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Review by TronixA See Profile

  • Location: Orange Park, Clay, FL, USA
  • Cost: $36 per month (month by month)
Great calling features that many other VoIP providers just don't have (Busy Redial is awesome!), Unlimited International Plan
Way overpriced compared to other VoIP providers, call quality sucks, support is spotty sometimes
If you demand a ton of customization for your VoIP needs, Callcentric will suit your needs.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

My Other Reviews

·1-VoIP
I had Callcentric for a very long time but the monthly fee of $35.90 was just too much even with their Unlimited International Calling plan. They are one of the few providers that make you pay a monthly fee for the privilege of just having a phone number that can be called (Personal Unlimited). This means that if you want a phone number like POTS that can make outgoing phone calls, you have to pay up for the phone number itself AND the outbound calling plan. When added together, this puts Callcentric on the expensive side of VoIP providers. If you don't need all the newfangled options, and you want a simple phone line with Unlimited International Calling, 1-VoIP is a much better deal although you won't get as many of the dialing features (busy redial is only redial with 1_Voip- i.e. It won't continually call the number for you and call you when it's available).

OTOH, Callcentric has a more comprehensive guide for setting up different VoIP adapters. Not many VoIP providers encourage BYOA (Bring Your Own Adapter) like Callcentric but they do exist. The call quality was not consistent and frequently I had to hang up and call the person again to avoid hearing my own voice echo back to me. I know this was an issue with the provider as these issues went away after I ditched Callcentric. This was where their tech support was useless. They didn't seem to care about call quality or told me that it was fixed only to have no change in the call quality itself. This was the straw that broke the camel's back in my case.

My recommendation is to consider the cost and look around for other options unless having a ton of call features is more important than the price or call quality.

member for 22.2 years, 68 visits, last login: 232 days ago
lodged 1.4 years ago

PX_Eliezer
join:2022-07-04
Honah Lee
·Callcentric

PX_Eliezer

Member

Some very misleading comments....

You said:

"This means that if you want a phone number like POTS that can make outgoing phone calls, you have to pay up for the phone number itself AND the outbound calling plan".

Yes indeed---outbound and inbound calling plans are separate, the EXACT SAME as on many other providers such as VoIP.MS, Anveo, Localphone, FlowRoute, and others. In fact this is VERY common on Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) VoIP providers.

So THAT is an unfair comment, as every experienced VoIP user knows.

Likewise Callcentric has NUMEROUS plans (Outbound and Inbound) to choose from, depending on customer needs. You chose the most expensive outbound plan (Unlimited International Calling) but most customers simply don't need that.
»www.callcentric.com/products/

Also, you said that 1-Voip is a much better value. Well, they ARE a good company and they do offer a combined outbound/inbound plan, but the "World Unlimited" plan from the 1-VoIP company costs 27.95 (being 23.97 + 2.30 Regulatory + 1.68 for 911) which is NOT earth-shakingly different from the Callcentric totals. And as you know, there are different feature packages.

But again, very few people need either of these World/International plans. Most customers need far less.

For that matter, if you need to be calling people in Paris or Delhi or Caracas, a Callcentric customer can call them totally for free---the person at the other end just needs to set up a Callcentric IP Freedom account which involves no payment of any kind. They can even set up such an account on their cellphone (using softphone software) and as long as they have WiFi coverage it won't cost them anything.

I can't comment on your own individual service experiences, but I have always found Callcentric's call quality to be very good to excellent, and customer support to be responsive and topnotch.

I have used them for over 10 years for both residential and business service, and I consider Callcentric to be one of the most reliable and least aggravating aspects of my life.

Review by towwang See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost: $5 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 999 days
Feature-packed web site
Abusive business practices, poor customer service, difficult to order service
Find another VoIP that respects the customers interests
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I opened an account over the weekend, and tried to port my telephone number to them.

While following their instructions, I tried to make a test call per their recommendation. Calls would not go through, instead kept getting a message saying my account had been blocked. How can that be? I just opened the account!

Turns out their security somehow did not like the network I logged in from, and blocked me. Had to wait until Monday to get a response. I already went to work, and had major pains arranging for another non-tech person in the household to log in from another network, just to prove the order was legitimate.

Next problem is that they want a bill showing phone num, address, account number, etc. My VoIP provider does not provide bills, much less generate bills with all this information. Again I had to figure out at my provider's site which page shows as much information as possible, and sent it to them, wasting more of my time.

Then I start getting demands that the information I provided is not sufficient. Their requirements have this item on quote:

"c. Account number / primary telephone number on account "

I provided the telephone number but obscured the account number, clearly explaining that my current service provider treats the account number as a PASSWORD to their calling card service, and therefore I cannot share it. They insist they want the whole password, because "other customers from this provider have given it".

The fact that other customers have different concerns (maybe they won't use the calling card service anymore, but I will), or don't care about their account security, doesn't obligate me to act stupidly and give in to unreasonable demands.

The fact that my current provider doesn't separate account number from password is a problem, but CallCentric doesn't have the right or obligation to make it worse. I'm not applying for a loan here; even the most troublesome lenders out there don't ask for my passwords!

And finally, the fact that CallCentric can't read and understand its own policies definitely doesn't give them the right to invent rules on the fly, depending on the 3rd party they are dealing with. When I had a landline, my phone number was my account number. That's why their requirement above says "Account number SLASH (meaning OR) phone number". Does it make sense that just because both exist, they *think* they have to demand both, and to hell with the customer's account security?

Too many companies expanded into VoIP services without sorting out account security issues. Inevitably hackers break in and make unauthorized calls. Instead of fixing these problems, now every company just wants to cover its own a$$, even if it entails COMPROMISING THE SECURITY OF THE CUSTOMERS' ACCOUNTS.

5 hours of my time utterly wasted. Thanks but no thanks, I'm taking my business elsewhere.

member for 20.3 years, 59 visits, last login: 5.3 years ago
lodged 7.7 years ago

PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 edit

4 recommendations

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

CallCentric does respect the customers interests.

Sorry that CallCentric did not work out for you.

My experience (and that of most other folks) is quite the opposite: Well-organized and a pleasure to do business with top-to-bottom.

Every VoIP provider has to deal with possible fraud, and they all have their own procedures in this regard.

You may well find that if you did something to get tripped up with CC security, you may have similar issues with another company. Or you may not. Procedures vary. And in any company (even huge Verizon) staffing is not as intense on the weekends.

Similarly, another company may require the same information to try to port your number as CC was asking for. That's really not CC fault. I've found their porting staff to be excellent, in doing multiple ports.

While I acknowledge your points, I think that your umbrage is a little misplaced. Security procedures and guarding against porting errors, are in the interests of all customers, even though sometimes inconvenient.

I do wish you well with another company.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

3 recommendations

cb14

Member

Re: CallCentric does respect the customers interests.

Hmm, how did you exactly determine that the call quality was 25% with a blocked account where you could not make any phone calls? And the 0% rating for reliability? And 25% for ease of installation- the installation must have been a breeze, just the account was blocked.

Red Hazard
Premium Member
join:2012-07-21
O Fallon, IL

1 recommendation

Red Hazard

Premium Member

Set up a new account 5 days ago

Recently activated a new account with CC with an HT-502 (no setup help) and followed instructions for HT-702 without significant issues. Only issue was screen shots did not always match written instructions and strangely, directions for different Grand Stream ATA models is contradictory. I'll give CC a rating after a couple of months of use but so far my experience has been rather good.

Review by milton See Profile

  • Location: l5s
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
It is not secure, other things don't matter when there is no security, but the website is OK
security is horrible
Run away
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I was with Callcentric as pay as you go for a few months. The call quality was the same as other VOIP providers.

But i noticed my money is being drained from my account without me calling anywhere. Then I looked up the website to see I have been charged for calls to Congo, Austrailia and some other strange numbers in countries that I never call.

I told the tech support and they asked me to change my password for the web interface and the SIP. I did so. They said the calls where made from IP addresses other than my handset IP address. then they blamed my PC being infected and the long story short, the strange calls continued on my account and they refused to refund me. They said their security is 100% bullet proof and it is all my fault.

Obviously I don't have any security issues on my PC. So I lost money I trusted them to put in my account. I asked them to close my account and remove my Visa information.

I just wanted to let you know to beware and do not charge your account with a lot of money, you may end up losing it all.

I do not recommend Callcentric at all.



member for 8.5 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 8.5 years ago

PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 edit

7 recommendations

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Oh dearie me....

Another drive-by downscreed from a brand-new poster.

CallCentric has excellent security options including:

1) Country-by-country permission setting for outbound calls. You should have used it to allow calls only to countries that you intended to call. CallCentric was the first provider to offer this. Voip.MS offers it now as well.

2) IP Whitelisting, also offered for quite some time now.

3) Maximum Call Rate has just been instituted as another security option.

You seem awfully smug that your computer and other devices are not infected. I bet they are. What steps have you taken to check your system? And is your IP phone or ATA behind a router with NAT firewall?

(Also, in over 200 reviews of CallCentric on this website (almost all good or excellent) no one has mentioned such a problem before, as far as I know).

Summary: Between [your] security being deficient, and [their] security being deficient, I'm betting the problem is with you. Good luck with your future providers.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

2 recommendations

cb14

Member

Re: Oh dearie me....

25% call quality with Callcentric? Wow.

suppafly
Premium Member
join:2009-11-27
97000

suppafly to PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

to PX Eliezer1
said by PX Eliezer1:

Another drive-by downscreed from a brand-new poster.

The poster may or not have valid reasons to complain, however what makes you so sure that its just a drive by review? Perhaps it is, however I find it hard to be as positive as you are....
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Re: Oh dearie me....

said by suppafly:

said by PX Eliezer1:

Another drive-by downscreed from a brand-new poster.

The poster may or not have valid reasons to complain, however what makes you so sure that its just a drive by review? Perhaps it is, however I find it hard to be as positive as you are....

He said "The call quality was the same as other VOIP providers" but gave just a 25 percent score for voice.

A sure sign of a revenge review, to try to knock down scores.

However your point is well taken.

But it turns out that he had his ATA or IP phone wide open to the internet, so no wonder he had a problem.

People need to pay more attention to routers than to ranters.
Iscream
Premium Member
join:2009-02-17
New York, NY

10 recommendations

Iscream

Premium Member

Security

Dear,

I've looked over your account and the related "security" ticket.

As we replied to you in the support ticket - the fraudulent calls on your account were placed from those IPs: 168.1.11.3, 64.60.13.114, 37.8.66.68, 200.168.13.27 while your own SIP device was registered from 173.xxx.xxx.yz0.

Moreover - your SIP device is DIRECTLY exposed to the Internet (no firewall, no NAT) and is reachable via Telnet on port 23.

There was NO task simpler than brute forcing a password on your device especially considering that your SIP password was so easily guessable that it literally took me 2 minutes to figure it out - you don't want me to publish it here.

That's right - after discovering the security issue and being advised by our support - you've modified your password on the WEB account (which has also been identical to your SIP password), BUT nobody had EVER accessed your own WEB account from anywhere.
Only you, yourself have only always accessed your account (my logs confirm it).
Therefore there WAS no breach of your WEB account.

But there was your SIP password KNOWN to anybody on the Net who wanted to use it for their fraudulent calling.
Which "they" did.

Moreover, after you modified your "available destinations" list - the calls to Congo stopped right away - here is the log (time - GMT):

Sep 19, 2015 16:46:12 | System
Customer changed Allow Calls setting to allow the following countries:
Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Iraq, Japan, Korea South, Singapore, Taiwan, United States.

Here is the call log from same time frame (time - GMT):
Sep 19, 2015 21:01:28 - Sep 19, 2015 21:01:32 No 200 Ok 1777xxxxxxx 0024280037yyyy err_m_callingarea 168.1.11.3
Sep 19, 2015 21:01:18 - Sep 19, 2015 21:01:24 No 200 Ok 1777xxxxxxx 0024280099zzzz err_m_callingarea 168.1.11.3

The error code "err_m_callingarea" - this is the code and error message played to calling party when a destination is not allowed.

After that there were also 2 other calls to Australia, which you explicitly allowed in your access list, therefore those calls would be allowed, but your account had not sufficient balance on it to process those calls:

Sep 21, 2015 22:02:02 - Sep 21, 2015 22:02:04 No 200 Ok 1777xxxxxxx 006128031mmmm err_m_lowbal 37.8.74.19
Sep 19, 2015 21:01:34 - Sep 19, 2015 21:01:42 No 200 Ok 1777xxxxxxx 006128031mmmm err_m_lowbal 168.1.11.3

Please note the cause code "err_m_lowbal" - low balance.
Somebody who has access to Palestinian 37.8.74.19 and European 168.1.11.3 networks (friends?) was dialing the same Australian number from two very different geographical locations 2 days apart.

As our support advised - Callcentric has very powerful security suite of features, yet - very simple interface to use and configure those features.

I may proudly say - NOBODY ELSE in the industry has even closely similar security set as:

- WEB account is secured by either additional security questions or by 2 point authentication protecting the account from ANY form of brute force scanning and password guessing by automated scripts;
- SIP account is protected by a "white" list of destinations allowed to be dialed;
- SIP account is also protected by a list of IP addresses the device is allowed to register from;
- SIP account is further protected by a MaxRate feature only allowing calls to destinations whose rate would be equal or less than the one specified as Maximum allowed;
- account balance and payment instrument are protected by an allowed maximum single transaction amount and by a number of transactions allowed per day and per month;
- account is protected by internal filters counting frequency and number of calls to expensive destinations;
- maximum duration of a single call (to protect from over-billing resulting from "hung" calls due to misbehaving/buggy SIP devices);

Again - to my knowledge - NO ONE provider in whole world has a similar set of security features.
Just use it. It's simple, reliable and powerful. It protects.

And the last - sure, Callcentric was NOT comfortable compensating you for calls fraudulently made from your account.
It's the same as keeping your entry door open and then asking your house-maintenance company to compensate your for your stolen property.
Callcentric provides your VoIP service.
It purchases minutes to different destinations from its carriers and then sells those minutes to you.
As anybody on this forum may confirm - the profits in this business are low to non-existing... this is utility business which works only with large numbers of subscribers.
During the 6 months that you've had paid service with Callcentric (since April 2x) you paid $85 for calls to your destinations. Callcentric had gained barely 8 bucks or less...
The money you lost due to those fraudulent calls were close to $15. That means that if we paid it back to you (to cover your own negligence) - we'd probably, within a year, recovered it back...

I wish to your next provider, with better security, serving your business - to make better money on you.
Hoping after this review you'll get the right one.
Good luck.

P.S. Just in case - I have all logs and transcripts of all your tickets for the period in question - 4 tickets in total including one very complex which required detailed help on our part to enable your operation at the beginning.
You're welcome.
nitzan
Premium Member
join:2008-02-27

3 recommendations

nitzan

Premium Member

Re: Security

said by Iscream:

especially considering that your SIP password was so easily guessable that it literally took me 2 minutes to figure it out

Just a suggestion- put in something in your system to prevent short passwords (easy to brute force) and common words (easy to guess). Or even don't let the user choose at all and give them a randomized password.
mist668
join:2011-02-15
Middleburg, PA

mist668 to Iscream

Member

to Iscream
This is the best ^
Stewart
join:2005-07-13

1 recommendation

Stewart

Member

What was compromised?

Edit: I started writing this before seeing Iscream's post. Most of it is no longer relevant to your case, but I'm leaving it here as it may be useful to others.

If Callcentric had a serious vulnerability, many users would be affected and this board would be alive with numerous complaints.

Was your web password stolen, or just the SIP password? If the former, the attacker would either have overwritten your SIP password (your phone would have stopped working), or have created a new extension (which would be seen in the call logs). In that case, likely causes include having used the same password at a compromised site, shoulder surfing, or a key logger on your machine.

Otherwise, did you choose a SIP password strong enough to resist off-line cracking, e.g. 12 or more random mixed-case alphanumerics? (There are many ways an attacker might have access to a SIP packet with the hashed password.) What kinds of handsets did you use with Callcentric? A smartphone SIP password could easily be stolen by malware, especially on a jailbroken/rooted phone.

When you first saw fraudulent calls, which security measures did you activate? How did the attacker respond?

Which provider are you using now? Why do you believe they are more secure?
engineerdan
join:2006-12-07
Washington, DC

3 recommendations

engineerdan

Member

Seriously ??

You've gotta be kidding!

I've been a Callcentric customer since October 6, 2007. Over the years, I have established six more accounts for friends, co-workers, relatives, and my kids. We have never had a hint of trouble with their security, which typically sets the reference for the industry.

Dan
sokhapkin
Premium Member
join:2003-05-08
North Fort Myers, FL

2 recommendations

sokhapkin

Premium Member

Different passwords.

To my experience, newcomers are sometimes shocked when realize that web login and SIP passwords could be different and often write me messages like "how come you did such awful design of the service?"
Iscream
Premium Member
join:2009-02-17
New York, NY

2 edits

7 recommendations

Iscream

Premium Member

Security

Oh... Nitzan - gimme a break.

Is 6 letter (one capital) and 2 digits (8 total) - a short one?

Is something like "M1ssing1" - a common word?

Yet we do HAVE many and many and many thousands idiots who use something like that.

There are many hundreds NOT base words used as passwords combined with some digits and/or capital letters.

Many hundreds customers use such "passwords" thinking that they're very big "originals" and no one else uses the same.

Do you know how many people use or attempted to use combinations like "Callcentric123" or "Password123" or "pass123word" or "321ewqdsacxz" - looks familiar? - you won't believe!

Disclaimer - all examples above are for educational purpose only; have nothing in common with reality; any matches are not intended and purely accidental.

Most people don't like auto-generated passwords although the option to do that is available.
Some devices do NOT accept special characters... Some - do accept, but don't like some "very special" ones and then they act not nicely. Oh, well...

Sure, in your own business, you may enforce any policies you like, but in Callcentric reality - people don't like to be "enforced" - they simply leave to another provider whom they "feel" is better for them; very often - leaving based on their emotions, without real analysis and just because some one else (on this forum or elsewhere) had "said" or expressed something that makes "logical" sense while still being groundless in theory of operation or not based on real data.

In this particular case - the password was not important at all, because the SIP device was/is used without any firewall/NAT and was an easy target to any scanner.

Moreover - the passwords appeared as they were leaking directly from customer's computer because fraudulent call attempts (from multiple, not directly related IPs) restarted shortly after the customer changed his SIP password. The calls were not completing (because the account in question had been restricted), but were attempted.

Unless you're not aware - Callcentric tracks and logs every event and every "movement" of a customer while one is logged in their WEB account (as well as all activity over trouble-tickets) - because some people like coming back to state that "something" has happened (or not) just "all of a sudden" while "I've not touched anything there"; "I've been following all your instructions exactly", etc...

Callcentric also always proxies media (and when troubleshooting - is able to listen to actual voice on both sides of a call as well as it measures MOS scores of all calls), records signaling and stores and archives its data and is 100% CALEA and PCI compliant carrier and merchant provider.

Not directly related to this thread, but because I've seen attempts to badmouth Callcentric while I was not participating in this forum:

Just in case - Callcentric is NY state, FCC, CRTC registered, controlled and reporting - CLEC, IXC and RespOrg (Toll Free) carrier as well as ARIN ISP directly interconnected with PSTN (SS7) and IP BGP4 networks - this info is for those who question Callcentric's "business" usability while attempting to trumpet some questionable operations by using wrongly applied statistical math to really small number of samples...

Callcentric is 14+ years in this business; since much earlier times than words "Vonage" and "Skype" were first pronounced aloud (known and operates as Telengy, Accatel and Callcentric - publicly registered and US PTO protected trademarks).
Credit due to Mr. Sokhapkin and CWU who also was all these years out there and whose retail (end user) operations have begun even earlier that those of Callcentric. Thank you for support!

Callcentric has always been independent - it rejected all attempts to enlarge its operations at the cost of losing its in-dependency.

Some major forces have entered and then left this business (I mean Verizon and AT&T) not counting numerous those who just appeared, busted out their customers and left forever...

Unlike many/most other VoIP providers Callcentric operates industrial telecom grade switches and servers, power supplies, etc.

Also, for those who may (and attempts to) play a "geo" & "redundancy" card - you have NO idea about Callcentric redundancy, network and underlying topology - this information is never shared, is not public and any guesswork/rumors have no grounds under it.

Many "users" have also NO idea about how latency calculated and applied; nor do they have any idea about MOS scores.
A "common" logic is flawed, but you need to read books to understand "why" - while you just attempt to apply your own "personal" logic to an area in industry which has over 150 years of evolution and history, standardization efforts and which generally takes at least 3-5 years of specialty courses in a technical school )

I'm also not talking about those providers whose "geo-redundant" services fail to provide said redundant services either entirely or in some areas due to one or another technical excuse.
An no - I'm not going to further discuss the above - I'm a ballless one disappearing in twilight.

Gmar Chatimah Tova to everybody!

Thanks.
nonymous (banned)
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ

1 recommendation

nonymous (banned)

Member

Re: Security

It is not latency or MOS scores anymore. The key word is now bufferbloat. Justin says so.

Even though my calls sound ok when doing the dslreports tests and the calls specs as far as latency and packet loss etc, look fine. My dslreports speed test screams f due to bufferbloat. So my call must be bad.
snic
join:2009-10-14
usa

2 recommendations

snic to Iscream

Member

to Iscream
I've been a happy CallCentric user for 9 or 10 months now, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. I also agree (to an extent) with the idea that customers should be responsible for using strong passwords.

However, you may want to refrain from calling your own customers "idiots". Especially if there are thousands of them who are using weak passwords. You (and I) might think that such behavior is idiotic, but there are a lot of people for whom a phone is just a phone, not some scary potential means by which a thief could steal from them.

I suggest that you try protecting people them from themselves. I don't know how you would do this (check all passwords against a database of known weak passwords? force web and SIP passwords to be different?), but if thousands of your customers are allowed to use weak passwords, the OP's experience will be repeated again and again, and you'll be forced to come here and rant about them more and more. Do you really need that?

crazyk4952
Premium Member
join:2002-02-04
united state
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-LR
Polycom VVX300

1 recommendation

crazyk4952

Premium Member

I like Callcentric even more now

Callcentric is making the user fully responsible for their own actions.

Want to use a weak password? Fine. You will be responsible for the charges when someone guesses your password.

Don't want that to happen? Use a strong password. The choice is yours.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 recommendation

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Re: I like Callcentric even more now

said by crazyk4952:

Callcentric is making the user fully responsible for their own actions.

Want to use a weak password? Fine. You will be responsible for the charges when someone guesses your password.

Don't want that to happen? Use a strong password. The choice is yours.

Exactly.

And users must also not expose their ATA or IP phone to the internet.

The device should be protected behind a router with a NAT firewall. This applies regardless of provider.

So this is not CallCentric's fault, and in fact CallCentric is a very secure VoIP provider.

Davesworld
join:2007-10-30
Thermal, CA

3 recommendations

Davesworld

Member

Re: I like Callcentric even more now

Since this is a BYOD provider, the end user is the administrator. There is nothing quite like announcing to the world that you have no business administrating anything by putting an ATA or IP Phone with a weak password on the outside of a firewall.

Milton, you did yourself a great disservice by this so called review. You may also want to embrace the concept of being responsible for your own actions or neglect and not expecting others to do so on your behalf. Nobody should have to be crucified for your sins.

Review by aldo See Profile

  • Location: undisclosed location
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Good sound, almost always works
No IVR, clumsy call handling, expensive
Clumsy, expensive
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

They can't reliably route calls: An IVR is necessary to route calls the way I want them routed and Callcentric has no IVR. Their Call Treatments are simplistic compared to Voip.Ms.

Their tech support can't provide proper support: They cant support something their company does not have.

Value for money is not so good: Both Voip.Ms and Anveo have figured out how to do what I need and have been offering it for years.

Another problem for me is that they are a bit pricey: 1.98 cents per minute to call out, $3.95 to setup up a DID, $1.95 per month to maintain the DID.

member for 10.5 years, 6 visits, last login: 9.6 years ago
updated 9.6 years ago

PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 edit

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Outbound calling plans and IVR

You commented: [A smaller problem for me is that they are a bit pricey....]

Many/most customers can benefit from their 500 minute and 1000 minute outbound calling plans, which also bundle in the 911 cost.

As for the IVR, this will indeed be a useful and formidable feature when they finish their meticulous development and testing. You are quite right about that.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: Outbound calling plans and IVR

While CC is a bit pricey indeed but one thing which has to be considered is the flexibility of plans. It gives you a wide variety of pricing options, more than some other providers. Also, you do not have to use CC exclusively. GV, Localphone and others can be used for a part of your outgoing calls, or providers like Alcazar for toll free calling.
rblizz
join:2001-12-16
North Richland Hills, TX

rblizz to PX Eliezer1

Member

to PX Eliezer1
Gee, another CallCentric is "okay ... but" review by a new guy who's only other review is 100% for voip.ms. Boy, I've never seen that pattern before.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

You have got it wrong!

A smaller problem for me is that they are a bit pricey: $00.198 per minute to call out

Their rate is NOT $00.198 per minute, it's $0.0198 per minute.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Re: You have got it wrong!

Good pickup Arne!

slyphoxj
join:2002-06-23
united state

slyphoxj

Member

You can fudge an IVR if you have an Obi device

If you have an Obi device (or maybe another ATA that has the capability to register to more than one VoIP provider at the same time), you can go into the Callcentric portal and create a second sub-account (extension). You can then setup a second SP slot on your Obi device (Obi100/Obi110/Obi202/Obi200/etc.) to log into Callcentric using the sub-account's SIP credentials. You would then setup the second SP's InboundCallRoute to send all incoming calls to the Obi Auto Attendant.

Then go into your Callcentric account and add a Call Treatment to route any caller not in your Phone Book to the second sub-account (extension). Then go to obitalk.com and bring up the page where you setup/config your Obi. Then go to Voice Service -> Auto Attendant and clear the NumberOnNoInput field, then save this change.

Voila... you've now got a telemarketing robocall blocker that will allow a human dialer to press 1 to get though to ring the phone(s) connected to your Obi but will hang up if 1 isn't pressed after a few seconds. And your phones will just simply ring if anyone in your Phone Book calls- they won't get the Auto Attendant.

EDIT: I should add that this is just simply a workaround until Callcentric gets their IVR up and going, hopefully soon. The downside to this is that I had to boot Google Voice off of the SP1 slot on my Obi110. Also, the Obi Auto Attendant has an issue with passing calls from anonymous callers after they press 1- my Obi110 hangs up when I pick up the phone.
Livadia
join:2007-12-18
Canada

Livadia

Member

On blocking telemarketers

It seems Callcentric provides the option for requesting the caller to press '1' before the call is accepted. Look at the 'Call Treatments' then select the 'Simultaneous Ringing'.

I have not tried it, though.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 recommendation

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Rabbit season, Duck season, Silly season.

said by aldo:

They can't reliably route calls: An IVR is necessary to route calls the way I want them routed and Callcentric has no IVR.

Reliability and having an IVR are two different issues. And CallCentric is far, far from the only VoIP provider that does not yet have an IVR.
said by aldo:

Their tech support can't provide proper support: They cant support something their company does not have.

Their tech support is outstanding. That they may not have a feature you want is a different issue.
said by aldo:

Value for money is not so good: Both Voip.Ms and Anveo have figured out how to do what I need and have been offering it for years.

You first posted your negative review of CC almost a year ago. Because other providers meet your needs better, why are you still using CallCentric?

And IF you are NOT still using CallCentric, then you should not be posting an updated review.

Is there some flaw in my logic?
said by aldo:

Another problem for me is that they are a bit pricey: 1.98 cents per minute to call out, $3.95 to setup up a DID, $1.95 per month to maintain the DID.

They have a variety of inbound plans (even including free numbers) and a variety of outbound plans. The 1.98 cents is a PAYG rate whereas most users will find their 500 or 1000 minute outbound plans (which also include 911) to be more economical. (Voip.MS has no outbound calling bundles, totally PAYG).

But you are right, Voip.MS has some very cheap rates. Partly they achieve that by providing some tech support from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Mango
Use DMZ and you get a kick in the dick.
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
www.toao.net

3 recommendations

Mango

Premium Member

Suspicious review

1) Some months ago, an individual or individuals posted a large number of similarly-worded reviews, praising VoIP.ms, and denouncing Callcentric.

2) The reviews were so similar that the moderators removed the majority of them.

3) The user aldo See Profile posted reviews with similar language to 1) in September, but with an 83% rating for Callcentric - thereby avoiding having the reviews removed.

4) aldo has now lowered the Callcentric review's score to 58%, even though in November 2013, Callcentric released the Telemarketer Block feature that performs to his specifications.

Clearly, this user's reviews are not genuine. If they were, the individual would have increased his scores when the feature he wanted was released, not decreased them.

Review by fizzboz See Profile

  • Location: Park, Gove, KS, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Clumsy, lacking in important basics
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

update on july 20
Callcentric is still usable as a backup service, but it just does not have some of the things I think of as essential in a voip service, such as an IVR and an easy-to-use way to route incoming calls.

For example, with Voip.ms, I can specify that calls from certain incoming numbers be answered until 4pm, and for others until 8pm, and for others at any time, and I can do it with just a few entries.

With Callcentric, I would have to have 21 call treatments, 7 for each group of numbers. And if, for example, I want to have other kinds of routing for weekends, it would mean 42 call treatments. Very inadequate.

And Callcentric has no IVR. With Voip.ms, I am able to allow family and friends easy and cheap phone access to one another without them even needing voip.

Reliability is not so good: no IVR means callers can not reliably connect. Absurdly complex call treatments leave too much room for error - poor reliability.

Tech support is not so great either: You complain about missing features and they say they cant do anything about it.

Not so good value for money: with Voip.ms and Anveo running the pants off Callcentric as far as IVR and call routing, what value? And it costs more! Stay away is my advice.

A Long Time Ago

Pretty good. The service seems solid. It is a clumsy, limited kind of
service as far as features go. Maybe the addition of sub-accounts
will make it more attractive.

I do not like the lack of redundant servers, geographically
separated, and really do not like the attitude that Callcentric
knows best that showed up after the hurricane in October.

It is not just that their setup is difficult, as I understand it, to replicate
at several locations, but that their attitude, as expressed on this forum,
is that such redundancy is not even needed.

The bit about 'such a storm will only happen once in 100 years'
does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about the resilience of
a voip provider with its servers in one place.

member for 12.1 years, 20 visits, last login: 9.6 years ago
updated 9.6 years ago


Review by filostrato See Profile

  • Location: Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Avoid
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Sep 29
I have Callcentric as a second line, using it occasionally for
outgoing calls to use up the few dollars I have in it.

Their servers are in one place, and a problem with that, which they found
out about during the hurricane, is that if they lose power or
have some other disaster, their entire company is offline.

Not forgotten either was their spokesman's insistence that their
single server location, and no generator backup, was perfectly ok
and people had no business complaining about it. I feel uncomfortable
relying on such a company.

Another potential problem for them, at least from what I read here,
is that it is difficult to accommodate the equipment they use to
useful new features or to making their servers geographically
redundant.

They need to mature in terms of equipment allowing them to be more
flexible - and in their attitude.

In a word: if you can find something equivalent or better (and it
is easy to do that), avoid Callcentric until they have grown up a
bit.

member for 11.3 years, 4 visits, last login: 10.4 years ago
updated 10.5 years ago


XANAVirus
Premium Member
join:2012-03-03
Lavalette, WV

XANAVirus

Premium Member

Technically...

All those natural things you listed that could happen to Callcentric (burst water pipes, fire, power problems), they could still happen to a provider even if they have geographically diverse servers.

Sure, the chance is much much lower, but you can't say for *sure* that nothing could go wrong at all those data centers owned by the same company.

Different disasters at all those data centers could come together to bring down a diversely-hosted provider (fires at one center, burst water pipe at another, etc.).
Not to mention just general overload of the servers and random glitches that can happen sometimes.

It doesn't matter how many differently-located data centers you've got, you would know that nothing is fool-proof and everything fails eventually. You would not be saying you're immune to being taken offline, because the Universe loves a challenge.

This is just another of those posts decrying Callcentric for being hosted in one place, which I'm sure you would have noticed before since you are obviously concerned about them going down.
nitzan
Premium Member
join:2008-02-27

1 recommendation

nitzan

Premium Member

Re: Technically...

said by XANAVirus:

Different disasters at all those data centers could come together to bring down a diversely-hosted provider (fires at one center, burst water pipe at another, etc.).

The chance of a disaster bringing down two completely different data centers at two completely different geographic locations at the same time is almost none.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

1 recommendation

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Beating a dead horse....

Oh, me, oh, my.

Yet another "paired" review in which one person posts a very positive review of Voip.MS and a very negative review of CallCentric, as though those are the only two companies out there.

Actually, over the past year, CallCentric has been rock-solid, whereas it is Voip.MS that has had to reinvigorate much of its basic underpinnings.

Regarding Hurricane Sandy, that's beating such a dead horse, how multiple backup measures failed in that superstorm.

But since you bring it up again, be advised that CallCentric [is] enhancing its offsite backup and its onsite power supply even further:
»www.myvoipnews.com/4/pos ··· ion.html

As far as features, CallCentric is quite good there, having added subaccounts this year. Final development proceeds on IVR as well.

The lack of credibility of the review is shown by the low scores for website, ease of installation, call quality, etc. That shows to longtime readers of this site what this "review" is all about, because the reviewer did not even otherwise comment on those areas (and indeed cannot without looking silly).

Some Voip.MS enthusiasts like to post gratuitously negative reviews of CallCentric.

CallCentric enthusiasts are courteous enough to refrain from trashing Voip.MS, thus far.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

Re: Beating a dead horse....

said by PX Eliezer1:

Actually, over the past year, CallCentric has been rock-solid, whereas it is Voip.MS that has had to reinvigorate much of its basic underpinnings.

+1
said by PX Eliezer1:

Regarding Hurricane Sandy, that's beating such a dead horse, how multiple backup measures failed in that superstorm.

It's amazing that Hurricane Sandy still is used to bash Callcentric. My ISP was offline for less than a couple of days due to Hurricane Sandy and I see no reason to complain about that. Same with Callcentric, being offline for less than a couple of days during the hurricane is no reason for complaining.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: Beating a dead horse....

said by Arne Bolen See Profile. Same with Callcentric, being offline for less than a couple of days during the hurricane is no reason for complaining.
[/bquote :

DDOS + "hurricane" = 1 month off line no e911 here.

cb14

cb14 to PX Eliezer1

Member

to PX Eliezer1
I actually agree on the redundancy issue that's why I am giving them 50% on reliability too for the time being but the rest of the rating is completely out of line and an obvious attempt to tear down a competitor.

Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI

Nightfall

MVM

Another misleading review

If there is anything that needs to be fixed when it comes to ISP reviews, it is misleading or bad reviews. This one is a clear case in point. While I do agree about the redundant data centers and Hurricane Sandy (I was affected by this), the rest of the scores are not indicative of the service that CallCentric provides.

For example, when it comes to customer service and support, I consider them one of the best in the VOIP business. I always got top notch support when I had them. Their website is very informative as well and has instructions on how to configure every device. Installation is a breeze. The only thing I would take points off for is reliability and that may be at 3 out of 5.

If you want to be considered to be an honest and up front reviewer, then at least look at the whole package.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: Another misleading review

said by Nightfall:

If there is anything that needs to be fixed when it comes to ISP reviews, it is misleading or bad reviews.

There is also a very significant number of misleading positive reviews. Unfortunately, that's a problem not confined just to this web site.

Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI

Nightfall

MVM

Re: Another misleading review

said by cb14:

said by Nightfall:

If there is anything that needs to be fixed when it comes to ISP reviews, it is misleading or bad reviews.

There is also a very significant number of misleading positive reviews. Unfortunately, that's a problem not confined just to this web site.

Two wrongs don't make a right. In most cases, the misleading positive reviews are trashed. Just like reviews like this should be trashed. I guess it takes talent to write an informative review.

I am just saying that the OP could have made this review a lot better. In fact this seems like a shill review if anything.

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

cb14

Member

Re: Another misleading review

said by Nightfall:

. In fact this seems like a shill review if anything.

Maybe. It created a negative review in the oversight, so now CC also has a negative review.
But truly good negative shill reviews are smarter than this one, less extreme, less negative, more "informative", sticking it with the needle.

nonamesleft
join:2011-11-07
Manitowoc, WI

nonamesleft to Nightfall

Member

to Nightfall
Why isn't anyone allowed to give a true opinion about callcentric? I Remember when I did, I got messages that wanted me to change my ratings and comments and such. Don't forget about the issues before the hurricane thing.
Iscream
Premium Member
join:2009-02-17
New York, NY

1 recommendation

Iscream

Premium Member

Re: Another misleading review

Dear "nonamesleft" below is my highly emotional answer to your obviously good question.

Well, how about some details of OP's record:

The member "filostrato":
Joined: 2012-11-06
(1st year!)
email: Not public.
Membership: Regular
Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews:
·Callcentric
·voip.ms
Posts: 2
Last seen: 2013-10-02 14:46:41
Visits: 4

Is it correct to say that the OP has joined the DSLRs, posted "perfect" review for Voip.MS (1st visit), then posted a trashing review about Callcentric (next day - 2nd visit), then 10 months later has again visited (3rd time) the DSLRs to leave (update) already perfect review for Voip.MS and then next day (4th visit) - came here again and trashed Callcentric again.
Anybody to say I'm wrong, am I?

Speaking of yourself - you've actually been a customer of Callcentric, you've not liked _what_ your experienced during last October's DDoS, well - you didn't want to recognize that sometimes some countries, lands as well as companies/businesses are at war and must protect themselves while being under heavy fire and pressure... Well - it's up to you.

BUT (and my BIG THANKs to YOU), you have had NO trashing or vendetta plans regarding your provider - you simply moved away while left a short message in place of your former review!

Another reason - Callcentric, as the company who provides public service during last 12 years is highly visible Internet target. And sure - during these years there were not only friends around it...

But being a small company with a very good reliability/service record prior Oct. 2012 and the same good record (just search those boards) after that, and knowing that there are LIVE people inside it, who love their job and who is committed to excellence in providing their service - is it a good idea to leave/support a review which says in BOLD letters "AVOID"? Huh?

Is it in general good, for your own sake, to have a choice when it comes to telephone service - to say "AVOID" about some one company while saying "BEST" regarding some other one?

There was a recently completed very serious investigation (and a related sentence) of a group of "PR" companies whose only business was to increase Google's ratings of some companies while trashing their competitors...

Thank you.

nonamesleft
join:2011-11-07
Manitowoc, WI

nonamesleft

Member

Re: Another misleading review

Good points made, can't argue with any of that.

Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI

Nightfall to nonamesleft

MVM

to nonamesleft
said by nonamesleft:

Why isn't anyone allowed to give a true opinion about callcentric? I Remember when I did, I got messages that wanted me to change my ratings and comments and such. Don't forget about the issues before the hurricane thing.

There is a difference between a true informed opinion and a shill review. If this were an unbiased review, it would have higher scores in certain categories while retaining lower scores in things like redundancy or uptime.

I will be honest that 75% of the reviews I read on this site are total shit. They are not very informative, scored incorrectly, and so on. So don't take it personally. I make a lot of comments on reviews that are just utter crap.

N9MD
Too busy to chat
Premium Member
join:2005-10-08
Boca Raton, FL

N9MD

Premium Member

Filostronzo

Take note ... those of you who arrived here seeking to learn something "bad" about CallCentric ... this is an ill-conceived, illogical review.

As of this date .. Dec. 27, 2013 .. this is the only negative review out of the 190+ reviews in the queue.