ViaTalk.com Internet Phone Service Review - 2010
ViaTalk.com is a popular VoIP provider. VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol -- for the uninitiated, that means it is a way of making phone calls over your Internet connection. VoIP calls are placed across the Internet instead of via phone lines. Unlike traditional phone billing, VoIP connections are billed based on a flat monthly fee. That's why using the Internet connection you already have, along with a VoIP provider's services, makes financial sense. Forget long distance or international calling charges -- if you make a lot of calls to faraway places, the money you save every month using VoIP instead of international telephone lines pays for your VoIP service in no time at all.
ViaTalk.com is one of the leading residential VoIP companies in the world. Customers who like ViaTalk.com brag about the flat rate calling plan and tell everyone they meet how easy the service is to use. Still, many people are suspicious of anything that sounds too good to be true, especially a piece of technology. What is it like to be a ViaTalk.com customer? Here's my review of ViaTalk.com's VoIP services.
ViaTalk Price Details
ViaTalk.com is not shy about the cost of their service. They quote the flat price of "$189 per year" so often on their website, you get to where you don't even notice it. That breaks down to under $16 a month, which is an incredible price for unlimited calling anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, that famous $189 per year is not exactly the truth. There will be various fees added to your total based on where in the world you live. Different states in America charge different fees on top of that flat rate price, and taxes and the emergency services fee bring your total as high as $250. That's how much a year of ViaTalk.com service cost me here in New Jersey. I had to pay the flat rate, plus a monthly fee called the "regulatory recovery fee, a charge for something called "cost recovery", and several different Federal, state, and even city taxes. Still, $250 a year for unlimited phone service is a better deal than you're going to find anywhere else.
For that rate, you're not getting a bottom of the barrel service. For $250 a year, I got all the equipment I needed, the use of two active phone lines, unlimited phone service, caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, and (for signing up as a new customer) a free year of service. That brought my cost down to $125 a year, just a little more than $10 a month for unlimited calls all over the world.
Don't forget the $30 one-time installation fee and any fees for services you want "above and beyond" the ones listed above. Call Forwarding, Hold and Transfer, Music on Hold, and plenty of other services are available at an extra cost.
ViaTalk.com Call Quality
This is one area that ViaTalk.com really needs to work on. When people ask me how the call quality is with ViaTalk.com, I ask them to hearken back to the early days of cellular phone service. Remember making cell phone calls in 1995? That's about the quality of most ViaTalk.com phone calls. Even if you're calling someone with a regular phone setup, you may have times when you can barely hear the other person, or they can barely hear you. There are incidences of static, and if you thought dropped calls went the way of the brick-sized 80s cell phone, then welcome to ViaTalk. During the past few months of ViaTalk service, I've dealt with more bad calls than a WNBA game.
This is where you have to start doing some math to figure out the value of a VoIP service like ViaTalk. Problems with call clarity and dropped calls aren't unique to ViaTalk -- all VoIP service is somewhat sketchy. Having never been a member with any other VoIP service, I can't personally attest to the quality of ViaTalk versus the quality of any other service, but I never felt like my $10 a month was a waste. Sure, every other call dropped at least once, but after about two months of using the service, I was able to contact customer support and make a small change that fixed about half of the dropped call problem.
Emergency / 911 Service
The first thing many people say about an alternative phone service like VoIP is -- what about 911? Traditional land lines have built in emergency service (simply dial 911 on your handset) but services like Skype and even many cell phones don't provide the kind of emergency service you may need in your home. ViaTalk.com offers emergency services using their Internet phone system, though you aren't connected directly to actual 911 services. Should you need to call 911 for any reason, you'll be connected to ViaTalk.com's own emergency service system. Though it is not direct 911 service, you will still have access to emergency services. For customers who may need a faster emergency reaction time, ViaTalk.com's 911 services may not be adequate.
Pros
Cost -- You can't beat the price, especially if you sign up as a new customer and get a year's VoIP service for free.
Convenient billing -- Not only is it cheap, but the bill is really easy to read because of the flat fee system.
Equipment -- You don't have to pay for any cords or hardware or anything. You're ready to go right out of the box at no extra charge.
Cons
Call clarity -- Don't expect the same quality offered by your traditional local phone service.
911 service -- Some people don't trust the emergency services at ViaTalk.com, and what happens if you're talking to the 911 operator and the call drops?
Contract -- You will be forced to sign a two year contract. For people who aren't sure if they want to dive in and use a VoIP system, ViaTalk isn't exactly flexible about breaking contracts.
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