Review by dipswich 
UPDATED: 122 days ago
member for 5.4 years, 1669 visits, last login: 2 days ago
 Raleigh,Wake,NC
 $12 per month
 "Good reliability, great customer service"
 "Not plug&play VoIP, no E911"
 "Create your own telephone company"
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Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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VoicePulse Connect provides termination and origination for "do it yourself" VoIP. It is compatible with SIP and IAX2 devices, and as such lets you create your own calling features and scale you telephone services with your needs and schedule without paying telco prices. VP Connect is geared toward someone who's willing to "own" their telephone service, and it does require some upfront configuration to get it going. Configuring an adapter isn't too great a task, but I'd say it isn't for the plug&play user who wants to plug in a telephone cord and never think about their service again.
I've been with VoicePulse Connect (»connect.voicepulse.com) for 3 years now. Overall, I've been very happy with this service. In three years, I've only noted a few instances of downtime. And, overall, I've experienced good quality service. The caveat is that I'm a light user, so I'm not stress-testing them.
The one element of the service that I don't like is having to fax back a new agreement every time for account changes, such as credit card updates. It's obnoxious, but I guess necessary for their business security. I'd like to see a history develop between the customer and the company to get this step removed from established accounts.
Getting straight to the ratings--
The web site is very good about providing setup instructions, rates, and FAQs. A top rating.
Understanding up front that there is setup involved, detailed instructions on the website, direct support in popular packages (read Trixbox/Asterisk@Home), and both SIP and IAX2 support, VoicePulse Connect is easy to setup. A top rating.
I took a notch off for call quality, as there is the occasional echo or packet loss dropout. I can't squarely put it on VoicePulse, but it's part of telephony over the Internet. Nonetheless, since it doesn't matter where the problem lies, the quality falls below a T1 circuit.
Similarly, I took a notch off for reliability as well. I don't think any real-time application dependant on the Internet could get a true "5." (Update 10/22/07: I'd give a 4.5 (if offered). For quite some time, I've not experienced any outages. If it keeps up like this, I will likely round up to 5 for the official rating.) (Update 12/29/2007: I'm sticking with a 4. I've been noticing some periods where registration fails every once in a while, sometimes causing incoming calls to not arrive. Dangerously close to swinging the pendulum the other way!)
Tech support goes above and beyond. They follow up tickets with a phone call. If there was a "6" on the scale, I'd give it to them.
As for value, I give 4 of 5 for a couple of reasons. First, the incoming number price at $11/mo. is more than some other other providers. Also, the minimum payment is more than some competitors. The USA outbound price is very competitive although it varies by destination.
Update 12/29/2007: International rates went from crap to beautiful. I'm not international-heavy so it doesn't affect me, but this is a very positive development.
Update 8/4/2008: Still very satisfied. I was able to move to their updated SIP platform without any real problems. I did have an issue setting my outgoing caller ID, and tech support knew the workaround (with my old-but-stable version of Asterisk) within seconds.
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