Topic 'Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls' in forum 'VOIP Tech Chat' - dslreports.com

Re: FaktorTel----Flat rate US calls

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:03:35 EDT

PX Eliezer posted :

said by nitzan:

Apparently FaktorTel lost it's interest in the US market. Not surprising considering the amount of competition.

Tough competition, but big rewards.

So many people in the USA.

It's been summer in Australia while winter here. Maybe they'll be back.

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

Education station:

Australia is a federation of 6 states (and 2 territories).

In many ways their Federal structure is modelled after the USA.

The six states jealously guard their prerogatives against the power of the central government.

Because of that, although Australia now can amend its own Federal constitution, the constitutions of the six states cannot be amended without the approval of the British parliament. That's they way the states want it.

The Queen of Australia is the same person as the Queen of the United Kingdom.

Because countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc., recognize the same head of state (the Queen), those countries do not exchange ambassadors to each other. Rather, they exchange High Commissioners.

Re: FaktorTel----Flat rate US calls

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:49:56 EDT

nitzan posted : Start here: »/gbu

Aparrently FaktorTel lost it's interest in the US market. Not surprising considering the amount of competition. My guess is they saw very little interest in their US product and are just letting it die a slow death.

Pure speculation, of course. ;)

Re: FaktorTel----Flat rate US calls

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:29:17 EDT

wcweaver posted : I had Faktortel up and working. I had a temporary DID but it was not in the city I live in even though the exchange as listed on the Faktortel selection as a Fort Myers number.

The service was completely satisfactory but their customer support was slowwwww,. Their support 800 telephone number was always busy but not at first, only after I got the service working and my e-mails went unanswered.

The main issue was number porting. I could not get an answer from them ( they never responded to my last e-mail) about whether they could port my number or not. Switching numbers was a non starter for many reasons. My wife was absolutely not willing to get a new number.

Here is what I asked for in my last e-mail to them on January 7, 2009:

"Any update on ability and time frame to have my existing number which I listed below ported over to FactorTel? I like your service but without porting it is of no use to me regardless of cost. My wife WILL NOT change numbers. And I agree, Too many notifications to make. A lot of things are linked to our existing number.

Thanks

Bill

I have never received a reply to answer the porting issue. So, I canceled last month and they accomplished that in less than 48 hours.

I would still sign up with them for the unlimited residential plan if they would port my number.
Meanwhile, I am looking around for another VOIP service, The unlocked Linksys Phone Adapter that I own will support Vonage.

Any recommendations?

Chris Cowling, are you still out there?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:41:42 EDT

ccowling posted : Thats true. i'm very fortunate not to be in Cairns nor Victoria

This is where I live atm:

»www.nrw.qld.gov.au/about/documen···oast.jpg

»www.escapelocally.com.au/images/···oast.gif

But we do get some massive storm. (This is not uncommon) ;)

»www.goldcoast.com.au/images/uplo···0810.jpg

Chris

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:09:37 EDT

Test99 posted : Fires in the south, floods in the north. Chris is in the Goldilocks zone: not too wet and not too dry. :)

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:42:33 EDT

ccowling posted : Thanks for the thoughts. The death toll is now over 108 in Victoria and rising daily. Towns have literally been wiped off the map.

In regards to the activity. We are reassessing some of our US packages at the moment. And in fact I have a list of items to be looked into on my desk at the moment. We should continue our US rollout shortly with some new packages similar to the flat rate package(s) offered previously.

Chris.

Re: FaktorTel----Flat rate US calls

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:07:51 EDT

PX Eliezer posted : Re: Faktortel-----

Well, I just heard that Australia has been devestated this weekend by severe brush fires, and that the death toll may exceed 40. This is mainly in the Australian state of Victoria.

Our prayers and sympathies to our Australian friends.

Re: FaktorTel----Flat rate US calls

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:20:39 EDT

usa2k posted : Sure felt like a blip on the horizon!
ccowling Last seen: 2009-01-16 18:01:17
No so long ago ... and was a DSLR member long before the flurry of activity.

FaktorTel----Flat rate US calls

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:39:33 EDT

PX Eliezer posted : So what's up lately with FaktorTel??

Folks using it?

No news for several weeks, and no reviews have been posted.

(And flat rate plans no longer seem to be offered).

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:05:31 EDT

N9MD posted :

said by ccowling:

... In regards to the 2005 copyright ... you should see it change on our site just after the holidays.

I suspected you would! ;)

But make sure it says "2009" --- which I know it will in view of the update to an "automated year app". :D

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:44:33 EDT

ccowling posted : Thanks for the positive feedback. 2009 is the start of quite a large presence for us in the US as well as the UK (and of course Australia where we already represent a large part of the VOIP marketplace). Every comment helps, good, bad or best of all constructive. :)

In regards to the 2005 copyright, thats actually when the "footer.shtml" was last updated I believe. Although for sake of argument we can always just put a bit of PHP code in it to update it each year. :) Thats probably what the "most up to date" sites actually use. Now that it's been mentioned you should see it change on our site just after the holidays.

Merry Christmas everyone! :)
(It's boxing day here already.. *insert evil laugh here*)

Chris.

Re: Stale Copyright Notice Date

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:49:53 EDT

N9MD posted : Just out of curiosity, in looking over the FaktorTel website, I noted Copyright © 2005 at the bottom of each page. I have always felt that an “old” copyright notice date on a website suggests the company may be inactive or out of business, since the appearance is that the site is not being regularly updated.

Here's an alphabetical listing of a bunch of VoIP provider sites:


 
AxVoice		        2008
BroadVoice		2003-2008
CallCentric		2008
CallWithUs		2006-2008
FaktorTel		2005
Gizmo5			none shown
IpKall			2003-2006 (site has not been change in several years)
FreeDigits		2005-2008
Future-Nine 		2008
Packet8			2008
PhonePower		2008
QuantumVoice		2001-2008
StanaPhone		2007 (prophetic)
TeleBlend		2008
ViaTalk			none shown
VoicePulse		2008
VoiceStick		2003-2008
Voip.com		2008
Voip.ms			2007
VOIPo			2008
Vonage			2001-2008
Vonics			2004 (predicted)
ZingoTel		2008 (amazing)

Lest anyone considers my thinking off base, here’s a representative list of website copyright notice dates for some major US corporations, all of which have had internet sites for many years:


Verizon			2008
GM			2008
United Technologies	2008
Dunkin Donuts		2008 (my favorite)

Does anyone else put stock in the currency of a company’s website copyright notice date when considering the service or product?

Re: Factortel is great service!

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:32:02 EDT

usa2k posted : »www.telcodata.us/telcodata/telco and 1st 6 digits, you can narrow down your rate center. That is what Factortel would need presence in.

»www.faktortel.com is tricky to spell!

Facktor is great service!

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:30:06 EDT

wcweaver posted : Signed up and the service is great. The technical support was great especially Michael. :)

Had trouble getting a dial tone with manual configuration, however, on one of the sign up pages there is a configure your device arrow. One click and in a couple of minutes I had a dial tone and all is well.

Sound quality is great.

Now, if Chris can get number porting :) accomplished, I will be dropping Embarq in a heartbeat. My phone number outbound caller ID shows my phone is in Lehigh Acres and not Fort Myers. I tried two others and got Bonita Springs and Marco Island. None listed as Fort Myers DIDs actually display Fort Myers, not a big deal though.

Merry Christmas to the guys and gals "down under". :D

Re: Sign Up Info

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:49:18 EDT

Test99 posted : The standard question: have you tried connecting the adapter directly to the modem (to find out if the problem is related to the router)?

Re: Sign Up Info

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:27:17 EDT

wcweaver posted : Well. I am signed up and spent an almost an hour on the phone.

Good employee Sebastian was his name I think. He went through all the settings.

No Joy Though. Unable to get the PAP to connect.

I am using a Linksys WRK54G router and following the Linksys factory instructions on hooking up a Linksys PAP2-NA behind the Linksys router.

All settings appear to be correct but the PAP will not connect.

I dial ****110# and I get 192.168.1.101 as an IP

All I get is two blue lights. No Line 1 light and not connected no dialtone..

The PAP setup page show Can't connect to login server.

The user name and password are correct.

Any help or suggestions?

Frustration time setting in and I am about to give up.

Any help would be appreciated. I sent an e-mail to support@faktortel.com.

See what happens

Bill

Sign Up Info

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:53:34 EDT

wcweaver posted : Chris

I have figured out how to sign up and received an e-mail with a user name and password. However when I get to the page "Your account details have been processed, press "Next >>" To continue to Step 2 of the sign up process." NEXT, I HAVE TO DISABLE my Lavasoft. I get the following message: You are not authorized to access this page. If you are the owner of this copy of vspPanel please make sure your signup page is listed as an allowed source in the customer signup settings menu.Your allowed source should be the full web path to your signup page:

I guess I will have to go into my firewall and turn on or off some setting. I like this firewall but it a little contrary.

Also my wife will not go for this if our current number cannot be ported sometime in the near future.

Is the number porting available now for 239-225-xxx (Florida).

It also appears that I have to sign up and then go to some members panel to port my number. Do I get a temporary number to use until the porting is accomplished.

Also, Can I sign up, for maybe a monthly account and then switch to the yearly plan before I request porting.

Thank you for all your help. Your company is looking good and on their way to be an excellent provider here in the U.S.

Thanks in advance for any help

Bill

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:02:26 EDT

glc650 posted : Anyone else still getting billed for toll-free calls?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:40:04 EDT

slow mo posted :

said by nitzan:

said by slow mo:

Lingo.com (5000 outgoing/mo + not measured incoming)

Lingo deems the usage of 5,000 or more minutes per month in violation of this Section III(F), and shall subject Customer to the immediate suspension and/or termination of the Service.

Seems like they measure both to me. Where did you see that they measure only outgoing?

I have Lingo. In the web management, it tells how many outgoing minutes are used in real time. It resets every month. At one time or another, I had 3500 outgoing minutes in a month.

P.S. The minutes include free W. Europen calls.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:47:56 EDT

nitzan posted :

said by slow mo:

Lingo.com (5000 outgoing/mo + not measured incoming)

Lingo deems the usage of 5,000 or more minutes per month in violation of this Section III(F), and shall subject Customer to the immediate suspension and/or termination of the Service.

Seems like they measure both to me. Where did you see that they measure only outgoing?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:44:09 EDT

nitzan posted : Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Vonage measures both. Rule-of-thumb: unless it is specifically mentioned that a VSP measures only outgoing (in their TOS for example) then they measure both.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:49:51 EDT

slow mo posted :

said by nitzan:

said by slow mo:

So the 3000 min/mo is for the total of incoming and outgoing. Not exactly measure up to some other providers.

Almost all providers measure both incoming and outgoing towards their limits. There are very few providers that don't. This is not a plug, but to be honest I don't know of any company that doesn't measure incoming towards the magic limit expect for, well, my own. ;)

Lingo.com (5000 outgoing/mo + not measured incoming)

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:34:40 EDT

soitgoes2 posted :

said by nitzan:

said by slow mo:

So the 3000 min/mo is for the total of incoming and outgoing. Not exactly measure up to some other providers.

phonepower.com
vonage.com
probably others. :)

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:41:15 EDT

Test99 posted :

said by nitzan:

This is not a plug

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:39:01 EDT

nitzan posted :

said by slow mo:

So the 3000 min/mo is for the total of incoming and outgoing. Not exactly measure up to some other providers.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:15:35 EDT

slow mo posted :

quote:
Acceptable Use

1. We have the right to suspend or discontinue service generally, or to disconnect your service, at any time. In addition we reserve the right to immediately disconnect your service at any time without notice.

2. Acceptable use of Unlimited packages is limited to.

a - 3000 minutes Inbound and Outbound for Residential unlimited packages. Inbound and outbound minutes are added together to form total minutes used.

b - 5000 minutes Inbound and Outbound for Business unlimited packages. Inbound and outbound minutes are added together to form total minutes used.

3. In the event an unlimited account exeeds acceptable usage as descibed in items 2(a) and 2(b) FaktorTel reserves the right to disconnect the customer.

So the 3000 min/mo is for the total of incoming and outgoing. Not exactly measure up to some other providers.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:51:56 EDT

Yippz posted : Just got an email from Chris about their service. He asked me to post it here to update the thread.

BTW, just tried send a fax using the beta account -- flawless.

Here's his reply:

My appologies about the delayed reply, we've been steadily updating the site over the last few weeks to coincide with some of the more popular packages available in the US as well doing a major upgrade to our Aussie network and inital start to our european network.

I'm glad the US service has been great, we've really been working on making sure it's rock solid.

In regards to your questions, i've answered them below:

- All DID's have individual included minutes, these should be shown in the interface within the next week. Generally speaking however there is a 3000 minute limit on them for "unlimited packages". International DID's may vary slightly.

- The $0 package may be coming back. We're currently discussing it's viability in the US at the moment. The general consensus is to bring it back but we're not sure quite yet.

- There is a fault in the DID list at the moment which is causing a double up of destinations and is breaking some countires. This should be fixed in the next week as well.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:28:51 EDT

atrevete posted :

said by PX Eliezer:

How is this provider working out for people?

I don't see any posts lately from management. Just curious.

I've made a dozen and a half calls using a PAP2v1, and I've had no problems.

I'm very pleased with the service and audio quality so far, and I plan to buy
additional time from FaktorTel when I use up my 50 free calls.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:07:53 EDT

PX Eliezer posted : How is this provider working out for people?

I don't see any posts lately from management. Just curious.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:30:12 EDT

Yippz posted :

said by gsar:

Wasn't this already answered here?

Nope, not answered. I've got a PM into Chris but haven't got the answer yet. Also, I notice they removed the 10c per call deal from the site -- hopefully we can remain on the plan if we're beta-trial users. Also looking for DIDs from Canada - they've got all the provinces listed along with cities but I can't find any DIDs yet... So far they've got a great sounding service.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:14:49 EDT

glc650 posted :

said by ccowling:

quote:
Just 800 numbers or all toll-free numbers?

All toll free will be free shortly, as soon as we have a quick moment to change the tarrifs. (I would assume monday morning).

Chris.

Any idea when this will be fixed? Just called an 800 number and got billed for it.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:39:05 EDT

gsar posted :

said by glc650:

said by Yippz:

said by glc650:

Chris,

How many minutes per month are included with a DID?

Has this question been answered?? I'm very curious and interested too... Chris's service seems to work very well.

I haven't seen an answer to this yet. I'd also like to know what a ported number would cost monthly and how many minutes a month would be included with it as well.

Wasn't this already answered here?

said by ccowling:

In regards to incoming DIDs, on residential packages we do not have an incoming per minute fee at this time.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:27:27 EDT

glc650 posted :

said by jbmcdon:

Am I confused? Why are you asking for minutes included in a plan described as "flat rate" per call - .10 per call I read. Not a per minute plan....

I thought that was outbound only. I'm asking about inbound (with a DID). Is it .10 per inbound call as well?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:15:53 EDT

jbmcdon posted : Am I confused? Why are you asking for minutes included in a plan described as "flat rate" per call - .10 per call I read. Not a per minute plan....

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:41:10 EDT

glc650 posted :

said by Yippz:

said by glc650:

Chris,

How many minutes per month are included with a DID?

Has this question been answered?? I'm very curious and interested too... Chris's service seems to work very well.

I haven't seen an answer to this yet. I'd also like to know what a ported number would cost monthly and how many minutes a month would be included with it as well.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:46:14 EDT

Yippz posted :

said by glc650:

Chris,

How many minutes per month are included with a DID?

Has this question been answered?? I'm very curious and interested too... Chris's service seems to work very well.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:06:28 EDT

glc650 posted : Chris,

How many minutes per month are included with a DID?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:32:20 EDT

ccowling posted :

quote:
I was having a heck of a time sighing up and finally figureded out that I hag to disable my firewall.

Really? What was it blocking? They are basically just web pages.

quote:
Any chance of number porting in the near future?

Yes, yes there is. :) We're putting porting into the interface right now as a matter of fact.

quote:
does the subscriber get any choice of the number to be assigned?

Yes, once signed up you can choose a number inside the members area. We don't do it on signup, everything is controlled from a nice smooth control panel. (If I do say so myself). You can check the numbers before hand though in the incoming numbers section of the website. (Click the big 9000+ numbers image)

quote:
will there be any discount offered for not using your Linksys PSAP2

Yes, but in reality it won't be that much. We have 20 new plans going on this week with all sorts of offers / deals for different types of signup so I would hold off till then.

Chris.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:13:30 EDT

usa2k posted : Start here to see local calling »www.localcallingguide.com/lca_pr···&nxx=225

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:36:27 EDT

slow mo posted : You can see the available numbers at:

»www.faktortel.com/incoming-numbe···le.shtml

They have 239- 567, 645 and 985 exchanges in Ft. Myers.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:21:44 EDT

wcweaver posted : Chris

I have an unlocked Linksys PSAP2I adapter. I just went through the sign up process. I aborted at this point as I was asked to pay without receiving a phone number. I live in SW Florida, Fort Myers, 33912 and the current exchange is 239-225-xxxx. Are 239 area code phones available and does the subscriber get any choice of the number to be assigned?

Any chance of number porting in the near future?

Also, will there be any discount offered for not using your Linksys PSAP2 equipment but using personally owned equipment when paying for an annual subscribtion in one payment?

Thanks

Bill

I was having a heck of a time sighing up and finally figureded out that I hag to disable my firewall.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:14:21 EDT

aniskhwaja posted : snip

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:23:57 EDT

glc650 posted : Chris,

I see you've now got DIDs available in my general area. How many minutes does the monthly cost include or is it pay per minute?

Any plans to allow number porting to your service?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:48:22 EDT

ccowling posted :

quote:
Just 800 numbers or all toll-free numbers?

All toll free will be free shortly, as soon as we have a quick moment to change the tarrifs. (I would assume monday morning).

Chris.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:16:47 EDT

ccowling posted : We haven't put an SSL Cert on the myaccount login at the moment. The Self signed certificate will protect your data though and encrypt it.

We should have the cert installed shortly though. In the meantime you are protected.

Chris

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:27:25 EDT

glc650 posted : Chris,

I'm getting the above errors when trying to log in to my FaktorTel acct via https with FF and IE...

FF SSL error - FaktorTel
IE SSL error - FaktorTel

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:29:05 EDT

glc650 posted :

said by ccowling:

1) We're currently changing our bill plans to not charge for 800 number calls.

Just 800 numbers or all toll-free numbers?

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:30:14 EDT

ccowling posted : Thanks all.

I'm looking into the slight deviations of bill vs actual charge at the moment. This should be fixed soon, it seems like a rounding issue.

Additionally, we noticed and fixed an instance where some calls from some equipment was not being charged. This is all sorted now and charges should be correct now.

I know I mentioned this earlier, however we are adding new pricing shortly to our network, so stay tuned.

Chris.

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:51:55 EDT

venk25 posted : You've got PMs ! :D

Re: [Other] Flat rate US calls

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:09:42 EDT

ccowling posted :

quote:
I still seem to have problems searching.

* Edit * - Was asking if it was an answered call, but noticed you said it had been charged, so will check it out. If you haven't already can you PM me the number so I can check it's hit the CDR's correctly.

I'll double and tripple check it though. :)

Thanks!

Chris.