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ViaTalk Review: VoIP |
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| Nice call quality and cheap plan (2 years unlimited for $189 + $40.94 setup) but some cancellation problems | |
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ViaTalk will not win any awards for the presentation of its product. The little LinkSys VoIP adapter comes in a standard Priority Mail box, with just its cables, and an introductory letter. If there were any instructions we must have somehow lost them. It's ok, we located the help docs on their website and the directions were simple. We plugged in three cables, and we had phone service.
ViaTalk's big selling point is its cheap monthly plan. It comes down to $9.95 a month, for unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada. It also includes 60 minutes of free international calling to 60 countries. However, sign up for pre-payment and for your first year you'll be paying an equivalent of $8.25 per month, that's $99.00 up front. An additional year of service can be added for $79.00. Whether you prepay or pay monthly, there's a $29.95 activation cost and $9.95 shipping charge (unless you bring your own VoIP adapter). For an additional $8.95 per month you can have 1200 minutes of calling to over 60 countries, mostly landlines. In action, ViaTalk was quite nice. In fact, we felt it sounded crisper and warmer than Vonage did. It does take a little longer for calls to connect, between dialing and ringing. This may well have something to do with the fact that Vonage connects directly to the modem, whereas ViaTalk goes through your router first. Our only real complaint about ViaTalk's hardware is that its VoIP adapter only allows for a downstream connection, meaning it cannot receive the connection directly from your cable modem and then split off to your router. Instead, it must receive its connection from the router. It just limits the ways in which you can configure your setup, but it won't affect many people. ViaTalk has the fairly standard set of features such as voicemail to email, do not disturb, and caller ID block. You also get two lines at the same number, a very convenient feature for busy households. ViaTalk's technical support was fast and helpful when we called. We left our callback number and received a call within five minutes. The non-outsourced support was very friendly. On subsequent tries we faced much longer waits when trying to contact someone in sales and billing; she was friendly, if slightly confused about their offerings. There's a 14-day money back guarantee that begins the day you receive your equipment, though it does not cover your activation or shipping fees. If you cancel after that, ViaTalk does offer a pro-rated refund for unused months, but there's a $49.95 disconnect fee. This applies even if you pay monthly, since it's a year-long contract. It's important to note that in order to cancel, you must send back the equipment first, otherwise you'll be charged $50. ViaTalk did fail to cancel our account twice, meaning that we were still charged. Though since we weren't being charged the disconnect fee, it's a bit of a wash. Still, it was inconvenient. Its main competitor in this price class is PhonePower. Potential customers will have to weight the advantages of each. ViaTalk's call quality, support-call return time, pro-rated refund and 60-minutes of free world calling are great. The only real disappointment is the relatively short money-back period, the slight delay between dialing and ringing, and the one-time setup fee. |
| Plans: | U.S. Unlimited: $8.25-$12.95 1200 minutes international calling: +$8.95 |
| Setup Fees: | $29.99 plus $10.95 S&H |
| $ Back Guarantee & Cancel Policy: | Free to cancel within 14 days or prorated refund minus $49.95 disconnection fee per line after 14 days; No refunds on activation or S&H |
| Promotions: | 2 years for $189.00 (+ setup fees) |
| Countries Included: | USA, Canada |
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