Vonage and Asterisk

[CinVida]

Is it possible to use a vonage account on asterisk?

jeff

 

[CinVida]

Lazy night

I apologies that was laziness... I should of searched googled before asking anything...

 

[wardmundy]

Welcome

No need to apologize. It's a good question. Our primo developer uses Vonage with his Asterisk system "because it works." The simplest way is to buy an SPA-3000. Config instructions are on Nerd Vittles.

 

[vbrief]

If you have a vonage acct you can add the softphone option that allows you to connect via asterisk.

 

[orenyny]

I haver a lot of experience with Vonage. The good news is that they have a very good voice quality. The not so good side of their service is that they are a relatively big company, and getting support from them is a nightmare (Asterisk 1.2 and DTMF issues).
Another thing is the price. They are one of the most expensive in the market.
BEWARE: If you are going to use the softphone as suggested above pay attention that it only gets 500 minutes. If you are using more you will pay a higher rate per minute overage. Your (probably unlimited) plan does NOT count for this. Feel free to send me a PM if you have specific questions. I just want to add that you can use an internal card inside your PIAF machine, it might be cheaper and easier to setup ...
Good Luck,
OY

 

[troycarpenter]

I originally went with Vonage a number of years ago because they were cheaper than my local carrier (BellSouth, now AT&T). When I switched over to VoIP internally, I found that I could use Vonage, but it would require a non-native solution (use an external device to interface the analog signal coming out of the Vonage ATA into Asterisk. Then I found out how much pure open VoIP providers charged.

So I signed up for les.net and VoicePulse (for inbound and output respectively), and ported my number to les.net (after a month trial period). When I called to cancel my Vonage account, they wanted a reason. I told them that I couldn't easily integrate their service into my VoIP setup and that I had outgrown them.

Given the cost savings vs the few problems I've had (measured by complaints from my wife and friends), I'd say it was a sound financial decision.

 

[kenn10]

When I called to cancel my Vonage account, they wanted a reason. I told them that I couldn't easily integrate their service into my VoIP setup and that I had outgrown them.

I had Vonage for 3 years and had no real issues with them. The voice quality was good and the reliability was high. I had both a standard account and a softphone account. The softphone account worked flawlessly with Asterisk but the main account on the terminal adapter caused me grief with Asterisk due to the TDM400 interface. Echo, line stuck, etc.

Before I ditched Vonage, I asked them would they reconsider giving me the credentials for the main line so I could remove the terminal adapter and they would not. I eventually gave up and moved my number to Voicepulse Connect.

Subjectively, the Vonage softphone line had the best voice quality of any of my VOIP providers but I wanted to be totally native SIP on the PBX without the terminal adapters. If Vonage would re-think their policy, they might not lose so many customers and might actually pick up a few new ones.

 

[jeremywillden]

Also migrating away, but they did do a few good things...

I'll echo the same sentiment. I started with 3 vonage lines through a Digium card (and pure VOIP for additional lines), and I've been migrating to pure VOIP trunks over the last several months. I'm about to pull the plug on our last vonage account soon because of their lack of support for devices other than their ATAs
That being said, if you set up a vonage account to forward to another number (for example, one of the unlimited cheap/free incoming DID providers that are available) it will forward multiple simultaneous calls, and your number will never be busy. It was pretty helpful for setting up conferences with many participants, while if I had used the Vonage adapter, I don't think I could have done more than a 3-way call. With that setup, I could place "unlimited" outgoing calls through the one Vonage provided line, while still receiving unlimited *multiple simultaneous* calls in through the same number.
My favorite providers are les.net (incoming), arrivaltel.com (outgoing and incoming), and I think I'll try out voicepulse, given all the good recommendations.

 

[troycarpenter]

I ran that way during the transition from vonage to pure VoIP. Couple of gotchas of which to be aware:

1. Your call is not just forwarded. Just like on Asterisk, the call will come in to their system then sent out another trunk to your system. The packet path can get long and have potential to introduce jitter.

2. Because of #1, if your account is not unlimited you get docked TWICE on your minutes. You get charged for incoming AND outgoing (at least I did). During the transition I switched from unlimited minutes to the 500 minute/month plan...I would have gone over my minutes during the transition period if I wasn't watching my vonage account during that timeframe. Of course, maybe I'm not remembering that correctly now that time has gone by.