Vodafone moving me to VOIP

Sam Russell

Got a letter from Vodafone saying they are transferring me to VOIP from POTS.

They say I can elect to stay on POTS but should I?

Is VOIP as good in voice quality, latency, reliability, etc.?

Are there disadvantages with VOIP?

Johnboy1951

If you lose power in the home you can still make a call using POTS line.
VOIP depends on internet connection, and thus the modem needs to be powered.

I doubt I would use Vodafone's own offering if I was to use VOIP because there are many providers out there who are so much cheaper per call it is difficult to believe.

If your broadband connection is good ..... there are tests you can run on line which report latency, dropped packets etc for VOIP ..... then VOIP can provide a much better sound quality than POTS.

Regarding reliability ..... how reliable is your broadband when compared to your POTS phone?
People's experience in this regard will vary

Sam Russell

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

If you lose power in the home you can still make a call using POTS line.
VOIP depends on internet connection, and thus the modem needs to be powered.

I had not thought of that - very valid point.

I doubt I would use Vodafone's own offering if I was to use VOIP because there are many providers out there who are so much cheaper per call it is difficult to believe.

The phone calls are bundled with broadband and I very rarely exceed the bundle.

If your broadband connection is good ..... there are tests you can run on line which report latency, dropped packets etc for VOIP ..... then VOIP can provide a much better sound quality than POTS.

Regarding reliability ..... how reliable is your broadband when compared to your POTS phone?
People's experience in this regard will vary

If I go VOIP, will everything work the same?

I have a DECT phone with a POTS as stand-by. I do not use call waiting or voicemail. I do not use call forwarding, although they are offering that as part of the change-over (but at what cost - I assume for free to a Vodafone mobile).

The broadband has held up very well - I have fibre at 50 megs but it could go upto 60 megs but have not bothered changing. The Luddite in me says stay with POTS - not sure.

Johnboy1951

The only real reason for not going with it would be emergency calling in the event of a power loss, which, if you have a mobile, is probably not a great concern.

Other than that it will probably work just as well and possibly better than the POTS line.

I have had DECT phones using VOIP for a long time ..... on a 'up to' 5Mb/s connection, so the speed of your broadband is not an issue.

I expect if it is an offering from your ISP then they will ensure that it works properly

WHEN (if?) I ever get a 'proper' (fibre) broadband connection the first thing I will do is get rid of the POTS line

Sam Russell

Will the POTS phone work on the VOIP connection?

Johnboy1951

Sam Russell wrote: »

Will the POTS phone work on the VOIP connection?

You mean the actual physical phone device?

There should be a connection on the modem for a phone ..... else they will replace the modem for one with such a connection I expect. I don't have an account with Vodafone so not certain what they do.

I have a router with two such connections .... a Draytek I bought many years ago.

Gmaximum

One other consideration is if you have a monitored alarm, your provider will have to change how they do the monitoring if its currently done over the PSTN

Sam Russell

There is a [Phone1] and a [Phone2] connection on the back. These are VOIP connections.

Will I get two lines? Now there is an incentive if I did. It would be nice if they included (076) xxxxx numbers in my bundle since these are VOIP numbers.

There is also a RJ45 Gigabit connection - not sure when that will be enabled - probably part of FTTH.

I will have to get onto them.

Johnboy1951

Sam Russell wrote: »

There is a [Phone1] and a [Phone2] connection on the back. These are VOIP connections.

Will I get two lines? Now there is an incentive if I did. It would be nice if they included (076) xxxxx numbers in my bundle since these are VOIP numbers.

There is also a RJ45 Gigabit connection - not sure when that will be enabled - probably part of FTTH.

I will have to get onto them.

I have no idea what Vodafone offer, but it is not uncommon to have the capability of two calls on a VOIP service.
076 xxxxx numbers are a disgrace IMO.
What I have done is use the equivalent sip:user@whatever.isp connection which I can reach without cost from one of my VOIP accounts - regarded as VOIP to VOIP direct call. (each 076 number will have such a sip: URI)
Some ISPs don't allow this, so have no idea whether Vodafone do or not.
I set such 'numbers' up in my quick dial listing.

Anything specific to the Vodafone device I cannot comment on, sorry

Sam Russell

Thanks for the information. I will get onto Vodafone when I have a few hours spare.

ED E

They have two ATAs but by default you'll only get one number.

You can wire an normal handset into the back of the modem, and if you wanted to you could split the extensions from the DSL line at the master socket and have them become live on the VOIP connection. Most houses are covered just fine by cordless handsets though.


The power outage thing is an issue but really only for rural dwellers where mobile coverage is unreliable or non existent. The chances of the power going out and you losing your local mast off its telecomms batteries are quite quite low.

swoofer

what happens if VF router is in bridge mode and will the existing telephone connector fit into modem?
I use a dect phone with 4 extensions I take it that will work as well!!

Also if I have a fax machine how do I send a fax? Is it just a case of swopping cable like I do now?

And finally will the cost go down?

Sam Russell

swoofer wrote: »

what happens if VF router is in bridge mode and will the existing telephone connector fit into modem?
I use a dect phone with 4 extensions I take it that will work as well!!

Also if I have a fax machine how do I send a fax? Is it just a case of swopping cable like I do now?

And finally will the cost go down?

I would be most surprised if it did - Vodafone are not known for reducing prices.

As for your other questions - I do not know.

They did ask if I had a fax machine so that might be relevant.

ED E

swoofer wrote: »

what happens if VF router is in bridge mode and will the existing telephone connector fit into modem?
I use a dect phone with 4 extensions I take it that will work as well!!

Also if I have a fax machine how do I send a fax? Is it just a case of swopping cable like I do now?

And finally will the cost go down?

Bridge mode: It could in theory, but I suspect in practice it wont as its virtually unbundled. Vodafone L2 should be able to tell you.

Same RJ11s
Dect handset is fine
Fax is not something Ive ever verified with VOIP but theres no reason why not. Get a Y splitter to connect it to the line.

Costs will be the same, Id put money on it.

Sam Russell

ED E wrote: »

Costs will be the same, Id put money on it.

.... at least the same.

Johnboy1951

swoofer wrote: »

what happens if VF router is in bridge mode and will the existing telephone connector fit into modem?
I use a dect phone with 4 extensions I take it that will work as well!!

Also if I have a fax machine how do I send a fax? Is it just a case of swopping cable like I do now?

And finally will the cost go down?

This might provide some background info on the Fax over VOIP requirements.

http://www.voipmechanic.com/faxingissuesandotherdevices.htm

Sam Russell

Thanks for that. It explains a lot. I have a fax machine that I have not used in years and am unlikely to use again so I might as well get rid of it.

Still not decided whether to go VOIP - it would make a difference if there was an incentive like 076 xxxxx calls were to be included with my call package (which should be the case anyway).

Kensington

It will give you absolutely no functional difference, you will not get an 076 number.

It is not a VoIP service in the traditional sense like Blueface, Goldfish, IPtelecom, etc.

It's simply a cost saving exercise on Vodafone's behalf - rather than paying OpenEir for both the broadband and POTS element, they pay OpenEir for the broadband element only and then run the VoIP "over the top" themselves.

Means they keep the entire chunk of the POTS revenue rather than having to pay OpenEir for their cut.

my3cents

Is there any improvement (or supposed improvement) for repair times if you keep POTS? With Eir they are supposed to fix phone lines in 2 days or less so I'm wondering if you don't officially have a traditional copper line phone system you can be pushed down the queue when it comes to line repairs?

Johnboy1951

Sam Russell wrote:

Still not decided whether to go VOIP - it would make a difference if there was an incentive like 076 xxxxx calls were to be included with my call package (which should be the case anyway).

There are two aspects I would consider.

1. Whether to go VOIP or stick with POTs

2. If I decide on VOIP then what provider will I choose?

I very much doubt I will take the VOIP phone service from my ISP when I (eventually?) get off the POTs line. From what I have read about their call rates and limited functionality, I would not go that route.
But that is something one must decide for oneself having weighed up the options.
I have been using VOIP to make calls for years, over my 'broadband' on the POTs line. It works out cheaper than any of the 'plans' I can access, and it gives me versatility.

You could always do some trials using VOIP to make calls out, while leaving your POTs line active for incoming calls.
That would at least provide some info that might help with your decision.

domeld

ED E wrote: »

Bridge mode: It could in theory, but I suspect in practice it wont as its virtually unbundled. Vodafone L2 should be able to tell you.

Same RJ11s
Dect handset is fine
Fax is not something Ive ever verified with VOIP but theres no reason why not. Get a Y splitter to connect it to the line.

Costs will be the same, Id put money on it.

Fax over VoIP is working fine with t.38 and g711 (must be very stable internet connection eg. in DC).

Sam Russell

Currently I am on an 18 month contract so cannot change for a while.

However I am paying €55 for fibre and all calls.

If I go fibre only it will cost (at current rates) €40 pm. Can a VOIP contract give me all calls for less than the difference?

ED E

Kensington wrote: »

Means they keep the entire chunk of the POTS revenue rather than having to pay OpenEir for their cut.

Nope, standalone fees have been increased to meet the POTS fees so they only save €1, not much considering the transition and CS costs. They're doing it to sell mobile answering features to their quad play customers down the line would be my bet.

Sam Russell

ED E wrote: »

Nope, standalone fees have been increased to meet the POTS fees so they only save €1, not much considering the transition and CS costs. They're doing it to sell mobile answering features to their quad play customers down the line would be my bet.

So should I elect to remain with POTS?

Kensington

ED E wrote: »

Nope, standalone fees have been increased to meet the POTS fees so they only save €1, not much considering the transition and CS costs. They're doing it to sell mobile answering features to their quad play customers down the line would be my bet.

275,000 customers in 2015 @ €1 = €3mn+ saved per year. That's before additional savings are made by not having to pay openeir for traffic terminated on their network.

Transition costs - NIL.
Vodafone already provide SIP trunking to enterprise customers and OneOffice to SME's. The infrastructure is already there and in place.

Customer service - NIL.
They might get an initial spike in calls as people try to figure out recabling their internal wiring.

Call twinning - already a feature of vodafone but you pay extra for it. If they were using it as a motivation to move to VoIP they'd be using that selling point hard.

It's all about the money...!

ED E

Kensington wrote: »

275,000 customers in 2015 @ €1 = €3mn+ saved per year. That's before additional savings are made by not having to pay openeir for traffic terminated on their network.

Transition costs - NIL.
Vodafone already provide SIP trunking to enterprise customers and OneOffice to SME's. The infrastructure is already there and in place.

Customer service - NIL.
They might get an initial spike in calls as people try to figure out recabling their internal wiring.

Call twinning - already a feature of vodafone but you pay extra for it. If they were using it as a motivation to move to VoIP they'd be using that selling point hard.

It's all about the money...!

Hold your horses there.

Highly doubt they had that much extra SIP capacity lying around, even with failovers and overprovisioning.

Customer service - Paying somewhere between 2-4€ per call answered, moving phones from the existing MDP/Ext to VOIP ATA ports will cause a whole heap of calls, trust me on that one.

Theyre doing this for future sales, not for short term savings.

Kensington

ED E wrote: »

Hold your horses there.

Highly doubt they had that much extra SIP capacity lying around, even with failovers and overprovisioning.

Customer service - Paying somewhere between 2-4€ per call answered, moving phones from the existing MDP/Ext to VOIP ATA ports will cause a whole heap of calls, trust me on that one.

Theyre doing this for future sales, not for short term savings.

Not interested in getting into an argument.

I'm out.

lordluxor

I have been moved to this service but I have encountered some issues. Caller ID no longer works for example and ringer on the phone is lower since the move. So I want to use my own VOIP box (which worked perfectly), to see if I can improve things. I have most of the settings I need but I'm missing the password.

Does anyone know what the password is for the sip account? Thanks in advance...

Edit: thinking about it, the password would have to be unique to each user for security reasons - I will get in touch with Vodafone....

Sam Russell

Have not heard anymore from Vodafone despite them telling me I would be moved in August. Hopefully they have decided to let me be.

Also I note that they are advertising in the UK that they are getting rid of 'line rental' which is, I presume, the logic behind the move to VoIP. {We have a different bill structure to the UK]

brownep

Hi. A week after Christmas my Vodafone modem, for some unknown reason, reset itself and lost all the VOIP settings resulting in no 'phone. I found that without Superuser access I had no way of restoring these, even if I knew what they were, so I called them. I tried to tell the first guy that there were no settings in the modem but he still put me through the hoops checking phone connections etc. He then escalated the issue. In the end it left me without service for 13 days. Having said that the VOIP service is usually perfect quality. I have fibre to the home and pay only €45/mth for 150Mb + all landline calls on a 12 mth contract.