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Review by Tom77 
member for 2.5 years, 29 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
updated 1.3 years ago
 Bradenton,Manatee,FL
 $9 per month "Nothing... was cheap, now same price as Vonage." "Extremely Unreliable" "The price is the same as Vonage, the quality... less so."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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I had service for about 6 months and use it mostly for international calling. I rarely used this for a domestic call.
Website - 2 - Poor
It is not well organized and some things are difficult to find. I was looking for calling rates for my calling plan and it took me 10 minutes to find the right page. Good luck figuring out whether a specific exchange within a given country is included in your plan. (You may get 12 countries in you plan, but not every exchange within those countries is included.)
Installation - 1 - Horrible
Ridiculously difficult; definitely not for the average user. It took three weeks to get the service up and running, and I am very tech-oriented. A friend signed up for this service and it took over a month. I was never credited for the downtime. They could make this SOOO much easier by posting screen shots from the most common VOIP boxes---but they don't.
Call Quality - 2 - Fair
It was good on the rare occasions that it worked properly. Other than price, this is the best thing about the service. Unfortunately, calls drop often and incoming calls rarely if ever get through. Emails to tech support about the problem go unanswered.
Reliability -1 - Horrible
About 20-25% of the time I try to make a call to a new international number it will not go through and I have to email tech support. Tech support will only get back to you during business hours and if you are calling overseas, you are probably calling at night. Don't plan on making the call that day. I can't tell you how many times I had to give up and use Skype--which ALWAYS works. I cannot even call my own incoming number about half of the time and have not been able to do so for several weeks now. It doesn't bother me that much, because I mostly got this service for outgoing calls, but you DO NOT want this for your only phone.
Tech Support - 1 - Horrible
Only email, and only during certain hours. I have the impression that someone is running this service from their basement and answers email when they are awake. No kidding... Originally I give them a 2 for tech support, because at least they tried, but it has gone downhill recently and they don't respond anymore.
Value for Money - 1 - Horrible
I finally gave up on this service. The PRICE was low, but it just never worked right. Customer service was downright rude, as you can see below.
UPDATE: The price WAS low, but now this mess costs the same as Vonage. You'd have to be insane to sign up for this...
Comments:
1 edit | Response from Versafon.com customer service Response from Versafon.com customer service:
First of all we apologize for the inconvenience we have caused, we do work hard on improving our service and support.
Let me clarify some of the points in this review:
1. We have only received 2-3 complains regarding inability to call overseas from this customer, which were resolved within a day or two, and most of time were result of problems with our underlying carrier which we have had to open trouble tickets with. This can hardly be 20-25% of the time as the customer claims.
2. Installation difficulty - the customer has had Linksys adapter configured and locked by his previous carrier and later hacked by the customer to unlock it, we did what we could to help, but we have no control over customer's network setup and that was the main problem.
We do have screen shots of common adapters posted in our FAQ and we do provide pre-configured adapters for sale and for lease to avoid such technical difficulties.
Based on our support ticket statistics the customer is THE ONLY CUSTOMER having difficulties with incoming calls, most likely due to his hacked adapter or some unique network problems. We have thousands of subscribers ported their numbers to us which we never received any complains from.
We do have limited support resources and that's one of the reasons we are able to keep our prices 3 times lower than Vonage.
3. Refund for down time - we do not provide refunds in situation when a customer is unable to connect to us for reasons related to his equipment, especially when using devices not provided by us.
Would a regular telco provide refund to anybody having difficulties with his phone set? No. Same here, it's not carrier problem. | |
| | Tom77
join:2009-10-25
Bradenton, FL Reviews:
 ·Versafon
1 edit | Re: Response from Versafon.com customer service 1. I will amend my comment to say that 20-25% of the time when I try to make an international call to a NEW number, it doesn't work. At the time I wrote this, I had called maybe 20 DIFFERENT international numbers and at least 4-6 didn't work on the first attempt. I contacted tech support on maybe 3 of these occasions. On the others, since I knew that I only needed to call once and that there would be no tech support until the next day I just gave up and used Skype, which, as usual, worked fine.
2. I have a previously locked Linksys adapter that is now fully UNLOCKED. Blaming the problem on my router is like AT&T blaming phone connection problems on the fact that my phone used to be locked by T-Mobile. Ridiculous.
In addition, the company is being deceptive in this reply. I sent screen shots of EVERY PAGE of my settings and the company rep--it is the same guy every time, BTW--approved them. The service still does not ring on incoming calls. Last time the guy rudely suggested, and this is a DIRECT QUOTE: "We would suggest that you hire an IT specialist to help you with setup/troubleshooting of your VOIP devices and network." There is your Versofon tech support in a nutshell. Maybe I would if I had ANY OTHER PROBLEMS, but the only problem is Versafon.
Why does this company not provide the full settings for its routers online, especially since this router is one that they actually used to sell? I would simply set my router to those settings and then everything should be fine, after all the settings should be the same for every Linksys router that has the same model number. But then they couldn't claim that the problem was with my router anymore and they would actually have to fix something.
My family always jokes about how bad my phone service is. It is quite often that they can't hear me but that I can hear them, etc. And they always know it must be me calling.
3. I can only quote the Versafon web page on this issue:
»versafon.com/versafonweb/faq.htm#guarantee
We offer 100% satisfaction guarantee as part of our service...
If we are unable to provide the services we offer to our customers due to an outage or for any other reason we will refund monthly charges prorated to reflect actual unavailability of the service. If the service outage exceeds 5 hours a month - a full one month charge will be refunded for every line a customer have subscribed to. | |
| | | | The customer was advised multiple times on issues with his VOIP equipment and network setup which results in his device getting unregistered from our servers and thus no incoming calls could be routed to his location.
We do provide 100% satisfaction WHEN it's Versafon fault - which is NOT the case here. | |
| | | Tom77
join:2009-10-25
Bradenton, FL Reviews:
·Versafon
| Re: Response from Versafon.com customer service First I was told that it was my adapter settings. Then I was told it was my router. This is the first time he has EVER told me that the reason my phone does not ring is that my device is not "registered from our servers."
It's very strange that I can make OUTGOING calls when my device is not registered, isn't it? Can unregistered devices make calls on your system Versafon?
I currently have a tech support email in to them which says, basically, PLEASE SEND ME THE PROPER SETTINGS FOR THE ADAPTER and PLEASE SEND ME THE PROPER PORTS NUMBERS TO FORWARD IN MY ROUTER if you think these are the problem(s).
But instead of providing tech support, he is posting nonsense here.
I think that the problem is that he has no idea what the problem is and so he tries to blame my equipment. This is what you can expect when you have a problem with Versafon, apparently.
Versafon: I've asked you numerous times: WHY DONT YOU JUST SEND ME THE PROPER SETTINGS? WHY?
Anyone that uses this as a main phone or business line has to be insane. You can see here exactly what will happen when something goes wrong...
(Side note: The bizarre thing is that I've never even asked them for a refund, even though their FAQ says exactly what I posted above--I copied and pasted it.) | |
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2 edits | Re: Response from Versafon.com customer service Our support spent literally hours trying to help this gentleman with his setup, we exchanged possibly a hundred e-mails educating him on basics of networking and VOIP. It worked for a while then he either changed something in his network or his hacked adapter started to act and again kept insisting it's all our fault.
We have offered him a clear solution - purchase a brand new pre-configured adapter from us and install it in front of his router/firewall with direct connection to the Internet - this would 100% eliminate all his issues. But the gentleman refused this and kept asking about some "magical" settings which we "hide" from him.
All our recommended settings have been published on our site for years, and they work for all our customers.
We are truly sorry to hear about all the troubles he went through but nobody in the world can help a person who prefers to complain rather than to follow a professional advice. | |
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| Tom77
join:2009-10-25
Bradenton, FL Reviews:
·Versafon
| What the Versafon rep has posted here is not true.
Please post a link to your settings here--IF you know what and where they are. I have asked you for them a dozen times and you have refused to provide them. (I think this is because you don't actually know what the settings are supposed to be.
In most cases they don't even respond to requests for help. How many employees does Versafon have to assist customers anyway? I suspect it is ONE. Take note of the kind of service you can expect here before you sign up for this joke of a service.
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| | | | We can post the link, but the gentleman has seen this link obviously many times, it's in our FAQ:
»versafon.com/versafonweb/faq.htm#config
These are configuration settings for Linksys PAP2T-NA, relevant settings for 2102, which the customer used, are identical. This works for all our customers and no other "special" settings normally are required.
We always respond to requests for help, all our support efforts are documented in e-mails and trouble tickets opened by the customer.
We do not normally support troubleshooting or guarantee QOS for devices not provided by us, since it's not possible to assess the condition of such devices.
We have made exception for the customer and this slander is the "thank you" we get. | |
| | | Tom77
join:2009-10-25
Bradenton, FL Reviews:
·Versafon
| Re: Response from Versafon.com customer service Again this is a weak response, as usual from the one man show called Versafon.
As anyone that goes to the above link can see, under "How do I make calls with Versafon?" one of the options is: "VOIP analog adapter, such as "Cisco SPA2102"."
Yet there are NO settings listed on that page for SPA2102, nor has this person (it's always the same person which should tell you a lot about this "company") ever provided me with a list of the proper settings. All of the emails I got were "try this" and "try that". None of which worked properly for more than a few weeks at a time.
I am in the process of getting a new phone company. He claims that all of the problems I experienced are with my adapter or my network. We'll see. | |
| | | | | | Re: Response from Versafon.com customer service Issue here is very obviously not with the provider but with the customer. | |
| | | | | Tom77
join:2009-10-25
Bradenton, FL Reviews:
·Versafon
| Re: Response from Versafon.com customer service Above poster is "very obviously" an industry shill. Check his last four posts:
-Issue here is very obviously not with the provider but with the customer.
-Seriously? This issue is very obviously not with Comcast.
-It sounds like you have a case of buyer's remorse which is certainly not the fault of the ISP.
-If they say it is interference - it is most likely interference. Don't call people out on something you don't know about. It just makes you look bad. | |
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| Tom77
join:2009-10-25
Bradenton, FL Reviews:
·Versafon
1 edit | I recently switched to calltopbx.com ($9.99 per month unlimited calling to 73 countries, AND they actually have a phone number and live chat). I sent my settings to their tech support and they emailed back the corrections. Imagine that.
Miraculously, my "problem network" and "hacked adapter" have cured themselves. I can't explain why they were such a problem with Versafon, yet are now working with no fuss at all. Must be a miracle from god... | |
| | | | Oops, we get "Error establishing a database connection" for calltopbx.com web site every second hit.
It does have phone number and chat, but the number is in the UK, and the chat works in GMT time zone (if it ever works).
But who cares? Mr Tom77 has finally found his happiness, so congratulations!
Hopefully calltopbx.com is not going to get slandered in 6 months. | |
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| | registration Registration is for incoming calls. All is really does is tell the remote proxy where (user@IP:port) to send incoming calls to. Some may use frequent re-registrations for nat traversal purposes it wasn't really designed for. For outgoing calls, your ata simply authenticates when it sets up an outgoing call. There are settings like "answer or place call without reg" on your ata that would prevent dial tone if registration fails. | |
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Review by Bogtrotter2
member for 2.9 years, 305 visits, last login: 1.1 years ago
updated 2.6 years ago
- East York,ON
- Contract price not specified.
- "Good sounding, cheap, easy to use."
- "Needs more information about terms."
- "A bargain if you use less than 1000 minutes per month"
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Update later today:
dtmf tones did not work when calling international sipbroker numbers, and I notice they are flaky even when calling a solid connection in the US.
They have the usual free incoming to a sip url. The url is in the form: @versafon.com:5080
The '5080' is unusual, but not a problem.
I'm not too surprised by these given that the service seems to be a simple to use, cheap service. And who knows where they will be in six months?
But I like the control I have with a service like voip.ms, and imagine I will use up my first month and then cancel.
/End of Update
This is a first-impression review of versafon. I'll update it after a bit. I did some comparisons to get an idea of versafon's value for money, and hope I am not comparing apples with oranges, or getting lost in the arithmetic.
Easy setup
Pay by monthly credit card deduction or do a one-time add to your account and have payments deducted from that.
Dial tone available immediately after payment and setup in the ATA. I got the 7.95 'silver unlimited', which is actually 1000 minutes/month and includes 12 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. If you need more than 1000 minutes, then you may want to look elsewhere. If you are like me, and rarely if ever reach 1000 minutes, then this is a bargain.
A DID of your choice comes with it. You tell them where you want it local to, and they do their best to get it.
Activating the DID means you have to have E911, which is $1.00 (I think), plus a regulatory recovery fee of $1.50.
So the total monthly is 10.45.
If I compare this with what I would get for 10.45 with North American calling via voip.ms, it would be:
1.50/month gets you the DID + 716 minutes ($8.95 at 1.25 cents/minute)
(voip.ms does not require the E911 or any additional fee).
BUT
if you decide not to activate the DID with versafon, you save $2.50 on the E911 and regulatory fees, meaning you pay $7.95 total.
Comparing with voip.ms, with no voip.ms DID:
North America calls 7.95 / .0125 = ~630 minutes
UK calls 7.95 / .015 = ~530 minutes
Versafon is looking better with its 1000 minutes for the same money, especially if calls to the UK make up a large percentage of your minutes.
If you want a DID, you will pay somebody for it, but with voip.ms, it is $1.50 and no fees, so that seems a better way to spend the money. You pay for incoming with voip.ms and I assume that versafon subtracts incoming minutes out of the 1000. They need to spell that out.
They have some kinks to work out, including reporting correctly what numbers in the UK are free. All the UK numbers I tried, mostly sipbroker numbers, are free, not just the few they list. The free Australia numbers are limited to Melbourne, as they listed.
I don't know what the accuracy of the rate list is for the remaining 8 non-North-American countries. I am only likely to call the UK outside of North America, so it make no difference to me, but you need to keep it in mind if you are calling elsewhere.
I had problems with dtmf tones when calling sipbroker numbers outside of North America.
Having used it for several days, it is reliable and sounds good, for what that is worth after such a short time.
The silver service comes with two lines, so that the second line could be set up with an ATA at some other location.
It allows call forwarding, but only to a pstn number it looks like. They need to add forwarding to a sip url.
There is a calling card feature and a web call feature.
Emails to them have been answered quickly, even on a long weekend.
The other thing about versafon is that it is so new, that when they finish ironing out the kinks, I don't know what they will end up having: they may allow more minutes; they may abate the regulatory fee; they may decide to start charging for some UK destinations; they may allow more free Australian destinations. So far, so good though.
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Review by mporter
member for 2.7 years, 2 visits, last login: 1 year ago
updated 2.7 years ago
- New York,New York,NY
- $16 per month
 about 1 days- "Very inexpensive, great call quality"
- "Customer service is mostly e-mail based, but fast"
- "Best deal I could find for a small business"
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I just joined them this week, so plan to update this review after some time.
I got 5 lines and a toll-free number for my business up and running in less than 40 minutes!
So far so good, call quality is very good, long distance calls are cheap, no problems with reliability at all. Their web site is simplistic but functional, and I could even customize caller IDs and names for my lines online.
Less fancy features than Vonage, but seems like they will be adding more by the end of this year, as per the web site, even call recording and custom call routing!
So far I could not find a better deal anywhere else money wise.
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Review by jjcrown
member for 2.7 years, 5 visits, last login: 2.7 years ago
lodged 2.7 years ago
- Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
- $8 per month
- about 2 days
- "Very flexible and value priced"
- "customer support mostly over e-mail"
- "great value for money, decent voice quality"
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I joined Versafon 2 weeks ago, have "unlimited silver" plan, and one "simple" line, call quality most of the time as quite good, I got free grandstream adapter, which is not really free until I complete my first year, but still nice, I like free stuff.
What I like the best is their flexibility, they can configure your line just for you individually, like ring both of my lines simultaneously for example.
I also got free toll-free number which just super great, since now my parents and my sister can call me for free from DC!
I think free toll free number is not advertised BTW, you have to ask.
International rates are not the lowest, but call quality is always good.
Overall I am happy for now, it seems to be a small company, and they seem to care about every customer a lot.
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Review by paveldeg
member for 3.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 3 years ago
updated 2.9 years ago
- Woodstock,Cherokee,GA
- $9 per month
- "clean intuitive web site, low cost voip lines,conferencing and long distance"
- "call hunt/follow me not available yet"
- "very nice provider"
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Cool features: unlimited calling to 8 countries including US & Canada for just $10. VOIP adapter can rented for just $2.95/m. Free VOIP softphone, free unlimited in-network calls, $5 sign-up bonus.
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