Halea
Well-Known Member
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- Aug 12, 2016
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I've tried out the following wholesale voip providers for the functionality mentioned next to their respective names and wrote my impressions below.
I want to pick only one of the group for both origination and termination, unless one particular provider is notoriously more suitable for origination I would then split origination and termination between two providers.
I would appreciate it if you could share the outcome of your experience. And if there are other/better alternatives please mention it too.
I am looking for under a quarter per DID recurring monthly fee, fraction of a penny per minute origination and termination cost, and very low cost porting fee - if any.
#1 - bulkvs (tried origination, termination) : VERY BEST PROVIDER FOR USA DIDs AND TERMINATION
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Both work well.
origination : good quality, attractive pricing
termination : good quality, attractive pricing
web portal : delayed CDR, average website with missing functionality, YET VERY DEPENDABLE.
outbound callerid :restricted to DID if using userid/password reg. Fully settable if using SIP URL forwarding.
Number porting :Didn't try. Headache free porting from uncommon source in 7 days sharp. DIDs carried by bandwidth.com.
Support : Very responsive, OUTSTANDING SERVICE.
International calling : No. North America calling only.
Anyone has any info about how long this provider has been around? (At least since 2015 based on various forum feedback)
No more worries about this vendor's business acumen and longevity based on ver positive actual experience over the last 6 months.
Prepayment deposit: Minimum $25 with PayPal. No cuts or additional processing fee on deposits.
Incoming call CNAM fees: $0.0020 on all incoming calls - mandatory
#2 - Call With Us : VERY GOOD TERMINATION PROVIDER FOR USA AND INTERNATIONAL - OUR GOLD STANDARD FOR INTERNATIONAL CALLS
#3 - Localphone : Very good termination provider for EU if accurate caller id is not a requirement
#4 - Signal Wire : Stunning termination quality in the USA
#5 - Nexmo (tried origination, termination)
This is actually a voip development platform much like Twillio and Signal Wire. It was acquired by Vonage which had been re-engineering its voip business for some time now.
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Both work well.
origination : Good quality AND very competitive monthly flat rate. But, no per minute pricing.
termination : Good quality, but not attractively priced.
web portal : Development platform, not very easy to use.
outbound callerid : CID only settable to verified phone numbers.
Number porting : Didn't try.
Support : Very good, very knowledgeable but a little slow to act on new tickets.
International calling : Works well, although rates are not attractive.
Overall impression: Very positive for quick voip/sip/sms application prototyping.
Warning: EU based business, only accepts Euros for payment (Not really an issue with PayPal except for the exorbitant fees) and keeps records in EU. Record-keeping in EU might have ramifications on privacy rules and regulatory compliance which need to be clarified. Vonage says that it is in process of moving business to the USA, but actual workers at Nexmo could not confirm such move was imminent.
#6 - Twillio : Good platform for development, but it has fierce competition
#7 - Telecoms Xchange (tried origination, termination) : Worth having it around
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Only SIP URL forwarding
origination : Good quality but not very attractively priced. Only 1 DID provider but top tier.
termination : Good quality, attractive pricing - depends on actual underlying carrier.
web portal : Quite good and functional but with broken/missing features.
outbound callerid : Fully settable
Number porting : Didn't try.
Support : Didn't try
International calling : Excellent routes to Canada, France and some EU countries.
Challenge: As many trunks are country or region specific management with static settings like with FreePBX/Asterisk is a significant challenge. In addition, quick pace rate adjustments by the carriers make things even more time consuming.
Overall impression: Not as attractive as it was once touted by WM, it certainly doesn't have near 300 carriers. But, one could hand pick half a dozen that work well, especially for international calling and use them with relative satisfaction. Service is reasonably good. The owner/operator is responsive and friendly.
#8 - IP Communications : Does not really stand out except for its free DIDs (which may suddenly disappear)
#9 - anveodirect (tried origination, termination) : Does not stand out
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Only SIP URL forwarding
origination : good quality, attractive pricing
termination : good quality, attractive pricing
web portal : Quite good and very functional
outbound callerid : Fully settable
Number porting : Didn't try, way too expensive
Support : Didn't try
International calling : Didn't try
#10 - v1voip / now 'call48' (tried origination, termination) : Overall impression:Good for termination/outbound calls. No longer using this provider
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Both work well.
origination : good quality, attractive pricing
termination :good quality, attractive pricing. Random sound quality issues made their trunks unusable.
web portal : quasi real-time CDR, unpolished/unfinished website offers miserable user experience.
outbound callerid :restricted to DID if using userid/password reg. Fully settable if using SIP URL forwarding.
Number porting : Not good
Support :Not good. Bad!
International calling : Only with the right "product" on the right switch. Support needs to be involved to make it work, but it actually never worked!
Prepayment deposit: Minimum $20 with PayPal. 3.5% of deposit amount charged as processing fee.
Incoming call CNAM fees: $0.0029 on all incoming calls - mandatory
Thanks for your input.
Edit :
1) Updated some of the findings. Added international calling info.
2) 11/01: Added prepayment deposit requirements and ancillary fees like CNAM. Also updated number porting feedback and impressions.
3) 04/30/2020: Updated impressions of v1voip (now call48), bulkvs and added Telecoms Xchange and Nexmo. New ranking scheme (best on top of the list, worst at the end) with a few more providers and our overall opinion of them.
I want to pick only one of the group for both origination and termination, unless one particular provider is notoriously more suitable for origination I would then split origination and termination between two providers.
I would appreciate it if you could share the outcome of your experience. And if there are other/better alternatives please mention it too.
I am looking for under a quarter per DID recurring monthly fee, fraction of a penny per minute origination and termination cost, and very low cost porting fee - if any.
#1 - bulkvs (tried origination, termination) : VERY BEST PROVIDER FOR USA DIDs AND TERMINATION
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Both work well.
origination : good quality, attractive pricing
termination : good quality, attractive pricing
web portal : delayed CDR, average website with missing functionality, YET VERY DEPENDABLE.
outbound callerid :
Number porting :
Support : Very responsive, OUTSTANDING SERVICE.
International calling : No. North America calling only.
No more worries about this vendor's business acumen and longevity based on ver positive actual experience over the last 6 months.
Prepayment deposit: Minimum $25 with PayPal. No cuts or additional processing fee on deposits.
Incoming call CNAM fees: $0.0020 on all incoming calls - mandatory
#2 - Call With Us : VERY GOOD TERMINATION PROVIDER FOR USA AND INTERNATIONAL - OUR GOLD STANDARD FOR INTERNATIONAL CALLS
#3 - Localphone : Very good termination provider for EU if accurate caller id is not a requirement
#4 - Signal Wire : Stunning termination quality in the USA
#5 - Nexmo (tried origination, termination)
This is actually a voip development platform much like Twillio and Signal Wire. It was acquired by Vonage which had been re-engineering its voip business for some time now.
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Both work well.
origination : Good quality AND very competitive monthly flat rate. But, no per minute pricing.
termination : Good quality, but not attractively priced.
web portal : Development platform, not very easy to use.
outbound callerid : CID only settable to verified phone numbers.
Number porting : Didn't try.
Support : Very good, very knowledgeable but a little slow to act on new tickets.
International calling : Works well, although rates are not attractive.
Overall impression: Very positive for quick voip/sip/sms application prototyping.
Warning: EU based business, only accepts Euros for payment (Not really an issue with PayPal except for the exorbitant fees) and keeps records in EU. Record-keeping in EU might have ramifications on privacy rules and regulatory compliance which need to be clarified. Vonage says that it is in process of moving business to the USA, but actual workers at Nexmo could not confirm such move was imminent.
#6 - Twillio : Good platform for development, but it has fierce competition
#7 - Telecoms Xchange (tried origination, termination) : Worth having it around
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Only SIP URL forwarding
origination : Good quality but not very attractively priced. Only 1 DID provider but top tier.
termination : Good quality, attractive pricing - depends on actual underlying carrier.
web portal : Quite good and functional but with broken/missing features.
outbound callerid : Fully settable
Number porting : Didn't try.
Support : Didn't try
International calling : Excellent routes to Canada, France and some EU countries.
Challenge: As many trunks are country or region specific management with static settings like with FreePBX/Asterisk is a significant challenge. In addition, quick pace rate adjustments by the carriers make things even more time consuming.
Overall impression: Not as attractive as it was once touted by WM, it certainly doesn't have near 300 carriers. But, one could hand pick half a dozen that work well, especially for international calling and use them with relative satisfaction. Service is reasonably good. The owner/operator is responsive and friendly.
#8 - IP Communications : Does not really stand out except for its free DIDs (which may suddenly disappear)
#9 - anveodirect (tried origination, termination) : Does not stand out
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Only SIP URL forwarding
origination : good quality, attractive pricing
termination : good quality, attractive pricing
web portal : Quite good and very functional
outbound callerid : Fully settable
Number porting : Didn't try, way too expensive
Support : Didn't try
International calling : Didn't try
#10 - v1voip / now 'call48' (tried origination, termination) : Overall impression:
SIP URL forwarding and/or userid password registration : Both work well.
origination : good quality, attractive pricing
termination :
web portal : quasi real-time CDR, unpolished/unfinished website offers miserable user experience.
outbound callerid :
Number porting : Not good
Support :
International calling : Only with the right "product" on the right switch. Support needs to be involved to make it work, but it actually never worked!
Prepayment deposit: Minimum $20 with PayPal. 3.5% of deposit amount charged as processing fee.
Incoming call CNAM fees: $0.0029 on all incoming calls - mandatory
Thanks for your input.
Edit :
1) Updated some of the findings. Added international calling info.
2) 11/01: Added prepayment deposit requirements and ancillary fees like CNAM. Also updated number porting feedback and impressions.
3) 04/30/2020: Updated impressions of v1voip (now call48), bulkvs and added Telecoms Xchange and Nexmo. New ranking scheme (best on top of the list, worst at the end) with a few more providers and our overall opinion of them.
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