On Thu, 15 May 2008 03:37:16 -0600, Todd Allcock
<elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote:

>At 15 May 2008 00:57:36 -0400 The Ghost of General Lee wrote:
>
>> Which VOIP provider(s) would you recommend that uses a standard ATA
>> device and doesn't rely on a running computer or wi-fi?
>
>
>There's a ton of them, so I guess it dependswhat you're after- landline
>replacement,incoming only, outgoing only, long distance only, etc. In my
>case they're mostly used for travel and as a backup for cell service when
>WiFi is around (not to mention just to play with!)

Eventually, it will be a land line replacement, but for now, it's
going to be an additional line for incoming and outgoing calls. I'd
prefer something with long distance included (US only), but I really
don't make that many l/d calls. And for those I do make, cellular is
fine, although I may soon trim my cell plan back now that I'm no
longer under contract and about to jettison the heaviest user from my
family plan.

>I've been using Voicestick (www.voicestick.com) for awhile. Their VP hangs
>around the dslreports.com VoIP forums and is very candid about the biz.
>They have two basic plans: "unlimited" for $20/month, and a pay-as-you-go
>(that I use) that's $0.01/min incoming, $0.02/min outgoing (no junk/911 fees,
>
>but there is a $1 minimum monthly usage.

I think I had previously checked them out, but dismissed them because
they didn't offer simultaneous/sequential ringing of alternate
numbers. As I have my home phone set up now, if someone calls me, it
rings 4 times here, then rolls over to my cell (Call Forward No
Answer). It also rings over instantly if my land line is busy (Call
Forward Busy Line). I'm not a fan of call waiting. I also have
anonymous call reject on my land line, which VS doesn't appear to
provide. It keeps a lot of "unknown" numbers from ringing my cell.
This way, I have a single number for people to contact me. I *HATE*
giving out my cell number to anyone, because they'd invariably call
both numbers, leaving me duplicate messages. I'd like to find a
provider that offers both ACR and alternate number ringing.

>If you want cheap VoIP to play with, you can sign up with Gizmo5.com, and
>get a free incoming number in the Nevada 775 area code. I use them for my
>cellphone "iPhone-style" Visual Voicemail. Unanswered cell calls are
>forwarded to the 775 number and notifications plus a .wav file of any left
>message are pushed to my phone instantly.

As with VS, I didn't see where Gizmo offers alternate number ringing
or ACR. I could probably learn to live without ACR, but the alternate
number ringing is a 'must have'. Simple call forwarding just won't
cut it.

>For a free incoming number in your area code, you can use GrandCentral.com
>and forward it to either the 775 number, or directly forward it to the
>Gizmo SIP URI without an actual POTS number assigned to your Gizmo account
>(GC and Gizmo have an arrangement that allows that.)

I already have a GC number, but it's being used for another purpose at
this time, in conjunction with a MagicJack number I have. And as you
may know, GC is still in beta, and they have temporarily stopped
accepting new subscribers. They even removed the invitation button
from the account management area. And we don't know yet when GC will
come out of beta or what their terms will be once they do.

>While Gizmo really pushes their software on their website so you can use
>their Skype-like features (video calling, etc.,) unlike Skype they're
>perfectly SIP/ATA-compatible as well.
>

Other than the alternate number ringing and ACR, I could give a rat's
ass about stuff like video calling. No one I communicate with does
it, so it's a non-issue with me. The only provider I've found thus
far with all the features I need is Vonage. But to paraphrase what
someone (possibly you) recently wrote, Vonage isn't a low cost land
line replacement as much as they are a high cost VOIP provider.