Unlimited U.S. & Canada calling for under $5 a month!

+ Larger Font | - Smaller Font

Unlimited calling for under $5 a month

Before I begin, a warning. High speed access to the Internet has given rise to many VOIP companies, which provide telephone service over the Internet. Calls do NOT go through your computer. They go from a regular phone to a box which plugs into a cable router. It does not interfere with your Internet connection. You can still surf the web and download while talking on the phone. The quality of this service depends upon many things including your connection, their equipment, their servers, congestion on the Net, etc. So results can vary from call to call. (Incidentally, because of the poor quality of regular phone service in my area, VOIP in many instances was actually better).

You can keep your existing phone numbers (a process called transferring or porting) or get new ones and you can get virtual numbers with each line. A virtual number is a US phone number in any area code which rings your phone. So if you live in the 718 area code and have relatives in 213, you can get a virtual number with a 213 area code and you are now a local call to those relatives! But it gets better. You can be a local call to people living in other countries! You can take the box with you, plug it into any high speed Internet connection almost anywhere in the world, and your US phone number will work there. Friends have taken these to Israel and we were able to talk to each other for free!

You also get voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, 3 way calling, call forwarding, caller ID blocking, and on line account management as part of the deal.

No contracts. No software required.

What about sound quality? Years ago, bad weather had damaged our phone lines and Verizon seemed to be unable to correct the problem for weeks. With our regular phone system, we had constant disconnects, crossed lines and terrible static. It became impossible to connect to the Internet via modem. So I ordered cable Internet and VOIP phone service and put this system to the ultimate test. I plugged it in and swapped it for our regular phone without telling members of my family and particularly my wife, who spends several hours a day on the phone calling Canada and Israel. After a while, I asked her if she had noticed any difference. She had. The calls were clearer and there were fewer disconnects. But over time, first one service then the next began to deteriorate and the difference was noticeable, which is why we switched providers.

Several years ago I tried a company called Packet8. They were very good at first but then, possibly because they signed up too many people, service declined. I then switched to a company called Sunrocket which also started off good for about a year, then declined precipitously and eventually went bankrupt practically overnight, leaving many customers without service. So I switched to another service called Bbtelsys.com, which had an even better deal (at the time). Currently, I have a line with Bbtelsys (which is about to transfer to Joiphone because Bbtelsys is not even close to competitive in price), two with Viatalk and one with Joiphone.

First, I tried Bbtelsys. They ported two of my lines but were unable to port my third number after FIVE MONTHS. Another friend is waiting over six months for his number to port. I got the distinct impression that the operators I spoke to were trained to mouth platitudes and had no interest in actually solving a problem. I was promised call backs which never happened, and to be e-mailed the status of the port, which never happened. I was told repeatedly they were "expediting" things, as if the word "expedite" had magical connotations. Sorry, but five months is not my definition of "expediting." When I canceled the service at THEIR RECOMMENDATION, they wouldn't refund my money. Fortunately, my credit card company was able to charge it back. They have since more than doubled the price of the service, which is why I switched to Joiphone and Viatalk. I decided to go with two different services so on the slight chance that one goes down, I still have the other.

I did a lot of checking the net, not just for the lowest price but also for the company which provides decent and HONEST service. I read many reviews. There are companies offering "cheap" service, but then tack on a whole bunch of additional fees. Some offer "full" refunds, but only of the actual phone service - not the activation, shipping, handling, etc. Some companies have racked up numerous complaints for poor service, deceptive advertising and "gotchas." So do your research.

I spent a long time looking into available VOIP services and reading not just the details of the plans, but reviews from actual users who had been with the service for some time. Some of the "top-rated" services actually had many complaints. This could be because they grew too large too fast and couldn't support their user base. I first narrowed down my list to a few which got ratings in the 80% and better (at least 4 out of five reviews were positive). This is because I know as a vendor myself that most people only post to complain. People who are happy very often dont bother to post. Also, some people can never get things right and always blame the vendor for their own failings. They may have a slow internet connection or some other problem which interferes with the service. So an 80% success rate is pretty good.

After narrowing down the list, I then called each company the day after Sunrocket announced it was closing. I knew this would be a busy day for many VOIP providers as about 100,000 Sunrocket customers all tried to find another service. Most places never answered the phone. Joiphone had a live support person on the phone within two minutes. After discussing options with them, I settled on a plan, but when I went to sign up, I couldn't find that specific plan. I called back and was talking to a support person within 5 minutes who helped me find the correct link. Later I called again and was talking to support within a minute. This is amazing considering they were being swamped with calls that day. I ordered the service on Tuesday and received the equipment on Wednesday. I plugged it in and was up and running within 5 minutes. A friend placed an order with ViaTalk and it took a week for the equipment to arrive.

It's now been almost a year. The Joiphone service has worked well except for one time when everything went haywire and it took several days before a technician returned the call and walked me through moving the device to behind the router instead of in front of it where it started off. My only complaint with Joiphone is that they offer an incentive, $15 to me and $15 to anyone I refer. Despite having referred numerous people, I have yet and they have yet to receive a dime. My friend's Viatalk service has also been working well. Now that it has come time for me to renew with Joiphone, viatalk has just come out with the far better plan. For $199 you get 2 years of service and 2 phone lines, though they share one number. If the first line is busy, the call will roll over to the second. Both lines can be used for incoming or outgoing calls simultaenously. With the shipping and activation fee, the total payment is $238 for 48 months of service (24 months x 2 lines) which works out to under $5 a month per line! There is a 3.50 a month E911 fee which adds $84 over the two years, so your total cost will be $322 for 48 months of service (24 months x 2 lines). Joiphone's service is about $170 for the first year for one line, which works out to a bit under $15 a month or roughly triple. You can add a second year for $125. There is a slightly over $2 a month E911 fee. Comparing costs for 2 lines and two years to match the Viatalk offer, it's $358 plus about $55 for E911 for a total of $413 vs $322. This makes Viatalk the cheaper option.

My only concern was Viatalk's customer service. A year ago I couldn't even get through to them. But my friend with the service recommends them highly, as does another friend who installs networks and third-party VOIP systems for businesses. So this year I called them twice on a Sunday and got through immediately. Not even 15 seconds on hold! I therefore ordered two lines with Viatalk. They arrived within a few days and worked immediately upon being plugged in. I emailed the form to have my number ported and it was done in under a week! I am still waiting for Joiphone to port over my other number but it hasn't even been two weeks yet.

So I now have service from both Viatalk and Joiphone. Both are working well. Since Viatalk is cheaper, that's the one I recommend. If you decide to sign up for Viatalk, please use my link. It costs you nothing and I *may* get something back for it. So far I haven't received anything from either company. Thank you. Viatalk Special Offer