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wb6dao
join:2004-02-23
Hacienda Heights, CA

3 edits

1 recommendation

wb6dao

Member

[Broadvox Direct] account acquired by Phone Power

Just received an email that Phone Power is sending me a new ATA and that of 9/15 they will be handling my account.

I'm excited on one hand that they have features that Broadvox used to have and look like they are really interested in their customers. On the other hand, the ATA from Broadvox works great with my home PBX system. Hope the one they are sending works as well.

I've had had their service for over 5 years. Never really had any complaints with Broadvox, has worked when needed and a great price ($20 including CA and MN numbers).

Time will tell if this is a good thing or not.
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Broadvox decided long ago to hairwash the residential market (Broadvox Direct).

Recent commentary:
»Re: [Broadvox Direct] I think I am getting the hint.

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

This has also been covered in song:

I'm not Lisa, my name is Julie
Lisa left you years ago
My eyes are not blue
But mine won't leave you
'Til the sunlight has touched your face.

Good luck with PhonePower, they seem like a good outfit.
wb6dao
join:2004-02-23
Hacienda Heights, CA

wb6dao

Member

Well so far so good, ATA arrived in the mail yesterday (one day after the notification e-mail, very fast!)

It DOES work with my home PBX system!

Some problems with the ATA's configuration so I was able to try out Phone Power's technical support, very good experience.

Still waiting for an answer as to if they will provide the virtual number I had with BV (was included with their $19.95 plan).

usa2k
Blessed
MVM
join:2003-01-26
Westland, MI

usa2k

MVM

Re: [Broadvox Direct] account acquired by Phone Power

said by wb6dao:

Well so far so good, ATA arrived in the mail yesterday ...
So that means all the Mediatrix ATAs are not valid?
Been very long time now since I shipped mine back and dropped the service.
I used to have two $19.95 plans on one ATA.
ErikRP
join:2004-11-06
Winnipeg, MB

ErikRP to wb6dao

Member

to wb6dao

Re: [Broadvox Direct] account acquired by Phone Power

Interesting. I just happened to Google Broadvox, just to see what they are up to and saw the press release about the takeover. No email here, so I haven't heard a thing about switching out ATAs. I wonder if it's only certain ATAs. I have the newer one, which was shipping in late '04 - can't recall the brand/model.

Leave it to Broadvox though - not a word about it on their portal, and no word to all customers. I love their dial tone but that's all it's had going for it for several years. Here's hoping things only get better and not worse!
ErikRP

1 edit

ErikRP

Member

I can answer my own question: apparently the transition will occur in phases, starting on Sept 15 and finishing in early October. Sounds like there can't be many people to transition!

»www.reuters.com/article/ ··· 20090911

And while I know that press releases aren't exactly legally binding, but their release states, "All services and rates will continue uninterrupted." But... for... how long?

Checked their website and they look pretty interesting, and definitely more features than Broadvox. My only concern is the virtual number. No mention of that on their website, and that is something really important to us; family and friends use our virtual number almost daily.

EDIT: Okay, I answered my own question again. Apparently virtual numbers are available for $5/month extra. Whether or not they waive that for us Broadvox converts I don't know, but at least they offer it.

Source: »www.phonepower.com/Suppo ··· l+Number

(Oh - and great support site. I'm more excited by the minute!!)
wb6dao
join:2004-02-23
Hacienda Heights, CA

wb6dao

Member

Interesting about not all migrating at once.

My line now accepts incoming from the old Broadvox number.

I too have a virtual number (PP offers them for an additional $5 a month). I called last week and was supposed to receive an email about how it will work. Just called my MN virtual number and it works! Phone Power came through!

Still waiting for user and password info on how to sign into their portal (BV's still works, just tried it a minute ago). But so far other than the initial problem with the ATA all works.

voiplover
Premium Member
join:2004-05-28
Portsmouth, NH

voiplover

Premium Member

They should give you the same package and price that you had before.
howrman
join:2000-07-08
Philadelphia, PA

howrman to wb6dao

Member

to wb6dao
I never received an email about the change and I have not received a new ATA. However, my service is still working. Am I the last person still on Broadvox?

josephf
join:2009-04-26

josephf

Member

Business or residential Broadvox account?
howrman
join:2000-07-08
Philadelphia, PA

howrman

Member

Residential
ErikRP
join:2004-11-06
Winnipeg, MB

ErikRP to howrman

Member

to howrman
Nope - still on Broadvox. No email or change in ATA. I assume we'll hear something in a week or two.
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

1 edit

neftv to wb6dao

Member

to wb6dao
I don't know where this is coming up from but to date I have not received any replacement ATA or email or notice that anything will change. The log in Broadvox portal calendar does not show this event taking place either.
The only weird thing I got was some ticket being opened automatically by someone and apparently the Broadvox system thinks it was me because I got email confirmations from it but when I log in there is no such ticket number. I suspect someone is spamming people into getting Phone Power. Until there is something on the Broadvox Portal calendar I have to believe that this is not real.

dcurrey
Premium Member
join:2004-06-29
Mason, OH

dcurrey

Premium Member

That would be somewhat hard to believe. The port process alone would raise some red flags. You shouldn't have to issue a port if this is a true hand off. At some point PP has to have the info and phone number to continue service without interruption.

My guess is the numbers and sip credentials have already been moved to PP. Seems this is done in phases. PP is just in the process of upgrading the ATA is some sort of organized fashion.

usa2k
Blessed
MVM
join:2003-01-26
Westland, MI

1 edit

usa2k to neftv

MVM

to neftv
said by neftv:

I don't know where this is coming up from ...
... I have to believe that this is not real.
»www.reuters.com/article/ ··· 20090915

That says "residential customers"

Broadvox just wants to deal with the business crowd I guess.
ErikRP
join:2004-11-06
Winnipeg, MB

1 edit

ErikRP to neftv

Member

to neftv
It's definitely real and legitimate... PP has taken over Broadvox user's residential customers and is porting them over. According to the release I posted earlier, it's being done in stages, to wrap up sometime in mid October. My assumption is that most of the work will be done behind the scenes and when they're ready to move a customer over they will send out an email, send out the new ATA. That can be done just a day or two before the switchover, so it's not like users need a month's notice.

Those are my assumptions, anyway, but from what I've seen from other users that is the way it's being done.

I'm curious though - and maybe someone who has been switched over can answer this - are we returning the old Broadvox ATAs?

As for the Broadvox Portal not being updated, even though I'm surprised, is it REALLY that surprising? I mean the stupid calendar won't even let you view a date in 2009, other than for the current month. Under the "Select Month and Year" the year listing only goes up to 2008!

You can't imagine how much I am looking forward to a company that acknowledges it is even in business, let alone that I am one of their customers!!

*EDIT: This was in another thread relating to an outage that Phone Power had just last week. Bad timing if they want to give Broadvox users a warm fuzzy feeling, but at least a company rep made this statement, which is far more than Broadvox has ever done in years:
It was reported to me by our engineering staff that a database partitions crashed and corrupted the live redundant backup taking the system down. We keep strict on and offsite backups, so once the data was debugged and compared against the offline backup for accuracy and restarted, we were back online. I will post more details should there be some intricacies that I missed or didn't understand.

I have seen some speculation that this outage may seem related to the Broadvox client migration and given the timing I can see why. In fact the above issue was 100% unrelated. The Broadvox clients are being moved in three distinct batches which explains why only about a third of the users have been notified. If you haven't been notified, you will receive your notification. Until each batch is actually migrated the traffic does not touch our network.

Regarding the Mediatrix devices that most Broadvox clients currently have. We have tested them to be decent units. Unfortunately it seems most were manually hard coded and as such may have been difficult to re-point to the phone power servers without having to guide users of all skill levels through the process. Additionally, after re pointing the units, there was always the risk that some may simply lose their programming after a reboot and/or a power outage and resort to their base flash.

We made the decision to ship a new device to most clients to make the process as plug and play as possible. There is no shipping fee and the unit is offered on a free lease basis with a lifetime replacement warranty for as long as you are a client (that's our standard policy and applies to all of our clients).

You are NOT required to use the unit provided by us if you have an unlocked device that appears our BYOD list.

As a general update, we have hired over a dozen new employees and are working towards offering 24/7 in tech support in next few months.

Please accept our humblest apologies. It is certainly our goal to offer the most seamless VoIP experience. Times like these remind us to be even more diligent.
wb6dao
join:2004-02-23
Hacienda Heights, CA

wb6dao

Member

Migration is complete for me and I'm happy with the change. As many have said, its nice to have a provider that cares.

I now have access to the portal and turned on the second port on the ATA, nice feature to have.

No mention has been made to returning the Broadvox ATA so I guess we get to keep them.
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Are those old Mediatrix 2102 boxes usable for anything?
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

neftv

Member

I remember the guy that use to be on here saying that those boxes where designed for Broadvox and would not work with anything else. How would you even get into it to see the full menu.
neftv

neftv to wb6dao

Member

to wb6dao
Another thing I see with Phone power they make you pay those "taxes" according to web site. I not paying them now and one way or the other I not paying them after the change. I will return the unit as soon as I get it if that is the case.
Expand your moderator at work
wb6dao
join:2004-02-23
Hacienda Heights, CA

wb6dao to neftv

Member

to neftv

Re: [Broadvox Direct] account acquired by Phone Power

They (in their e-mail outlining the transfer) said "same service for same price" so I am happy if for $19.95 I get my local number and MN virtual number. Doesn't bother me if its $16 + 3.95 tax orwhatever.

Will see when I get the first invoice, no charges for anything so far....
JTS33
join:2003-05-03
USA

JTS33

Member

I don't see much (or any) talk about Broadvox's current business offerings here, but they have good rates for their business lines (at least compared to other business SIP trunking providers I've seen). And I've been thinking of using them for a couple months now.

One thing I found interesting is that Broadvox offers unlimited local calling plans for business, whereas most other VoIP providers don't differentiate between local and long distance calling (one provider even told me it costs them more to handle local calls than long distance).
wilsonck
join:2003-03-01
Orange Park, FL

1 edit

wilsonck to wb6dao

Member

to wb6dao
Anyone with a Canadian virtual number that has already transitioned to PP still have it? The PP website just shows virtual numbers in the lower 48. My wife will be upset if she looses her Canadian virtual number. I just got the email and transition on 10/5.
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

1 edit

neftv

Member

This morning I got the email about the transition for 10/5. I'm suppose to call PP too to give address, billing etc. Wonders why Broadvox doesn't give them that info if they taking over the account anyway.

usa2k
Blessed
MVM
join:2003-01-26
Westland, MI

usa2k

MVM

said by neftv:

Wonders why Broadvox doesn't give them that info if they taking over the account anyway.
A phishing opportunity?

They want the info by email?
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

neftv

Member

Info by phone....
said by neftv:

I'm suppose to call PP too to give address, billing etc.
The email looks legit.

Welcome Broadvox Direct Customers,

This is to notify you that as of 10/5/2009 your Broadvox Direct phone service will be handled by Phone Power, a leader in broadband telephone service. You will continue with the same phone number, the same price, and the same great quality service you've come to expect with Broadvox Direct.

Your service will be automatically moved to Phone Power on 10/5/2009. We need to send you upgraded hardware (at no cost to you) for use with your new Phone Power service prior to this date.

Please contact us at 888-607-6937, option #2 for billing in order to arrange for the new equipment to be sent to you. Please be advised that your phone number will be moved to Phone Power on the transition date whether or not you have the new equipment; we urge you the contact us as soon as possible to have the new hardware shipped, so you can be sure to have it before the transition date.

Once you receive the hardware you will be able to connect it and make outgoing phone calls from both devices, however incoming calls will begin to ring your Phone Power adapter and your old Broadvox device will no longer work.

If you have any questions or comments please contact us at Phone Power's customer hotline: 888-607-6937 or go to »www.phonepower.com

Phone Power is a quality provider of broadband phone service, processing millions of minutes of calls every day. Headquarted in Los Angeles, we provide all U.S. based sales and support. Our offices are open 7 days a week to serve you.

Click here to access our knowledge base for additional information.

If you have any questions please call our Ordering Department at (888)607-6937 or (888)60-POWER

We look forward to providing you with excellent service.
dcm
join:2008-09-12
Pennsylvania

dcm to neftv

Member

to neftv
said by neftv:

Wonders why Broadvox doesn't give them that info if they taking over the account anyway.
I would assume that PP wants to verify that the info they obtained from BV is correct. I don't think they want to blindly ship new equipment.

usa2k
Blessed
MVM
join:2003-01-26
Westland, MI

1 edit

usa2k to neftv

MVM

to neftv
The number is a perfect match to the PhonePower website
»www.phonepower.com/conta ··· tus.aspx

I see they have the $19.95 like BroadvoxDirect had, plus a cloned line.