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Lingo

Lingo Review: VoIP

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Bottom Line:
 Solid plans from reliable company; unlimited calling to 30+ countries; discounted first month with code
Full Review:
 While the important thing with VoIP is always call quality, we can't help but notice when a product is well packaged and presented. Lingo sends you a nice little package and a slick, fairly detailed instruction booklet. The Lingo hardware itself is not remarkable; it's the fairly standard Linksys VoIP router. The setup is very thorough, just about the opposite of ViaTalk's four steps. The steps here are very exact, and we suggest you follow them to the letter.

Still, we were up and running with Lingo shortly. Call quality seemed ok, though maybe not as nice as ViaTalk's. There was a slightly far-away staticky sound, though it was otherwise audible. As with ViaTalk, there's a bit of a delay between dialing and ringing.

Lingo offers a cheap first month ($4.95) with additional months coming in at $21.95 on the Lingo Smart Talk plan, which provides free unlimited calling to the 30 countries listed below. You also get 500 minutes to India. It doesn't include calls to cell phones in most countries, a common limitation. $19.95 per month covers calls across the U.S. and Canada.

Lingo has a 30-day money back guarantee. As usual, certain fees will not be included in the refund amount. You have to call them to cancel (a slight nightmare described below). After that 30-day period elapses, you'll be signed up for a two-year commitment, with fees paid monthly. If you decide to quit during those two years, $24.95 is charged as a disconnect fee, in addition to a rebate recovery fee which will include charges for the discounted first month, the equipment, and the waived activation fee. It promises not to be over $75.00, and for our plan it would have been $62.00. All-in-all you'll be playing close to $100 if you cancel outside of the guarantee period.

Lingo's outsourced tech support was easily reached, but it was scripted and trying. Cancelation was particularly frustrating, as they try to start your 30-day trial period from the order date, and not the day you received your equipment. Cancelation also requires that you go to two different extensions, the second of which seems engineered to force you to give up.

Included with the Smart Talk plan is a free month of Lingo Unwired, a service that allows you to use your cellular phone to take advantage of your unlimited international calling. Once you register your cellular phone number with Lingo, you're given a discount calling number. You will pay any airtime charges that your cell phone carrier charges for a call to Virginia, but not international calling rates. We tried it on a few local calls to get a feel for sound quality. Calls sounded a little squelched and distant at times, but it's not a bad alternative given the costs usually associated with calling internationally from a cell phone. Of course, this still won't allow you to call other cell phones. And after the free month, it's $9.95 per month.

Lingo comes out cheaper than Vonage, but international calling, at least, is more limited. Lingo's two-year commitment is a bit long, and may give some potential customers pause, particularly when cancelation after the 30-day period is nearly $100.00. We also give it some knocks for the hassle we experienced during cancelation.

Countries covered by Lingo Smart Talk. The ** indicates that calls to mobile phones are also included:

Argentina (Buenos Aires only)
Australia
Austria
Belgium Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo only)
Canada
China (mobiles included)
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hong Kong (mobiles included)
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Russia (Moscow only)
Singapore
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
UK
US Virgin Islands
USA
Venezuela (Caracas only)

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Service Details:

Plans: Smart Talk: $4.95 for first mo., $21.95 thereafter; Hello America: $4.95 for first mo., $19.95 thereafter
Setup Fees: None on World Max plan; $14.95 S&H + $29.95 activation on America Unlimited
$ Back Guarantee & Cancel Policy: Free to cancel within 30 days or $99.95 after 30 days†
Promotions: $4.95 for first month; Free activation, equipment, shipping (World Max); Free equipment (America Unlimited)
Countries Included: Smart Talk: Over 30 - see review for list;
Hello America: USA and Canada

†See review for additional charges that may apply to cancelations after guarantee period

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