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Review by breg See Profile

  • Location: New York, New York, NY, USA
  • Business customer Business customer
  • Cost: $400 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Reliable, failover
None that I've seen
Great value, reliability, quality for technical consumers
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I have been using Vitelity for about three years now in a small business environment. In moving to Vitelity, we went from 8 POTS lines to all SIP calling over our standard cable broadband service. We connect about 200 calls per day through Vitelity.

The reliability and call quality have been excellent. I recall only one significant outage about 1.5 years ago that lasted a few hours on a weekend.

Their pricing is very competitive, and reflects the fact that they are pretty much an automated operation that assumes their customers know what they are doing [technically] and are able to mostly service themselves. There were a couple of instances where I needed tech support, and to do so, I filed trouble tickets via email. They responded promptly with correct, helpful information.

We are located in New York, and Vitelity is located in Colorado. We consistently see 65ms round-trip times, which works quite satisfactorily in terms of built-in latency.

They have a nice failover feature that will re-route inbound calls to a phone number of your choice in the event that they are unable to connect to your SIP server. We keep POTS lines on standby, so if/when we lose internet connectivity to Vitelity for any reason, they re-route the calls to our POTS lines. This has worked well.

Vitelity doesn't try to obfuscate fees and throw them at you as add-on charges. Instead, they keep their rate structure very simple so there are no surprises. They did have to raise their rates to include new regulatory fees a couple of years ago, and they were very energetic in making us (and presumably all their customers) aware of the change and its impact.

We are using Asterisk as our PBX to Vitelity. I have also used a simple Linksys PAP2T adapter at home, connected to Vitelity, and found similarly satisfactory results.

Vitelity's web portal, though relatively simple, is quite functional. I've been able to build some automated control processes that adjust settings through the portal as needed. While some people have complained about the "look" of their portal, I think Vitelity has it right in leaving it simple so as not to break any existing integrations such as ours. So though they have somewhat extended the portal's functionality over time, they have not needlessly revamped it for the purpose of aesthetics. This is good technical strategy, which is what I want from them. (Addendum 2012-06-05: The portal is even functional using the crummy web browser on my old Blackberry phone.)

I HIGHLY recommend this company. (I have no relationship to them, and no reason to give them a good review other than the very real and good experience I've had with them over the past three years. Vitelity has earned this review.)

Update 2012-06-05: Vitelity service continues to be excellent, with no apparent service interruptions or degradations since the above review was written. I added Voip.ms as a fall-back carrier, but was disappointed to find that Voip.ms, unlike Vitelity, doesn't have auto-replenishment of prepayments, which is more than just an annoyance. Vitelity lets you set a low-balance threshold, and when your prepaid balance drops below that threshold, Vitelity automatically charges your credit card to bring your balance back to an amount of your specification. This service is important for a business that does significant call volume.

Update 2013-05-22: Continued excellent non-stop service. If it weren't for the notification emails they send us whenever they auto-replenish our account, their presence would be totally silent and uneventful (which is ideal). GREAT service!

Update 2016-03-02: It's been about 7 years now with Vitelity. The service continues to be impeccable. Really, it's infrastructure I pretty much take for granted. We have had no noticeable outages since the one years ago (mentioned above). Reliable, steady service.

member for 12.3 years, 12 visits, last login: 8 years ago
updated 8 years ago


Review by crazyk4952 See Profile

  • Location: united state
  • Cost: $5 per month
Reliable, reasonable rates, free toll-free termination
Confusing portal interface, USF is extra
Good for outgoing calls, if you don't need easy access to call records
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Value for money:

Update 12/10/13:

I am still satisfied with Vitelity as an outbound provider. Calls complete in a timely and reliable fashion. Call quality is quite good also.

Several months ago I started to have a need for reliable fax service, so I signed up for their vFax service. The rate is $2.99/month (for the DID) + $0.03/min for inbound/outbound usage. Faxing is done through a separate site than the main portal site. Multiple, separate fax accounts can be created for this site that are all billed to the same main Vitelity account. This is convenient if you have multiple people that need to fax, but don't need access to the main Vitelity portal.

Viteilty is beta testing a new version of their portal. Unfortunately, it just seems that it is a new UI without additional functionality. If you simply want to quickly look at your call records, they still have to be emailed to you as a CSV file. Completely asinine, if you ask me.

Bottom line:
-Good for outbound calling (if you don't need easy access to call records)
-Great for fax

Update 06-24-13:

I am still using them for outgoing calls and I am completely satisfied with the call quality. I can't remember any calls that I have had a problem with. Also, call connection time is probably the lowest out of all of the voip providers that I've tried.

Their website is still a confusing mess. It is difficult to see call records and to see how much you were charged for each call.

________________________________________
Original Review 12-15-12:
I have been trying Vitelity for outgoing calls only. Reliability and call quality have been excellent. I have not had a single call fail to go through.

Pros:
-Excellent call quality and reliability
-Use of SRV DNS records
-Rates of $0.0144/min for calls to US numbers
-Support for 10-digit dialing
-Sub-accounts
-Calls have low latency
-Free calls to toll-free numbers

Cons:
-$35 minimum initial balance
-Confusing user portal
-Call records can only be seen by requesting a report be emailed to you (in CSV format)
-USF (currently 8.4%) is deducted from each payment that you make

member for 22.1 years, 3685 visits, last login: 8 days ago
updated 10.3 years ago

PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Agree....

I agree with the pros and cons that you have stated, especially the cons.

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

crazyk4952

Premium Member

Re: Agree....

said by PX Eliezer704:

I agree with the pros and cons that you have stated, especially the cons.

Yeah, once my balance is used up, I don't think I will continue to use them.

KerryG
@rr.com

KerryG

Anon

Re: Agree....

USF is a mandatory tax. Should we break the law and not charge it?
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Re: Agree....

said by KerryG :

USF is a mandatory tax. Should we break the law and not charge it?

The tax is on PROVIDERS.

NOT customers.

-------------------------------

A provider can choose whether to pay the tax as part of the cost of doing business, just as they pay their other taxes, and pay salaries, and pay all of their other expenses....

....OR a provider can pass on the USF tax to the customer, as a separate item not listed in the base price. That makes their advertised prices look falsely lower compared to their competitors.
dtinder
join:2012-12-18

dtinder

Member

Re: Agree....

Maybe both are wrong?

Adding it as a separate item is good. It helps keep prices low. You can apply for exemption. Most carriers put USF separate. Not a trick. Complaining about it is only for very small users, maybe.

But you say they take USF when you pay. Are you sure? Because USF is not owed on *all* services. Look it up to find out when you must pay USF. Google says this is has been a problem before, when a carrier charges USF when it is not owed.

Review by SpaethCo See Profile

  • Location: Minneapolis, Hennepin, MN, USA
  • Cost: $8 per month (month by month)
Economical DIDs when signing up through PIAF offer, consistent voice quality on DIDs, $10 one-time charge for LiDB/CNAM listing
Termination quality more variable than origination. Calls can be great to mediocre.
Solid provider that has been incredibly consistent over the last few months
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Update 10/2012: Time passes and Vitelity continues to be rock solid. In fact, the only outage I can really remember was when they lost power in the data center hosting their gear a couple years ago. Over the last few years I've noticed their termination has started to be consistently better, and they will be taking on the vast majority of my outbound traffic as soon as I run down a few prepaid balances.

Update 12/09: Things are still going great with Vitelity for my DIDs I have hosted with them. The only minor issue I've encountered was DTMF issues on one of my DIDs (may have been rate center related) that was resolved by porting that particular number out to another provider. Not a big deal considering the consistent good audio quality and reliability I get on my other DIDs hosted with Vitelity. Still highly recommended.

------

I signed up with Vitelity towards the end of 2008 under the PBX In a Flash promotion. Their subscriber portal is more complete than other providers I've seen -- automating all elements necessary for number porting, and allowing for individual DID selection from their available number pools.

The features I find most compelling from Vitelity include:

- Reasonable cost DID origination service, with included failover to a PSTN number when incoming calls encounter CHAN UNAVAIL.
- Emails are sent out when incoming calls hit the failover number, so you get a heads up that something needs to be looked at.
- Reasonably priced termination costs of US48, including completely free tollfree calling through their service (although CID digits are not properly passed on TF calls)
- For a $10 one-time charge they will populate the LiDB/CNAM DB with your desired information so that when you source the Vitelity DID digits for outbound calls, CallerID lookups will function to most destinations.

I have no problems recommending Vitelity to others; they have been absolutely rock solid for me.

member for 22.9 years, 5941 visits, last login: 111 days ago
updated 11.4 years ago

jimboe
join:2000-08-14
New York

jimboe

Member

CID passing to TF..


I find my CID is properly passed more often than not to TF numbers...

I've yet to encounter a problem with CC Cust Supt TF #'s for instance..

The ani #'s are 50/50.

Sometimes they get the correct CID, sometimes it's another number, and the other # is always the same.

Review by PX Eliezer704 See Profile

  • Location: Hutt River
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Good basic VoIP service but low on modern features.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Vitelity provides good basic service, and has a reputation for reliability.

As a service that is BYOD and PAYG, it would compete with CallCentric and Voip.MS, and Anveo.

However, Vitelity's call forwarding features are limited compared to those other companies. For example, Vitelity cannot direct a call to a SIP URI address.

I believe that the Vitelity Control Panel is a bit basic (again, compared to the competition). For example, if you want to review call records, you must request a file to be prepared and e-mailed to you.

Vitelity does have some notable points, such as offering dedicated fax numbers, and supporting IAX.

Other than that, however, I believe that their competitors in the BYOD/PAYG market are more innovative.

ADDED 09/14/2011:

Vitelity has a spiffy new public face to their website, which looks quite nice and highlights their services quite well.

However, they have not yet updated their customer portal, so after login the experience still is a little flat.

Those changes may be coming soon as well, with Vitelity discussing "new V3 customer platform" at the current Austin trade show.

ADDED 11/10/2011:

As I also note below, they still need to e-mail you a file if you want CDR (call detail records). This seems a little surprising, as even some very small providers allow you to see this data in realtime.

member for 15.6 years, 2568 visits, last login: 11.1 years ago
updated 11.8 years ago

jimboe
join:2000-08-14
New York

jimboe

Member

fnially.

..about time for a portal face lift..

thx for updating the community
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Re: finally.

So far the web portal (dashboard) seems pretty much unchanged except that the first pages (landing pages) are more modern looking.

They still need to e-mail you a file if you want call detail records.
jimboe
join:2000-08-14
New York

jimboe

Member

Re: finally.

they used to give some of the CDR data in real time.. extended req's required the d/l..

kieranmullen
Premium Member
join:2005-12-12
Portland, OR

kieranmullen

Premium Member

Downloading logs...

Large reports are normally queued on a reporting server. There is no need to have these available on the fly. If I wish to download a transaction log from paypal from all the transactions for the period I queue the job and the system emails me when done, it might take up to a day to get it done.

It is just the way it is for larger setups and it makes sense to most people and planners.

Review by kd6cae See Profile

  • Location: Bakersfield, Kern, CA, USA
  • Cost: $10 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Awesome call quality, let's you set your own caller ID
None at this time that I can blame on Vitelity specifically
Good service if you are one that wants to set your own CID and configure your own settings
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I've been using vitelity for a little while now and it works well. Mainly designed as a trunk provider for PBX's no doubt, it has a cool feature that I don't think any other consumer VOIP provider offers. You can set your own Caller ID and provided the software or hardware you're using sends Caller ID correctly, vitelity will pass it along. This is handy since I only use them for outbound calls, and want to have a number displayed that people I call can return my calls at, such as my google voice or cell number, depending who I call. I've had issues getting some of the softphones I've tried to use to pass caller ID to vitelity, however the Acrobits softphone, which I use for VOIP on my iPhone, works very well. I tried using 3cx phone and expresstalk on the PC, and those I have yet to get to send caller ID correctly, and as yet I'm not sure why, or even if I can do that with those softphones. Vitelity as a whole though has awesome call quality, and I'm surprised there's not more reviews for them on here. You do need to know how to set up your device, but once set up, Vitelity works well.

member for 22.5 years, 3615 visits, last login: 67 days ago
lodged 12.8 years ago


Review by sragle See Profile

  • Location: San Jose, Santa Clara, CA, USA
  • Cost: $15 per month
Good Price good Service
Tech Support hard to get ahold of at times.
Beats paying for Vonage or Local POTS
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I have been using Vitelity for 3 years now, I had Vonage, but it was costing too much then I switch to ViaTalk which was not reliable at all, then a friend told me about Vitelity.

Vitelity has been very reliable for me for my 2 DID I getting from them, never had issues with them, only issue I get are related to local hardware that has nothing to do with Vitelity service, its just life of VoIP, requires more hardware then just having a Local POTS line. Their pricing is good and call quality is good as well, have no complaints about it.

member for 18.6 years, 1032 visits, last login: 2.4 years ago
updated 15 years ago

jimboe
join:2000-08-14
New York

1 edit

jimboe

Member

Any DTMF problems?

I've been using them since "The Rocket" burned up in the atmosphere and they've been mostly problem-free, aside from a few short outages over the past 2 years. I do experience one problem though.

Touch tone recognition is spotty for me. I don't know about you, but some IVR's work (my bank's) and others are hit or miss (some of my CC IVR's). Calling into my cell phone's VMB to retrieve my VM's is 75% unreliable (STI Mobile, {Sprint network}). Usually I just use a secondary POTS line to navigate that IVR.

Problems range from "duplicate" tones being registered to "missed" tones altogether.

I use an SPA2102 with the service. I'd be curious as to what hardware and/or settings you use if you're not finding any problems with DTMF recognition.
sragle
join:2005-08-08
San Jose, CA

sragle

Member

Re: Any DTMF problems?

I use Asterisk PBX, no problem with DTMF, sounds like you are sending inband and outband DTMF to cause the duplicate tones.
jimboe
join:2000-08-14
New York

jimboe

Member

sounds like inband, but no. I've tried all settings on the ATA. Inband, Info, RFC..

The one which is "mostly" successful is Info. I guess * is the only fool proof way of reliable DTMF with Vitelity; I've surmised this for quite some time now.

What version of * are you running? And on what hardware?
hokie21
join:2003-06-14
Lake Zurich, IL

hokie21

Member

Vitelity DTMF

I had a recent resolved issue with Vitelity DTMF which I discussed in my posting here: »DTMF problems with Vitelity

Review by TSWYO See Profile

  • Location: Cheyenne, Laramie, WY, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Quick and easy, inexpensive, and Asterisk friendly
I've had some number ports take a while
Need some knowledge behind VoIP... Best provider I have ever been with.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I have been a customer of Vitelity for several years now (SixTel when I first signed up). I am one of their wholesale customers and use their service for my home line as well. Great DID selections, quality network, and decent support. Sometimes their number ports take a while, but being that is the only problem I have had, I’m a happier camper!

member for 20.9 years, 732 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
updated 15 years ago


kieranmullen
Premium Member
join:2005-12-12
Portland, OR

kieranmullen

Premium Member

porting

I just ported my number over to them and it was ported over one day before the date they gave me.

I don't think it is fair to rate them on this since I think that this is beyond their control. I would think that they would want you off your old provider and using them exclusively sooner rather than later.

TSWYO
Premium Member
join:2003-05-03
Cheyenne, WY

TSWYO

Premium Member

Re: porting

The last few ports I have had has taken in excess of 30 days.

kieranmullen
Premium Member
join:2005-12-12
Portland, OR

kieranmullen

Premium Member

Re: porting

I ported from Viatalk in less than 30. I guess it could have been an internal transfer (level 3 ) Rather than clec to clec? WHo did you port from? That would probably use useful informaiton to leave in the review.
said by TSWYO:

The last few ports I have had has taken in excess of 30 days.






Review by tgrip See Profile

  • Location: Bolingbrook, Will, IL, USA
  • Cost: $1 per month
Inexpensive, has CallerID with Name available, low ping time to midwest
minor DTMF problems, occasional noisy connection
Worth checking out
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I recently cut my Vonage connection in favor of an Asterisk based system where I can pick and choose which provider I use for any given call. I was attracted to Vitelity as they offer several interesting things:

1) A flat rate outgoing of 1.4 cents/minute to the US.

2) An optional subscription to CNAM

3) No automatic charge for 911: As my DSL service is slightly cheaper when bundled with a phone line, I send emergency and toll free calls through the POTS line and hence have no need for a 911 subscription. Note that they will connect a 911 call even without a subscription but they charge a hefty fee for doing so.

4) The ability to submit a CNAM directory entry so that your callers see your name rather than a generic "California Call" (or wherever).

5) Low ping times (~30msec) to the midwest.

I've not had a need to request tech support so it's hard for me to rate the response, however, the fact that I've not needed to is a good sign.

Others have noted problems with DTMF and I've also had trouble sending and receiving DTMF. I've put a "dtmfmode=inband" line in my sip.conf file for Vitelity and seems to do the job for me.

I've had one poor quality call placed through them but it only happened once and therefore does not detract from my overall positive assessment of the service.

Note that I do not use Vitelity for inbound service, only for outbound calls and only when Vitelity is less expensive than VoicePulse (about half the time for our usage).

TGrip



member for 19.3 years, 92 visits, last login: 12.3 years ago
lodged 15.1 years ago


kieranmullen
Premium Member
join:2005-12-12
Portland, OR

kieranmullen

Premium Member

Ratings?

Why do you list DTMF as an issue on the rating when you concede later it was a raring issue?
tgrip
join:2004-11-22
Bolingbrook, IL

tgrip

Member

Re: Ratings?

Good point. After I experienced DTMF problems on an incoming line from Vitelity I solved the problem by not using a Vitelity DID number. I opted for this rather than try all the various possiblities. Note that the issue may depend on how Vitelty chooses to route the call and hence a good setting today may not work tomorrow.

Outgoing I do not yet have enough experience to claim that the sip.conf change completely solved the problem. About 95% of all our calls requiring outgoing DTMF are to tollfree numbers that I route though a POTS line.

Clearly, the settings suggested by Vitelity do not work for DTMF and one apparently needs to experiment. Hopefully I'll be able to report no further outgoing DTMF problems when I update this review.

TGrip

Review by kieranmullen See Profile

  • Location: Portland, Washington, OR, USA
  • Business customer Business customer
  • Cost: $5 per month
Larger company. Support! Decent PAYG Rates.
None at this time.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

No complaints that this time I have been with them for about a year. It would be nice to be able to transfer any did into their flat rate incoming program, but it depends on where the number is coming from I believe.

member for 18.3 years, 917 visits, last login: 3.3 years ago
lodged 15.1 years ago







Review by kenn10 See Profile

  • Location: Kennesaw, Cobb, GA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Good voice quality, easy DID selection, CNAM available, E911 Available
Limited functionality if connecting via ATA. Mainly a trunk provider for PBX's
Good, solid provider with a stable, reliable network.
Web-site:
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Value for money:

I was in the process of disconnecting my account with SixTel when they were taken over by Vitelity. Since that time, service has gotten better and better. Customer service is now quite responsive and there are almost never any network outages. I have 4 DID's with them and use them as my primary outgoing provider.

This company continues to stay out of the limelight. They are doing a good job but you rarely hear about them.

member for 20.5 years, 4359 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 15.4 years ago