Is $12.41 ($149/12 mo) best avail deal after promo period is over?

I have minimal Vonage service because most of my light home office calls are to toll free numbers for teleconferencing. I use less than my alloted 300 minutes a month for local and toll calls (and place no int'l calls), and so have a plan that is currently at $9.99/month but Vonage just noticed me that it is going to $11.99/mo with 500 minutes local/toll.

I'm interested in Voipo and porting my local number, but I'm concerned that the current non-promo rate is higher than what I pay now, even with Vonage's price increase. Are Voipo customers typically offered additional promo rates or other customer loyalty rates below the monthly cost shown (well, buried really) in the Voipo terms of service? I don't want to have to go shopping in a year or two and re-port. Thanks.

Our standard rate after the initial promotion period is $149/Yr or $15/Mo, but we do occasionally offer promotional offers for "early renewal". Those must be taken advantage of when we offer them though. With the current promotion offering 2 years of service, the odds that we will run a renewal promotion sometime in a 2 year period are pretty good since it's quite a while.

I will comment, as a former Vonage customer, that Vonage adds quite a bit in "fees" that VOIPo does not. You'll probably find that the final price is much closer, if not in VOIPO's favor. And, as Tim says, the renewa promotions can be an excellent deal.

I am a former Vonage customer and switched to VOIPo 3 months ago. The added fees and taxes were almost 50% of the monthly cost so $9.99 was turning out to be ~$15 for me with Vonage.

After switching to VOIPo and using their forwarding service I am paying $4.95(no fees or taxes) and only 25cents per min after 300 minutes. I however hardly ever go over 300 minutes so almost 3 times less money for same reliable service after switching to VOIPo.

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Originally Posted by khantpr

I am a former Vonage customer and switched to VOIPo 3 months ago. The added fees and taxes were almost 50% of the monthly cost so $9.99 was turning out to be ~$15 for me with Vonage.

After switching to VOIPo and using their forwarding service I am paying $4.95(no fees or taxes) and only 25cents per min after 300 minutes. I however hardly ever go over 300 minutes so almost 3 times less money for same reliable service after switching to VOIPo.

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I can't seem to find that $4.95 (no fees or taxes) rate/300 hrs anywhere on this web site.

I want to switch from Vonage also. Their service was ~$15+2fees+3taxes=$20 for 500 hrs. This went to ~$18+4fees+4taxes=$26 for the same hours. Now it's being raised to $20+4fees+5taxes=$29 for 700 hrs. I didn't even need the 500 hours, so definitely don't need the 700 hours. I'm usually under 100hrs but never more than 200 hours.

Can any one direct me to that $4.95 plan or something that doesn't get blown up with fees and taxes? Thanks in advance

What I have is their Forwarded Local Service (http://www.voipo.com/local-voip-number.shtml) which is $4.95/month and I use the Obi110 ATA (http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html...=A4VT9X8JBKS16) which is $49.99 one time charge.

I have configured the SIP account on VOIPo and set-up SIP account on Obi110 SP2 for incoming only and its been working flawlesslessly. I use Google Voice for outbound and inbound calls on SP1 using Obi110.

I am not at all tech savy...so I have some questions:
1) What is SIP
2) Since you have google voice, why have VOIPo too
3) What service is being forwarded
4) Were you able to keep your old # from vonage

Doing some research and discovered that you cannot port a landline to Google Voice. Isn't Vonage considered a landline?
My main concern is keeping my current phone number at Vonage but not paying their deceiving prices.

You can port a number from Vonage - I did.

OK - What am I missing? I port my Vonage # to VOIPo Forwarded Local Service, which then forwards to Google Voice. But GV wants to know what # to forward calls to...which then goes back to VOIPo and creates a loop. Do I need another number in the mix for this to work? Please draw me a picture so I can understand what you techies are talking about.

You need to have your voipo number forward to google voice and google needs to forward to google chat. From there you will use your Obi100/110 to login to google voice to make and receive calls.

http://obihai.com/googlevoice.html

You're not missing anything, colo303.

Forwarded Local Service would be useful for those who want to keep a telephone number, yet not necessarily have a real telephone line attached to it. When used with Google Voice, it would be most useful if you have at least one other telephone line, such as a cell phone, work number, or whatever, where you can receive Google Voice phone calls. Put simply, it's sort of a make-shift way of "virtually" porting your number to Google Voice when Google won't allow it to be ported in.

(Technically, I understand that there are some ways of using Google Voice without another telephone line, but that's not the way the service is typically used.)

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(Technically, I understand that there are some ways of using Google Voice without another telephone line, but that's not the way the service is typically used.)

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Yes, that is what I would like to know about. I only have one telephone now and want to keep that number but get away from Vonage. An earlier post said that I could transport to VOIPo using the call forward service to Google Voice...but then what has to be done to make it work with a single phone?

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Originally Posted by colo303

Yes, that is what I would like to know about. I only have one telephone now and want to keep that number but get away from Vonage. An earlier post said that I could transport to VOIPo using the call forward service to Google Voice...but then what has to be done to make it work with a single phone?

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I think your best option in that case would be to look at a device like the OBi110, which can connect to Google Voice.
http://www.amazon.com/OBi110-Service...3151568&sr=8-1

It may also be possible to simply answer the calls using your computer through Google Chat.

I'm not 100% on either method. You're probably going to be on your own trying to rig it up and get it to work.

You can simply port your number from Vonage to VoIPo as if it were a normal landline. I and many others have done this. No need for complications.

My question still has not been answered...and I realize that some of you may not have read all the posts in this thread, so I will try to summarize the situation.

I have been with Vonage almost 6yrs starting with the 500 min/mo plan. They increased this to 750/min and also increased the price to ~$29/mo (20+4fees+5 taxes). This is about a 53% increase over the last two and a half years. Too much with not especially friendly customer service.

In researching other providers, VOIOo seemed about the best (competitive pricing and very good and timely respones from the owner of the company. So I was ready to transport my number (had it for several years and don't want to go through the hassle of getting a new number) and get the $15/mo plan (total $18 with taxes). This is about a 38% savings, not counting the unlimited minutes and the better service.

But then I read this forum -- see post #6:

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Originally Posted by khantpr

What I have is their Forwarded Local Service (http://www.voipo.com/local-voip-number.shtml) which is $4.95/month and I use the Obi110 ATA (http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html...=A4VT9X8JBKS16) which is $49.99 one time charge.

I have configured the SIP account on VOIPo and set-up SIP account on Obi110 SP2 for incoming only and its been working flawlesslessly. I use Google Voice for outbound and inbound calls on SP1 using Obi110.

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This sounded even better. Checking out google voice, it appears that those incoming calls would have to be forwarded - but I only have the ONE number. And if I list that, it will just create a loop. The above post (#6) didn't specify if a second phone was need or not.

So, is a second phone needed to forwaqrd calls or does the Obi110 handle this for me? And if so, How?

The other thing too is that while waiting for answers on this forum, I called Vonage Customer Service (couldn't change my plan on line) and they can change my plan to 300 min/mo ($17/19 with fees and taxes). Comparing regular service: Vonage $17/19 and VOIPo @ $18, (the difference in price isn't worth the change and don't need more than the 300 min/mo that Vonage offers) the easiest solution would be to stay with Vonage unless I can make the $4.95/mo call forward plan work

If so, can someone let me know how this is done? ? ?
Thanks in advance

You only need to forward to your voipo number to your google voice number which would be configured to forward to google chat. From there you would need an Obi 100/110 configured to use google voice. That's it.

Thank you so much for the explanation ... Didn't know about googe chat until now. I'll be switching from Vonage to VOIPo and saving ~$24/25 month. Thanks again!!!

The following link on the Obihai website explains all you need to do in detail. There is also a lot of good information in their support forums.

http://obihai.com/googlevoice.html

You may have already made your choice, but currently VoipO is offering 24 months for $149 plus fees for the next 17 hours. I just renewed my VoipO service that was up for renewal next month. With $36 in taxes and fees the total for me was $185 for 24 months, or $7.71 per month.

I have regular VoipO service and not "Forwarded Local Service". With the regular service you can forward your phone line to another line, or you can have it simultaneously ring both your regular number and an alternate number. I use it to also ring my cellphone. I am not sure what the features are for Forwarded Local Service, but for the regular service you can also easily route numbers such as marketing calls, political calls, etc., to either busy, disconnected message, etc. Plus you get voicemail for those you don't answer which then sends you an email message with any message that was left. And while I have not used it, Regular service also includes 60 minutes of international calls to covered areas.

Even assuming that both services have the same features, you may find that the transition to Vonage to VoipO may go more smoothly if you get regular service and forward it.

Good luck regardless of which method you use.

Tom