Tag Archive for voip industry

VoIP Review: MagicJack – Skype – Vonage

March 18, 2010 VoIP Review, VoIp Review: Magic Jack, VoIP Review: Skype, VoIp Review: Vonage No comments

This post will share a VoIP review of three different companies rates. A long time fixture of the VoIP industry, Vonage provides various services for various rates, some of which vary in cost over time. Rates for Vonage start at $17.99 monthly, and can go as high as $34.99 a month. Much like Vonage’s status as a fixture of the VoIP industry, Vonage’s prices have remained quite fixed over time, and continue to be competitive in the VoIP industry.

In contrast to Vonage, the MagicJack service which is a relative newcomer to the VoIP industry has proven to be innovative in price and service packaging. With a low cost of $39.95 for both the MagicJack unit and a year of service, and a $19.95 yearly bill, the MagicJack service already beats Vonage hands-down in regard to service price. Adding to MagicJack’s value is the fact that service includes free long distance calling to the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. On top of long distance services provided by MagicJack, the MagicJack service also includes free directory assistance, phone number assignment, call waiting, voicemail, and caller ID.

While MagicJack and Vonage have only long-term service rates, Skype provides service on both a monthly and “Pay-As-You-Go” basis. With rates from 2.1 cents per minute for Pay-As-You-Go, Skype’s short-term benefits are quite apparent. More so, Skype presents itself as quite the competitor in regard to their monthly service plans by providing services starting from $2.95 a month for domestic calling. Along with their domestic (US & Canada) plan, Skype also provides country-selective services at the cost of $5.95 a month.

Skype’s ‘Unlimited Country’ plan allows the user to select a country in which they can make unlimited land-line calls to for the duration of their month subscription. Skype’s third monthly option is the ‘Unlimited World’ plan, at the price of $12.95 a month, Skype provides landline calls to over fourty countries worldwide. Along with the capability of being able to make telephone calls, Skype also provides the capability to make free PC-to-PC calls which also include video services.

Overall, in the competition between VoIP services, Skype provides the most cost-efficient plan without many frills. MagicJack meanwhile provides the most cost-efficient price which also includes a wide range of special services. Vonage, while being a long-time leader in VoIP services has fallen behind with their use of excessive prices, for services which are now common-place and can be delivered at lower rates by their competitors.

VoIP Review: Avaya

March 31, 2009 VoIP Review No comments

You have probably heard of Cisco. They are a leading manufacturer of VoIP products. As VoIP technology becomes more popular, the VoIP industry expands. We can now find many other manufacturers that provide VoIP solutions. Avaya has stepped up and made a big name for itself in the VoIP market. As we take a look at some of the VoIP products they offer, we find out what Avaya brings to the table in this VoIP review.

With tens of thousands of employees, Avaya is not a small company by any means. If you haven’t heard of them, get to know them because as VoIP continues to gain momentum, so will they. Since emerging from Lucent Technologies nearly a decade ago, their headquarters remain in the U.S. although many of their products are made and sold outside the U.S.

While Avaya offers many different products, their VoIP telecommunications equipment has become a big ticket item. The Avaya/Lucent 6408D+ Digital VoIP Phone is a popular model because it has the ability to send and receive VoIP calls while remaining affordable to the average customer. Used Avaya phones (such as this particular model) can be found selling in equal2new condition with a lifetime warranty for under $200. While sporting most of the ordinary call features that standard phones offer, the 6408D+ has 8 programmable call feature buttons. You can page an entire group of people from this phone so messages can be heard by everyone at the same time. The user can route a second call through while remaining on the first call. The built-in 2 way speakerphone provides hands free calling capabilities. The LCD screen makes it easy to identify incoming and outgoing caller information. Other soft keys provide access to more calling features. For just over $200 you can upgrade to the Avaya/Lucent 8401D Digital VoIP phone which provides a few more technology features and programmable options.

While offering simple VoIP handsets, Avaya also offers state of the art technology to meet the growing demands of enterprise class businesses. Operating faster, and more efficiently, the Avaya S8730 Media Server utilizes a more powerful processor and boasts greater storage capacity. It can support up to 36,000 stations, 44,000 ports, 16,000 IP endpoints and 8,000 trunks. Avaya offers the server in two configurations which alters the distance two of the servers can be placed away from each other as well as how many on peak calls they can handle.