VoicePulse Doubles Prices Without Notice

[cliff]

Anyone get less than $.019/min for US calls?

VoicePulse requires a key to access FlexRate and I think you need to be logged in to download a rate sheet. It's possible they now have multiple rate sheets based on call volume.

This could explain the ridiculous call I had with a VoicePulse rep yesterday. I was asking questions based on a price list and he was answering as if those prices were not as they were printed.

FWIW ... I know I'm a low usage client. My cell provider offered a free UMA plan shortly afterI signed up for VoicePulse. Several numbers I frequently call are now remote extensions on my system. I'm barely spending in a year what I expected to use monthly. Having a quality 4 channel backup even at $.019/min is a decent deal, especially considering the deposit was already paid. I terminated service based on the feeling the VoicePulse rep was BSing me. If VoicePuls would give an honest answer I could adapt.

Does anyone have a price sheet showing less than $.019/min for US calls?

 

[MyKroFt]

As of 6/18/09 for the .zip files I can download

All US is .019
Canada is .02
Toll Free is .00

And nothing listed about internal DiD to Did as being free as some other providers are doing

 

[cliff]

No free VP to VP with VP Connect. Before VP published a FlexRate for FreePBX I was adapting their script and watching how the calls worked. I discovered calls to VoicePlus support went over my alternative provider. I checked and those calls in fact cost $.019/min.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19017030-VoicePulse-Connect-FlexRate-working-with-Trixbox

My US rate shows the same but some Canadian are also $.019. Strange thing is over the past 3 months some of my US calls billed @ $.019/min and a few Canadian @ $.027/min. If these calls were properly listed in FlexRate they shouldn't have gone VoicePulse.

 

[troycarpenter]

I'm now currently looking into grnVoIP to replace VP in my setup. I see on their support site they have suggested Asterisk setup, but how easy is it to translate that into Freepbx speak? Perhaps after I sign up there is more info available, but $50 to setup the account is a steep price just to find out.

 

[troycarpenter]

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.

 

[kieranmullen]

The same question I asked in the BBR forum.

How many of you people that want to drop, how high was your usage for all the time spent posting about the bruhaha?

Seriously?

I do not like rate changes either and I have other providers as well, but are the responsible for notifying all customers of rate changes? Price of gas went up and no one told me.

 

[troycarpenter]

Personally I've spent less than an hour total time on this subject from the first time the rate increase was brought to my attention to the time I switched all my outgoing traffic to someone else.

Also, who cares how much per month I spend on calls, if I'm now spending 3x more than I was before, that means my money (no matter how long it takes me to use it up), goes three times faster than before.

As to your gasoline analogy...gas stations advertise their "rates" on big boards that I can see long before I decide to turn into their lot, in effect "telling me". Hardly a comparable situation.

 

[kieranmullen]

Analogy works fine.

Big sign = Website

One is far easier to read than the other and can be read much further away.

Personally I've spent less than an hour total time on this subject from the first time the rate increase was brought to my attention to the time I switched all my outgoing traffic to someone else.

Also, who cares how much per month I spend on calls, if I'm now spending 3x more than I was before, that means my money (no matter how long it takes me to use it up), goes three times faster than before.

As to your gasoline analogy...gas stations advertise their "rates" on big boards that I can see long before I decide to turn into their lot, in effect "telling me". Hardly a comparable situation.

 

[MyKroFt]

Personally, i think rate changes should be pushed to clients email - with the VP FreePBX module, you dont need to go to their web site that ofen.

It the same as services changing their TOS, most of them send out a email stating the TOS changed and tell you to go look at it.

VP should do the same thing on rate changes.....

 

[cliff]

There is a difference ... I paid my deposit based on a FlexRate I expected to average $.01/min or less and handle about half my calls. If they announced the change would take effect when I make my next deposit, it would be similar to buying gas. Raising a few rate centers 10 or even 20% wouldn't necessarily require notice, but dramatically changing the plan enough to make flexrate obsolete I feel warranted advance notice.

Telling me they may have raised a few prices is an untruth they were caught in as it was told.

 

[wardmundy]

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.

 

[MyKroFt]

just recived this from my work email that is using their trial:

After reviewing your account 'xxxxxxxxxx', I see that you've successfully made and received calls with your new VoicePulse service.

Is there any additional information I can provide for you? Here are some of the additional services I can offer to you at this point:

* Discounted channels if you increase your outbound traffic with us
* Discounted phone numbers if you port more phone numbers to our service

Don't hesitate to call or email me personally -- I'm here to provide you with the best customer service in the industry.

Stephen Irwin
Account Executive (Sales)
E: [email protected]
P: +1-732-561-5206
W: www.VoicePulse.com

So it does look like they are basing their pricing on volume?

at least that is the feeling I am getting.

 

[kieranmullen]

Seems perfectly fair to me as long as they do not change their MRC without notification.

just recived this from my work email that is using their trial:



So it does look like they are basing their pricing on volume?

at least that is the feeling I am getting.

 

[SpaethCo]

Seems perfectly fair to me as long as they do not change their MRC without notification.

Really?

So you wouldn't care at all if one of your providers cranked their US term to say, $0.25/minute, and you didn't notice until after you checked the CDR weeks later?

 

[kieranmullen]

You expect a serious answer to a non realistic situation?

I currently have 6 trunks that are active and ready to use at any time at my disposal.

Broadvoice, Viatalk, Voicepulse, Vitelity, GizmoProject, Voicetrading (betamax)

None of these companies send notifications of any sort. betamax actually sends emails when rates are lower, but they play their own rates game which is well understood by the voip community (perhaps they are not such a good example)

Really?

So you wouldn't care at all if one of your providers cranked their US term to say, $0.25/minute, and you didn't notice until after you checked the CDR weeks later?

 

[MyKroFt]

Seems perfectly fair to me as long as they do not change their MRC without notification.

That is the point, they dont notify you - you ALWAYS have to check their website for updates - should not have to do this. They should PUSH the updates to you by whatever means you want - most ppls would prob choose email.

And what funny - we are now on 4 pages of this thread - and not ONE comment or response from voicepulse.

I can tell you right now, personally for my business and work, we will continue to use them, but for inbound DID only; outbound will be a different provider.

 

[MyKroFt]

You expect a serious answer to a non realistic situation?

I currently have 6 trunks that are active and ready to use at any time at my disposal.

Broadvoice, Viatalk, Voicepulse, Vitelity, GizmoProject, Voicetrading (betamax)

None of these companies send notifications of any sort. betamax actually sends emails when rates are lower, but they play their own rates game which is well understood by the voip community (perhaps they are not such a good example)

Guess I expect more then, I expect to be treated the EXACT same way I treat my customers...... everything open and upfront before any changes are made. Been doing that for over 10 years now.

 

[kieranmullen]

See my post above. I have several providers that are well known. None of which notify you of changes.

Which ones do?

I do not expect many if any do. I expect many do notify of MRC changes.

Voicepulse does not spend its time on forums. I filed a ticket about this issue last night and got a call this morning. Id did not request a call but they called me anyway. Although a tech person called me back, he did say that if one could negotiate a lower rate with the sales department. However I suspect that it may only apply to less that 1% of the people taking the time to post on this thread.



KM

That is the point, they dont notify you - you ALWAYS have to check their website for updates - should not have to do this. They should PUSH the updates to you by whatever means you want - most ppls would prob choose email.

And what funny - we are now on 4 pages of this thread - and not ONE comment or response from voicepulse.

I can tell you right now, personally for my business and work, we will continue to use them, but for inbound DID only; outbound will be a different provider.

 

[kieranmullen]

They made the changes about 1 week before they were implemented. (cant confirm this personally but i have read it from others) Since we are all geeks there are various plugins for firefox which can monitor page changes.

Guess I expect more then, I expect to be treated the EXACT same way I treat my customers...... everything open and upfront before any changes are made. Been doing that for over 10 years now.

 

[SpaethCo]

I currently have 6 trunks that are active and ready to use at any time at my disposal.

Broadvoice, Viatalk, Voicepulse, Vitelity, GizmoProject, Voicetrading (betamax)

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:

They made the changes about 1 week before they were implemented. (cant confirm this personally but i have read it from others) Since we are all geeks there are various plugins for firefox which can monitor page changes.

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.