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Review by tgrip  UPDATED: 245 days ago member for 5 years, 62 visits, last login: 13 days ago
Bolingbrook,Will,IL
$10 per month
"Great website, support, and prices"
"One unscheduled service interuption"
"An excellent choice for a BYOD service"
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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Recently I dropped Vonage in favor of a combination of Callcentric for incoming service and several other providers for outgoing service. All this is managed with an Asterisk server running on an otherwise under used Linux box. The configuration looks something like this:
Incoming: Callcentric
Outgoing: Voice Pulse, Vitelity, Sipphone (Gizmo5), AT&T local and tollfree, or ECG regional/long distance depending on the price at the time of the call.
For the Callcentric service I use the "Office Unlimited" plan which provides me with 3 lines. As others have noted, Callcentric does not have true CallerID with name, however, it does have a very nice interface to enter names yourself. This works just fine for me as I can assign meaningful names such as "Johns Cellphone" where normal CallerId with name gives something like "Illinois Call". For calls that I have not assigned a name to using Callcentrics web page I have Asterisk do a reverse lookup on the web. This way most calls end up with a name.
Transferring my home number from Vonage was painless and took about 2 weeks.
=========== March 26, 2009
This just in: Callcentric has added CNAM (CallerID with name). There is no extra charge for this.
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Review by Safemaster  UPDATED: 250 days ago member for 5.8 years, 2987 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Loxahatchee,Palm Beach,FL
$10 per month
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I bought the PAP2T and registered with Callcentric which only took 5 minute at most and I was up and calling my family. Call quality is excellent using the G711 codec and I'm on the Pay as you go plan that cost me about $10.00 a month.
Good by Vonage! Hello Callcentric.
So far so good, I will update review from time to time as needed good or bad.
Update 3-21-2009:
CallCentric is ok and works good 95% of the time in fact its better than a cell phone. but my wife is a much tougher customer and wants to witch back to AT&T.
I would stay with CallCentric them but apparently she wearing the pants on this one.
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Review by rugby  UPDATED: 261 days ago member for 9.1 years, 3343 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Camby,Morgan,IN
$5 per month
"Great price, great dashboard, easy setup with softphone, can't beat the service"
"None"
"I liked their price and have had great experiences with support and would recommend them to anyone."
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I signed up with Callcentric as I was looking for an inexpensive provider. I use a softphone on my Macbook Pro without any problems. The Dashboard is one of the best I've seen from any provider as well. I had 2 issues (1 was my own setup, the other was a blank voicemail) that support helped me with until they were both resolved to my satisfaction.
**Update 03/10/09**
I've had them for almost a year now and haven't had any problems that weren't my fault. I did have some Asterisk issues with my setup, where calls weren't getting delivered to the inbound routes properly and support from CC helped me fix the problem even though it wasn't their problem. For some strange reason I couldn't get the Business Unlimited but was able to add some trunks to my account and everything was fine. I wish they had CallerID with CNAM but I got that working on my PIAF box and everything is fine.
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Review by N9MD  UPDATED: 266 days ago member for 4.1 years, 1677 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Wayne,Passaic,NJ
Contract price not specified.
about 1 days
"Good features, good pricing, good support, works great!"
"None"
"Excellent product for those who can setup their own ATA/SoftPhone."
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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3/5/2009 ---
CallCentric continues to work perfectly ... and amaze me. I recently ported in a DID to an additional CC account (one of several), this one specifically for use as a dedicated incoming fax line which delivers faxes as email attachments. I found that wrong numbers or hang-ups to my fax-DID resulted in an automated email sent with an essentially empty attachment. This was annoying because, with my BlackBerry, I needed to open the email and then click thru to see the faxed attachment ... a waste of time when the fax document was blank.
On the urging of another BBR poster around dinnertime today, I opened a ticket with CC's support people. Within 9 ... yes 9 ... minutes I received an initial response reporting that they were able to duplicate/confirm the "problem" ... and 1 hour 22 minutes later I received a follow-up message indicating the problem has been rectified.
-=-=-=-=-=-
06/17/2008 ---
This is my first review of the CallCentric offering -- even though I've had three accounts at three different locations for well over 6 months. Here's my take on each of the rated categories:
1) Easy to negotiate website --- with all the bells and whistles seen with more expensive providers.
2) Excellent tutorials on the website to help noobies setup SoftPhone or BYOD (ATA).
3) Good call quality (which, frankly, is more a mark of a good connection from my cablemodem to my ISP). I've not experienced any inbound or outbound audio issues.
4) I don't recall ever having a dropped call or connection failure that I could blame on CallCentric. And it works every time with no downtime, thus far.
5) Awesome tech support via Trouble Tickets. All my questions and issues were responded to (and resolved) within 24 hours --- often within an hour or two, even on weekends. Each response displayed a total understanding of my issue by the responder -- with a spot on resolution. Some might complain about the lack of telephone support -- but I believe that a TT system allows the CC rep to ponder the issue, ask higher ups for help (if necessary), and then compose a reasonable and accurate response --- as opposed to the usual telephone support that says: "Unplug everything".. "Reboot" .. "It's your ISP!" .. "You're hard of hearing."
6) Value for the money is in the "pocketbook of the beholder". Depending on one's personal needs and uses of a VoIP service, CC is probably one of the best valued providers for the features and included minutes (or PAYG) within their various product offerings.
By the way, CC has made it very easy to port numbers in --- although they do charge a one-time $25 fee.
Lastly, CC is the only one of the many providers to whom I subscribe that works flawlessly with my PAP2T-NA and Comcast Cablemodem in my Boca Raton FL home.
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Review by jduffy  Posted: 271 days ago member for 3.2 years, 303 visits, last login: 6 days ago
Cincinnati,Hamilton,OH
$5 per month
about 1 days
"PAYG and BYOD, good voice quality, nice website"
"Slow to assign DID number"
"I'm impressed so far"
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I signed up earlier this week. I had the cheap Vonage $9.99 ($14 with taxes and fees) line as a back-up, but did not use it that much and also could not install it on a computer with a software without an additional charge.
I decided to cancel Vonage and give CallCentric a try. Really nice website. I have set it up with my old CrapRocket telephone adapter and also with an X-Lite Softphone on my Vista computer. Both register at the same time. I can call from the phone or the computer.
Voice quality has been very good. I really like their website. All information is right there and easy to find and access.
The pay as you go plan is what I am using and it is very reasonable. I also ordered a DID line for $2 but it is taking a long time to assign the number. They indicated 24 hours, but I am still waiting for what is now the fifth day. I did notify them via the ticket system and they did respond right away. They are checking on it. But other than that little issue, I am very impressed and would recommend them.
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Review by bartolo5  Posted: 276 days ago member for 7.9 years, 415 visits, last login: 99 days ago
San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
$10 per month
"Great prices, fantastic support, great features"
"poor sound quality to cellphones in Europe"
"great voip provider"
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I've been with Callcentric for about a year now and I am really happy with them.
Their website is fantastic and let's you control everything you'd need from it. Their feature set is impressive, from multiple incoming phone numbers to being able to use the account as a calling card. They even have local access phone numbers for the calling card feature in many countries which makes it very cheap and convenient to call the US while abroad.
Tech support is also top notch. It's all done through their ticketing system and they are very quick replying and very knowledgeable. They've been able to solve my problems quickly and even answer technical questions that would be brushed off with other providers.
As minuses, their voice quality when calling cellphones in Europe is not great. Sometimes you'll get a good connecting but other times sound is garbled and there is a lot of delay. Probably a problem with their end call provider but still something you have to suffer. Also, they are slow taking in new cellphone prefixes that appear in Europe all the time. There is this voice mailbox I have in an MVNO back in Europe that uses a relatively new phone prefix and still doesn't work with Callcentric. Most of the other guys have this working by now (Vonage, T-Mobile, at&t...)
Voice to landlines in the US and europe is usually fine.
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Review by witr  Posted: 289 days ago member for 5.7 years, 106 visits, last login: 5 days ago
Swampscott,Essex,MA
$5 per month
"Quick and easy, inexpensive, and Asterisk friendly"
"Number porting is a little expensive"
"So far, so good"
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I'm a jilted VoiceWing user, and I've used VoicePulse in the past, but the good reviews of Callcentric led me to try them out. I'm using an Elastix Asterisk setup with a SIP connection to my company and, currently, a PAP2 to VoiceWing.
A few clicks on the web site and a few clicks in Elastix and it was all set up and working. The dirt-cheap DID is really nice. Voice quality in my setup is better than with VoiceWing (due to the need to convert to/from analog with VW), and on par with any other VOIP termination I've tried. The dashboard is well designed and easy to use.
I'll update after I've used it for a while to see if I'm still happy.
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Review by kenja00  UPDATED: 295 days ago member for 302 days, 102 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Brooks,AB
$15 per month
"Great technical support, good interface, good call quality"
"Occasional outages - but warning email has been sent out in advance"
"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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Update (Feb 04, 2009)- I've officially changed by outgoing primary VSP from callcentric simply because I'm a thrifty person and the new VSPs calls are the cheapest. This comes at a cost however -- callcentric has left me spoiled with their incredible customer support. IF you are someone who demands outstanding customer service, don't hesitate to go with callcentric. They may not be the cheapest, but they are the best in all areas. If you are new to VOIP, you need to go with these guys!!!
I've been using these guys for two years now and am finding them to be my primary voip provider now. The call quality is great, although I've had occasional latency problems -- possibly even due to my internet and nothing to do with their system.
I had a problem connecting calls to Ukraine for a couple of months, but they very quickly rectified the situation and found a different route for their calls. During the time of crisis, they kept me updated of the situation.
I've sent several requests, concerns, recommendations to their support system and have had answers back in just minutes -- not just "canned" answers -- but informed answers that applied to my situation.
No, they aren't the cheapest -- but VALUE wise, they can't be beat. Now that their voicemail is free, I have no reason to go elsewhere.
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Review by Vitanic  UPDATED: 296 days ago member for 3.1 years, 24 visits, last login: 157 days ago
Rockville Centre,Nassau,NY
Contract price not specified.
about 1 days
"Great Quality, low prices & lots of features."
"New York State tax"
"Easy BYOD config makes for a happy camper."
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I've been with Callcentric for about 7 weeks now. I have very few bad things to say - and the few bad things I do have to say are admittedly minor.
I chose an unlimited incoming & Pay-As-You-Go outgoing. There could be more clarity on the subject (perhaps with "Most of our customers order this & that", or a few examples for a typical user), but I didn't have any problems ordering. The actual ordering process was streamlined (compared to VoicePulse) and after a recent fraudulent credit card charge to Africa, opted for the PayPal billing option.
The DID I chose (listed as available in 1 day) was available later that night. Setting up my BYOD Linksys PAP2T adapter was a breeze thanks to the CallCentric support page specific to Linksys adapters. I was registered in a few minutes. One minor nitpick is their Linksys dialplan doesn't include 7digit dialing, but that was easily taken care of. A month later, I ported a number over from Verizon. It took 13 calendar days (7 business). Just as a side note, the $25 porting charge was subject to NYS tax (I live in NYS & am okay with paying tax). Upon completion, Verizon informed me that they needed to have a credit card (not a debit card) on file for all future monthly FiOS billings. The only time I had to use the troubleticket system was for the poring (as is recommended). Though it was web-based, I never felt out in limbo - there was lots of feedback from them.
800 numbers are NOT free, but at .88cents a minute (plus tax for me), I'm not pulling out my hair.
Setting up VoiceMail is a little on the odd side. Even though it costs $0.00, you have to order it (and confirm you want the $0.00 charge). I think it would work better if you could activate it from the Callcentric Dashboard, but free is free so I'm not going to argue the point.
CallerID with name is done through the website by adding in names & numbers. It would be useful to click on a phone number and have the option of filling in a name in addition to dialing that number, but I'll make do.
Call quality is spectacular - no issues. Using dd-wrt v24 on a Linksys WRT-54g v2.1 with QoS configured yields the same call quality while downloading from newsgroups or bittorrent transfers.
---------
Feb 3, 2009 update:
E911 prices went down
there was a (scheduled) shutdown for 2 hours overnight for database issues.
I had one issue where I was unable to complete a local call to a business a few blocks away. Around 11pm that night I opened a trouble ticket. The next morning I find they responded within 10 minutes, leaving directions on what settings to change in my PAP2T - which did indeed solve the problem.
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Review by gamayun  Posted: 334 days ago member for 1.9 years, 6 visits, last login: 94 days ago
Needham Heights,Norfolk,MA
$37 per month
about 1 days
"Great plans, service, tech support and price"
"Customer service is online only, simple call rules."
"Excellent provider, great support."
| Web-site: Ease of Installation: Call Quality: Reliability: Tech Support: Value for money: (ratings match consensus)
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I've been with Callcentric about a year now and I'm very impressed with the service. I use PAP2 and setup took about 5 minutes following instructions on their site. I had a couple of technical questions during this year, opened support calls online and they were answered (and answered my questions) only a couple of hours after.
They even ported my phone number from a provider with which I had experienced extremely poor customer service (Axvoice) within time frame specified, I was very surprised...
My wife calls Russia a lot, plus couple other countries and to have places she calls most often included in service plan is a big saving for us.
The only thing that I wish was improved is their available calling rules (they call it Call Treatments) - they are very very basic, you can't copy the rules, add recurring ones, configure more advanced options, etc. Though I can configure my own Asterisk VM for this, maybe I'll do that if I get some free time 
Overall I'm very happy with Callcentric, I recommended it to a couple of friends and they like the service as well.
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