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Message
Residential VoIP ?
Posted on 5/9/21 at 11:53 am
Posted on 5/9/21 at 11:53 am
Wondering what experience people have had with the different VoIP services. I've been using VoIP with my local ISP and it's worked very well but I'm changing ISP's. Budget could be up to $25-30 a month which should be plenty.
4
Posted on 5/9/21 at 12:09 pm to captron
I've just started learning more about VoIP, and so far what I've found is that there are a million ways to do it. Host in the cloud or on-prem. Nice commercially packaged plug n play options or DIY. You can get voip basically for free if you do some leg work.
Do you have a phone already or do you want recs for those too? Or will you just use your cell?
I probably won't have any suggestions either way but I'm just trying to get the ball rolling so I can follow along and learn some more.
Do you have a phone already or do you want recs for those too? Or will you just use your cell?
I probably won't have any suggestions either way but I'm just trying to get the ball rolling so I can follow along and learn some more.
Posted on 5/9/21 at 12:33 pm to Korkstand
Don't have an IP phone and don't plan on buying one. My ISP sent me a box like this. The adapter is attached to a standard cordless phone with 3 handsets and it has worked flawlessly. Should be able to configure whatever needs configuring but I just want it to work without raising my blood pressure dealing with hour long support calls. 
Posted on 5/9/21 at 4:53 pm to captron
Ive been curious to look into it as well but when it comes down to it, i just dont see why we would need it...everyone has a cell. Now, from work side i’ve managed them and dealt with ISPs and issues. There’s definitely the draw fir a cloud pbx with voip...
May i ask why you want voip at home?
May i ask why you want voip at home?
Posted on 5/9/21 at 4:56 pm to captron
I've seen voip.ms get recommended a lot, and I believe you can just use an ATA adapter like the one you linked.
I have no idea how easy/hard it is to set up, but it looks like they have a lot of features like digital receptionist, call recording (1/4 cent per minute), time rules (route calls depending on date/time), etc. I think all the features are configurable via their web interface.
To be clear I have zero experience with this company, but for the cost of that device and the service cost it seems worth a shot. And obviously there are a lot of providers so there may be better values or quality of service or whatever, but from my research there are lots of VOIP companies that just resell voip.ms.
And again I'll keep watching this thread in case others suggest better options.
I have no idea how easy/hard it is to set up, but it looks like they have a lot of features like digital receptionist, call recording (1/4 cent per minute), time rules (route calls depending on date/time), etc. I think all the features are configurable via their web interface.
To be clear I have zero experience with this company, but for the cost of that device and the service cost it seems worth a shot. And obviously there are a lot of providers so there may be better values or quality of service or whatever, but from my research there are lots of VOIP companies that just resell voip.ms.
And again I'll keep watching this thread in case others suggest better options.
Posted on 5/9/21 at 5:49 pm to BabySam
quote:
May i ask why you want voip at home?
Want to keep my home number, had it for a loooong time but have no desire for AT&T to install an old POTS line. Also for some reason cell phone reception in my house is awful walk outside and there's no issue. Being a retired geek the tech part of this should be no problem. :-)
This post was edited on 5/9/21 at 5:54 pm
Posted on 5/9/21 at 7:11 pm to captron
quote:
captron
Gotcha...look forward to hearing how it all works out for you
Posted on 5/9/21 at 7:14 pm to captron
Ooma works really well And it’s cheap. You don’t need a special phone and you can keep your number.
This post was edited on 5/9/21 at 7:16 pm
Posted on 5/9/21 at 9:12 pm to Korkstand
I used to use Voip . ms. I was playing around with a 3cx setup. I did not use an ATA, but I read that an Obihai was generally powerful enough to give you all your old phone jacks off a single device, and it seemed like many others put out too “weak” a signal for this- I never used them.
I cancelled the ultra cheap service to test out Unifi Talk at home. I can’t really recommend it as it’s still in beta.
I cancelled the ultra cheap service to test out Unifi Talk at home. I can’t really recommend it as it’s still in beta.
Posted on 5/9/21 at 11:17 pm to Hopeful Doc
Have you had any issues with unifi?
Posted on 5/11/21 at 10:32 am to captron
quote:
Want to keep my home number, had it for a loooong time but have no desire for AT&T to install an old POTS line. Also for some reason cell phone reception in my house is awful walk outside and there's no issue. Being a retired geek the tech part of this should be no problem. :-)
Port your number to Google Voice and get an obihai adapter. The steps for me were a little complicated, but I've done it twice, and haven't had any issues:
1) set up new gmail account such as captronphone@gmail.com
2) see if you can port directly to google voice, if not, port to a cell phone (I added a line to my Verizon account for this). Once it's ported to a cell phone, you can port to Google Voice. Porting to GV will cancel the cell line.
3) Order the Obi adapter, I'm using an Obi200, register for free account and enter your Google credentials.
4) connect the adapter to your router and connect a phone to it.
Posted on 5/11/21 at 3:49 pm to CubsFanBudMan
quote:
Port your number to Google Voice and get an obihai adapter.
That might be a good solution, I'm already using Google Fi and Google already knows more about me than I do. :-).
Posted on 5/11/21 at 5:07 pm to Korkstand
quote:
Have you had any issues with unifi?
My calls connect reliably. I haven’t had latency issues as some report. I haven’t done anything over the last 3ish updates, but when you dial the number, there wasn’t a way to just make all phones ring without, at least, a message that says “press zero” before the lines will ring.
It’s a weird thing for a residential phone service and would probably stop people that didn’t know you from calling you.
There is supposed to be an option to remove this in the future. I haven’t really checked on it. I basically have the phones to check the doorbell and for my wife to call her cellphone, so it was a pretty solid $150 + $10/m investment.
Shawnlsu uses them for his office and almost definitely has put more miles on it than me.
It’s not ready for deployment in my office yet- my office is large, and they heavily rely in the intercom feature that isn’t present on these things. If I upgraded, I think they would revolt.
Posted on 5/13/21 at 10:54 am to captron
We had Vonage years and years ago with zero complaints. Only thing iffy (and it may be all worded out now) was ability to call 9-1-1 and having your address saved in their system.
This post was edited on 5/13/21 at 4:14 pm
Posted on 5/14/21 at 12:58 pm to touchdownjeebus
quote:
Ooma works really well And it’s cheap. You don’t need a special phone and you can keep your number.
I have had Ooma for about 5-6 years. No issues until 2 years ago we get intermittent voice issues. Ooma says it is Cox, Cox says nothing wrong with internet. Changed Ooma boxes and modem. Still have same problem but I only pay less than $5/mo.
Posted on 5/14/21 at 1:28 pm to Jimmy2shoes
I've been using Ooma since around 2007 I think. Inexpensive and has been overall very reliable. My cell service is usually good but occasionally reception at home gets flakey so I like having it for that reason if nothing else.
Posted on 5/15/21 at 11:18 pm to CubsFanBudMan
quote:
Port your number to Google Voice and get an obihai adapter. The steps for me were a little complicated, but I've done it twice, and haven't had any issues:
1) set up new gmail account such as captronphone@gmail.com
2) see if you can port directly to google voice, if not, port to a cell phone (I added a line to my Verizon account for this). Once it's ported to a cell phone, you can port to Google Voice. Porting to GV will cancel the cell line.
3) Order the Obi adapter, I'm using an Obi200, register for free account and enter your Google credentials.
4) connect the adapter to your router and connect a phone to it.
Did this 8 or 9 years ago and have had a free “landline” for my house ever since.
Use my existing home wiring and phones.
Only expense was the burner phone to transfer my number to so I could port to Google Voice ($20) and the Obihai equipment ($39).
Dumped Vonage and it’s $30 monthly charge.
I have saved about $3k ever since.
ETA: This article is a great reference to get this done: LINK
This post was edited on 5/15/21 at 11:24 pm
Posted on 5/20/21 at 9:55 pm to Hopeful Doc
Little update. I’m on 1.9.7 now, and I’m able to turn the tree off and just have all the lines ring at once (standard home phone idea)
Voicemail transcription would be fine for home use. Not passable for messages a nurse would be answering (I left several messages on it with names of medicines. It is hit/miss but with way too many misses to be useful)
So, for home phone service, if you already owned a UDMP or CK+, and you wanted to add VOIP, I think it’s good enough that you wouldn’t want to add an additional third party VOIP service on your own- the setup is pretty darn easy/user friendly. The phones are maybe a bit expensive for home use, but their ATA is $20 (if it ever becomes available. I log into the EA store every day and have for about four months now looking for one), and the fairly basic phone is only $30, but it isn’t particularly attractive, and you need the $70 phone if you don’t have cat5 where you want your phones.
Voicemail transcription would be fine for home use. Not passable for messages a nurse would be answering (I left several messages on it with names of medicines. It is hit/miss but with way too many misses to be useful)
So, for home phone service, if you already owned a UDMP or CK+, and you wanted to add VOIP, I think it’s good enough that you wouldn’t want to add an additional third party VOIP service on your own- the setup is pretty darn easy/user friendly. The phones are maybe a bit expensive for home use, but their ATA is $20 (if it ever becomes available. I log into the EA store every day and have for about four months now looking for one), and the fairly basic phone is only $30, but it isn’t particularly attractive, and you need the $70 phone if you don’t have cat5 where you want your phones.
Posted on 5/20/21 at 10:33 pm to Hopeful Doc
quote:That's pretty old, isn't it? They're up to 1.11.2. They've replaced the switchboard with a "smart attendant". I have zero experience with Talk, but that sounds like a pretty big change.
I’m on 1.9.7 now
I think you can port numbers in now, as well.
Thanks for the updates, I really appreciate it. Also, have you tried the latest Protect beta? It's getting slicker all the time.
I manage a couple of Protect installs, but I don't have it at my house yet. I'm starting to run a small business out of my home now, so I think I'm going to go ahead and bite the bullet and get a UDMP (currently have USG, which I will sell). After that it will be a no-brainer to get the phones and port my number over. Before you know it I'll be installing the door access, too.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 3:52 pm to Korkstand
quote:
The door access
Probably not.
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