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Review by DFW  - Location: North York,ON
- Cost: $3 per month
Good "Surprisingly easy setup, excellent online support documentation, excellent communication regarding any server issues"
Bad "nothing yet"
Overall "Great and reliable service at a fraction of my old landline costs"
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First off, my total monthly costs are inflated by about $1 because I ordered two numbers, one private that rings in the house and one that I give out to businesses that require it that goes straight to email. There are a ton of features for the very basic cost that I don't use. We aren't big phone users at home so we end up with the same convenience we had with a landline at maybe $400/year less.
Combined with an OBI100, the setup could not have been easier, even for an inexperienced user like myself. I only had two issues (trouble registering with a domain name, resolved by using IP and some odd ringing that was resolved quickly with a question in the DSLR voip forum).
member for 196 days, 31 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged a few minutes ago
Comments:
| Review by wideglide36 - Location: Altoona,Blair,PA
- Cost: $5 per month
Good "Everything seems to work as advertised"
Bad "I'd be nitpicking, but their website could use some tweaking"
Overall "So far, so good."
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We've been using Voip.ms for almost a year now and I thought I would write a quick review.
We currently have one DID and are in the process of porting another. This will be our second port and so far it's going as smoothly as the first one.
As you can see by our monthly costs, we're not heavy users in any sense of the word.
But when we do use the service, it works great. We really haven't had any problems at all.
Customer support was excellent when I had a few questions. They really went the extra mile and we were really impressed. Support was fast, accurate and very effective.
We definitely don't use all of the features they offer so I really can't speak to those.
All in all, we're really pleased with what we get for what we pay.
Now if they could only get their web site looking half as good as Callcentric's and they would be perfect in my mind.
Hope this review was properly written. I know other critical reviews of certain providers were not well received by this forum.
Hopefully mine will be..........
member for 9.9 years, 550 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 1 days ago
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| Review by gredzok - Location: Topeka,Shawnee,KS
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Good "Excellent"
Bad "Nothing"
Overall "An Excellent Company"
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Voip.ms has worked very well for me for the past few years that I have used it.
I recently ported our old pstn number to Voip.ms, and it brings with it the junk that accumulates around a number that has existed for a while, but Voip.ms has let me do away with the call screening I had to do when the number was with Bell and I could no longer stand the telemarketers. The caller id filter lets through people I want to hear from and the IVR keeps out telemarketers and mentally ill people.
Loads of servers if the one you are using has a problem, but mine has had no problems and no noticeable latency.
And Voip.ms came through last October when it had to.
An excellent company.
member for 25 days, 2 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 1 days ago
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| Review by deafmonkey - Location: undisclosed location
- Cost: $4 per month
- Install: about 1 days
Good "Best Provider For a cheap hearing impaired landline, lots of features, Just works."
Bad "not for the inexperienced"
Overall "Best alternative to Hearing impaired Bell/Rogers lines"
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I have been using this VoIP provider for about 11 days.
Thanks to the cheap rates, I now have a landline using the montreal.voip.ms server,
with zero problems, using Telco AC-211. ATA.
I have been using this provider on recommendation from a Friend. I am incredibly
happy with the service as I can use my Clarity Phone on it, I have yet to test
the Text Telephone via VoIP.ms - Though I'm certain it can work.
I highly recommend it to hearing impaired even with 80% bell-relay discount,
it still can't beat voip.ms rates - I don't see myself going back to POTS services
after my recent pleasant experience with VoIP.ms
UPDATES:
Oct 1 2013
Support has been very helpful on a ticket I processed earlier so it
definitely works when I have made my ticket requests.
I will likely be keeping this VoIP provider around for awhile with some
of their cool features to keep telemarketing out.
Sept 26 2013
I have had less than 3 bad calls a month on the value plan, so the quality has been fantastic using the value plan, and now down to my last dollar on the Original $25 deposit. So it has been a great ride, and will definitely reload my VoIP.ms soon For 2 DID in operation.
-DM
member for 172 days, 163 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 4 days ago
Comments:
| Review by eddi1984 - Location: Edmonton,AB
- Cost: $12 per month
Good "Good pricing, great support, lots of features, nice call quality"
Bad "Take a little bit of time to setup"
Overall "Love it!"
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Hi all,
I am with VOIP.MS for approx 6 month now (5 DID's).
I really hesitated to switch from SHAW (local cable provider). I was not sure, how reliable the VOIP.MS service would be.
A little bit of background:
I had SHAW internet (50) and Home Phone. In a 3 year span, the price went from $85 to close to $105. I guess the shareholders needed money for a new yacht or something ...
Long story short, SHAW was not willing to drop the price (I was with them for close to 7 years), nor did they care when I left (got no "please come back" response, just silence ...)
I switched my internet to TELUS (see my other review) and I ported one number (with SHAW it was a distinct ring number, kept the primary phone number with SHAW).
I setup simulations ring with SHAW to ring the ported number residing at VOIP.MS. So every call that came in on my primary number was also ringing my VOIP.MS number. I setup a Grandstream ATA with my analog phone.
I had some issues with the ATA, it was not working right, so spend some time to fix that. Once it was resolved, it worked (not as good as I would liked it).
Than I also had a problem calling certain numbers that terminated in a little town where family is living. It took approx 2 days with tech support so resolve the issue (I believe that it was the local termination that was causing issues, because family living in that town also experience frequent problems with their POTS line).
Because of the issues, tech support recommended to use PREMIUM line not VALUE. So I did (the extra cost does not make much of a difference to me, in respect to the better call quality and reliability). Since than, I have no problems with any numbers in that town anymore.
Conclusion:
If you switch to VOIP.MS, sign up for an account and play with the site and settings before you buy/port a DID. This way, you will be familiar with VOIP.MS site and than you can focus on the actual phone setup once you have a DID.
After some initial bumps at the beginning, the service is flawless, and I have no issues since (wife is not complaining, so that is GOOD!  )
I highly recommend, if you are switching to VOIP.MS get yourself a true SIP phone. The Panasonic KX-TGP500 is fantastic. Siemens also has a Gigaset (DECT) phone. Or get a wired SIP phone (Aastra is nice and easy to setup, Grandstream phones are a cheaper option). With an ATA, you will always loose something (it might be ok, but not great!).
That is now approx 2-3 month ago. Since then, I upgraded my ATA to a Panasonic KX-TGP500 and ported my primary number to VOIP.MS! I love the phone! Also, I noticed a clear improvement in my call quality and specially clarity.
I have one problem with VOIP.MS. THEY DO NOT SUPPORT T.38 FOR FAXING. And that is why I still hesitate to resell the VOIP.MS service to my business customers that I do IT support. Everyone of them still uses the traditional way of faxing regularly. It has to work and without T.38, it is not guarantied.
VOIP.MS, PLEASE, IMPLEMENT T.38! It cannot be that hard with Asterisk ...
Cheers,
Eddi
PS: If you find spelling mistakes, please keep them ...
member for 205 days, 59 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 9 days ago
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| Review by Arne Bolen - Location: Planet Earth
- Cost: $1 per month (month by month)
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UPDATE September 21, 2013: I have closed my VoIP.ms account, so no more reviews.
UPDATE September 24, 2012: I now only use the Houston server for iNum and my US TF. My usage is low but the service seems to work well.
Update March, 2011:
The issues with the London server seem to have been fixed so I have updated the Reliability rating.
For several months I have been using a hosted PBX with VoIP.ms. Introducing a PBX may be a bit risky but it works like a charm. Because my PBX worked so good together with VoIP.ms I now use it with all my providers.
As it works so well with my PBX and VoIP.ms a few weeks ago I started to use SIP URI as the main routing option in all my VoIP.ms DIDs. Using SIP URI forwarding has the advantage I can route incoming calls to a specific PBX extension based on called DID and Caller ID number.
SIP URI routing worked so well with VoIP.ms I started to use it with all providers allowing SIP URI routing.
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Update July 31, 2010:
I have lowered the Reliability rating. Last years issues with the London server are back again.
Phone/ATA devices are registered with the London server and internal calls are working. The following are NOT working:
1. External calls to DID's on the London server fail
2. External calls to PSTN numbers from the London server fail
3. When dialling *97 or 097 the voice says "Comedian mail" instead of going directly into the mail.
The dates for the issues this year are:
Jan 1, 2010
July 12, 2010
July 31, 2010
This is getting very annoying. Calls to DIDs on the London server just get dead air and fail-over options to voice-mail don't work.
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Update May 5, 2010:
I have changed my Reliability rating from 80% to 100%. As I live in Europe I mostly use the London server.
During the second half of 2009 there were some problems with the London server so 1-2 times a month inbound and outbound calls failed despite the device continued to be registered. Calls to the Voicemail resulted in the "Comedian mail" voice. Every time I notified VoIP.ms the problem was fixed within 4-5 minutes. Due to those outages I rated "Reliability" to 80%.
The support staff promised to fix the problems permanently. It is now 4 months since the last outage so I think it is safe to assume the problems have been fixed permanently. Thus I have upgraded my Reliability rating to 100%.
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As I live in the European Union my experience with VoIP providers may be different from those living in USA and Canada. Most of my calls are to/from European phones and that makes it more difficult for a North American based VoIP provider to compete.
I found VoIP.ms when I started to read the Voip Tech Chat. For some years I have been using another good US provider as my primary provider but as the sound quality on outbound calls to European destinations has been poor I was looking for another provider for European destinations.
It was the Premium routing which made me to sign up with VoIP.ms. The sound quality on outbound calls to European PSTN destinations is excellent, so good it is actually better than using a POTS phone. Compared to the best VoIP provider in Denmark the sound quality on outbound calls to European destinations with VoIP.ms is a lot better.
For me the sound quality is the most important thing when making the decision which provider to use. Sadly too many providers are only competing on lowest price possible instead of the sound quality. I do not want lower sound quality just to save a half of a cent per minute. That is the reason I only use Premium routing with VoIP.ms. As I only use Premium routing I can't say anything how the Value routing is.
Inbound sound quality is very good but outbound sound quality is a lot better. Due to the good sound quality, server in Europe and the many features I now use VoIP.ms as my primary provider.
The live chat support is a feature I think all VoIP providers should use. The UK server has had problems a few times and I used the live chat support to report the problem. It was a pleasure to use the live chat support and the staff on duty fixed the problem within a few minutes.
I have used the ticket support system only once for a minor request and it took 76 minutes for my request to be handled. I think that was fast considering my request was very minor.
My experience with support has been very good. However I have never asked the support how to configure a device so I have no experience how VoIP.ms handle such support cases.
VoIP.ms has many valuable features, sub accounts and ring groups are features I can't be without now.
I have been using VoIP.ms for only 4 months but that is enough to recommend VoIP.ms for European voip users. IMO VoIP.ms is the best voip provider in Europe and I believe they will have success in Europe.
I know 4 months is a short time for a review but so far I have only good things to say about VoIP.ms. However I have a feeling that my experience with VoIP.ms will be good also in the future.
member for 4.2 years, 2365 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 13 days ago
Comments:
| Review by filostrato - Location: Sacramento,Sacramento,CA
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Good "Pbx-like performance without the learning curve"
Overall "A Telemarketer Killer - with no effort. Solid, dependable service."
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Voip.ms has given me good-sounding, dependable service in the years
I have used it.
Recently, following the suggestion by people on the dslreports
forum, I put in an IVR that, during the day, asks a caller to
enter '1'; if he does, the phone rings, else it hangs up.
The result has been no telemarketers, but regular calls get through;
It is simple but effective.
At night, the IVR changes to asking for an 'extension' to be
entered in order to ring through. That kills any chance of
late-night crank calls.
Family and friends whose callerids are whitelisted get through
without having to enter anything.
I believe Voip.ms is working on automatic failover, which will make
them just about perfect.
member for 333 days, 4 visits, last login: 3 days ago
lodged 16 days ago
Comments:
| Review by AppleGuy - Location: Canada
- Cost: $5 per month
- Install: about 1 days
Good "Inexpensive and decent quality."
Bad "It's a little more than just plugging in. "
Overall "Great value, and super awesome if you're tech savy at all. "
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I started using this service after my provider increased rates for the 5th time in 3 years. (Rogers) Since I don't use the phone (landline) a lot, no sense of paying $40/month for a VoIP service. Cost is $1.99/month plus $1.99 for e911 service plus usage. Calls have been clear, though setting up the answering service isn't 100% straight forward. However, saving $420/year +tax will be awesome.
member for 26 days, 39 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 26 days ago
Comments:
| Review by JoeBtfsplk - Location: Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
- Cost Contract price not specified.
Good "No problems, no more telemarketers"
Overall "Unbeatable range of features and solid performance"
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Sep 08 2013
Voip.ms is like having a pbx-lite, if what I read here about pbxes is giving me a proper idea of what they do, but requires little or no geek abilities.
I ported my pstn number to them a while ago and the telemarketers have disappeared; I see them in the call logs but the phone never rings when they call. Thanks to the voip.ms IVR, I was able to get rid of the telemarketers with very little effort, using suggestions I found here.
The sound is fine, the responsiveness to questions is excellent and the reliability has been unfailing.
The cost for this? The premium North American service is 1.25 cents/minute for outgoing calls, in 6 second increments, 1 cent/minute for incoming calls; a DID is $1.00/month; optional 911 is $1.50/month.
If you do not need the bells and whistles: the IVR, the Callerid processing, the DISA, the Callback, the Call Forwarding, the Time Conditions, the Sub-Accounts, the Ring Groups, etc., then forget about them and use it as a reliable, very reasonably priced, very easy to set up service.
And if, after a few months, you feel a need to do something about telemarketers or people that call later than you like, the means to fixing the problem are at hand; no need to get a second voip provider: Voip.ms has everything you will need to do the job.
I feel fortunate to have found Voip.ms. An excellent company.
Original Review
I have been using voip.ms for a year or so and have had no problems.
It was easy to set up once I realized that it can do more than deliver an incoming call to your phone and that there are all kinds of ways to move the call around and filter it before the phone rings or does not ring. That is probably more a comment on voip in general compared to pots, but voip.ms certainly has a lot of ways to route the incoming call.
I also use a sub-account with the voip option of my cell phone to make practically free calls from wifi hotspots.
member for 118 days, 3 visits, last login: 27 days ago
updated 27 days ago
Comments:
| Review by SSX999 - Location: Gatineau,QC
- Cost: $4 per month
- Install: about 7 days
Good "Clean and Clear sound, Super Cheap, Easy Set-up (basic line)"
Bad "None so far"
Overall "Why didn't I do this earlier!?"
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Bought a new house in fall 2012; wanted totally out of Bell, as I was being raped with a $57 a month third world DSL 5Mbps internet & modem rental, and a $64 land line with long distance plan. $129 a month with taxes added. My girlfriend was not too keen on losing our phone #, even though I tried to explain numbers could be transferred to other providers, so I convinced her to let me start with internet (Electronicbox), and wait a bit for the phone. Ebox has been running flawlessly since day one.
A buddy was telling me how he was with NetTalk VoIP, and it got me back in gear to get out of Bell for good. Did a bit of research and chose VoIP.ms for the pricing and the available number porting, which finally convinced my girlfriend to let me try.
Started with buying an OBi100 on Amazon, and once that was received, ordered a temp number with VoIP.ms; it took minutes to sign-up, fund the account through PayPal, and order a number. The setup guides and device configuration explanations on Wiki.VoIP.ms are so simple, I was calling back and forth between my land line and the VoIP line within minutes, I couldn't believe how easy it was (yes, there are a bunch of VoIP.ms options and OBi100 settings available that can take a long time to set up properly, but I will get to fine tuning those eventually, I was aiming for a basic working line).
Tested the line for a few days, the clarity it was enough to convince me to start the Bell number porting process right away, which is still in progress with an estimated date of Friday September 6th; will update on this once it is running. We barely used the land line phone, less than 200 long distance minutes a month, so I feel shame for paying $64+tx a month with Bell for so long when I can expect to pay $3-$4 a month with VoIp.ms.
*For those interested, I'm running the modem/router/ATA/phone, a whopping 55W total, on an APC Smart-UPS 1500 with an upgraded 12v battery (stock is 18Ah, new one is 22Ah), I figure that's 4-5 hours of juice if power goes out.
So far, the experience has been exhilarating and almost too easy, I can't believe how close we are to finally be Bell-free!
*UPDATE 2013-09-07*
I got the email notice the porting was complete yesterday, on the day they said it would be (FOC date), in 5 business days (7 total). Line is working perfectly, couldn't be happier. Called Bell @ 1-800-789-7723 loyalty Department to confirm the service was cancelled. Got a very friendly lady named "Nana" who confirmed I currently had no services with Bell, and that I was going to receive the final bill, then possibly a check to refund any overpayment. She told me the 30 day notice was not in effect in Quebec, so no cancellation charges; we'll see once the bill comes in if they tried to add anything of the sort. I also logged in to our "Mybell" account; it shows no services and a note that says "service cancelled: September 6th 2013".
I still have business to take care of once the final bill comes in, but I am essentially free of Bell.
member for 32 days, 6 visits, last login: 20 days ago
updated 27 days ago
Comments:
 | | Good review. A useful and informative review of a good provider.
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