[Discuss] VOIP provider (was TLD for Personal Use - Email)

[blu at nedharvey.com (Edward Ned Harvey (blu))]

> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Randy Cole
> 
> I have a similar problem, but with phone service instead of hosting; I have
> "galaxyvoice" aka gis for my VOIP.  I believe they are a reseller of rnk
> actually.  Sent me an email 5/31, which I didn't notice.  They robocalled
> me last week which got my attention.
> 
> I'm thinking about putting in a port request by Monday as I don't want to
> lose the number.
> 
> I've heard good things about vitelity.  Looking for a reliable VOIP
> provider for low cost, and low usage.  $3.99 a month, not sure if that
> includes fees & taxes.  Galaxy voice was "free", which turned out to mean
> about $3 a month in a "fee".

I use callcentric, and I'm happy with them and recommend them.  It's very easy to become confused by their product offering, so I'll say a few things about them:

They have separate inbound and outbound plans.  You probably want to choose one of each, unless you want an inbound-only or outbound-only number.

You said you don't want to lose your number, but read on anyway.  You'll see how it's relevant a little further down:  If you get a new number in let's say MA, then you pay something like $1.50/mo for 911 plus $0.02/min for inbound & outbound usage.  But they have some free numbers (in NY) where you pay $0 for inbound calls and $0.02/min for outbound, but then you pay $3/mo for 911.  Unless ...

By default, all new numbers come with 911.  But if you write them a notice in the form of a support request, you can have 911 removed.

By default, your outbound caller id is your number.  But if you write them a notice in the form of a support request, you can have your outbound callerid changed to any number you wish.  (Provided you can verify the number actually belongs to you.)

So, what this all adds up to is this:

You have a number you wish to keep.  If you like, you can get a forwarding service.  (Similar to me; I have a google voice number, which does forwarding.)  In fact, GV is able to port numbers now.

I forward my GV inbound calls to  Two callcentric numbers and my cell phone, and sometimes my office phone.  One of the callcentric numbers is the regular phone (sip, grandstream DP715 which I also recommend) in my living room.  The other is a soft phone in my laptop.  These are both NY numbers that cost $0/min for inbound calls.  I want to be able to call 911 from the living room, so I pay $3 for that line.  But I'm not going to call 911 from my laptop, so I pay nothing.

In this way, anybody calls my GV number, and it rings my callcentric phone, or *wherever* the heck I happen to be.  I just tell people it's my cell phone number because it's always with me (and people can understand that), but if I happen to be near a SIP line, I use that, because the call quality is equal or better to landline.

I configured my outbound callerid to match my GV number.  So as far as anybody in the world can tell, my GV number is my only number.  (And in fact, I don't even know my callcentric numbers unless I login to their portal and look it up.)

Better yet:  I actually prefer to dial from my android phone, where I have a fully synced addressbook and voice recognition.  So I installed the GV Callback app (the one by xinlu, which is no longer permitted in Google Play because they don't like him using the name "google voice" in his app name, so he's only available now from the amazon store.)  So when I want to make an outbound call, I don't actually make an outbound call from my living room or computer...  I make a Callback request, so technically, all my outbound calls are actually inbound calls.  Hence, $0/min.

The grand whopping total I pay is $3/mo for 911 in the living room.  Everything else is free.
I don't want to complicate my wife's life.  So if she makes an outbound call from the living room phone, we just pay $0.02/min for those calls.  (So she doesn't have to think about using a callback app.)