Experiences using VoIP with blueface.ie ???

oceanclub

causal wrote:

I'm with NTL bb (750/128kbps) and am planning on ditching Eircom completely (stop cheering at the back!

I ditched them this morning as well. Oh boy, it felt good. We're using Skype and a Plantronics headset for our limited landline needs these days. Apart from offering an incoming number, what other benefits does BlueFace offer? (Skype plan to offer this soon I believe.)

P.

Rew

oceanclub wrote:

I ditched them this morning as well. Oh boy, it felt good. We're using Skype and a Plantronics headset for our limited landline needs these days. Apart from offering an incoming number, what other benefits does BlueFace offer? (Skype plan to offer this soon I believe.)

P.

Will be intresting to see if Skype offer an irish number.

causal

oceanclub wrote:

I ditched them this morning as well. Oh boy, it felt good. We're using Skype and a Plantronics headset for our limited landline needs these days. Apart from offering an incoming number, what other benefits does BlueFace offer? (Skype plan to offer this soon I believe.)
P.

If you 'subscribe' with blueface then, afaik, the following are blueface advantages over Skype:

You get An Irish 076 number
You get a Dublin geographic number:
- thus people can phone you from their landline/mobile
Ability to phone all other VoIP users free
Ability to dial emergency services in Ireland
Ability to phone numbers like 1800-282820 etc.
If you don't use DSL (or you get lucky with Smart telecom) then you can ditch your phone line rental too.
You can use any VoIP/SIP devices.

If you don't subscribe then the advantages are the VoIP related
Skype doesn't use VoIP

Of course, blueface are an Irish company

hth,
causAl

Blaster99

Skype uses VoIP but it doesn't use SIP. The benefit with SIP is that your options re equipment is endless as it is a standard. Skype needs to do special deals with manufacturers. I use Skype quite a bit and I think it's primarily useful when dealing with people who are also using a computer. It shows online status, does messaging, and generally has a lot slicker interface than a SIP SoftPhone would have. But if you ultimately plan to replace your phone then I would think a SIP-based service makes a lot more sense. And you get a phone number.

oceanclub

Thanks for the info. I may just settle on using Skype for the moment; we only used the landline for the occasional call, and it received less calls than the Carlsberg customer support line. So rather being an early adopter, I think I'll wait and see how this whole VOIP thing pans out.

P.

causal

Blaster99 wrote:

Skype uses VoIP but it doesn't use SIP. .

Agreed that Skype doesn't use SIP.
But afaik VoIP is actually an industry standard, or rather, it encompasses a set of standards - SIP, MGCP, H.323, etc.
And since Skype uses proprietary protocols - it isn't VoIP.

Skype is internet telephony, and although _literally_ it provides Voice over Internet Protocol, it isn't VoIP[tm] compliant.

Have I got it wrong, or can someone clarify?

causAl

MickFarr

oceanclub wrote:

Thanks for the info. I may just settle on using Skype for the moment; we only used the landline for the occasional call, and it received less calls than the Carlsberg customer support line. So rather being an early adopter, I think I'll wait and see how this whole VOIP thing pans out.

P.

That's what I'm going to do for the moment. The UTV talk option has made a big impact on my phone bills so I'm a happy camper at the moment!

Narj

This much... This is the repsonse times from their DNS server - not out to the actual internet beyond. This is via Ballymun node

--- 62.231.23.10 ping statistics ---
24 packets transmitted, 15 packets received, 37.5% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/std-dev = 160.525/195.741/246.142/27.610 ms
theo# traceroute 62.231.32.10
traceroute to 62.231.32.10 (62.231.32.10), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 62.231.57.65 (62.231.57.65) 2.172 ms 6.683 ms 2.411 ms
2 62.231.49.182 (62.231.49.182) 143.529 ms 152.854 ms 140.584 ms
3 tallaght-et-1-7.irishbroadband.ie (62.231.32.145) 163.710 ms 85.166 ms 120.374 ms
4 62.231.52.125 (62.231.52.125) 177.158 ms 111.813 ms *
5 ns1.irishbroadband.ie (62.231.32.10) 190.764 ms 73.493 ms 102.917 ms

Narj

I am still able to use IBB for voice over ip via blueface.ie. I have a 1Mb each way breeze. There is jitter on the call when the response times are as per above but at least it is usable.

jimmycrackcorm

I still think you are effectively paying for line rental with blueface.ie. If you do a comparison with something like UTV talk then I think the VOIP advantage is minimized.

Urban Weigl

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

I still think you are effectively paying for line rental with blueface.ie. If you do a comparison with something like UTV talk then I think the VOIP advantage is minimized.

But only €10-20 a month (depending on whether you take their 500 minutes of included calls a month offer), compared to €25 you would be paying Eircom. Also, UTV charge a lot more for international call. Basically, unless you are spending a huge number of hours making local and national evening calls (hours a night probably), you will save a lot with blueface.

darraghrogan

Am I being totally oblique here but where are the settings on Blueface's site?

Darragh

BigMoose

Mail their support and you'll get a helpful quick response with all you need. The website doesn't have everything but they seem to be improving it every now and then.

Moriarty

Moved over to Nets/Comms.

darraghrogan

BigMoose wrote:

Mail their support and you'll get a helpful quick response with all you need. The website doesn't have everything but they seem to be improving it every now and then.

I guessed blueface.ie and it worked.

Very impressed for a start up company - if they had support pages like voiptalk.org I'd be well impressed.

Anyone know any codes that work with them eg voicemail 171 etc

Darragh

causal

use 303 for the talking clock

darraghrogan

300: Chimps party!
301: Echo Test
303: Speaking Clock

The software running the system seems to be Asterix judging by my voicemail emails...

Darragh