Comments on: Calling home with VoIP

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:38:00 +0000

Memson, companies don’t try to install Asterisk using the same connection that you use for internet connection (I assume this is what you did). You use Cisco hardware and a new connection. That’s how Openwave does it and they don’t have any problems at all, and they have about 1000 employees…

If you are on an ADSL connection for VoIP only that has 200 KBs up and 200 KBs down, you can fit over 20 phonecalls at the same time. And if you use the GSM codec (lower quality), you can fit about 25 phonecalls at the same time. Remember, the UP connection is as important as the DOWN connection.

But if you really want the best quality and no lag for your corporation, you go with Cisco, you don’t try to patch it up together by yourself. There is no secret there. Cisco costs money because it works as it is supposed to. It is the answer for corporations.

If you are on a very small company, up to 20-30 people, I guess you can do it yourself, on a separate DSL connection with considerably good UP connection…

By: memso

memso — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:14:00 +0000

Okay, VOIP.. my company were going to replace all our phones with VOIP ones, connected to a central server in our main office. We trialled it. This was a wired connection over a ADSL line. It absolutely sucked. Echo, delay, bad line quality, phone line noticably more unrelaiable (no carrier all the time.)

I had the same experience in 2004, when at a previous job we had a VOIP phone line (we were partially a telecoms company.) Exactly the same issues.

Until VOIP works seamlessly and reliably - with no echo, delay or loss of quality for absolutely no reason, it’s not really all that useful.

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 07:07:00 +0000

I don’t think my mother wants to be a JaJah user… Besides, it’s pretty convenient with Gizmo too. I use a real SIP phone to connect to Gizmo’s service via my WiFi, so I don’t have to use a computer.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 06:57:00 +0000

Eugenia, i used Jajah yesterday and it works fine. The quality of the call was excellent as a normal phone call.

Yes, it is a more expensive than Gizmo but still much more cheaper than nomal long distance cals. It is more convenient too.

The calls would be free when both you and the person you call are *active* registered members. That means they use both their account at least once every two weeks to make a phone call or send an SMS.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:19:00 +0000

Voip is the future. check out the different companies and pricing schemes. I’ve been using voip with One Suite services. I have never had sound issues with them. I can use them on my computer as Voip or just over the land phone through traditional lines, or on my cell.. I haven’t used JaJah or Gizmo, so i can’t tell you anything about it.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 09:19:00 +0000

Eugenia, check also jajah out. I didn’t test it myself but it seems to be very promising. They have similar rates with GizmoProject but the big plus is that you do not need special VoiP devices or headsets. You use a normal phone.

I just opened an account and I plan to test it today. For a start, they give you 50 cent free. For active accounts - that means accounts that were used in the past two weeks to make calls or send an SMS - the calls are free in many cases (check their rates page). They offer also a lot of free plugins for various applications to make calls easier. There is also a great mac widget.

I like their “active account” definition. It is much more clear than this of the GizmoProject and the cost of the call is always obvious before you call.

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 09:08:00 +0000

I checked Jajah, and I honestly don’t understand it. From one side it says that it’s free from countries belong to Group A and B, but on the other side it also says that calls cost $0.028 per minute if the person you intend to call is not a Jajah member. The whole deal is just not clearly defined. If I have to pay $0.028 per minute, Gizmo is actually cheaper.