Review by fallingover 
UPDATED: 35 days ago
member for 329 days, 28 visits, last login: 12 days ago
 Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
 Contract price not specified.
 "solid performer"
 "Too Expensive compared to voip.ms (and others?)"
 "You can do better elsewhere"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
++++
Update October 19 2009
I changed the value for money rating to a 3 in order to remove the 'stain' of a negative review - the only one. It still makes my point that Callcentric charges too much for what it delivers.
+++++
Update October 18 2009
Quick update. Nothing has changed my opinion about this company. They do a decent job, but charge too much. I cannot understand what their problem is - misplaced resources, high cost of labor?
I will continue to use them as a fallback until the money in my account runs out, and then find a cheaper fallback.
In the last year or two, a reliable, good-sounding connection has become standard among all but the junkiest providers. You should not have to pay a relatively high price for good performance. But if you use Callcentric as a fallback, that is what you are doing. Even if you use it as your main voip provider, you are still overpaying compared to Voip.ms, and, I'm sure, others.
What value for money are you getting in that case? It seems to me, not a great deal. Because of that, I have lowered my estimate in the 'Value for Money' category.
+++++
Callcentric provides good service, but I can't see using it except as a fallback, because it is too expensive compared with voip.ms, and probably others.
VOIP.MS has every feature that callcentric has, except for calling card, and in addition has incoming call handling that is practically like having an asterisk server - callcentric cannot touch it. VOIP.MS also has simultaneous ring which callcentric does not have. And VOIP.MS has large numbers of DIDs, as many as callcentric. Callcentric sounds good, but no better than voip.ms; it is reliable, but no more reliable than voip.ms.
Yet callcentric charges more for outgoing calls: 1.98 cents/minute, vs. voip.ms's 1.05 - 1.49 cents/minute; it has a higher setup fee for DIDs (3.95 for callcentric vs .50 to .99 for VOIP.MS).
Having used both vosps for some time, I feel that callcentric is asking too much for what it provides. It is not competing, and will not get my business except as a fallback.
Followup comments:  nitzan
Premium,VIP
join:2008-02-27
 ·ViaTalk
 ·Comcast
| Support... You're comparing voip.ms - who's support has been rated pretty poorly in the past - to CallCentric - who has some of the best support ratings in the industry.
Support costs money, it's a fact. You can't provide quality support at voip.ms's prices. You get what you pay for. While voip.ms chose to give you cheap prices and questionable support - CallCentric chose to give you full quality support at higher prices. They're not trying to rip you off - they're trying to make enough money to pay for their support engineers.  | |
|  | fallingover
join:2008-12-28
Los Angeles, CA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
| Re: Support... said by nitzan :You're comparing voip.ms - who's support has been rated pretty poorly in the past - to CallCentric - who has some of the best support ratings in the industry. I can't comment on past support problems with VOIP.MS, but from my experience over the past year - half a dozen questions, problems, or suggestions that I made to support - I was answered usually within hours and always to the point. And I think other recent reviews of VOIP.MS agree with that.
When I have contacted callcentric support, I received the same good support service - but it was no better than that of VOIP.MS.
Support costs money, it's a fact. You can't provide quality support at voip.ms's prices.
Apparently you can.
You get what you pay for. While voip.ms chose to give you cheap prices and questionable support - CallCentric chose to give you full quality support at higher prices. They're not trying to rip you off - they're trying to make enough money to pay for their support engineers. | |
| | | 
cc user
@comcast.net
 from:
RiverMerger
| Re: Support... Callcentric is not aiming at being a budget voip provider. Nor would I want them to be. I would rather pay a few cents more and have them around, rather than see them fail like many other voip carriers.
In the end, may the best voip company win. Cheap and nasty never survives. | |
| | | PX Eliezer
Premium
join:2008-08-09
New Jersey
·Callcentric
·Optimum Voice
·callwithus
·voip.ms
3 edits | Rate comparisons Thoughtful review.
I rather agree with you regarding CallCentric's per-minute outbound rates. They do need to rethink that issue a bit. The rest of their rates are good overall.
I don't ever see CC as being an aggressive competitor on price. It's not what they're about.
I think that Voip.MS and CallCentric are both good outfits, somewhat different from each other, but each is a market leader in its own way.
Rates are interesting. Some folks use OneSuite. There are various ways to call on OneSuite but the rate for USA if using the OneSuite Voip is 2.5 cents! They must have some happy customers, but wow.....
When I deal with a Voip company, I want to be sure they can stay around. So while you may think I'm nuts, I worry if a company's rates are too low. The bear preparing for the winter is better off being too fat than too skinny.
I view things as follows:
CallCentric: Nordstrom
Voip.MS: Target (in the good sense)
Some others: Wal-Mart
And others: K-Mart
Voip.MS, like Target, has come a long way. I use both companies for some things.
But if you want your wife to be unquestionably comfortable with your home phone service and with your dress shirt, a case can be made for CallCentric and for Nordstrom, respectively.
And yes, having said that, I wish the outbound minutes and the shirts were both a little cheaper.
ADDED IN EDIT:
I forgot to mention: Besides customer service, one place where CallCentric really shines is free Voip (SIP) calling. Nobody does it better when it comes to supporting SipBroker, direct IP calling, peering with other networks, and now the new iNum calling. Some customers will not use these features, but for others they add much value. | |
| | fallingover
join:2008-12-28
Los Angeles, CA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
| Re: Rate comparisons I'm not familiar with either Nordstrom's or Target, but I think I see where you are going, since I am familiar with walmart and kmart.
I disagree that there is a low-quality feel about VOIP.MS in comparison with callcentric (if that is in fact what you are implying).
If I had any reservations about VOIP.MS, they would be based on the question that I suspect most people have who use their own ATAs to hook up with a vosp, namely: Is this vosp going to be around in six months? Or: Is this vosp going to sound consistently good; will there be frequent outages?
I don't know the exact dates but I know that callcentric has been around longer than VOIP.MS; and with the present state of voip, you tend to get a warmer and fuzzier feeling with a vosp that has been around for 2 or 3 years compared to one that has been around for 1 or 2 years.
Personally, I don't have any problem with using VOIP.MS, or recommending it to other people, because I believe they are in it for the long haul. That's based on the improvements that they continue to make and the sophistication of their features - call routing, sub-accounts, etc., and on their consistent sound quality and reliability.
But I can understand why others would feel more comfortable with the longer track record of callcentric, even if it costs a bit more and has fewer features than VOIP.MS. | |
| | nitzan
Premium,VIP
join:2008-02-27
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| said by PX Eliezer :CallCentric: Nordstrom Voip.MS: Target (in the good sense) Some others: Wal-Mart And others: K-Mart lmao. Out of curiosity- where does F9 fit in this "placement"?  | |
| | | fallingover
join:2008-12-28
Los Angeles, CA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
| Re: Rate comparisons said by nitzan :said by PX Eliezer :CallCentric: Nordstrom Voip.MS: Target (in the good sense) Some others: Wal-Mart And others: K-Mart lmao. Out of curiosity- where does F9 fit in this "placement"? It's like one of those carts placed in the aisle of a mall. The ones that sell baskets of pre-packaged cheese and meat, or calendars, or pictures of sad-eyed children.
All useful to the right customer. | |
| | SteveinNC
join:2007-07-19
Greensboro, NC
1 edit | Callcentric Support +++ Last week I could not make outbound calls (busy signal) using my SPA2102.
How many hours is this going to take to figure this out ?
I looked at all the various screens, really it comes down to the SIP settings. Couldn't get a read on the problem and was ready to do a factory reset and add the values all over again.
Contacted CC support with the problem. Response in 20 min. They focused right in on the problem "SIP Remote Party I.D." drop down box should be set to "NO". The default setting was yes and for some reason it reverted to it.
There's only 150 drop down / settings on this ATA ? They got the fix right off the bat. Who would have known that ? I checked Linksys and Google. Not a blip about this setting.
I'm a little tired of the xxx hrs of sit down time figuring some of this out. Not with CC however.
Callcentric - Top Drawer VOIP. | |
| | fallingover
join:2008-12-28
Los Angeles, CA
·voip.ms
·Callcentric
| VOIP.MS Support A+++ said by SteveinNC :Callcentric - Top Drawer VOIP. I contacted VOIP.MS support because of a small problem I found in the IVR. Got a response in 15 minutes. They had it on their todo list, but pushed the fix out to their servers based on my email.
20 minutes after I contacted them, the problem had been fixed. I have never seen anything like it.
Callcentric support may be as good, or almost as good, but they don't even have an IVR, or simultaneous ring, or sub-accounts, or a 6-second billing increment, or calling queues, or a sophisticated website that puts every aspect of their service at your fingertips.
They do not begin to match VOIP.MS's call handling, and their North American rates and DID prices do not compete well with VOIP.MS's.
If you don't need the features that callcentric is missing, and you don't mind paying a bit more, then stick with callcentric, but I can't see it myself. | |
| | | PX Eliezer
Premium
join:2008-08-09
New Jersey
·Callcentric
·Optimum Voice
·callwithus
·voip.ms
| Re: Two good providers, two good nations. You raise several good points!
I agree that CC should try to incorporate some of those features. That's what good competition is about.
On the other hand, Voip.MS is not friendly to IP calling, peering, SIPBroker, or iNum. To me, these are very important features for providers, but of course perspectives differ.
I've never had any problems with CC. It just works.
Last year, I did have repeated problems with Voip.MS for outbound calls. I think that they have come a long way since then, and they have apparently beefed up their support.
I find CC's website to be quite functional and elegant. The Voip.MS website is rather turgid.
The thing is, they are BOTH fine providers, each with pros and cons. Sometimes you need both waffles and cereal (and fruit also---that's F9) as part of a balanced breakfast.
If I praise CallCentric, it should not be construed as knocking Voip.MS. They are both good folks.
In my personal interactions with CallCentric, they are almost fanatical about protecting the quality of their service. It strikes me that it's much more than a job for them. Now, that may also be true elsewhere, but I know it is for CC.
It also bespeaks a conservative attitude that may explain why they make changes carefully and gradually. Their primary concern is stability.
They actually do two things that make them lose business! Those are: a very conservative interpretation of 911 requirements, and urging people to not rush to port in numbers. CC probably drives some customers away because of this, but it reflects their almost religious fervor.
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Hopefully we will see both companies continue to lead and succeed. | |
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