A service that you may have seen on the top of many of the review lists in recent months is that of the Via Talk. The service has been boasting some fairly decent service options in recent months, including their buy one year, get one free deal (two years of service for $199). As with any service though, there are ups and there are downs.
First off the Good Stuff
The quality with VoIP service providers is always a question that makes or breaks many people’s plans. It varies substantially and some services just drop the ball. Via Talk is thankfully one of those services with enough forethought to make sure their call quality is decent. It’s the backbone of a phone company’s service and they’ve made sure to set up a decent quality, high bit-rate system that sounds great. Similarly, calls are very reliable and rarely fail to go through or drop off half way. This is a must have in any VoIP service and we’re grateful to Via Talk for supporting their network.
Via Talk’s support lines have always been good and most people will tell you this is one of the reasons they’ve gone with their service above anyone else’s. With customer service that will actually contact and talk to you when you need help, Via Talk is fairly good about making sure your problems are solved in a decently quick fashion. They have a $1.95/month support plan option as well that allows you to upgrade your service to priority status. You’ll receive much faster service with almost non-existent hold times.
The pricing structure is highly competitive as well. For those looking to add only a simple support line to their home, you can pay $9.99 a month and receive 500 minutes of their basic service. The 1500 minute plan is $29.95 and the unlimited plan is $35.95. But, for those who are willing to sign up for the long term, a one time $199 payment will buy you phone service for two entire years, one of the best deals around (for those willing to pay up front).
And the Cons
There are the every less popular monthly “Regulatory Recovery Fees†that VoIP services are charging right off the bat, so count on a $2.50 charge added to your bill. This might go up in the future as the companies learn that they can just as easily have the customer pay the Federal fees as do it themselves. Similarly there have been a few complaints about signups and equipment as the company seems to be a bit disorganized with their procedures. Ensure that you research everything you need before signing up with Via Talk and get the right equipment and order the right service, because if you try to change it, you might be waiting a little while or paying unnecessary extra money.
There are also some issues with the equipment they send. The caller id has been known to cause problems as well as the phone adapter itself. You’ll probably need to have a Linksys router to properly use their equipment as their adapter is a Linksys (a brand notorious for not liking other equipment).
The Bottom Line
The things that matter in a VoIP service – call quality, customer service, and price – are all very good with Via Talk. You’ll receive everything you’re looking for and it will work as you expect it. However, you must put up with a bit of a messy start to get there. Shipping is slow, the equipment is suspect, and getting started is notoriously complicated. Once you’re up and running though, you can expect one of the higher quality VoIP services around.
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