I signed up for the “iTalk”:http://www.italk.co.nz (internet telephone) service with “Slingshot”:http://www.slingshot.co.nz about a month ago. Here are my impressions after a month of using the service.
h3. Signup and Setup
This is probably the worst part of the “iTalk”:http://www.iTalk.co.nz experience. If you can get over this hurdle, then it’s pretty much plain sailing. The problems I experienced were:
* Unsupported hardware – I was using a Netgear VOIP box, and iTalk only support their own hardware. The forums are a good resource, but it’s pretty much a DIY approach. If you’re non-technical and you don’t have any technical friends, then I’d suggest only using supported hardware.
* Username and password issues – these are generated and then displayed on the setup webpages. They don’t email them to you automatically. Fortunately I have the foresight to have the webpage as a PDF and email it to my gmail account for permanent storage. otherwise you’ll need to call their support people of assistance.
* Customer support – you have to wait on hold forever, and the machine keeps telling you they value you call – yeah right. When you finally get through, they’re nice people and seem to know what they’re doing.
h3. Reliability
When we first started using the service, we had a few issues with calls not coming through. But those problems only lasted a few days and everything came right.
A month down the track, and the reliability seems great. Better than a mobile phone, but not quite as good as Telecom.
I’m using a answer machine at home, but I have heard their voicemail is unreliable.
h3. Call Quality
Fine. You get the odd echo every now and again, but it’s hardly noticeable. We used the service for two weeks before we told anyone we were using an Internet phone – no one had noticed.
Also, you get free caller ID.
h3. The Bill
What can I say – it’s great value. At $10 a month plus 5c a minute calling 24×7 it’s awesome. Mobile calls for 30c a minute – that’s less than half of what I was paying Telecom.
And… the format of the bill is incredible. They:
* itemise all calls, even local ones.
* give you the name of the person you called – WOW!
* date, time etc
* city called
and it’s all categorised into local, national, international and mobile sections. Great work Slingshot!
h3. The Outcome
I’m going to call up Telecom tomorrow to say bye bye. The cable will be snipped. I’ve waited a long time to do this. No longer will we be paying the $40 tax each month.
h3. My Advice
If you interested in this kind of thing, I’d suggest following this process:
# Sign up with iTalk but just get the softphone option
# Get that going first
# Try it out – if you’re happy with it, then buy a “VOIP adapter”:http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/en/product/XH9440 for your regular phone
# Call Telecom and ask for their Call Diversion service
# Divert your Telecom number to your new iTalk phone number
# Start using your iTalk phone only. Unplug your Telecom phone
# Don’t tell anyone about this for two weeks or so, and see if anyone notices
# After the two week period, start telling people
# When you get your first bill from Slingshot, start telling all your friends about your new number
# Give it a week or so, and the give the Telecom number the chop
I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Thanks a good article.I dropped Telecom a few months ago and couldn’t be happier. I went with http://www.bbpglobal.com/nz for incoming(via the Wellington local access#) and outgoing calls. So far no problems. If you are in a Telstra cable area it really does save you heaps of cash.
I tried the bbpglobal service too, but the quality unacceptable. Also, you didn’t get the free local calling.
Wish I could give Telecom the finger, but they still tax us $40 per month to get ADSL. Bring on Naked DSL, and I’ll be getting italk straight away.
You’re right – unfortunately most New Zealanders are unable to get their broadband without a phone line.
I’m in the fortunate position of using a shared Internet connection with 6 other houses in my suburb. It means that I’m getting 10 mbps / 6 GB Internet and a phone line for less than $25 per month.
I got my talkbox and softphone 2 days ago. Still having problems even connecting – let alone making calls. Slingshot were a little help… but it got beyond them too. They told me they would have italk ring me and offer assistance. That was the Friday morning: 4 hours later and still no call. Back on the ph to SS (Slingshot, not the other SS) and was told there are only 2 blokes on Help there. OK. At 8 that night I rang again only to be told they only work “office hours” – which does not seem kosher to me. Wait again tomorrow (Mon). Then maybe I will find out how good it all is.