HOT? Optimum Voice $34.95 unlimited

[teklord]

http://www.optimumvoice.com

Optimum Voice is a high-quality voice service available exclusively to Optimum Online® subscribers that offers unlimited local, regional and long-distance calling within the United States and Canada and popular calling features at one low, flat monthly rate.

With Optimum Voice, you can call anywhere within the United States and Canada, any time of the day or night, and talk as long as you like, all for just $34.95 a month, all inclusive!

Optimum Voice includes five premium calling features:
? Call Waiting: Alerts you that someone is calling while you are on the phone.
? Caller ID: Find out who's calling before you answer the phone!
? Call Return (*69): Automatically dials the last incoming caller to your line.
? Three-Way Calling: Add a third party to your conversation.
? Call Forwarding: Directs your incoming calls to a forwarding number so you never miss an important call*.

Optimum Voice uses state-of-the-art digital technology, the same technology that delivers Optimum Online high-speed Internet access to your home, to deliver high quality crystal clear voice service. Optimum Voice is available exclusively to Optimum Online subscribers.
----------------

They come in and replace your existing cable modem with a "voice enabled' cable modem with a standard RJ-11 jack. This seems like an incredible deal! It beats out all cell phones plans. The only visible downside I see is that you only have 1 jack on the cable modem. So you would have to run wires throughout your house or patch into the existing phone wire after disconnecting it from the main box. You also lose service when the power goes out, unlike POTS where power outages don't affect telephone service. Perhaps a UPS can cure this.

Does anyone have this? Comments?

 

[mamisano]

Yes, pretty damned good price...I wonder if the local Telcos will respond with price drops.

As far as the single jack thing goes, you can take that jack and plug a wire from there into a wall jack and that will enable the rest of the phones in your home.

 

[teklord]

True....

anyone have any experience yet?

 

[r0guenj]

i say go for any other service at the moment. you have to replace your modem with theirs (big minus) and the device is integrated (minus number 2)

i have vonage and i take the adapter to other locations that have broadband and can keep my number with me (like when i am on vacation and want to use my number in a hotel room).

proprietary hardware is the worst and at least with other services, you can find someone to buy the analog adapter when you stop service (although in this case if they give you the voice enabled cable modem, this is not as big a deal).

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: r0guenj
i say go for any other service at the moment. you have to replace your modem with theirs (big minus) and the device is integrated (minus number 2)

i have vonage and i take the adapter to other locations that have broadband and can keep my number with me (like when i am on vacation and want to use my number in a hotel room).

proprietary hardware is the worst and at least with other services, you can find someone to buy the analog adapter when you stop service (although in this case if they give you the voice enabled cable modem, this is not as big a deal).

I agree. I have OOL cable so I have the option to go with Optimum voice, but if I go the VOIP route (which I may shortly to cut my phone bill in half), I am going VOnage for the same reasons as you posted. Especially since they have the same $35 unlimted US/Canada gig.

 

[r0guenj]

i have the $26 plan and i barely use 100 minutes of non-local calling a month.my phone costs since getting vonage are still lower than having just regular landline (not factoring in my cell phones) service from verizon.

plus, other services (at least vonage does this) works with a referral system. the first 4 months i didn't have to pay for my service because i had other interested in signing up.

good luck to whatever service you choose.

 

[Pardus]

Problem with optimumvoice is you lose power, no telephone, so its not good for your main phone line, also if you already have a phone # that you had for years and given it out to a million people by now, that will change also.
You also cant dial opertor or information i belive.

It's good for a 2nd of 3rd line only.

http://www.phonedog.com/ lets you compare lowest rates in your area.

I went with KISS, paying $19/month for unlimited local calls, and 3 cents a min for regional, instate and long distance. Our monthly bill is about $40 and whats nice you can view the bill online. There plans vary by state. And oh yea, you can keep your existing phone # and not worry if the power goes out will you be able to make/recieve calls.

 

[HyTekJosh]

I agree...I Would want a standalone VOIP unit; not replacing my current cable modem. Vonage looks more appealing.

 

[r0guenj]

Originally posted by: ActiveX
Problem with optimumvoice is you lose power, no telephone, so its not good for your main phone line, also if you already have a phone # that you had for years and given it out to a million people by now, that will change also. You also cant dial opertor or information i belive. It's good for a 2nd of 3rd line only. http://www.phonedog.com/ lets you compare lowest rates in your area. I went with KISS, paying $19/month for unlimited local calls, and 3 cents a min for regional, instate and long distance. Our monthly bill is about $40 and whats nice you can view the bill online. There plans vary by state. And oh yea, you can keep your existing phone # and not worry if the power goes out will you be able to make/recieve calls.

it's not even that, although i am unsure of how the combo unit functions. you could just add a ups to run the phone/modem/adapter. but i am not sure how it would work if a large area lost power vs just your house (the cable companies are not required to have battery backups to keep their lines running, unlike regular telcos) and even the telcos can lose power after a lengthy systemwide power outage (which in this case, if they lost power for any significant time, there are other problems facing people than to worry about their phones working).

vonage is also great because you can take your number to them. also recordkeeping is great. every call and transaction is assigned an id number. and the call log is real time (or near enough that you could be in your account screen, make a call, hang up, and refresh your browser and have the information there)

also, their is a slight possibility that you could get this to work over dialup as the requirement is only a 26kbps (this is also adjustable through your control panel under bandwidth saver) connection (although if you are on dial up, why would you use a voip solution?)

for me vonage was a great addition to my house....i had previously dropped my landline about 5 years ago as all i used was my cell phone. now that i have the need for occasional faxing and an extra line at home, the choice was voip to cover the uses i needed without getting bent over by the telcos for simple landline service.

 

[Sircoop]

I just ordered this service about 3 days ago..I will keep everyone posted on the install (Replacing my other CableVision Modem) and clarity.
I will also check my speeds before and after to make sure they stay the same or increase

Sircoop

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Whats better Vonage or packet8? Or is there something even better?

 

[petey117]

Optimum was tempting for me ( i would put a UPS on my modem) , but not being able to port my phone number over killed the deal for me (well for my wife anyway)

What kills me, is that they used to port numbers over, and then just stopped....and according to Optimum, they still can, but they don't...just to stay off of verizon's radar...

oh well....

 

[teklord]

To those who are currently billed for a VOIP service:

How bad are the taxes and surcharges? Land line taxes are insane. Optimum advertizes $34.99 all inclusive. Are there are taxes and fees on top of this?

Thanks for all the info.

 

[Sircoop]

OK I am all hooked up!

Everything is working great, I notice no difference in the clarity of the line.

The Client Service guy told me no taxes etc... just a flat rate of 34.99 a month. When I get my first bill I will confirm this.

I am very happy! LAND Line was costing me around $80.00 a month on average

I got a 2Gig Vtech phone with a digital answering machine and 2 additonal headsets from COSTCO. Everything works great!

I so go for it!

Sircoop

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: ActiveX
Problem with optimumvoice is you lose power, no telephone, so its not good for your main phone line, also if you already have a phone # that you had for years and given it out to a million people by now, that will change also.

A $5 (after rebate) UPS easily addresses the first concern. I have my cable modem, my router, and my VoIP box on a 350VA UPS. I haven't done any kind of endurance test, but I certainly expect this system to handle most power-out situations.

Vonage will let you take your number with you under some circumstances (don't know what they are).

I've had Vonage for a few months now and overall am pleased. I had network issues (not Vonage's fault) that I think I've finally ironed out so I haven't yet come to a final verdict, but at this point I expect to keep Vonage.

 

[Scyber]

Originally posted by: teklord

How bad are the taxes and surcharges? Land line taxes are insane. Optimum advertizes $34.99 all inclusive. Are there are taxes and fees on top of this?

This is a copy of my latest invoice (Vonage):
Unlimited Local/Regional Plus Plan for 1-(201)-XXX-XXXX (11/28-12/27) $24.99
Sales Tax: $1.50
FET Tax: $0.75
Regulatory Recovery Fee: Details $1.50
Total Amount: $28.74

I have a smaller plan (unlimited local calls + 500 minutes long distance), and as you can see the fees are minimal. They also just announced a smaller plan (500 minutes anywhere) for only $14.99 /month. I will probably be switching to the new plan soon.

FYI: w/ Vonage most people can keep their existing number. As a matter of fact after a few months of testing Vonage, I am porting over my Verizon line now.

Re Power Outage: While it is true that VoIP requires a power source, in my case power outages caused both my Verizon and Vonage to be useless. That is because all I own are cordless phones. So no power/no worky.

I think going with an independent VoIP provider might be better than paying for OptimumVoice. My primary concern would be if I moved out of a Cablevision area, I would be required to get a new service. With an independent provider, as long as you can get broadband you can keep the same account. (I even know of people that have hooked up their adaptors in Europe and got phone calls there!).

 

[foe]

It woudl be sweeter if they offered unlimited for international as well.