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Review by rocky76 
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 5.3 years, 126 visits, last login: 2.1 years ago
 Ashland,Middlesex,MA
 $23 per month (month by month)
 about 5 days
 "Easy to set up, simple to use, responsive tech support"
 "it's in beta - which meant problem occuring and being fixed time to time"
 "good service and responsive support - which you might need time to time"
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I've signed up for the Viatalk after reading several postings on this site.
The package arrived pretty quick. I've placed the order around 3PM thursday and it arrived Tuesday noon. The tracking info showed that it was shipped Sunday(probably picked up Monday) by UPS ground.
Installation was extremely simple. I just plugged the phone adapter and it just worked.
No activation was required.. only bad thing is that they started billing me from the day I placed an order.
The web interface seems to be ok and it has enough features.
Caller ID with name works - it didn't with packet8.
Caller ID seems to have wrong time though. I thought it was my phone, but I think it comes from phone company, so the problem must at the viatalk's end.
From time to time the voice gets chopped off at the end. Little annoying, but it's nothing major.
Also had some major problem the day after I got the service started, but they fixed it after around half a day. I submitted the ticket for this and they apologized for the problem and promised that it won't happen again.
It's been only a week since I got the service so I can't say much, but the experience is ok so far.
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Review by talei
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 66 visits, last login: 2.5 years ago
Portage,Porter,IN
$14 per month (month by month)
about 2 days
"Fast delivery of product, reliable service"
"Modem needs to be recycled ever few days"
"Great value, well worth pursuing as a VOIP option."
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Ordering the ViaTalk product was simple. When I received the modem, all I had to do was plug it in, connect to my router and I was ready to go. Looking at the call logs, they had already made sure my line was prepped and ready to use before I ever go the modem. The call quality is excellent (although calls to cell phones does produce a very light echo of yourself on your side). So far, this sure beats Verizon.
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Review by stugpanzer
UPDATED: 4.2 years ago
member for 4.9 years, 50 visits, last login: 309 days ago
Sandwich,Dekalb,IL
$22 per month (month by month)
"Call Quality is Great - 7 digit Local Dialing"
"Occasional Drop-outs"
"Worth a Look!"
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I started my VoIP trek in September, 2004 when I received my over-bloated phone bill and decided I was sick of being “nickel and dimed”!
Vonage was not an option for me as they were unable to transfer my number (I need that for a small home based business).
I first tried Lingo which had awesome sound quality, but didn’t work out as I couldn’t receive calls from anyone in the SBC footprint. I then tried Packet8 and am currently a Packet8 customer and have been reasonably satisfied with their service. Recently, I have not been happy with their quality, so I started shopping again.
ViaTalk; I called and talked to someone there and got all my questions answered. I then signed up for one month as I want to test this before I decide to stay with them. I ordered their service on a Saturday night and received the Linksys box on the following Tuesday.
Installation; I connected it to my router; hooked up a phone and had a dial tone and was able to use it right away. No problems here. Everything is included for connecting.
First test; call a local number with just the seven digits…so I call my Packet8 number and that worked fine. I then called the ViaTalk number from Packet8 and there was the beloved caller ID, with the name! Packet8 only shows a number.
Call Quality; I have an advantage here as I still have Packet8 and so I am able to compare. The sound quality from ViaTalk is much clearer than Packet8. My son likes to use a cordless phone as his “TeamTalk” while gaming online and he said his friends aren’t saying “what” like they do on Packet8. The best way to describe the difference in quality is that Packet8 is muddy sounding and occasionally has that “Matrix” electronic, synthesized sound where the ViaTalk line is crystal clear.
Reliability; I rate this a little lower than packet8 at this time. I noticed that once in a while when I call the ViaTalk line and chat with my family, I have experienced a type of drop-out of call quality from my end…calling in. It has happened about 5 times in the week that I have been testing. I am not too concerned though as I believe that ViaTalk with continue to improve their infrastructure.
Website; I love the call log on this service and on my Packet8 service, but ViaTalk is sometimes as much as a day behind on updating their Call Log. I would like to see it become more real-time.
Tech Support; I have tried calling the last couple days to address some of the questions I have, but have either been on hold for long periods of time or have been directed to leave a message. I resorted to submitting online tickets to address the questions. Packet8 customer service is like calling a hole in the ground, so I’m not sure how they compare.
Conclusion; From my testing that I have done and just for the quality, I believe I will switch to this service from Packet8. They will transfer my number and I believe that once I have their service for a few months, I will take advantage of paying up front to realize an even better savings.
***Sigh***
I hate to say, but it appears that I will have to cancel this service. The LinkSys box crapped out and when I called them...on a Thursday...they had me go through some diags but with no luck. Since I called Thursday night, they said they could send a box on Friday for Saturday delivery. Well, I recieved the new box on Tuesday. Thank goodness I still had my existing VoIP service in place or I would have been without phone service for 6 days! That is a huge concern and enough, in my opinion, to steer clear for now. Looks like my VoIP trek will have to conintue elsewhere. Calling today to cancel.
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Review by dbugmaster
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 5.6 years, 29 visits, last login: 278 days ago
Hopewell,Hopewell City,VA
$23 per month (month by month)
about 4 days
"Great call quality and quick to send welcome kit out to me."
"Very low uptime, unable to reach server most of the time, customer support unresponsive."
"I wouldn't go with them again, login server goes down regularly."
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I joined about 3 weeks ago, everything was alright at first, until I noticed the caller ID on my direct tv told me there was an incoming call every few minutes. I sent them a trouble ticket (took 2 or 3 days to respond) and they told me it was the voicemail notification, even though I told them that I didn't have any voicemail and it never did it on my other service, responded to them, they never got back to me and closed the ticket. One day I tried to make some phone calls, and the call would drop after 2 or 3 seconds after the person answers, issued another trouble ticket, took 2 days to repond, but it stopped before they responded to it. Now, I have an issue where their login server goes down very often, and for hours at a time. I issued a trouble ticket for this, and I'm sure it won't get fixed or anyone will respond to it. Their customer service only responds with scripted responses, which troubles me that they hire people with little know how about how things work. They get a question, and answer with what they think matches the most. The call quality is excellent when a call can be made. I guess their just a new company and can't handle the volume. I will be switching to a new company, too bad, they made it sound like it's so great.
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 Review by sgarrand
UPDATED: 4.2 years ago
member for 9.6 years, 4849 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Ware,Hampshire,MA
$15 per month
about 1 days
"BYOD plans."
"Poor quality over time, long hold times, indifferent support."
"May work for others but it did not work for me."
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After one and a half months of trying everything possible, I could not get decent sound quality from ViaTalk. It would break up and echo consistently and I would have to hang up and use another VoIP provider I have. I tried them, they turned out to be very poor, and I have now cancelled. After my years of experience (since 2002) with VoIP I just did not have the patience for ViaTalk. Good luck to everyone else that tries them.
** Below was a review after a week, above is after two months.**
I started off corresponding with their support team about the value of a pre-launch offer I received. After a few e-mails I wrote back saying I would like to sign up and they called me to set things up. That night I told them to call anytime up until 1 or 2 AM because I work late. They called around midnight and I gave them all my information with a promise that I'd get an e-mail with instructions on how to set my own device up. I got that e-mail less than 12 hours later (11:30 AM) and my device worked immediately with perfect calls.
After a couple of days of using my own device I decided that the quality was so good that I'd start considering them more seriously and take them up on the free shipping and activation of their device. I received their device the next day and it is a Linksys PAP2. It has worked even better than my device (as I thought it would) and I can't find a flaw in the sound quality. I hope they release more calling features and a more advanced portal but as it is I like it a lot.
The prices are competitive and the support staff gets back to you very quickly by e-mail. Also the hold times are not long and they are very helpful and friendly on the phone. It's still early and I can't review reliability yet but I will update this.
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Review by thegee
Posted: 4.2 years ago
member for 8.6 years, 69 visits, last login: 1.3 years ago
Spokane,Spokane,WA
$22 per month (month by month)
about 5 days
"Cheap. Lots of features included. Great tech support"
"Long time to sign up"
"I have no reason to switch! I like it."
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It's been almost a month and at this point will not go back to my old phone service. It was slow signing up because of a shortage of adapters (that's what happens when they're free). I really cannot tell the difference except that I have all the features included that my old phone company wanted to charge an arm and leg for. I also like that their people are watching the boards here and helping with problems that arise instead of hiding behind the scenes. I recommend Viatalk to anyone wanting to try voip.
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Review by darekd
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 5.4 years, 355 visits, last login: 182 days ago
Roanoke,Roanoke,VA
$22 per month (month by month)
"Very fast setup. Great call quality. Good support."
"All outstanding issues have been resolved."
"After 6 month I'm very happy that I switched to VT"
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I've been using VOIP for the last 8 months (Broadvoice). There were some good and some bad times with them. The biggest problem was that I could not get phone number for my area. Every time I called they would say that it is coming next month. Then I saw some great reviews for ViaTalk. Not only they had number for my cost center but they also had E911. I was sold. Cancelled Broadvoice account and subscribed to ViaTalk unlimited $22.95 (BYOD). Got an e-mail with setup an hour later and had it running minutes later. To test my service I forwarded my Verizon phone to the new VOIP phone. For the past week we've been using ViaTalk exclusively and the only thing that I can say is that I'm very impressed with the service. If this continues, I will port my Verizon phone number to ViaTalk and I'll make it my primary phone service. The only problem that I've encountered is that outgoing calls don't display my name. Phone number is displayed but the name is not. Some of our friends don't pick up the phone if they don't know who is calling. I hope that this can be resolved quickly.
Aug-08-05
I have to lower the reliability rating because of number of dropped calls my daughter had last week. I opened a problem ticket and I hope it can be quickly resolved.
Feb-08-06
All problems have been resolved. The phone is working very well. I would recommand VT to anyone who is looking for good reliable service.
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Review by Tonyhkb
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 4.3 years, 1 visits, last login: 4.3 years ago
Eagle,Ada,ID
$15 per month (24 month contract)
about 3 days
"Easy setup, cheapest plan, good quality of service"
"new voip provider - little risk; TOS could change"
"Value choice"
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Ordered on 2/22, got an email confirmation within few hours. Called the assigned number and the call went to voice mail. Could not check the voice mail remotely by calling 1-518-631-2898, the number did not work! Customer support told me it will be fixed by the end of the day. And, they did.
I've noticed that Viatalk's customer support line quality was choppy, not sure why.
The box arrived at the door on 7/26. Plugged in, did not register. Called tech support and some one answered right away. A power cycle did the trick, or, I should have just waited another second for it to connect. Called wife at work with the viop toy, she did not realize I was calling with the new device, good sign!
Took the device to work and plugged in to the network, it worked flawlessly. Called friends in NY, Alabama and San Diego, no one noticed I was not use the land line.
I signed up with zipglobal about a year ago. The service was okay, no issues other then during their equipment upgrade period. zipglobal recently changed their plan with fee increase for the plan I subscribed. Now, looks like viatalk is a better deal.
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Review by Dana1950
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 5 years, 104 visits, last login: 3.1 years ago
Nicholasville,Jessamine,KY
$22 per month
about 3 days
"Price..reviews sound great..."
"No response from Customer Service all day..charge my card $382.80?"
"They charged me twice for the first month...when they return that I'll be totally satisfied. :)"
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I signed up for Via Talk today...and have been trying to reach customer service all day long....recordings are all I get...you are 4th caller...you are 3rd caller....then when it's my turn to get live help...they tell me to leave a message!
I signed up this afternoon...when I did it said my credit card would be charged $382.80?? I signed up with the 2 year contract...that figures out to be $382.80! But I signed up for $15.95 A MONTH!!
I am leaving Packet 8 for their NO CUSTOMER SERVICE at all! Now before I even get going ..all of this happens. I hope it can all be straigthened out. If anybody has any answers to my dilemna please reply.
Since discovering the ticket system I am much happier. Very much better responses with that system. I still haven't gotten a returned call or been able to get through on the phone past the auto messages.
I got the system today (8/3/05) and all I had to do was plug it up...and it was there...and it sounds great. Haven't gotten the chance to really try it out..but I am very happy so far.
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 Review by KLH
Posted: 4.3 years ago
member for 8.1 years, 1942 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Vincennes,Knox,IN
$12 per month (6 month contract)
about 3 days
"Free equipment and activation fee"
"Still in beta"
"Good service for the price"
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I signed up for their ViaVite system which I received a $50 off coupon to use when I ordered. So for 6 months of service, it cost me less than $30 total. You cannot beat that price. Service has been down very little (only once that I know of for about a day). Tech support is good, expect it is non existence during the weekends/night while still in beta. They also have a good referral program, where you can make $50 per new activation!
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