VoicePulse Doubles Prices Without Notice

[kieranmullen]

These are all used as examples becuase they have NRC services for outgoing (think international calls). Whether or not they offer MRC for outgoing services does not matter. Voicepulse.com offers a MRC for outgoing service as well.

Broadvoice - Predominantly 'unlimited' service
Viatalk - Predominantly 'unlimited' service
Vitelity - When was the last time they changed rates? They've had 1.44c/min US termination since I've been with them.
GizmoProject - another example of bad communication. They pushed backdoor dialing and then had it just stop working one day with no announcement.

I can't speak to Voicetrading, but a lot of these simply don't apply in the scope of this discussion.

For companies that predominantly bill in the granularity of per-minute rates to make changes to said pricing without any notice or formal update process is absurd. At some points you're just supporting your provider being able to throw darts to determine what you'll be billed today.

Edit:
This is also not entirely true. I've got CDR data from the last few weeks that shows I was being billed at 1.9c/min even while Flexrate and the official rate sheets were still reporting sub 1c/min rates for those prefixes.

 

[dad311]

Actually, I went with voip.ms for the outgoing. I was able to configure and register my system with theirs (to be sure it was communicating) before ever putting any money in my account.

I did the same and also made some test calls.

4443: Echo Test
4747: DTMF Test822: Test CallerID

 

[cliff]

...

Edit:
This is also not entirely true. I've got CDR data from the last few weeks that shows I was being billed at 1.9c/min even while Flexrate and the official rate sheets were still reporting sub 1c/min rates for those prefixes.

Starting 03-22-2009 my VoicePulse shows some calls starting to bill @ rates over the threshold I set in FlexRate. The VoicePulse rep simply said both pricelists should be changed at the same time. No interest in checking the facts.

 

[cliff]

I received my deposit refund this afternoon. Ahead of schedule.

Except for the way they handled this change and their communication style, VoicePulse has been a good provider. I'm happy with my decision, but I wish them well.

 

[FitnessPlus]

I agree with you, Cliff. Changing the pricing model (without notice) to the point that it destroys the only feature that was used to market the company and distinguish its offering from the rest of the pack is an extremely lousy business practice. We have removed all of their quasi-ads and our previous recommendation from our web sites.

Forgot this one:
http://bestof.nerdvittles.com/providers/

 

[wardmundy]

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[Spaceleeb]

Back to the comments about getting balances back after you are done with a provider...

I had to constantly harass VOIPJet and threaten legal action before I got a refund.

Looks like I will have to do the same with VoicePulse. Canceled my account with them about two months ago and asked for my balance refund. A month later they said the check had been mailed and that I must not have received it... Then was told to expect it by 9/30/09. No dice.

Guess I'll need to get over to Small Claims Court to file a case against them. Silly as it will cost them much more than the $40 they owe me, but every penny counts these days!

 

[Spaceleeb]

Well, finally, a check arrived today... I shall take it to the bank quickly!

I just don't understand why it takes 3-4 phone calls and some e-mails and posts to get money back... let alone things done... I guess it's that way with everything in life anymore! Companies think consumers will forget - after all that is what the whole "rebate" thing is built upon!

 

[sanitycheck]

Oh well, they've just been moved to the bottom of my US48 dialplan and I'll probably have a balance stranded there forever.

You won't have to worry about that pre-paid balance anymore: http://pbxinaflash.com/community/threads/voicepulse-min-monthly-fees.6834/?t=6834

 

[kieranmullen]

No you dont want to do that. They now have a $10 monthly min. to keep an active account to get rid of those people with small balances.

You won't have to worry about that pre-paid balance anymore: http://pbxinaflash.com/community/threads/voicepulse-min-monthly-fees.6834/?t=6834

 

[SpaethCo]

I closed out my VoicePulse account and got a check with my remaining balance back months ago.

I'm down to VOIPo Express, Vitelity, and voip.ms (Canadian) for DIDs. For outbound termination I'm using Vitelity, CallWithUs, and FlowRoute. Overall Vitelity gets the bulk of my business.

I've been very happy since I've narrowed my configuration down to this provider mix.

 

[wardmundy]

No you dont want to do that. They now have a $10 monthly min. to keep an active account to get rid of those people with small balances.

Nothing like a business strategy to rid yourself of pesky customers that cost you nothing. Today's little customers often turn into tomorrow's gold mines. Brilliant move.

 

[kieranmullen]

I doubt it. If you had any business service through them you would know they have no limits at all on incomming on their lines. $11 a month for 4 unlimited incoming channels is a steal for the level of service that they provide for as long as they have provided it. Vitelity (who I am with) has nothing like it.

Nothing like a business strategy to rid yourself of pesky customers that cost you nothing. Today's little customers often turn into tomorrow's gold mines. Brilliant move.

 

[kieranmullen]

Plus even though many have used them as a "backup" provider, I am sure they do not see themselves as a backup provider.

Also I am also positive that maintaining all the infrastructure is not free either.

The same story has been discussed over in broadbandreports.com voip forum.

Nothing new here.

Nothing like a business strategy to rid yourself of pesky customers that cost you nothing. Today's little customers often turn into tomorrow's gold mines. Brilliant move.

 

[kieranmullen]

Betamax with my caller ID verified so I can use it for outgoing it pretty good. $10 Euro for every 120 days of free days then I start to use my 10 euro balance at .01 per minute.

They use xo.com for termination in the united states. A far cry better than 5 years ago.,

I closed out my VoicePulse account and got a check with my remaining balance back months ago.

I'm down to VOIPo Express, Vitelity, and voip.ms (Canadian) for DIDs. For outbound termination I'm using Vitelity, CallWithUs, and FlowRoute. Overall Vitelity gets the bulk of my business.

I've been very happy since I've narrowed my configuration down to this provider mix.

 

[SpaethCo]

Betamax with my caller ID verified so I can use it for outgoing it pretty good.

Not workable for my case. I use the follow-me functionality of Asterisk, and greatly prefer to see the CID passed through to calls delivered to my cell phone.

Quality is hard to judge when it comes to VoIP. The metric is entirely subjective based on the perception of the caller, the equipment they are using, and the network stability between the end-user and the provider.

In my case, I tried to run down my balance with VoicePulse at 1.9c/min but found their quality to my local rate center (A/C 612/651/952/763) absolutely abysmal. When flexrate was working, VoicePulse was never the cheapest for this area so I never noticed.

After a couple years of doing this, I'm done looking for deals. My monthly calling just isn't high enough for most per-minute fees for US48 termination to make a huge impact to my bottom line. I will gladly continue to pay Vitelity 1.44c/min for my local rate center for as long as they continue to deliver consistently good call quality. Between my DIDs, e911 service, and outbound termination my monthly spend with Vitelity is about $15.

 

[kieranmullen]

I use betamax for home use only. I have a forced preimiere provider by entering an 8 if things go wonky.

However I do not use it for business. I have about $600 prepaid in my account with my 10 dids and several 3 toll frees with vitelity.com

You are just fine with vitelity. Exp even at $15 per month.

I closed out my VoicePulse account and got a check with my remaining balance back months ago.

I'm down to VOIPo Express, Vitelity, and voip.ms (Canadian) for DIDs. For outbound termination I'm using Vitelity, CallWithUs, and FlowRoute. Overall Vitelity gets the bulk of my business.

I've been very happy since I've narrowed my configuration down to this provider mix.

Not workable for my case. I use the follow-me functionality of Asterisk, and greatly prefer to see the CID passed through to calls delivered to my cell phone.

Quality is hard to judge when it comes to VoIP. The metric is entirely subjective based on the perception of the caller, the equipment they are using, and the network stability between the end-user and the provider.

In my case, I tried to run down my balance with VoicePulse at 1.9c/min but found their quality to my local rate center (A/C 612/651/952/763) absolutely abysmal. When flexrate was working, VoicePulse was never the cheapest for this area so I never noticed.

After a couple years of doing this, I'm done looking for deals. My monthly calling just isn't high enough for most per-minute fees for US48 termination to make a huge impact to my bottom line. I will gladly continue to pay Vitelity 1.44c/min for my local rate center for as long as they continue to deliver consistently good call quality. Between my DIDs, e911 service, and outbound termination my monthly spend with Vitelity is about $15.