VOIP Questions

[Sitebee]

I'm a new start-up business and I'm considering using VOIP telephony as main phone comunication methods, however I'm somewhat perplexed with the amount of providers and resellers offering VOIP services.

I've done a little research in to what I think is best for my current requirements, done a little digging around and found myself stumped and very cautious on which type of provider I should use.

I've discovered that those with low price packages usually try to tie you into lengthly contracts or have ridiculous cancellation fee's (especially the resellers). I found that by researching reviews!

Infact neally all providers that I checked has very sneaky T & C's with hidden charges. Is that the norm in the VOIP industry?

Here's the main one for me, say I register with I VOIP provider and find out they are not what I expected? 6 or even 12 months down the line I want to stop using their services and opt for another provider. Do I get stung with the cancellations charges and hidden fee's? Most Likely.

How would I go about keeping the same number I have been using and promoting with my new business? Will I get ransomed for that too.

So what do I do? It seems a bit like a snake oil industry to me with lot's of sneaky hidden fees.

 

[PipeTen-Carl]

@cjd (voipfone) will be along in a minute and is (imho) generally quite honest/open about these things and who we use ourselves.

 

[KM-Tiger]

Infact neally all providers that I checked has very sneaky T & C's with hidden charges. Is that the norm in the VOIP industry?

......

How would I go about keeping the same number I have been using and promoting with my new business? Will I get ransomed for that too.

Sadly it's the norm in the telecoms industry in general, not just VOIP. Over the years, OFCOM have been about as much use as the proverbial chocolate fireguard at protecting consumers. Voipfone are, IMHO, a beacon of light in this, with transparent pricing and no lock in. And light years ahead in customer service.

As regards keeping the number, choose a provider that is a member of the ITSPA. That gives you some protections in how they deal with you, and most importantly should your chosen provider cease to operate, you can port the number to another ITSPA member.

 

[GraemeL]

Don't muck about, just use @cjd business called Voipfone. Great service and not a single problem to date.

G

 

[cjd]

The telco industry is riddled with appallingly behaved resellers, but all telcos are the same. These days there are several that at least attempt to be honest. For a start, don't use a reseller, find somebody who owns and operates their own network. You *can* find 'no contract' pay-as-you go companies and with VoIP you can leave in minutes if you're not happy - all that's needed is a username and password change and you're gone. Of course if you want to keep your telephone number it's not quite as easy but so long as you've taken a service from a reputable company - mostly those who are members of the trade body, ITSPA - you can move that too.

That means that the companies that do offer these sort of terms need to be good, because otherwise they'd lose customers as fast as they got them.

As kindly said above, we are no-contract and win lots of awards for our service but you can see what others think of us at the review centre too.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews182513.html

I generally say just give us a call and have a chat - the guys are support people - we don't have any sales people, they're trained to give honest advice. 020 7043 5555

You might find this useful

http://www.voipfone.co.uk/scams-of-the-telephony-trade.php

 

[David Griffiths]

The telco industry is riddled with appallingly behaved resellers, but all telcos are the same.

I think that you left a "not" out of that!

 

[cjd]

^^^ yeh but couldn't edit it Even so, I think it's very nearly true - sometimes it feels like the entire industry is bent.

 

[it-comms]

Hi,

There are few providers who do not play fair or honest.

With us for example, We do not charge any setup fees with the exception of Gold Telephone Numbers and Number Porting fees.

All our contracts are for 12 months and then 30 days thereafter with 30 days notice to end the contract.

if after the 12 month term, you wish to leave, we do not have any fees payable to leave the service. You will pay the new provider any porting fees which is standard and that's it.

I think its out of order when providers (No Names Given) do auto renewals for another fixed term without any reminders / notifications before the expiry knowing customers will forget and if on the 13 month they want to move away they are actually committed for another 12 months as no notice was given in month 11. that said, Ofcom was to prevent this but not sure how they got on with it.

Providers who target customers who look for cheap services can only survive by adding in setup fees and other related fees. For example, we know of one provider who will charge £25.00 to make a change to the account. let it be a new contact email address, postal address or a change to the service. yet their base product price is very cheap but then have higher call charges.

Then you get customers call up saying can you match XYZ Provider prices and you look and think no, XYZ looks cheap on face value but if you compare the total cost of service fees and call charges over 12 months, you then start to see its not so cheap after all.

99% of customers do not understand this until its too late.

 

[My Owl 1]

Agree if VOIP use @cjd. If you are going for broadband provider be careful to pick one with unlimited broadband at a reasonable cost and where ever as short a contract as possible

 

[it-comms]

Still need to be careful. Unlimited does not always mean unlimited.

If you start doing a lot of data transfer your connection may be restricted. What actually Unlimited means is you will not get charged for any usage. I disagree with this type of marketing. If you are going to sell a product as unlimited then make it unlimited usage with no caps / restrictions when you can use it.

Agree if VOIP use @cjd. If you are going for broadband provider be careful to pick one with unlimited broadband at a reasonable cost and where ever as short a contract as possible

 

[My Owl 1]

Still need to be careful. Unlimited does not always mean unlimited.

If you start doing a lot of data transfer your connection may be restricted. What actually Unlimited means is you will not get charged for any usage. I disagree with this type of marketing. If you are going to sell a product as unlimited then make it unlimited usage with no caps / restrictions when you can use it.

Agree