Feedback swayed my choice!

[littleminx]

I did a lot of online and word of mouth research before choosing ViaTalk.

There are some features i wished you would have offered that the others do
(free calls to europe for one) but in the end it was ViaTalk customer feedback that caused me to take the leap.

ViaTalk's customer service and pricing are second to none and more people should know that!

talk loud people, because i can't even convince my own family (who pay $40-$60 a month phone bills excluding long distance)to take the ViaTalk leap.

[dalydose]

I *left* a company with free calls to Europe (ahem..Sun..ahem...Rocket) because their customer service was negligent and ignorant. They even told me that I couldn't keep my number when I moved 3 Miles!! They blamed FCC e911 regulations. This wasn't one rep, it was many, many reps and supervisors...they don't get it or know what they're doing.

Anyway, I'm here now and life is good.


littleminx...change is difficult for people. Just keep using the service and making calls to them on it so they know that it works well. Take it over to 'em and plug it into their broadband and let 'em test it out. Hmmmmm...I should do that the next time I go to my mom's in Michigan.

[littleminx]

oooh, taking it over and plugging it into their broadband is a good idea.

i have to laugh, because when they're at my house they'll use their cell phones to call out 'just in case'

[mfoam99]

your exactly right change is difficult. I have been listening to a coworker tell me about voip for two years now. He didnt use Viatalk but a few other providers and it has taken me this long to finally try it and I am known for being very frugal. I finally signed up in Dec and tried it out for about a month before porting my number. Porting only took about 14 days. Now I have my whole house ringing off of the viatalk adapter and everything works great.

By the way I love the call alarm feature, since I travel some this is my way of making sure every one gets up in time for school.

[RiDdLeR]

I already had a voip service but the 199/yr + 1 year free and the fact that Brandon was posting and interacting with ViaTalk customers and that Tech Support spoke english is what made me give them a try...The features are a big plus as I feel Customer Satisfaction plays a big part with this company....

[FarmerBob]

I already had a voip service but the 199/yr + 1 year free and the fact that Brandon was posting and interacting with ViaTalk customers and that Tech Support spoke english is what made me give them a try...The features are a big plus as I feel Customer Satisfaction plays a big part with this company....

The "English speaking" part is a big plus in my book. And "Out Soursing" a big negative. One of my first questions upon researching VT was where the TS was based. I got a "direct backdoor" number for American Tech Support with Vonage after I got so disgusted with the, now becoming fast, shoddy services coming out of India. I now have a natural reflex to ask for "American Support" the nanosecond that I hear and accent.

Apple was looking to open a huge call center in Bangalor and after feedback from consumers and a tour, Steve Jobs pulled the plug and killed the project. Smart move.

I'm not a racist, I'm first generation American (Greek/Swedish), but what other county changes their language to fit immigrants? NONE. Many countries require you to learn their language before they'll let you stay. Here it's "let's out source!" or "press one for English . . . ." I shouldn't have to press anything.

Listening Brandon? Good.

Take Care.

[Heat305]

The "English speaking" part is a big plus in my book. And "Out Soursing" a big negative. One of my first questions upon researching VT was where the TS was based. I got a "direct backdoor" number for American Tech Support with Vonage after I got so disgusted with the, now becoming fast, shoddy services coming out of India. I now have a natural reflex to ask for "American Support" the nanosecond that I hear and accent.

Apple was looking to open a huge call center in Bangalor and after feedback from consumers and a tour, Steve Jobs pulled the plug and killed the project. Smart move.

I'm not a racist, I'm first generation American (Greek/Swedish), but what other county changes their language to fit immigrants? NONE. Many countries require you to learn their language before they'll let you stay. Here it's "let's out source!" or "press one for English . . . ." I shouldn't have to press anything.

Listening Brandon? Good.

Take Care.

Good feedback FarmerBob. Being conus/state side was a definite plus in my book. The minute it goes overseas I will be looking else where myself. Now I am sorry you have experienced some issues with the service. I am fairly new to VT and have given them the benefit of the doubt. Tech support has been great for me up to now. I saw you mentioned about everytime you call tech support you hate starting over and explaining what's going on. Myself feels your pain. Maybe they can come up with some ideas to have better log calls. I know I use to work in a call center and hated when my co-workers didn't fully log a case with steps they took and any steps they think might help if clients called back. Then I saw you mentioned some tech individuals seem to know more than others. We all know that employees come and go or get promoted within so they should have a log or create a manual for them with these errors and resolutions especially for the n00bs that are recently hired so they don't sound like they are new over the phone. Hope you get all your issues worked out with your line.

[gavmitchau]

Definatly all valid points, english speaking tech support. thank god.

[DracoFelis]

ViaTalk's customer service and pricing are second to none and more people should know that!
I think a lot us like the combo of quality service, and an affordable price. :D

talk loud people, because i can't even convince my own family (who pay $40-$60 a month phone bills excluding long distance)to take the ViaTalk leap.
I really don't know what to tell you. I personally hesitate to push VoIP on people that aren't ready for it (even if/when it would save them a lot of money), because I know of all the technical issues that can come up.

ViaTalk is IMHO a class act. However, as good as ViaTalk is, VoIP (including ViaTalk's VoIP) is just not the same as telco/POTS service (there are just more than can go wrong, especially areas surrounding the quality of someone's internet). Which makes it hard to recommend VoIP to someone who doesn't have at least one person in the family that understands technology (to deal with any of the hassles that may arise with setting things up so they work smoothly).

Now, don't get me wrong, ViaTalk customer service (while sometimes slow to answer the phone), is amazingly good. But still, there is a limit to what their CS can do to deal with issues such as quality issues with your own home internet setup. And it's a simple truth, that to get good voice quality with VoIP (anyone's VoIP), you need to start with decent quality internet (because the VoIP rides up top of your internet). And usually this is the kind of problem that is best solved by someone in the family that understands technology. CS and/or those of us in the forums can often point people in the right directions, but ultimately it's not our home network that's often the issue.

[connervt]

I really don't know what to tell you. I personally hesitate to push VoIP on people that aren't ready for it (even if/when it would save them a lot of money), because I know of all the technical issues that can come up.

I'm currently in the same boat as you. My good friend keeps wanting me to get him set up with a "cheaper" phone service, but looking at his *VERY* pregnant wife keeps me from doing it. I know he needs to have the reliability of a POTS e911 line at his home.

[sbradshaw]

I'm currently in the same boat as you. My good friend keeps wanting me to get him set up with a "cheaper" phone service, but looking at his *VERY* pregnant wife keeps me from doing it. I know he needs to have the reliability of a POTS e911 line at his home.

There's that issue and the fact that you may get yourself into a support role. I was the first in my family to get VT service. Other family members saw the cost savings and the great feature set...so they signed up as well. Guess what I was doing for the first 2 months or so? Answering questions that could easily have been answered by VT support. I think I've trained them all good enough on the feature sets and performed all the necessary ATA tweaks that I haven't gotten a support call in quite a while.

[firewall]

Switched from that other company that begins with a V and never looked back! It was a tad more work to get the service where I wanted it but with all the features and the lower price it really was a no brainer. If the other V had just the customer service that VT has alone I probably would have never switched but alas the dollar was more important.

[connervt]

Switched from that other company that begins with a V and never looked back!


Verizon? :p

Well, everyone in New England will soon be switching from them, as they just want nothing to do with us (well, they'll keep the Wireless division... :rolleyes: )

[DracoFelis]

Switched from that other company that begins with a V and never looked back!
VoipBuster? VoicePulse? VoipStick? VoXaLot?

[connervt]

A long list of them if you start here: http://www.voipproviderslist.com/country/voip-usa/voip-providers-usa/sort-byname/54/

[firewall]

LOL OK point taken, Von@ge! It didn't occur to me they all began with V.

[DracoFelis]

LOL OK point taken, Von@ge! It didn't occur to me they all began with V.
Oh, you mean the "Woo.. Hoo.." company.

God's I hate their jingle. If they do eventually go under (from all this litigation), at least that would help spare some people from having to listen to their TV commercials. :rolleyes:

[firewall]

God's I hate their jingle.

A little off topic but....What popular movie used the Wooo Wooo song?

First right answer gets an "atta boy" (or girl)

[Beagle]

A little off topic but....What popular movie used the Wooo Wooo song?

First right answer gets an "atta boy" (or girl)

Easy one... "Kill Bill" :)

[chas3]

but looking at his *VERY* pregnant wife keeps me from doing it. I know he needs to have the reliability of a POTS e911 line at his home.

Doesn't he have a cell phone as backup? If not, give him an old cell phone that doesn't have service. You can still dial 911 from it.

I keep an old analog bag phone under my van seat as well as an old nokia digital for emergencies. And yes, I have tried calling 911 from them to make sure they work.

So go for it.

[firewall]

Easy one... "Kill Bill"

As promised.....atta boy:D