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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA
1 edit | [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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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA | Re: [Other] Allo.com 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." | |
| | | t13nif
join:2007-05-26
Vancouver, BC
| Re: [Other] Allo.com 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
| Re: [Other] Allo.com 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. | |
| | | | | t13nif
join:2007-05-26
Vancouver, BC
1 edit | Re: [Other] Allo.com 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
| 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. | |
| 
Voice of Doubt
| 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
| Re: [Other] Allo.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." | |
| | 
tommy13v
Premium
join:2002-02-15
Glenville NY
 ·ViaTalk
| 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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jinjimbob
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
1 edit | 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. | |
| | | priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·Vonage
·callwithus
2 edits | Re: Initial Observations said by priller  :* I'm getting fast busies on calls to area code 571. Contacted support via web, see how long they take to respond. * The called party only gets "unknown" on CID. Updating these issues I reported.
* The problems calling 571 have been resolved.
* "Unknown" on CID: Jacq and other's at Allo were very nice and made a serious effort to work on this, but I'm still unable to set the outbound CID. We were able to set it using the X-Lite softphone, but couldn't make it happen with the spa3102. Looks like there is a "coming soon" feature on the user portal where you can set your outbound CID, for non-Allo ATA's. Apparently, much like Vitelity and Teliax let you do. This is a show stopper for me.
On my brief test calls, I never experienced any voice quality issue.
I seriously do not like having 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.
Bottom line: Allo is defiantly worth a look. But, like any new provider, there will be a few issues to sort out. | |
|
jacq
@btinfonet.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 | |
| | priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
·Vonage
·callwithus
| Re: [Other] Allo.com 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
| 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 | Re: [Other] Allo.com Sounds pretty good...let us know what your service is like as you have had it a bit longer.
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"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." | |
| | deskjockey
join:2005-04-17
Charlotte, NC | 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
| Re: [Other] Allo.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?
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"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." | |
| | | | priller
join:2000-10-20
Gainesville, VA
2 edits | Re: [Other] Allo.com 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. | |
| | | | | deskjockey
join:2005-04-17
Charlotte, NC | Re: [Other] Allo.com Update, I just got off the phone with Allo.com and they are charging for the 2 yr deal the $199 base fee and $72 in recovery charges. | |
| | j0ly
join:2007-03-22
Calgary, AB
| Welp, Ive made up my mind, im not going to go with Allo.com.... all outbound calls have a bad echo using a pap2 device for the 1 week trial. I contacted support via the online chat, and they did figure out something for me, however, the echo continued yet today. there is no ticket system for the the problems that customers may have, so no way to track if someone actually fixed anything.
Ill try them out again, when they seem to fix these issues, or other users report success.
If anyone from Allo.com can chime in on the echo issues, i would love to know, or when you think you may introduce some of the other features im looking for.
Cheers,
Scott | |
| Taker
join:2003-11-11
Costa Mesa, CA
| Signed up for the 2yr/$199 deal and all I can say is that I'm having troubles!
I decided on BYOD, and purchased a PAP2T-NA and I believe I have everything set up correctly. I can make outbound calls fine but incoming calls will automatically go to voicemail!
It seems to be my router (DI-624) as I have tried connecting directly from the PAP2T to the cable modem and voila! Incoming calls now come through like they're supposed to!
I have forwarded the UDP ports 5060-5061, RTP 10000-20000, changed the ringtone from sinusoid to trapezoid with 90/20 but still no luck. The DI-624 is also set to gaming mode as I have been informed that the router in gaming mode is CONE NAT.
I haven't tried a stun server yet (any recommendations? Are these stun servers free?) but will try that next.
I have contacted customer support which of course is hardly any help ever! They continue to read from the script but I was finally after several days and hours able to obtain information that they are having technical difficulties on their end...Yet this doesn't seem to be related to the issues that I am having since VoIP works fine as long as I keep my ATA connected directly to the cable modem. Of course, I can't keep it like this since I need to have internet access and the PAP2T only has 1 WAN port! AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
Very, very frustrating -- especially since this technical difficulty has been going on for a week now...
I may cancel with them and try ViaTalk and if that doesn't work then I guess I'll try digital cable phone. | |
| stefanp
join:2007-07-12
New Westminster, BC
| I am surprised you got any success getting in touch with their customer support.
I'v signed up for their pay-as-you-go plan about 2 weeks ago.
I like the fact that I can connect with Asterisk or my own adapter - both work fine. Being able to control my own caller ID it's a very important feature for me.
Bu I haven't been able to receive any calls although I can place outgoing calls ok.
So I have contacted the customer support via their support form on the website about 3 days ago but I haven't heard anything back since.
I also tried their live chat but there is nobody there ever although it says they're online.
Called their 1-877 number but there is just a voicemail.
The next day after I signed up with them I got an email from a certain Christina Michael from Bangalore asking me to give feedback on their service. The email contained just a table where you supposedly should probably retype the whole thing and reply back as there was no form to submit.
I emailed her back yesterday asking her for help with my incoming calls but no reply so far.
The bottom line is that their customer service is inexistent, I would not use them for my main phone line or business. | |
| | | | | Taker
join:2003-11-11
Costa Mesa, CA
| Re: [Other] Allo.com Sorry to hear that you guys are having a hard time with customer support. I totally relate and feel that pain too.
Forget emailing them since that doesn't work too well. Best thing is the online 'chat' or to call in to their customer support. Oh, and don't bother giving them your username since they'll just look at your account to see how many times you've contacted them and then they'll proceed to tell you that a tech will call you back. --Utter & Complete Bullshiat!
Continue to repeat your question until they are forced to deviate from their script and answer your question...--This will take several minutes (which ultimately leads to losing a few hours). Lots of times, they'll give you utter bullshit as the answer. Like when I asked them which RTP ports I needed to forward for my router and the online rep answered with '3600' -- That's the 'reg expires' which is the default number in the ATA already!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, I have been able to solve my problem. NO THANKS, to customer support!
I was able to use a STUN server to bypass my NAT problem on the DI-624 and now incoming calls come through fine. Only thing I've noticed is that if I'm downloading 5-8 files on a P2P, forget it! The sound quality is awful; it sounds worse than a tin can as it's very tinny, hollow, with voice drops between the caller and recipient - almost like using a cellphone underground/through a heavy concrete tunnel - I also dropped a call this way -- very much like a cellphone.
However, if I close the P2P app then the sound quality is decent. Still doesn't sound like a landline as there is just a slight lag (maybe .5 seconds but it is noticeable) and there is a muted echo (yes, I have 'more echo suppression' turned on in the PAP2T).
But for $8.29/mo (via the $199/2 year deal), I think the sound quality is quite decent. It's just a matter of if you're lucky enough to get things to work. However, I don't think I'd be willing to pay over $20/mo for VoIP if this is the sound quality. I'd probably stick to POTS at that point.
Way too much hassle...Everything should have been PNP but oh well...at least it works. I'll play with the codecs later I guess to see if that helps sound quality further. Everything I've researched says to use G711u but I think G729a sounds better...yes, 'use preferred codecs only' is set to no. I've also increased Win XP's bandwith by 20% by altering the gpedit.msc to improve voice quality.
I'll tweak further and see if I can get better voice quality and report back here later.
Good luck to everyone else! | |
| | | | stefanp
join:2007-07-12
New Westminster, BC | Re: [Other] Allo.com So, could someone summarize what forwarding ports should be setup on the NAT to make incoming calls work? | |
| | stefanp
join:2007-07-12
New Westminster, BC
| Allo.com going out of business ?
That's the message I just got from stella@allo.com a few min ago:
This message is from the Allo.com Management Team regarding your account # xxxxx.
We regret to inform you that starting 1st of August of the current year, our company will cease commercial activities. . Our network will remain up until July 31st, 2007. After this date, we will regrettably no longer offer service to our customers. | |
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