Review by cowsr4eating 
UPDATED: 30 days ago
member for 8.6 years, 35 visits, last login: 24 days ago
 Keller,Tarrant,TX
 $12 per month (24 month contract)
 about 5 days
 "Features, quality, support, price, LNP (I ported home # and replaced phone company)"
 "web site/plans a bit confusing. Had to call to get"
 "glad I made the move. Had Vonage ... as good of quality, better service, better features, cheaper"
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(ratings match consensus)
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The BAD. I’ll start with this. These are the potholes I have found.
1) The plans are confusing and it is not readily clear what you get and for how long. For example, the “special” right now is if you purchase the “Viatalk Unlimited” plan (unlimited calls in US/Canada for one year, you get a second year “free”. So in reality, the plan is two years the price of one, $189. These details are not clear. Although it says my billing cycle is “annual”, my plan does not need to renew until 2011, in two years.
2) When you purchase the VT Unlimited plan for one year in advance, you receive a 2nd year for free … so 24 months for $189 … sort of. There is also a setup fee, shipping fee, taxes, etc for a one-time, up-front cost of $269.42. You then will have a monthly charge of $0.65 for FCC Regulatory fees and $0.20 for E911 Fees for a total of $0.85 monthly charges additional. Not a big deal, but when you buy the VT Unlimited package for $189 for “one year” it’s really for two years and there are other fees (that are clearly listed will occur) but this shows exactly what they are (tax will vary by location I assume). It costs me $12.07/month taking into account ALL costs. I could not find the total costs anywhere ... it's nice to know up front what you're signing up for ... $12.07 for those who want to know.
3) When I initially purchased the plan, it did show I had a 2-year plan. I called the toll-free number provided with the PAP2 and the issue was corrected within minutes while I was on the phone with them. Check the account status and call if it does not show your 2nd “free” year in your account.
The GOOD
1) Features. See the website, there are lots. I have not seen better from any VOIP provider. I guess there can be at some point, but it’s a really nice list. The 2-line feature was the “clincher” for me.
2) Support. I had an issue with my phone within the first week. I submitted a “ticket”, the VT tech support mechanism. Within 10 minutes I received a response, stating they had made adjustments to my account (assuming the pap2 phone adapter), to try the phone, and respond if the problem is better or not. The problem was indeed fixed. GREAT tech support … for the one time I had to use it, but the web sites with reviews mirror my experience.
3) Quality. Sounds just like a real phone. I have great broadband so that may play a part, but even with using both lines at the same time my wife does not realize it is not a “real” phone.
4) Price. Not as cheap as MagicJack but one of the cheapest VOIP solutions, especially for the quality.
5) No PC required. Viatalk supplies a Linksys PAP2 adapter for the VOIP device. No PC is required and the PAP2 is effectively an appliance that you plug in and forget about. It’s the same brand/model device Vonage uses. I had great quality with Vonage, I canceled 6 months ago due to the cost/month.
6) Viatalk supports LNP (Local Number Portability). I was able to port my AT&T home number to VT. I purchased VT, they shipped my PAP2, I completed the LOA form and within 5 days they transferred my phone number from AT&T. Now my old home number is what is used by Viatalk.
Edit: 5 days order to live time was due to shipping to get my adapter. Plug in and it works. You probably need to set up port forwarding on your router, but a quick search of this forum/Google will direct you how to port forward SIP 5060 and 5061 (UDP) for your particular router. Had my call issue initially and tech support fixed within 10 minutes. Working great now. No issues.
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