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    Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?

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    sip sip trunk voip pri
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    • wrx7mW
      wrx7m @scottalanmiller
      last edited by

      @scottalanmiller - I can also add TelePacific, now TPX Communications to the list of carriers I would never recommend. We had them for bonded T1s when I first got here, because there was no fiber for miles. We needed more bandwidth and the only option was to go fixed wireless. Ugh. That was a frustrating 3 years.

      I was so happy to get our current ISP, Impulse with a 50/50 dedicated circuit. Now we have a 150/150 dedicated circuit. Finally and ISP that I would recommend.

      We still have TPX for our PRI and some analog fax lines (yeah, I know). I will be happy to get rid of them forever.

      scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @wrx7m
        last edited by

        @wrx7m said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

        @scottalanmiller - I can also add TelePacific, now TPX Communications to the list of carriers I would never recommend. We had them for bonded T1s when I first got here, because there was no fiber for miles. We needed more bandwidth and the only option was to go fixed wireless. Ugh. That was a frustrating 3 years.

        I was so happy to get our current ISP, Impulse with a 50/50 dedicated circuit. Now we have a 150/150 dedicated circuit. Finally and ISP that I would recommend.

        We still have TPX for our PRI and some analog fax lines (yeah, I know). I will be happy to get rid of them forever.

        Pretty much if someone offers a T1, they probably suck.

        Not always, but generally.

        wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • wrx7mW
          wrx7m @scottalanmiller
          last edited by

          @scottalanmiller Yeah, this was 2010 when I started and our building is on the edge of a business park flanked by agriculture

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • anthonyhA
            anthonyh
            last edited by

            I wasn't involved in the vetting of SIP providers, but we use Vodex Communications (based out of SoCal) and have had a great 3 years so far. I can't speak to their pricing or anything as I'm not involved with that, but in terms of service and support they've been top notch.

            wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • jt1001001J
              jt1001001 @EddieJennings
              last edited by

              @eddiejennings We are on Windstream SIP service. AVOID!!!!

              EddieJenningsE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • EddieJenningsE
                EddieJennings @jt1001001
                last edited by

                @jt1001001 said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                @eddiejennings We are on Windstream SIP service. AVOID!!!!

                Ha! ๐Ÿ˜„ That message made my day!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • wrx7mW
                  wrx7m @anthonyh
                  last edited by

                  @anthonyh said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                  I wasn't involved in the vetting of SIP providers, but we use Vodex Communications (based out of SoCal) and have had a great 3 years so far. I can't speak to their pricing or anything as I'm not involved with that, but in terms of service and support they've been top notch.

                  Thanks, I am also in SoCal so I would imagine that they would have decent connectivity here.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • wrx7mW
                    wrx7m
                    last edited by wrx7m

                    I am checking out voip.ms and they have a number portability tester. I tested several and they seem to be OK. What would make the numbers not portable?

                    DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • DashrenderD
                      Dashrender @wrx7m
                      last edited by

                      @wrx7m said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                      I am checking out voip.ms and they have a number portability tester. I tested several and they seem to be OK. What would make the numbers not portable?

                      asshole vendor

                      scottalanmillerS JaredBuschJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • scottalanmillerS
                        scottalanmiller @Dashrender
                        last edited by

                        @dashrender said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                        @wrx7m said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                        I am checking out voip.ms and they have a number portability tester. I tested several and they seem to be OK. What would make the numbers not portable?

                        asshole vendor

                        That pretty much sums it up. It is who currently owns the numbers.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • JaredBuschJ
                          JaredBusch @Dashrender
                          last edited by

                          @dashrender said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                          @wrx7m said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                          I am checking out voip.ms and they have a number portability tester. I tested several and they seem to be OK. What would make the numbers not portable?

                          asshole vendor

                          No, that is not how it works.

                          The carrier holding the existing number has no legal recourse to deny a port.

                          The carrier you are porting to though has to have access to the number. They are not allowed to buy single numbers. Carriers have to buy into porting in blocks. If they have not bought into a rate center where your number belongs, they will not be able to port it.

                          Most VoIP provider buy access to DID from a carrier that already has access and that is how they can get into most rate centers.

                          scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • scottalanmillerS
                            scottalanmiller @JaredBusch
                            last edited by

                            @jaredbusch said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                            @dashrender said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                            @wrx7m said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                            I am checking out voip.ms and they have a number portability tester. I tested several and they seem to be OK. What would make the numbers not portable?

                            asshole vendor

                            No, that is not how it works.

                            The carrier holding the existing number has no legal recourse to deny a port.

                            Actually they do. We have carriers that do just that. Not all numbers are regulated in the US, sadly.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • wrx7mW
                              wrx7m
                              last edited by wrx7m

                              Circling back to this. I saw a thread from @JaredBusch regarding comparisons between legacy and SIP providers that I am going to have to study. Is everyone still recommending voip.ms and Twillio (also Flowroute, Vodex and Inteleeper).

                              We are also looking at moving our call center of about 12-15 reps to a hosted solution, as our new CS manager is not happy with the workgroup functionality in Mitel (ShoreTel) Connect and doesn't seem to liek the upgraded (more expensive) call center package features either.

                              MikeSmithsBrainM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • MikeSmithsBrainM
                                MikeSmithsBrain @wrx7m
                                last edited by

                                @wrx7m Yes, those are good SIP providers but can you describe a little about your call/usage patterns? It will help with which providers I'd recommend.

                                Did you want the call center to be connected to your regular phone system? What workgroup functionality (ideally) is you CS manager looking for?

                                wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • wrx7mW
                                  wrx7m @MikeSmithsBrain
                                  last edited by

                                  @mikesmithsbrain said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                                  @wrx7m Yes, those are good SIP providers but can you describe a little about your call/usage patterns? It will help with which providers I'd recommend.

                                  Did you want the call center to be connected to your regular phone system? What workgroup functionality (ideally) is you CS manager looking for?

                                  We will probably have two solutions. At least, for now; keeping Shoretel on-prem (but migrate to a SIP trunk) for everyone but the call center and have an unknown hosted solution for the call center.

                                  The call center is inbound for tech support and customer service. We don't do any outbound campaigns or transfer many calls from the call center to other internal extensions.

                                  I will be meeting with the CS manager to discuss what she is looking for. She has told me that she has been looking at Nice-InContact, Mitelโ€™s MiCC Flex, and then zentalk.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • anthonyhA
                                    anthonyh
                                    last edited by

                                    I've been playing around hard with my home lab Asterisk build the past few months and have been testing various SIP trunk providers. My preferred provider is Flowroute with VoIP.ms coming in as a close second.

                                    What I like about Flowroute is that they pass you the media stream from the media gateway that is terminating the call. So, in theory, you have the most direct audio path possible. In my testing, this seems to be true. When comparing latency with Flowroute vs VoIP.ms. In most cases Flowroute's latency is lower. In cases where it's not lower, it's unnoticeable equal to VoIP.ms (to my ear at any rate).

                                    Pricing wise they are pretty similar. Flowroute is slightly cheaper outbound, but their inbound rate and monthly DID rates are higher (not by much, but depending on your usage could be exponential). Also, VoIP.ms has a lot more rate centers to choose from when buying DIDs via the web portal. Flowroute's can be limited depending on the NPA you desire, but I haven't reached out to their support (which is really good, as is VoIP.ms') to see if you can request rate centers in NPAs not listed on the portal.

                                    I ported my home number to Flowroute and the process went without a hiccup. Was completed on the date and within the time window they provided.

                                    A decent provider to play around with if you want something cheap and/or as backup is DID Logic. Their inbound/outbound rates are around $0.005/min and the cal quality/latency is good. However establishing an account is tough as they have this "anti fraud" process you have to hoop through.

                                    wrx7mW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • wrx7mW
                                      wrx7m @anthonyh
                                      last edited by

                                      @anthonyh I appreciate the detailed information.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • StrongBadS
                                        StrongBad
                                        last edited by

                                        How many people are using Twilio? They are getting a lot more attention recently.

                                        JaredBuschJ EddieJenningsE FATeknollogeeF 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • JaredBuschJ
                                          JaredBusch @StrongBad
                                          last edited by

                                          @strongbad said in Choosing a SIP Provider - What Should I Look For?:

                                          How many people are using Twilio? They are getting a lot more attention recently.

                                          I'm going to use them for a new DID I need. Probably not until next week.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • scottalanmillerS
                                            scottalanmiller
                                            last edited by

                                            I'm helping @krisleslie put one in today!

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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