Re: [MLUG] More Asterisk

[Nathan Odle <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Dave Lloyd wrote:

>Which providers were you using?  I've noticed that not so many provide
>service to 573, though with recent FCC ruling on SBC's planned VoIP
>service that might change.
>
>  
>
You are correct that most providers do not currently supply 573 area 
codes.  However, a lot of them DO supply toll-free area codes at no 
additional charge.  This for our purposes was even better than a 573.  
We shopped larger more 'wholesale' types of providers, that sell VoIP 
connectivity at a flat by-the-minute rate with unlimited connections.  
This greatly simplifies matters, as there is no "2000 minutes per 
account" to hassle with and keep track of, and you often have to sign up 
for as many accounts as you have lines (most don't provide unlimited 
connections). 

So three providers made the rough cut:  TelIAX, NuFone, and VoicePulse.  
We tried several others, including VoIPJet, etc. but the routes were 
immediately identified as awful.  VoicePulse fell out of the running 
fairly quickly, despite the fact that they had two seperate server 
locations with independent connectivity.  We actually ran on TelIAX for 
awhile, until it became apparent that jitter was pretty bad during peak 
Internet usage hours.  NuFone we tried for about a month, but in the end 
the quality was just too inconsistent to make it work.

I think a lot of home users could have dealt with these providers and 
perhaps not even noticed the issues we were having.  Why?  Because most 
home phone usage does not take place during peak Internet usage hours 
but rather in the evening when things are more consistent, and also - 
business people are really more picky I think.  I had people complaining 
about a lot of issues that I'd have been inclined to ignore, but since 
they're the ones I have to keep happy - we dumped VoIP and kicked back 
over to analog.  Additionally, home phone users are not on the phone all 
day long, so they're more likely to "miss" the intermittent bad periods.

We actually still keep the VoIP service through NuFone in case someone 
wants to call us on the toll-free but sent out  letter that made it 
clear the quality may not be up to their expectations.  Additionally, I 
still use VoIP for my side of the business (real estate development) 
because I am not quite so picky :)

-N



>--dlloyd
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