[MOTB]

For a small mobile business, it seems like Vonage is a good option to use a phone over the Internet. I am heavily thinking about it and am curious if there are any opinions out there for http://www.vonage.com/
Brian

PS. My mindset is that my product is web-based, I run my accounting system as web-based, as well as my banking, so why not go for broke and run my phone system this way since my contract is up. At this point my business life can be totally mobile.

PS2. I did research this before posting this new thread and noticed this came up two years ago here at ContractorTalk. Too much has changed that I figured I would start a fresh question as opposed to clouding it with opinions from so much earlier.

 

[JonM]

I used vonage for 2 1/2 years...It worked as advertised..However, I switched to https://www.ooma.com/ recently...you buy the equeptment for 250 dollars and never get a bill for use. Works just fine :thumbsup:

 

[AmeliaP]

I've used Vonage for about 6 months now. Works great.

 

[Inner10]

Overpriced for VOIP service; anyone else using Majic Jack? My cheap family uses em.

 

[JonM]

Overpriced for VOIP service; anyone else using Majic Jack? My cheap family uses em.

With MJ you can't port your existing phone number.

 

[Thundercow]

Vonage is going to be more reliable than magic jack or skype or one of those purely voip deals.

Vonage worked great for me, but I ditched it when I got a free add-on to my cable package.

Don't sign up for too long of a contract though--Google voice is coming, and it is going to blow the doors off of everything else out there.

 

[Inner10]

With MJ you can't port your existing phone number.

Tru Dat...but its cheap....

 

[Hammer_Nail]

Majic Jack

I use Majic Jack, very inexpensive, and have had very few problems

 

[MOTB]

I signed up today, will update all step-by-step

I signed up for the least expensive plan, 500 minutes per month for $17.95 per month that equals $25 per month with taxes. My first charge was for $35 total including the shipping and handling of the Internet Modem. I chose the slowest method of delivery. Currently I spend about $90 per month on a AT&T business line (no complaints) but am just looking to save as much as possible since most of our business is conducted via email. I can always upgrade the Vonage plan if this proves to not cover the amount of time the company spends on the phone. Only thing else I need to get is a regular phone since currently my office has a very old PBX system. I purchased the PBX system around 15+ years ago and it never had a problem, but that was email was less proficient and I had two larger companies working side-by-side. I am also transferring the number from AT&T to Vonage. Will check in over the next few weeks after the equipment arrives and I convert over.
Brian

 

[J-Peffer]

Majic Jack you can now port your old numbers with.

I just ordered 2 lines.

the problem with Vonage and MJ though is the directory assistance, you are not listed on caller ID's or in Phone books.

I still run small ads, and have to keep them in there.

I'm always looking to cut over head cost, and monthly controllables are the best way to do it. Cell phones, land lines, internet, rents and cable are all worth shopping around for.

Just "going with the flow" and letting those "introduction" rates turn into "normal" rates is a quick way to increase your monthly expenses by $400 a month.

 

[MOTB]

Vonage installed, all going to plan

I installed Vonage last Monday and had everything hooked up in less than 30 minutes. I already simulated power failures and Internet lost connections and had the Vonage calls automatically re-routed. I like the feature that has voice mail messages delivered to my email as an audio-file. For the $39 per month, I wouldn't being getting into too much debate-review of alternatives. Vonage works just fine for me based on the savings I am immediately enjoying. Quality of calls is perfect.

 

[J F]

I've used magic jack for about 6 months now, just for outgoing calls, dumped the business land-line and had the # transferred over to one of our cells.

It's worked fine, I had a few problems for the first few weeks, squawks, squeeks, echos, etc...but they disappeared.

We dumped our fax line and home land line as well, just use internet faxing.

 

[MOTB]

Have now gone almost two weeks of playing with many features including call fowarding and a few other basics. Also enjoy voice messages being sent via email. No complaints at all. Brian

 

[CScalf]

tried vonage once, i hated it...

 

[MOTB]

When and what did you not like?

tried vonage once, i hated it...

Out of curiosity, when do you try it and what specifically did you not like? Anything over a period of time ago would be reasonable while it was in its infancy, as well as, from what I heard wasn't as easy as a set up as it is today.

 

[thesidingpro]

I used vonage for about 6 months.

It's the same price as a land line but I liked the idea of being able to move it from location to location with no hassle.

The service was reliable and worked but they purposely don't let you block numbers. Most voip services have great control panels where you can block numbers. Vonage does not.

I was getting roughly 10 calls a day from telemarketer's and stuff like that.

Drove me nuts.

I switched to Google Voice and all my problems have gone away and it's free.

If vonage would have let me block individual numbers i wouldn't have canceled.

Canceling is like going through a divorce also. They would not do it. They kept coming back and back asking me to stay...

 

[Dan V.]

I've used Vonage for over 2 years now. The only complaint I have is that I sometimes have a problem with outgoing faxes. There's a bit of a delay from the time you access the line to when you get dial tone, and my fax software sometimes barfs on that. I've had times where I've had to retry a fax 3 or 4 times before I can connect.

 

[MOTB]

Another month gone by and all good

I have had it enough now to not offer any reason why not to use Vonage if you need to make a decision. Once in awhile there is a small echo that probably has to do with heavy internet activity against the available bandwidth, but nothing that interupts the call. And again, I am not on the phone that much as opposed to working through emails. All-in-all it was the right decision. Brian

 

[CONCRETERULES]

very good service

 

[MOTB]

just started some international calls, all OK

Not that this will matter to many, but I had to make some international calls and had absolutely no problems. Still smooth sailing since we got this. Will keep all posted as I try something new. Brian