UKVoIPTalk.com

On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:09:52 GMT, alexd <look@my.sig> wrote:

[color=blue]
>be your ATA ;-) Something else - Vonage adaptors are locked to Vonage, and
>you can't use any kit you like with Vonage[/color]
But you do not have to buy the damn things they will take them back
if/when you finish with the service or they are yours to keep for free
after 12 months .

¬Stephen Hammond wrote:
[color=blue]
> Unlimited calls and proper call number display for the recipient (CLI?),
> does anyone else offer this?[/color]

Yes
[color=blue]
> 700 mins a month isn't that much if you ask me :)
> (23mins a day)[/color]

Do yourself a favour - open up an Excel sheet and work out the costs. Look
at pre-pay providers [like Sipgate], post-pay [Gradwell], part-inclusive
[voip.co.uk] and all-inclusive providers [Vonage]. Look at where your calls
are going [01/02/07/08/09/00], how long they are and when you make them.

For example:

- If you're always making calls to/from 0049, maybe you would be better off
signing up with a VoIP provider in Germany

- Vonage looks promising because you're always making loads of peak time
geographic calls, but digging a little deeper you realise that most of them
are to the same place that could easily be converted to VoIP, and would be
free on-net with another VoIP provider

- Most of your calls are to mobiles, so buying a mobile would be more
cost-effective

If you buy the right kit, you can sign up with several providers and program
it to take the cheapest route. There's a lot of competition out there in
VoIP-land for your money, so you're bound to find something that satisfies.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx)
20:09:58 up 13 days, 3:55, 3 users, load average: 3.03, 3.03, 3.03
This is my BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMSTICK

On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:08:04 GMT, Brian A postulated:
[color=blue]
>What I meant by this is if you go on holiday and are not making use of
>your £8/month then it is wasted. If you spend a month away from home,
>for example, then that wasted £8 is spread over the other 11months of
>use therby costing £8.72/month you are in residence.
>I think that Vonage is fine if you really are going to make full use
>of it. If not then there are cheaper options.[/color]

"cheapest" isn't always "best". You seem to be confusing "the
cheapest" with "the most appropriate service to suit the user". I have
no doubt that if I had nothing better to do with my life than compare
every VoIP offering with my every call that I make, I could save a
little money off my phone cost. However, I lead a life outside of this
newsgroup and what I want is a supplier who is reliable, easy to set
up and offers me good service at a reasonable price.

Vonage is by no means perfect, but I can pick up the phone at any time
day or night and make whatever calls I want to 01... and 02... knowing
there's no additional cost to the monthly subscription. I don't have
to refer to my spreadsheet to see if I have reached the magic "14 peak
calls a day" before dialling. I do not have to spend all day
evaluating all the alternative plans on offer and I do not have to
jump through mathematical loops to get the optimal result, nor do I
have to spend hours grappling with user-unfriendly ATA setup
procedures.

It's horses for courses as my old teacher used to say.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from [url]http://www.teranews.com[/url]

Polly wrote:[color=blue]
> On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:08:04 GMT, Brian A postulated:
> "cheapest" isn't always "best".[/color]

Fair comment.. But some times it is. ;-) voip.co.uk and its £1.99
(£19.99 if buying 12 months) package offers a great service (day or
night when I pick up the phone), free phone calls and just as important;
great support.

But hey, we cant all buy the same service.. If Vonage works for you,
great.. You'll be saving a fair deal compared to BT/NTL anyway.

On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:18:58 +0000, Scope <scope@somewhere.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Polly wrote:[color=green]
>> On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:08:04 GMT, Brian A postulated:
>> "cheapest" isn't always "best".[/color][/color]
Don't think it was me ...it was a quote from Dex[color=blue]
>
>Fair comment.. But some times it is. ;-) voip.co.uk and its £1.99
>(£19.99 if buying 12 months) package offers a great service (day or
>night when I pick up the phone), free phone calls and just as important;
>great support.
>
>But hey, we cant all buy the same service.. If Vonage works for you,
>great.. You'll be saving a fair deal compared to BT/NTL anyway.[/color]
I think, as Dex has intimated, some people just feel happier paying an
'all in' price even if it does work out more expensive.
My next door neighbour was paying £200/year more than me for her water
bill than me because she didn't have a meter. She wanted a fixed bill.
She has seen the light now and made a change but I can see that, for
some people, cost is not so much of a factor as is peace of mind.
I get my peace of mind nowing that I have got a good service without,
as I see it, wasting money. Others get their peace of mind by paying
more.
There are many people who don't have a clue how much they are paying
for their phone calls - and they don't care. They just worry about
other things. Meanwhile BT rub their hands with glee!

Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

Brian A wrote:[color=blue]
> On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:18:58 +0000, Scope <scope@somewhere.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Polly wrote:[color=darkred]
>>> On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 20:08:04 GMT, Brian A postulated:
>>> "cheapest" isn't always "best".[/color][/color]
> Don't think it was me ...it was a quote from Dex[/color]

Sorry mate, I messed up.. It was in fact Polly who said it.

"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bip0l2h2vabn8ob9s2ai8gmrct4ifkve8t@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:18:58 +0000, Scope <scope@somewhere.com> wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>>But hey, we cant all buy the same service.. If Vonage works for you,
>>great.. You'll be saving a fair deal compared to BT/NTL anyway.[/color]
> I think, as Dex has intimated, some people just feel happier paying an
> 'all in' price even if it does work out more expensive.
> My next door neighbour was paying £200/year more than me for her water
> bill than me because she didn't have a meter. She wanted a fixed bill.
> She has seen the light now and made a change but I can see that, for
> some people, cost is not so much of a factor as is peace of mind.
> I get my peace of mind nowing that I have got a good service without,
> as I see it, wasting money. Others get their peace of mind by paying
> more.
> There are many people who don't have a clue how much they are paying
> for their phone calls - and they don't care. They just worry about
> other things. Meanwhile BT rub their hands with glee![/color]

How refreshing to see a bit of "live and let live" on this group. Long may
it last!

On Tue, 07 Nov 2006 11:05:41 GMT, Brian A
<no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote:

[color=blue]
>There are many people who don't have a clue how much they are paying
>for their phone calls - and they don't care. They just worry about
>other things. Meanwhile BT rub their hands with glee![/color]
BT is a definite a no no with me Brian and I had quite enough of
scouring the internet to find the cheapest provider of VOIP calls
and none that I had seen where acceptable to me. So I joined Vonage
around 18 months ago left 12 months ago and signed up with Freetalk
because they where slightly cheaper and offered the same basic service
not Freetalk have gone I am back with Vonage once again.
How Ivor can state Vonage charges are EXTORSIONATE, even if no calls
are made they are still much cheaper than BT and just as reliable and
hassle free unlike one certain provider that I had the misfortune to
encounter .

<M.Dexter@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bqe1l21avhd40o1quin2m8nq2rok8bb26q@4ax.com

[snip]

[color=blue]
> How Ivor can state Vonage charges are EXTORSIONATE,[/color]

I didn't, I said they are extortionate.
[color=blue]
> even
> if no calls are made they are still much cheaper than BT
> and just as reliable and hassle free unlike one certain
> provider that I had the misfortune to encounter .[/color]

I have relatively little hassle. As I spend probably about three or four
quid a year on chargeable calls why should I pay more..?

Ivor

On Mon, 6 Nov 2006 10:01:18 -0000, "¬Stephen Hammond"
<Stephen7372@hotmail.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>Unlimited calls and proper call number display for the recipient (CLI?),
>does anyone else offer this?
>
>700 mins a month isn't that much if you ask me :)
>(23mins a day)
>
>
>Correct me if I'm wrong[/color]

As others have suggested, voip.co.uk is probably the best bet. For
£1.67 per month you get free calls off-peak and at weekends, so you
pay 2p per weekday call. To reach Vonage's charges you would have to
make an average of fifteen peak time calls every day. I don't believe
that many residential uses do.

In addition, with the notable exception of voicemail, voip.co.uk offer
far better facilities than Vonage do.
[color=blue]
>Then again they're not much good when you have to pay double for mobile
>calls so in conclusion stuff VOIP :)[/color]

The mobile companies charge about 10p per minute to deliver their
calls, so you're not going to find a cheaper rate anywhere, unless
it's a mistake or a loss leader.