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 Review by The Beer 
UPDATED: a few hours ago
member for 7.1 years, 2411 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Omaha,Douglas,NE
 $8 per month (24 month contract)
 about 7 days
 "Do they still have a pulse?"
 "Unreliable, still a beta product, advanced setup is confusing to experts."
 "Want something working look elsewhere."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
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(ratings well below consensus)
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EDIT: Well I left them a long time ago, filed with the FCC and BBB to get my money back, got a letter saying they were sending me $40 a year ago. Still nothing.
This company should be avoided, can't believe they are still in business.
Well I pulled the trigger on VT's birthday promotion. I had my "Home Office" line that needed a cheaper home. I can't say it's been good.
I ordered BYOB, sorry BYOA the extra B would have helped with the pain.
It took quite a few attempts to get my service setup however it was done.
I had to keep probing support to get all the information I needed for BYOA.
I have never really been able to get it to work as designed, as long as I don't try to use features on the site it seems fine as a normal phone. Simul ring kinda works with long pauses after you answer.
I have lost my VM greeting multiple times and you can't turn VM off, a definite turn off for Asterisk users.
Now with the recent "Upgrades" I can no longer receive IP calls, my network down works to my cell and I can still place calls so I guess that’s ok. I am in the process of porting back out.
If you want reliability go with Callvantage, if you still want to stay Cheap go Sunrocket. VT is the flavor of the month and people are getting sick of it.
VT Pumpers feel free to start bashing my review...... Now!
Followup comments:  higginator
join:2004-07-19
Durham, NC
| VT I don't see myself as a 'pumper.' I have not financial stake in VT, I am just a customer. I have not had any of the problems you mention. I HAVE had problems with echoing and some intermittent, but minor other issues--but on the whole it has been better than my former Vonage service. | |
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 Review by Aveamantium
UPDATED: 14 days ago
member for 1.9 years, 894 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Loveland,Larimer,CO
$11 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
"Service is pretty good"
"Still requires some Techy Knowledge to use"
"Still pleased after 2 Years of Service"
| Web-site:
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Signed up for the 2-year deal ($229 or $269 after fee/shipping)... Probably my only disappointment was that I got an older (potentially used) PAP2 (version 1 with older firmware, MAC on device didn't match box, got setup instructions for a PAP2T not that it is different).
Got the shipment in about a weeks time. Setup was a breeze, running behind a WRT54GL running Tomato.
I've had a couple of questions and have had a responses to all of them within an hour (including tech related issues). For me this was a huge difference coming from SunRocket, with them it usually takes a week to get a response for tech related issues and they have never responded to my billing question (have submitted three of them).
Update: 7/20/07 Well I've had the service for around a year now and have had mostly positive success. A few issues here and there but nothing to be concerned about. I'm getting ready to head into my "free" year and once a deal shows up for existing users I'll likely extend for another year! Keep up the good work VT!
Update 9/24/07 I'm forced to update my review slightly to reflect the customer service response time. I fully understand that with SR's demise, there has been a huge demand on CS but I need to reflect this in my review. I will modify my response once trouble tickets start to be addressed again.
Update 10/16/07 I'm once again forced to lower my ratings of this company. After prepaying for what appeared to be a two year contract including fees, VT today decided to start charging fees on these contracts w/o any notice whatsoever.
Update 10/18/07 Well after numerous complaints about charging fees to prepaid accounts that were setup prior to Oct 2006 (when no fees existed) Brendan came to the board to try to make things right. Apparently, if you call in and don't agree with their understanding of this fee structure you can get this reversed. I still believe that they should reverse these fees on all the accounts IMHO. Anyway, VT just rolled out the second line option to all subscribers. This is definitely a step in the right direction...
Update 8/14/08 Wow, its been almost a year since I've updated... Nothing of interest since things are working well (good thing). I'm seeing people with certain routers having problems on the "new transformer" architecture but if you can get past that I believe VT is headed in the right direction. Getting ready to go onto my 3rd year and have no reason to leave!
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Review by thefoxbox
UPDATED: 15 days ago
member for 3.8 years, 27 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Irving,Dallas,TX
$19 per month
about 14 days
"It's cheap... $199 for a year (plus $3 a month for federal charges)... Quality is good, when it works."
"It drops a fair amount of calls... sometimes rather unreliable, VM doesn't always work correctly, and tech support is undefined!"
"It works when it works, and it works well. Tech support is a massive joke."
| Web-site:
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These guy's tech support is as bad as Verizon's... but they aren't nearly as massive.
I have had this service since 3Q 2007.
The service is all right. I searched and have had at least three other companies, but this one was the best value. You get two phone lines for the price of one. That's pretty amazing in my book, considering that some companies charge the full price for another line even if you are already a customer.
The VM doesn't work right with Uniden phones and they are "aware" of this issue as of April 2008 (when I last spoke to them about it). They were nice enough to give me the password to check the settings in the box that I got when I signed up to see if I could adjust the settings. It didn't really help. It is working better than before. It just seems that at times, the voice mail light will not turn off even after new messages have been deleted. Sometimes, it's delayed.
I'm glad I got this service, and the international rates are pretty low as well. I wouldn't go back to POTS anyday, and the discount far outweighs the disadvantages of this service.
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Review by bonezzz
UPDATED: 16 days ago
member for 2.2 years, 11 visits, last login: 6 days ago
Monroe,Orange,NY
Contract price not specified.
"Price, Servers, Features"
"Not Much if you have a good connection to the net above 3meg"
"Replaced my frontier phone (pots)"
| |
I have had VIAtalk for 6 months now after a 3 month search of voip providers, i am in NYS and the reason i choose VIAtalk is that they own & run there own servers in NYS (hostrocket), the amount of server connections and the amount of time of response in either web tickets or phone support. Any voip connection depends on you ISP connection and mine has been so far good with cablevision in Monroe NY 10950, signal strength have been in range and connection hops have no issue to the outside of cablevisions network, with no issues i have been using both a BOYD PAPT2 and EYEBeam Softphone that being said i rate them GREAT so far as long as my ISP connection stays normal.
P.S. - Oh YA, THX Brendan the CEO for being active in the VIAtalk forums that also helped in my decision you dont see a lot of upper management in forums helping out on issues for the non tech people.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of ViaTalk |
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 Review by jmelcher
UPDATED: 21 days ago
member for 2.5 years, 322 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Evansville,Vanderburgh,IN
$18 per month (month by month)
about 3 days
"Inexpensive, Good Control Panel, Full of Features, Good Tech Support"
"Lack of E911 in my area."
"Good quality for a good price. Reliable."
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Update 8/7/08 - Continue to experience good service. Have only had 1 instance where the service did not work and that was due to being placed onto a "new" server, but after changing back to the original server, "central", service was re-established and no issues since then. People continue to report problems on the forum, but it also appears the majority - if not all - of them, are BYOD customers. I have a Viatalk supplied adapter and couldn't be happier.
Original Post - Great service, reliable and fast tech support. Rec'd adapter 3 days after ordering service, plugged it into my router and began making/receiving calls. Ported my number from AT&T in 1 week after submitting the paperwork.
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 Review by N9MD
UPDATED: 23 days ago
member for 2.8 years, 1155 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Wayne,Passaic,NJ
$10 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"Good Features Set when they work"
"Unpredictable service"
"I'm more concerned with VT's survivability than with the service."
| Web-site:
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7/21/08 - A BBR poster pointed out this post by Brendan (VT CEO) last November -- indicating that a penalty was not applied for cancellations during the "free" period of a BOGO plan.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Hi,
To clarify on this since it is not in the TOS as it is a function of a promotion/discount as opposed to regular billing terms, there is no cancellation fee of any sort during a free month or year. The only possible fee incurred at this point would be if the customer chose to keep the equipment.
-Brendan"
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
7/20/08 - The current ViaTalk situation mirrors the circumstances under which SunRocket imploded.
With SR we witnessed the one-by one departure of the top echelon people who ran the operation.
.... With VT we have seen the departure of VTTim (about two years ago, apparently over a "mine is bigger than yours" power issue, depending on whose side of the story one listens to) --- and VTIain (for personal reasons not related to VT, I have learned) --- and how about Brandon who bolted from VOIPo to VT, and then left after two weeks!
With SR we followed the saga of their burning thru venture capital, eventually facing a financial meltdown --- with a contribution from unrealistic “Buy One Get One year free” promotions.
.... VT has fallen into the same trap of offering 2-for-1 deals that will see revenues dry up during the next year or two. The addition of a nuisance monthly Regulatory Recovery Fee seems to be borne out of a sense of desperation.
With SR we saw a faulty initial plan for giving out DIDs willy nilly. Ultimately they had to reverse course because they were not clever enough to go with nomadic E911 service. Their misguided technical decisions were in conflict with their marketing efforts. People were told they could not keep their numbers because of 911 incompatibility.
.... With VT we have seen a system dependent on asterisk servers (poor planning), placed around the country, that continually become overloaded and fail --- driving customers insane with the frustration of having to constantly change servers or depend on FallOver.
With SR we sensed a changed mood of the BBR Forum posters as they went from praise and kudos to whining and complaining.
.... With VT we have been reading posts reflecting an accelerating slide from glory to mediocrity since SR closed its doors last year.
But VT has gone one step further in making their service distasteful. They call for a $50 early termination penalty. I can understand this being applied to monthly accounts. However, folks in the free second year of their “BOGO-year free” contract with VT are forced to wait till the last 14 days of the 2-year period in order to cancel without the $50 penalty --- while facing the $3.45 monthly RRF till the end of the 2 years … even though the service has become erratic, intermittent, and unpredictable. So even though the one year plan has been paid in full in advance, the RRF (a non-government mandated fee) is being collected for a service which would terminate if the customer is allowed to opt out during the free 2nd year, without penalty.
I was disturbed by a response to my recent Trouble Ticket stating that I must either pay a $50 penalty to cancel (while within my free 2nd year) or continue to pay $3.45 monthly till the last 2 weeks of the plan --- disturbed enough that I had a telephone conversation with a consumer complaint representative in the New York City office of Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Attorney General. I explained the nature of the non-government mandated RRF along with the prepaid one-year charge for service with a free 2nd year appended. We agreed that the RRF was allowed under TOS so long as the service was being rendered and/or used. The representative was bothered by the threat of a $50 penalty for canceling when the actual “paid” period had elapsed and the customer was in a free “grace period” --- under the circumstance where the customer wanted to cancel the service.
I have already begun porting a few of my valued DIDs to other providers … but I plan on canceling most of the accounts, since the end users have essentially stopped using VT lines (for reasons reported in my last update). I will be challenging any $50 penalty applied, with my credit card company and – if necessary – with the NYS-AG’s office.
In spite of my comments and my plans regarding VT, I must say that I believe that the VT management has always appeared to be sincere and above board in trying to provide a viable and reasonably priced product and service. It’s just that the early bird doesn’t always get the worm. The pitfalls in developing a new technology (VoIP) tend to claim the early entrants because “trial and error” often lead to more error than success --- financially and technologically.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
6/24/08 - Interesting happenings ... The different family members & colleagues who are using each of my seven VT accounts are starting to rebel. When I asked these folks to "Rate the Reliability" of VT on a scale of 1 to 5, everyone chose "2".
I have come to realize that, from my somewhat techie perspective, I have been tolerant of the issues with VT's service that have cropped up over the last year. After all, I have control over my BYOD PAP2T-NA settings ... I can change from the anchorage-1f server to kirkusk-5x at will ... I can switch to my PAP2's Line 2 to use another VoIP provider's service, when necessary (confirming that my equipment is working) ... I can unplug/plug the PAP2's power cord to reset, when necessary ... I can bring up the BBR Forums online to see if any members have posted a "Problem with VT".
But the others using my VT accounts throughout the day, day after day, each with a BYOD PAP2, have begun to grumble over the last few months --- and the grumbling has now become a roar of rebellion. To a man & woman, they have all stopped using VT lines and have gone back to whatever cell phone or PSTN lines are available to them.
These folks report multiple dial attempts needed to complete a call; cannot hear other side party (or it’s garbled); no dial tone at times; no “brrrrring” heard while awaiting called party to answer.
OK, so I will be letting most of my accounts used by the others lapse --- all on the Annual Plan and all with the 1-year or 3-month or 6-month free service attached. I submitted a Trouble Ticket to cancel a 2-year Plan (BOGO) that ends in early August. A series of back and forth responses warned me that I could not cancel till within 14 days of the expiration date unless I wanted to pay a $50 cancellation penalty --- even though I am BYOD and I am prepaid through August! So I guess I’ll just pay the $3.45 monthly fee and set my calendar alert for August 1st to TT my cancellation.
Followup comments: 
discjoker
join:2002-02-18
Billerica, MA
edit:
July 21st, @08:32AM
|  Spot On.
| |
| | 
burris
Premium
join:2000-08-22
Miami, FL
 ·AT&T Southeast
 ·VOIPo
·ViaTalk
 ·Comcast
| Re: Spot On. I too, feel lucky to have been able to escape the looming SR redux.
I am amazed how they've survived as long as they have.
As I read the VT forum, I see the same handful of fanboys criticizing anyone who dares to question VT or its motives.
Then I read in numerous posts where Brendan keeps running just to stand still, and has latched onto a phrase that tries to convince the users that they have found the source of the problem...that should have never occurred, and they have installed measures to make sure it doesn't happen again...until the next time, of course..
I think Brendan owes DSLReports a big thank you for actually providing him with a free trouble reporting system, since if VT had one that worked, they wouldn't be having to air all its dirty laundry in an open forum.
That, coupled with the payments to affiliates that only seem to be paid when a lawsuit is threatened, also in an open forum, makes me wonder about the maturity of the management. Of course, we won't even get into the bogus fee nonsense.
In retrospect, I don't wonder.  | |
| dipswich
Premium
join:2003-06-27
Raleigh, NC
·Voicepulse Connect
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
| The $50 disconnection fee The other great thing about the "cancel within 14 days of a renewal date" and $50 disconnection fee is that Viatalk's software can't even support it. If you call... err, file a support ticket since you can't call to cancel... and ask that your service not renew, they have to cancel it right then. There is no option to call and let the service expire naturally at the end of the term.
Since this disconnection fee is separate from equipment fees, it really has no basis. It's great visibility into the true Viatalk. | |
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 Review by Omne
UPDATED: 25 days ago
member for 7.9 years, 3310 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Dunbar,Kanawha,WV
$24 per month
about 30 days
"Cheap"
"Tech support is terrible,"
"You get what you pay fore"
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I am sunrocket refugee the only thing I use this line for is to call long distance or if the wife is talking on the main line. I placed the order on 7/17/07 I order priority shipping a month later I receive my equipment that was terrible and I still had to pay for the fast shipping! Th call quality is no where as good as I had the caller id works about half the time and 2 rings and it has been going to VM. This company really needs to decide if they want to stay in business or do the same thing sunrocket did. This company was terrible to deal with canceled and just because I didn't return and instruction sheet back they docked me 5.00 dollars. We never do business with them again
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Review by gene32
UPDATED: 29 days ago
member for 4.3 years, 828 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Reynoldsburg,Franklin,OH
$17 per month
about 3 days
"Perfect sound quality and no more Ma' Bell BS taxes!"
"None"
"Great value for the money"
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(ratings above consensus)
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Viatalk is the best. Awesome call quality, no complaints!
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Review by unknvoip
UPDATED: 30 days ago
member for 2 years, 827 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Rochester,Monroe,NY
$11 per month (12 month contract)
about 10 days
"Price, Features"
"Speed that tickets are ignored."
"Mostly reliable service, great price and good features."
| Web-site:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Have had several months of flawless service, while a few on the forums here have had other experiences. As things stand right now, will probably stay with the service when my current term is up next spring. My favorite feature is custom call routing. Love to forward telemarketers to my cell so I yell at them a few times before forwarding them to the 'Blacklisted' list.
Customer Service can be hit or miss on their helpfulness as some reps are much more capable than others. Some who answer my tickets on-line are completely clueless - sometimes giving me answers that could not remotely apply to my issue.
On the up side, I have only had very few occasional outages for short periods of time.
Update 10/3/06 - Server upgrades are done and my intermittent outages have ended. Network Down Forward worked great when my cable modem froze up last week. Becoming more satisfied again.
Update 8/10/07 - In the midst of all the Sunrocket users coming over and bogging down Customer Service with install/port/technical issues, the service has been fine for me.
Update 10/16/07 - Very upset over changing the rules of E911 charges after public statement they would not charge for those on pre-paid plans until after renewal. CS rep said they would honor that, but only after my insistence. There needs to be a category for Integrity for the ranking. I would give them a 2/5 on that right now! Lowered other ratings over this issue. This is just plan wrong - what will they do next????
Update 11/28/07 - They have reversed the 911 charges for those prepaid before 10/06 if they contact VT. Better than not honoring prior statements. They seem to have stabilized from the SR debacle. Made a positive change to their TOS to make cancellation less painful. Current thought is to go month-to-month when pre-paid terms are up in 04/09.
Updated 6/23/08 - Working so well for me last few months, forgot to come back and update my review. Happy customer at the moment.
Update 7/29/08 - Recently had my VT supplied adapter blow out in an electrical storm. VT was good and sent out a replacement the next day. Only problem was they did not set up my provisioning of the new adapter to match the old one. I have not been able to get them to respond to tickets to update my provisioning file or to the ones to fix the things that don't work properly because of it (Time and VMWI, specifically). Other than that, service for me has been VERY reliable.
Followup comments: sneumann55
join:2002-07-27
Yonkers, NY
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Well........ Haveing moved from Vonage, ( i was one of the first 10,000) Vonage customers back in the day) Yes we had some issues with Via Talk after the sunrocket fiasco, when i finally reached Tech Support, my issues we resolved, however it took me abt a total of 5 hours to do it,not happy with the 2.50 a month even though I pre Paid, but other than that, its a good service, i think once the rush is over we will be ok, Cross Our Fingures.
--
SNeumann, Southern NYS,Fios 20/5,Optimum Cable 30/5,Sprint Mobile Broadband.Via Talk, MagicJack | |
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Review by dipswich
UPDATED: 37 days ago
member for 5.1 years, 1584 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Raleigh,Wake,NC
$18 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"Strong feature set"
"Does not honor its contracts; pads with junk fees; feature-happiness affects stability"
"Cannot support an ethically challenged service"
| Web-site:
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(ratings below consensus)
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Signed up July 28, 2006 on a BYOD plan to give service as a gift for 2 years to a college student ($199 buy one/get one year free plan, everything included (including E911)). This was advertised as a "buy it and forget it" plan, and I turned off international dialing to ensure that it would be.
However, on October 16, 2007, a mysterious invoice appeared for a $2.50 "E-911 & Regulatory Recovery Fee." This fee has been invoiced monthly since and attempted to be debited as an unauthorized charge. It leaves a very sour taste in the mouth as an obvious tactic to pad the bill and not in the agreement I made with Viatalk.
Luckily, the credit card I signed up with is no longer active and the accumulating charges have been declined. By continuing to bill, Viatalk has declined to perform on the contract; I plan on testing the arbitration clause at this point.
When service was used, it performed well. Rarely a complaint, although without a provisioned adapter I had to bump servers around occasionally to keep stable service. Based on this, I wouldn't recommend nor would I sign up with Viatalk as BYOD again (or at least, I would let them provision it). I assume stability would be better that way.
I've contacted support twice--
On 7/30/06, I asked about Viatalk provisioning the adapter. A complete response was received 5.5 hours later.
On 10/16/07, I contacted them regarding the mysterious invoice. A canned response was received 672 hours later (that's 28 days).
In the year, the level of support obviously went south.
About the ratings--
Web-site: The control panel is decently designed and covers all the features. I do find myself going in circles every once in a while between billing, support, and call feature management. Due to the daily morning outage and its current unavailability, as well as the too-frequently changing deals on the front page that make shopping the service difficult (and can't be trusted to be honored, anyway), I award 3 out of 5 stars.
Ease of Installation: Within 15 minutes, I had the necessary credentials to begin using the BYOD service. Top rating, here.
Call quality: Not perfect, but far better than a mobile phone. Probably deserving of a 4+, I'm giving it a 4 of 5 as the closest available mark.
Reliability: I'm giving 3 of 5 here due to a couple of outages that I've noticed with Viatalk. Often, changing servers gets it back quickly, but that's a hassle. Again, I think a provisioned device might offer a little better reliability, but I'm rating the service as sold and received.
Tech support: 28 days to answer a billing question is excessive, pure & simple. And, tickets are not answered in the order they were received. 2 out of 5.
Value for money: This is a hard one to rate. Assigning value purely on service and price, Viatalk is probably a 4. However, I'm bundling in the bumbled ethics of changing contract prices here. And, being an honor question, it weights heavily. I am giving 3 of 5, and stretching to do that. 2 of 5 after a second junk fee increase announced three months later.
***6/18/2008 Update***
Nothing's changed, except I can confirm that service is suspended due to disputing the E911 and "Regulatory Recovery" fees. Real telecom companies don't suspend service while hashing out a dispute. Adjusting "value" accordingly.
Luckily, I can't use Viatalk, as I'm sure I'd notice, based on the forum complaints, sub-par reliability and call quality. Since I'm not, I can't reduce the ratings on those components.
I cannot recommend this service.
***7/22/2008 Update***
I've had a pretty simple request in with support. They aren't responding. That's "worst."
I've also lowered the web-site rating, as the information in the most important page, the Terms of Service, is pretty bad. You'll want to read it before signing up, especially the part about
"ViaTalk LLC may update this agreement at any time without notice and you are agreeing to such changes in advance."
Followup comments: 
cash
@cox.net
| fees, fees, and more fees The principle of adding more monthly fees on when you have an "annual contract" is despicable. I don't care if it is $5 or one penny, the principle leads me to suspect their business just based on ethics and principles. I then completely disconnect service? Come on. I refuse to continue to do business with viatalk.  | |
|
ConfusedinNY
@verizon.net
| The taxes are everywhere I don't defend them one bit but I will say that I asked thru the online rep if there were other charges to the annual plan and was told there is a e911 charge and regulatory fee. These were recently (within the last year) enforced by the government and the company's have no choice. Only one service has told me that they include all taxes and fees in the annual plan. However, with the 2 years I did the math and its still cheaper with these guys. It is the service quality that worries me though. I am still deciding. | |
| | dipswich
Premium
join:2003-06-27
Raleigh, NC
·Voicepulse Connect
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: The taxes are everywhere They do tell you about the fees now, but they are being deceptive about the "government enforced" part.
•The government does not require any fees to be passed onto the consumer.
•E911 was already offered by Viatalk without the extra fee, and it is still listed as an included feature (without mention of an extra fee) on the features page.
•"Regulatory recovery" is not a transparent disclosure of the source of the fees. These could be costs generally accepted as costs of doing business, although legal requirements, that are rightly built into product pricing.
Further,
•USF, the presumable primary source of "regulatory recovery fees," is paid based on a percentage of revenues (not net expenses). Viatalk gets its revenue up front on long-term commitments, so why charge a monthly recovery fee? The monthly collection problem on contracts is exacerbated since Viatalk charges the fee during "free" periods. Even in the accounting department there is no revenue during that time. Hence, Viatalk has a glaring disconnect between what's charged and what it's based upon. Yet another problem is that the fee is a fixed amount vs. a percentage of the equivalent monthly cost. This isn't how Viatalk is charged.
•Viatalk continued their offers after their USF liabilities were announced. That was the proper time to implement pass-through billing. | |
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