What's the cheapest VOIP way to get an 'incoming' number?  I.e. I want
people to be able to call, for example, 01473 123456 and I get the
call on my VOIP phone.

One of the cheapest ways would seem to be voip.co.uk where you get a
geographical number when you sign up and the only requirement is that
you purchase £10 calling credit which you don't actually have to
spend.

Even better, maybe, is sipgate.co.uk where you seem to get a
geographical number when you sign up and you don't have to spend
anything at all.  Have I got this right, will I really get a free
incoming number with Sipgate?


--
Chris Green

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On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:14:58 +0000 (UTC), usenet@isbd.co.uk wrote:

>Have I got this right, will I really get a free
>incoming number with Sipgate?

Yes, but if you want to make outgoing calls to POTS numbers, you will
have to pay call charges.

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<hairydog@despammed.com> wrote in message
 news:t5k1t1luo91i284bmfhkdo3giokqsvnlja@
4ax.com
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:14:58 +0000 (UTC),
> usenet@isbd.co.uk wrote:
> 
>
> Yes, but if you want to make outgoing calls to POTS
> numbers, you will have to pay call charges.

Which are reasonable enough, considering there is no ongoing monthly
charge.

Ivor

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:14:58 +0000 (UTC), usenet@isbd.co.uk wrote:

>What's the cheapest VOIP way to get an 'incoming' number?  I.e. I want
>people to be able to call, for example, 01473 123456 and I get the
>call on my VOIP phone.
>
>One of the cheapest ways would seem to be voip.co.uk where you get a
>geographical number when you sign up and the only requirement is that
>you purchase £10 calling credit which you don't actually have to
>spend.
>
>Even better, maybe, is sipgate.co.uk where you seem to get a
>geographical number when you sign up and you don't have to spend
>anything at all.  Have I got this right, will I really get a free
>incoming number with Sipgate?
Yes is the short answer. However, would you have cheapness as your
main criteria if you were fitting some tyres to your car? Do I hear -
"Ah well they would have to be safe!"?
Why not search on google groups and see what people think of Sipgate
and not just take notice of replies to this posting.
Sipgate does have some advantages over other operators, but you would
be best to  form your own opinion, on reliability, based on a google
groups search.
The voicemail on Sipgate is basic, as is the one on voip.co.uk. On
balance, I think that the Sipgate one is better because the one on
voip.co.uk deletes messages as soon as they have been heard - no good
if you want to note down a telephone number etc.
For a good voicemail go for voipfone.co.uk. They are quite reliable
too but do charge for a geographic number.

Summary (my opinion based on my personal experience):
1. voip.co.uk - Reliable. The best UK tariff. Currently only basic
voicemail. £2/month or £20/year. One off charge fof £2 for additional
numbers.
2. Sipgate - Not so reliable. Basic but adequate voicemail. Free
number.
3. voipfone.co.uk - Reliable. Monthly charges. Good, polished,
voicemail.  Other good facilities available.

Personally I'd go for voip.co.uk and you'll get a good tariff thrown
in as well.  Until they get round to improve on the voicemail, if
ever, you could use an answering machine.



Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.

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hairydog@despammed.com wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:14:58 +0000 (UTC), usenet@isbd.co.uk wrote:
> 
>
> Yes, but if you want to make outgoing calls to POTS numbers, you will
> have to pay call charges.

That's generally true with all the VOIP providers isn't it?  I know
there are some offering free calls of up to a minute but that's
hardly worth the hassle really.

--
Chris Green

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

In message of Fri, 20 Jan 2006, Brian A writes
>1. voip.co.uk - Reliable. The best UK tariff. Currently only basic
>voicemail. £2/month or £20/year. One off charge fof £2 for additional
>numbers.

For this additional number, is it on the same account/registration? And
if so how do you know which number has been called.

If not then I assume it is a separate registration, in which case an ATA
will be required than can deal with more than one registration for
incoming calls.

Anyone use this facility on voip.co.uk ?

David

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

In message of Fri, 20 Jan 2006,  writes
>hairydog@despammed.com wrote: 
>
>That's generally true with all the VOIP providers isn't it?

SIPDiscount has unlimited free calls if you deposit 5Euro

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Brian A <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:14:58 +0000 (UTC), usenet@isbd.co.uk wrote:
> 
> Yes is the short answer. However, would you have cheapness as your
> main criteria if you were fitting some tyres to your car? Do I hear -
> "Ah well they would have to be safe!"?

But safety isn't a criteriON in this case, it's not dangerous for me
(or anyone else) if it doesn't work, it's just a (very) minor
inconvenience.

> Why not search on google groups and see what people think of Sipgate
> and not just take notice of replies to this posting.
> Sipgate does have some advantages over other operators, but you would
> be best to  form your own opinion, on reliability, based on a google
> groups search.

Yes, I have been pottering around the newsgroups and looking on
Google, the question here was just another string to my bow.


> The voicemail on Sipgate is basic, as is the one on voip.co.uk. On
> balance, I think that the Sipgate one is better because the one on
> voip.co.uk deletes messages as soon as they have been heard - no good
> if you want to note down a telephone number etc.
> For a good voicemail go for voipfone.co.uk. They are quite reliable
> too but do charge for a geographic number.
>
Voicemail really isn't an issue for our use of this number.


> Summary (my opinion based on my personal experience):
> 1. voip.co.uk - Reliable. The best UK tariff. Currently only basic
> voicemail. £2/month or £20/year. One off charge fof £2 for additional
> numbers.
> 2. Sipgate - Not so reliable. Basic but adequate voicemail. Free
> number.
> 3. voipfone.co.uk - Reliable. Monthly charges. Good, polished,
> voicemail.  Other good facilities available.
>
> Personally I'd go for voip.co.uk and you'll get a good tariff thrown
> in as well.  Until they get round to improve on the voicemail, if
> ever, you could use an answering machine.
>
Thanks for the information/opinions.

--
Chris Green

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:14:58 +0000 (UTC), usenet@isbd.co.uk wrote:


>  Have I got this right, will I really get a free
>incoming number with Sipgate?
Until such time has the service goes down or they buzz off for a
holiday and leave the service to look after itself for long weekends
which used to happen quite often at one time .

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On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 12:57:13 +0000, David Floyd <david@floyd.org.uk>
wrote:

>In message of Fri, 20 Jan 2006, Brian A writes 
>
>For this additional number, is it on the same account/registration? And
>if so how do you know which number has been called.
>
>If not then I assume it is a separate registration, in which case an ATA
>will be required than can deal with more than one registration for
>incoming calls.
>
>Anyone use this facility on voip.co.uk ?
>
You can have more than one number per account.

I have the 2 port ATA, and the user account page shows both ports of
the ATA. You can assign a number to each port separately, presumably
you could use more than one ATA and assign the numbers in a similar
way.

If ny account would accept incoming calls I would try it, but there
doesn't seem much point at the moment.

Bill

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