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Review by nycityny 
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 3.3 years, 1479 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 New York,New York,NY
 $27 per month (month by month)
 about 4 days
 "Sound quality, feature set, superb customer/tech support, reliability"
 "High international rates, Canada not free."
 "Lots of good features for a fraction of the cost charged by baby bells"
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Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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UPDATE - 12/4/08:
I am upgrading some of my ratings. Service has been great again for awhile now. Any technical glitches I had earlier this year are gone. And when during the summer I was having an audio drop problem the VP folks helped me diagnose it and trace it to my ISP. They provided me the tools to prove the problem to the ISP so I could force them to address it. Once my ISP fixed the packet loss problem (a long process) my VP calls were again pristine.
UPDATE - 2/11/08:
I am unhappily downgrading my VoicePulse ratings due to longtime problems that they are unable to resolve. While they continue to be responsive to trouble tickets by calling immediately, they are unable to fix the issues.
My biggest problem is that in most long conversations I will inevitably have a 5 second period of silence where I cannot hear the other person but they can hear me. I have learned to just let it go and hope I can pick up on what the other person is saying when the audio resumes. VP warmly hears my complaints and just keeps asking if the problem has gone away. It does not go away and I don't have the stamina to keep bugging them about it. They simply show concern but do not solve the problem.
I've also had an issue where my voicemail messages get cut off. The message gets sent to me via an e-mail where I am told that it is 30 seconds long, for example. The attached audio clip ends up being only 6 seconds with the message clearly truncated prematurely. The message I hear via the phone is also the truncated 6 second version.
The voicemail problem occurred a few months ago. VP researched it and asked if it happened again the following week. When it did not they closed the ticket. It happened again in January and the same process occurred with VP. They ask if it happens again and when it does not they close the ticket. They acknowledge that their engineers "look into it" but change nothing in the end.
VP service is certainly usable but not perfect with issues like these.
UPDATE - 2/26/07:
Updating the price again. VoicePulse added 6% to their prices on 1/1/07 to cover the cost of the Federal Universal Service Fund. The $24.99 plan is now $26.49. I'm not thrilled about the price increase but all of the VOIP companies are now adding the add-ons so one has to accept it.
The service remains stellar - I cannot remember the last time I dealt with customer support.
UPDATE - 6/5/06:
Simply updating my monthly cost to $25. I dropped the virtual number and so the cost went down.
UPDATE - 3/30/06:
Just an update to note that 911 is now working on my line. This service is now complete for me. I am still very happy with VoicePulse after 8 months of using it as a complete replacement for a POTS line. The reliability, voice quality, price, customer support and feature set are superb.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I have been using VoicePulse for over 4 months now and it has been wonderful. My callers and I cannot tell that I am using VOIP - the sound quality is excellent.
I ordered the service online on a Friday and the equipment arrived the following Tuesday (four days including the weekend). Set-up was a breeze and it was working within minutes. After a few days I decided to port over my landline number. While VoicePulse said the process would take a month, the number ported over in 13 days. I am using the Sipura SPA 2002 "borrowed" from VoicePulse. The device is small and I have not had to reboot it at all since installation - it just keeps on humming. I am using a cable modem broadband connection at 10 Mbps down and 800 Kbps up.
While I particularly wanted the great Anonymous Call Rejection feature that VoicePulse provides, I have found myself using the flexible and powerful Filters as well.
One of the best aspects of the company is the superb customer support. Phone support is only available on weekdays until 7pm. This is not a problem, however, because technicians respond very quickly to problem tickets initiated through the online support system. Any ticket receives BOTH a telephone call response as well as a follow-up e-mail. It is almost embarrassing to have a rep call me after mentioning a minor issue in online support, but call you is what they do. Problems are immediately addressed and resolved by interacting with just one individual - no need to switch departments or speak with "Level 3" as with other companies. Anybody who answers your call can and will help you.
My monthly cost is $29.98 which includes $4.99 for a virtual number. No taxes are added at all.
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