redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA
 ·magicjack.com
edit:
June 21st, @10:06AM
| [Other] Allo.com
Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of them, recently came across them when surfing the web:
www.allo.com
Interesting presentation on POPs that they have worldwide:
»www.allo.com/presentation/network/index.php
Basically the only advantage I can see is that they have a $199 for two year plan, which refunds money based on the number of months not used (at least that's what I gathered; didn't read the fine print).
They also have a Cell to VOIP bridge (similar to Voicestick) and while they have a BYOD option, looks like they really want you to use their ATA.
Any opinions?
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"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." |
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priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
·callwithus
·Callcentric
·Vonage
| Ooooooooo ... even a MicroPBX »www.allo.com/products/index.php
The standard ATA has an FXO port and functions like a SPA3000/3102. »www.allo.com/features/details/mobilevoip.php
They do tell a good story. |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA | LOL yeah I'd rather have the Spa 3102...but apparently their POPs "work better" with their device.
--
"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." |
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t13nif
join:2007-05-26
Vancouver, BC
 ·Shaw
| I just signed up--see my post about VoIP configuration. When i did temporarily get the VoIP up and running, the quality was excellent. I just can't get both VoIP and internet to work at the same time. Tech support is a little hard to understand--i understand they are a call-centre in India so although their english is pretty good, the accents are quite thick. I signed up for unlimited monthly with the aim to buy the $199 / 2 year package if everything's works satisfactorily. At this point, i'm definitely undecided as to whether i will keep it. I really like the idea of the mobile VoIP. |
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jds17j
Premium
join:2004-03-11
Beverly, MA
| you should checkout Voicestick if you like the "MobileVoIP" feature. They have a similar one called "i2Bridge." Check it out here: »www.voicestick.com/Features/Inde···153;#200
Voicestick is the best VoIP provider i've tried so far. With the exception of minor outages, they've been great. Others i've tried include: Packet8, Voicepulse, Vonage, Broadvoice, Lingo, and Sunrocket. |
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t13nif
join:2007-05-26
Vancouver, BC
edit:
June 21st, @03:00PM
| I did just check them out. However they only seem to be available to customers in the US, not Canada.
Correction--i believe it is available to Canadians but we have no option to have a Canadian phone #, which is basically useless to me. |
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jinjimbob
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Enumclaw, WA
 ·Qwest.net
| reply to jds17j
Voicestick is not for prime time yet, the billing system is poor, they have outages all the time, down for days, even a week at a time. Maybe they will get better.
Other Voip companies have calling card like numbers that you can dial into, which makes it easier than using the mobile voip feature. |
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Voice of Doubt
| reply to redshift
If you cannot lower yourself to read a comment by an unregistered user then feel free to skip this. For everyone else, I offer these observations.
I found a couple of things that give me pause. First, in their features, they offer "ID Spoofing", which I thought was either now illegal, or was going to be made illegal soon. In any case, it's not the sort of thing I'd advertise as a feature, but then again, IMHO their feature list seems a bit sparse compared to some other providers.
Second, their page on their residential unlimited plan states that they offer "Unlimited calling within the USA and Canada." That's great (ALL VoIP providers in the USA should at least offer that), but I always like to know how a company defines the USA (does it include Alaska and Hawaii? What about Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and similar US territories?). So I went to their terms and conditions and found this:
"3.1.5 Unlimited Residential Plan: This plan has Monthly Recurring Charges; for calling to any other country Allo International Credits must be purchased in advance. This plan includes unlimited calls in North America and a primarily Phone Number from the USA or Canada. ....." (emphasis added)
Really? Does that include calls to Mexico, the various Caribbean islands, and other points that are in North America but not part of the U.S. and Canada? Hopefully you see the problem - you can't rely on either page to explain what's actually included in the unlimited calling area. Seems this is something that should be more carefully defined. But wait, there's more... reading further down in the same paragraph, I found this ominous note:
"..... You agree that Allo.com Residential Service Plans are not to be used in conjunction with regular, consistent activity which could be considered commercial. You agree that all usage is subject to audit and review by Allo.com. A single account should not be used for purposes inconsistent with regular residential usage patterns as defined by Allo.com. We reserve the right to immediately disconnect or modify your Service if we determine, in our sole and absolute discretion, that your use of the Service or the Equipment is, or at any time was, inconsistent with normal residential usage patterns." (emphasis added)
In other words, if they decide that you've passed some invisible threshold, they can throw you off their service, or change you to a different plan. So much for "Unlimited." Haven't we had enough of this sort of bait and switch? If you're going to advertise unlimited, then dammit, don't say that you don't really mean it in the fine print.
Already they are starting to remind me of another company that offers their own equipment, and that has had a history of advertising unlimited service, but then throwing people off the service that actually use it. I think they need to get someone to take a good hard look at their ToS and perhaps make it a bit less customer-hostile (and also clarify the unlimited calling area).
Having said that, I think a lot of the other providers would do well to spend some time checking out Allo.com's website (and in particular, both their affiliate program and the fact that they actually encourage use by Asterisk and Trixbox users, no matter which plan you're using). Until we see their track record over a few months (and in particular, how well they do on quality of service and on their customer service) we won't know if it's all glitz and no substance, of if they're a solid competitor. |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA
·magicjack.com
| Voice of Doubt,
I think you make some very valid points. However I think if you read a lot of other voip providers TOS you will see that they have similar clauses about disconnecting if your usage is not consistent with residential usage; but what that means exactly is left for us to ponder...
I just came across them accidentally, and although they offer a similar deal to viatalk (2 for 1) they don't have the 50% refund thing that viatalk does, so that's why I'm surprised I haven't heard more about them in this forum...again that's why I'd like to know if anyone has had any experience with them.
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"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." |
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jinjimbob
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Enumclaw, WA
·Qwest.net
edit:
June 22nd, @09:38PM
| reply to redshift
The feature of "Smart connection to closest Proxy every 5 minutes" is a good reason to use their hardware.
Another company like Sunrocket, putting the real cost in the TOS. They should just increase the monthly cost by $3, be open and honest, people will use them more.
4.7 Regulatory Recovery Fee: A regulatory recovery surcharge of $1.50 applies to each phone number, no matter the country. Allo.com uses this fee to pay our regulatory-related fees and expenses, including taxes, number portability charges, and related legal fees
4.8 E911 Fees: As per FCC requirements, all Allo.com lines are required to be equipped with fully functional, E-911 Service. As a result, an E-911 Fee of $1.50 will be charged monthly on all Allo.com lines.. Only customers located in the USA or Canada will be able to use this service. The $1.50 fee will be only charged to customers in these two countries. |
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tommy13v
Premium
join:2002-02-15
Glenville NY
·ViaTalk
| reply to Voice of Doubt
What they don't tell you is that, sure you can make all the calls you want(Unlimited calls) but its not unlimited minutes.
Every company uses this verbiage in the TOS even the Bells.
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Asterisk Scripts |
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priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
·callwithus
·Callcentric
·Vonage
edit:
June 23rd, @07:03PM
| reply to redshift
Initial Observations
I signed up for their pay-as-you-go account, no number assigned. I'm using a SPA-3102. Here are a few quick initial observations.
* My preferred codec is set to G.711. However, they were forcing calls to G.729 ... that's not very nice. I changed the SPA to "Use Pref Codec Only" and now they are talking to me in G.711.
* They are using OpenSER SIP servers and Sonus gateways.
* I'm getting fast busies on calls to area code 571. Contacted support via web, see how long they take to respond.
* They have two different buckets you have to put pay-as-you-go money into. There is "local", for US and Canada calls. Then you need to pay into another bucket for International calls. Never seen it done this way. Everybody else I know of has one fund to pay into. Credits expire after 1 year.
* The called party only gets "unknown" on CID. With InPhonex, for example, the CID is your virtual number prefixed with an area code. |
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jacq
@btinfonet.com
| reply to redshift
Re: [Other] Allo.com
hi there,
1) some gateways will force you into 729 if you specify supporting both 711 and 729. But, generally if you advertise supporting 711 and 729, with 711 priority, the gateway will accept and set the session for 711.
3) we're investigating and get back promptly with a fix
5) make sure that the 'display name' in your sip config is a valid number (no dashes no alpha characteres). We give our user control over their CID, we support BYOD, so the caller ID sent to the PSTN will be what you chose as display name (the string in the "" in the SIP From Header)
check out: »www.allo.com/support/installatio···uide.pdf
page 3, look for display name
if you have further problem, dont hesitate to send me a mail directly to jal@allo.com
thanks
-jacq |
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priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
·callwithus
·Callcentric
·Vonage
| said by jacq :
3) we're investigating and get back promptly with a fix
5) make sure that the 'display name' in your sip config is a valid number (no dashes no alpha characteres). We give our user control over their CID, we support BYOD, so the caller ID sent to the PSTN will be what you chose as display name (the string in the "" in the SIP From Header)
Thank you for following up.
I'll send you more detail on the NPA 571 issue.
I do have the CID set, as detailed in the guide. Looks like that may apply only to Allo-to-Allo calls?? PSTN terminated calls still only get "anonymous" regardless of what that field is set to.
Thx
|
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j0ly
join:2007-03-22
Calgary, AB
| reply to redshift
Im on a trial right now with Allo.com, and so far im happy with the service, but ill tell you, there are some features that i wish they had.
1) fax to email support (ie, accepting email in voicemail and sending you a pdf, tif, ect.)
2) lack of * features, ie: *86 to check your voicemail, *67 to block your outgoing info from being scene... ect....
3) click to call - I use this right now with my provider, and it works damn well. log in to the user panel, type in a number your at, and a number you would like to call... and bingo!
Thats all i can think of now... |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA | Sounds pretty good...let us know what your service is like as you have had it a bit longer.
--
"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." |
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deskjockey
join:2005-04-17
Charlotte, NC | reply to j0ly
What is the total cost for their 2 year plan, including all regulatory fees and any other possible surprises. From what I see it is $199 plus something like 24 months of $2.50 or total of $260. |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA
·magicjack.com
| »www.allo.com/services/plans.php
Can't see anything about the Regulatory recovery fees; it's based in Canada so maybe they are exempt from that?
--
"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." |
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priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
edit:
July 2nd, @10:57AM
| Regulatory Recovery Fees are not a mandated fee. Companies are allowed to charge such a BS fee in the US, but are not required to in any way. |
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deskjockey
join:2005-04-17
Charlotte, NC
| reply to redshift
The following site claims there is a $72 charge for 911 & recovery fees. That is why I'm trying to find out what are the total cost for 2 years.
»www.voipreview.org/service.view.···aph=1304 |
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