Save money like we are doing!
We have been looking very carefully at a number of ways to reduce expenses and our cost of living. We did this several years ago when we switched from regular landline telephone service to a VOIP service with Vonage. This definitely reduced our monthly telephone costs and as a bonus, also gave us free international calling to the U.K. and many other countries. That was especially helpful by enabling us to keep in touch when family members in the U.K. were facing some serious health challenges.
During the last few years a number of competitive services have been introduced, all offering lower monthly costs and even more features than Vonage. When we began to very carefully explore these alternatives there was one that came up repeatedly as being exceptional value, very reliable and full featured. The company name is VOIPo. We decided to investigate further. Here’s what we discovered:
VoIP Services by VOIPo
VOIPo service allows you to replace your landline and use regular phones to make and receive virtually unlimited crystal-clear calls for one low price. You can get a new number or transfer your existing number and it works with your regular phones (no computer required).
Save up to 75% on phone service.
Unlimited calling to US/Canada starting at $6.21 Monthly. We rely mostly on referrals and don't waste money on big ad campaigns. This saves you money.
Free international calling.
International calls to over 40 countries (60 minutes per month) included with Home and Home Office plan. Low international rates across the board.
Free second line.
Free cloned 2nd line included with Home and Home Office Plan. Everyone likes a 2-1, right?
Entirely US-based. No outsourced support.
We're located in Southern California. Deal with knowledgeable support agents and friendly Californians who can actually solve any problems you may have really and help you.
Financially sound.
Privately-owned, owner-managed debt-free, and profitable. No greedy investors to please here.
Track record of success.
Founded by HostGator executives and backed by HostGator. HostGator employs nearly 1,000 American workers and was named 21st Fastest Growing Privately-Owned Company in America By Inc Magazine.
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
If you're not happy, just cancel within 30 days and return the VOIPo adapter to us and we'll refund 100% of your service fees. If you're not happy, we're not either.
OK, so the service is cheaper and we can now make calls to our friends all over the country without being charged but what about features. VOIPo comes with lots of features. All of these features are included free in the service.
Cloned Second Line: You get one phone number but 2 phone lines. When a call comes in both lines ring, if a second call comes in the second line will ring and you can have two separate conversations at one time. If someone in your house hogs the phone you can still make and receive calls on the second line! You can also connect the two calls for a conference call.
Voicemail: No need for an answering machine with the built in voicemail system. It works like voice mail on your cell phone but is more powerful. You can have a recording of the message emailed to you. You can also choose to get a text message when a voicemail is left. You can also access your voicemail online. If your phone has a voicemail indicator the MWI (message waiting indicator) will light on the phone. I can finally get rid of my old answering machine.
Call Blocking/Call Routing/Call Forwarding/Telemarketer Block: Using the online portal you can set up tons of features. Don’t want to talk to your mom, have her number go to voicemail. Going out of town, have all your calls forwarded to your cell phone. Telemarketer keeps calling, have them get a busy signal or disconnected message.
Distinctive Ringing: Give custom rings to special phone numbers. Give your girlfriend a custom ring and you will know to go to the phone, or not, when she calls.
Caller ID: In coming and outgoing. You can even change the outgoing Caller ID to show your cell phone or another number you have.
Here is the list of included features:
7, 10, and 11 Digit Dialing
Caller ID w/ Name
Call Waiting
Call Waiting ID
Three Way Calling
Call Forwarding
Call Blocking
Do Not Disturb
*67 Outbound Caller ID Blocking
*69 Call Return
Transfer In Your Current Number
Choose Your Own Area Code
Keep Your Number If You Move
Texas-Based Tech Support
Portable VoIP Device
Softphone Access
E911 Service
711 Service
411 Directory Assistance
Click on a feature for more information.
Custom Incoming Caller ID
Contacts List
Online Call Logs
Unlimited Speed Dial
Advanced Voicemail
View Voicemail Online
Voicemails E-Mailed
Voicemail SMS Notifications
Distinctive Ringtones
Virtual Numbers
Virtual Number Voicemail Boxes
Network Failover Forwarding
Custom Inbound Call Routing
Custom Outbound Call Routing
Inbound SIP Address
Outbound SIP Address Routing
Simultaneous Ring
Control Features by SMS
If you don’t know what all these features are, don’t worry you’re not alone. I don’t know what a lot of them are either, and I use the service. Just know that all the features that your Phone Company offered you for a fee are included here for free. Features like: Caller ID, Call Waiting, 3 Way Calling and Voice Mail are all here.
I signed up with VOIPo online Thursday night. Friday I received an email that my VOIP adapter had shipped. The postman delivered it on Saturday. The adaptor is a small box that you attach to your broadband Internet connection. You just plug your telephone into it and make calls just like you normally would. And no, you don’t need to leave your computer on. It’s not even connected to your computer. The hardware is included in the price of the service but you don’t own it and have to send it back if you ever cancel the service.
Most people just plug the adapter in next to their cable/DSL modem and plug in their phone. With just a little more effort most people can plug the adapter into a phone receptacle and have it work with every phone in the house.
VOIPo has a 30 money back guarantee so if you don’t link the service just return the adapter and they will refund all of your money. If you decide to cancel any time after 30 days they will refund a prorated amount based on their month-to-month rates. There is really little reason not to try the service.
You have a choice of porting your old number to them or just getting a new phone number from them. Since porting a land line phone number can take some time you are given a temporary number to use. What is nice about this is you can test the service before giving up your land line. I held off sending the form they need to do the number port until I was sure I was happy with the service. The more I used it the happier I was. I emailed the form to port my number. I should mention here that unlike many other VOIP services there is no charge to port your number.
911 Service is included but there are some caveats. You need to enter your address on their website and if you move you are responsible to change it! Also, you need power and a working Internet connection. If either your power or Internet connection go out you can’t dial 911. I put my modem, router and adapter on a UPS to keep my phone working if the power goes out. They are around $50 at your local computer store.
FAX is technically not supported over VOIP however many people use it without problems. It works fine for me. VOIPo has a feature that allows you to send scanned documents to fax machines from your computer. You can also purchase a dedicated FAX number from them for $36 a year additional. Faxes received at this number will be sent to your email as .PDF files.
These days more and more people are dumping their land- lines. Lots of people just have a cell phone but if you’re like me and you have a home phone number you don’t want to give up and/or you like having regular phone in the house than perhaps VOIPo is for you.
There is little reason to keep paying through the nose to the phone company.
Click Here, sign up and start getting lots more for lots less.
You will be glad you did.