhonePower issued a service credit to me for a portion of that rebate. PhonePower handled this issue very gracefully and I continue to be happy with my move to PhonePower. Why not update your review to own up to your mistake and retract your last paragraph? Just a thought? | |
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Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
| Advice Thank you for the advice
My second message does not invalidate the first message. It simply adds to it.
The fact remains that, due to the complexity of the voip-rebate rules, my rebate request was denied.
PhonePower chose to smooth things over, probably because PhonePower recognized the complexity of the voip-rebate rules. That does not change the no-rebate situation. | |
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1 edit | Re: Advice said by Typical:Thank you for the advice My second message does not invalidate the first message. It simply adds to it. The fact remains that, due to the complexity of the voip-rebate rules, my rebate request was denied. PhonePower chose to smooth things over, probably because PhonePower recognized the complexity of the voip-rebate rules. That does not change the no-rebate situation. Yes, but the terms were laid out on the voip-rebates site. It is not PP fault that you missed a step. No more then it is GMs fault if I get careless and don't get cash back from the dealer. You complained to PP, they were nice enough to give you a credit and made things right. So why not update your ratings and give credit where it is do. No offense but to complain so loudly over a 30.00 rebate is pretty petty? | |
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Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
|  To the Potential User From Vonage
PP will arrange for your number to be transferred (ported) to them, and this process takes about 3-10 days. During the interim, and as soon as you get your adapter from PP, you can make outgoing calls with PP. Your incoming calls will still be through your Vonage line. During the day that the number is being transferred, things might get a bit confusing, only with the incoming calls.
If, for some strange reason, Vonage does not release the number to you, then the process would be much simpler with PP, although the pain will be in telling everyone about your new number.
All told, I think that you will be happy with the move from Vonage to PP, as I am. | |
| |  N9MDPremium
join:2005-10-08
Boca Raton, FL
kudos:4
·VOIPo
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·PHONE POWER
| Re: To the Potential User From Vonage said by Typical:If you have had your number since 94, chances are that you will be considered the "owner" of the number and not Vonage. Incorrect!! The customer is never the owner of a phone number! The customer is issued a phone number by a MaBell offspring (or other PSTN company, or a Cellular carrier, or a VoIP provider through its CLEC, or a beeper company) for use as long as the customer pays the bill. If you don't pay the bill, you lose the number and eventually it is reassigned to someone who will pay the bill.
If a PSTN number is ported to Vonage, the "ownership" of the number passes to the CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) that supplies Vonage with phone numbers in the rate center the customer shows on the Vonage account. At that point the CLEC owns the number ... not Vonage, not the original MaBell company, and not the customer.
If the customer now wants to port the number to another VoIP provider, he/she must ask the new provider (upon or after opening a new account) to initiate a porting request. This means that the new provider will ask its CLEC to communicate with the old provider's CLEC, requesting that the number be ported over to the new CLEC ... which can then route incoming calls to the new VoIP provider, ultimately going to the customers new adapter in his/her home.
The old VoIP provider (in this case Vonage) has no involvement in the porting process!! Porting occurs between CLECs, PSTNs, Cellular ... not between VoIP providers.
Porting from Vonage to PhonePower is a very simple procedure. If the OP registers with the BBR Forums for a free account, he/she can do a "Search" for the many posts which quite specifically explain the porting process. However, the easy path is to:
• Understand that the port from Vonage to PhonePower is easy to do.
• A call or email to PP support will get the simple instructions needed to begin the port.
• Do not cancel your Vonage account until you confirm that incoming calls to your number are arriving on your new provider's adapter ... other wise the port will be blocked and you may lose your number.
Let me repeat the best advice of all ... Register with the BBR Forums (it's free) so you can do a "Search" for the many posts that contain the answers you seek. | |
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Review by Trakker
member for 107 days, 1 visits, last login: 83 days ago
lodged 83 days ago
- Des Moines,Polk,IA
- $19 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 4 days
- "Quick set up, cust service, reliable"
- "NA so far"
- "Two thumbs up"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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After trying them out for a few months now I feel I can safely say I'm satisfied, especially if things continue as is. It's nice to be treated like a human by customer service who seemed to actually take an interest in making me a happy customer. The service itself has been reliable after the easy set up, no problems with router or anything. Still working on getting things customized to my liking with the fax settings and playing with account page, but so far everything has worked as intended. Not much else I can ask for.
Comments:
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Review by IzMan
member for 235 days, 4 visits, last login: 99 days ago
updated 99 days ago
- Saint Joseph,Buchanan,MO
- $15 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 3 days
- "Mobile account page, failsafe, etc..."
- "Full of features and solid service"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I came into the service around 4 months ago with my own Linksys SPA2102, which I prefer to use as its served me well in the past. Ive been overall impressed with the service and functionality of the features. For someone that lives on their smartphone such as myself, the phone friendly account portal is a big plus. Living in an area prone to storms during the winter, the failsafe feature is also helpful to auto forward my calls to my cell if our power goes out as it can frequently do at times. I really haven't come across any bad points yet in my experience, but will certainly update down the line. Their knowledge-base is the best I've seen compared to previous providers for learning more about what you can do with the service or answering questions without having to call support. Droid app seems to be next, great!
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