[WXC/VFX] WorldxChange VFX VoIP service

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WorldxChange

#50291 30-Oct-2006 15:58

Grant17:
maverick: I like where your coming from

Thanks for your very prompt and detailed answers Maverick, it's great

I would like to have a more reliable alternative to iTalk but this issue of geographical allocation would be a stumbling block for me. Then again, I guess I could sign up using my Auckland property's address and later shift the box wherever I want, couldn't I?

I'm also not quite ready for the idea of surrendering my PAP2T to the control of VFX's provisioning server, but if you give me an assurance that I can revert to my current configuration (with iTalk) in the event that it all turns to custard, I would be prepared to give it a go. Let me know if that's possible.

Cheers,
Grant.

Yes you could, all we need to cover our bases is a correct sign up address intially and our T's and C's place the responsibilty after that on you as the customer to update his address details.

AS for assurance, we are not all evil here honestly , we are just locking the Configs down to hopefully make the MyVFX VOIP experience a good one with all service sworking the way they should do without having to try and second guess what parameters configs people have changing, if people want to leave we will place a blank config with open access back on the device. If people are not comfortable with that then I fully understand that as well

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

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grant_k

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#50293 30-Oct-2006 16:01

GEOMAX:Early days yet but keeping numbers in the correct free calling area is a safe starting point. Cheers,George

Some good points there George, but how are VoIP providers going to police this?

Every time a VoIP customer moves address, they will take all their gear and hook it up to a different physical phone line (or wireless connection), but surely they can still keep their same phone number, otherwise it defeats the new number portability rules which are coming in from April 1 next year?

I guess the onus will then be on the customer to keep their VoIP provider informed of their physical address. If that customer chooses not to do that, then surely it is their choice and nobody can blame the VoIP provider?

It looks like I have opened a whole can of worms here...

maverick

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#50295 30-Oct-2006 16:05

Grant17:
GEOMAX:Early days yet but keeping numbers in the correct free calling area is a safe starting point. Cheers,George

Some good points there George, but how are VoIP providers going to police this?

Every time a VoIP customer moves address, they will take all their gear and hook it up to a different physical phone line (or wireless connection), but surely they can still keep their same phone number, otherwise it defeats the new number portability rules which are coming in from April 1 next year?

I guess the onus will then be on the customer to keep their VoIP provider informed of their physical address. If that customer chooses not to do that, then surely it is their choice and nobody can blame the VoIP provider?

It looks like I have opened a whole can of worms here...

Welcome to my World.....lol....yes this a major concern for all involved but what we have tried to do is that when you sign up you for your MYVFX service have access to your own Web Portal where you can update your address, very simple and very Easy so when you change locations you can update your new address, the responsibility then is on you as the customer so if you dial 111 and they turn up to the wrong address you can't hang me up for not having the right address details

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

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grant_k

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#50298 30-Oct-2006 16:07

maverick: if people want to leave we will place a blank config with open access back on the device. If people are not comfortable with that then I fully understand that as well

Awesome! Thanks Maverick. That's the kind of attitude I like. Not trying to lock me in, I can't ask for more than that.

Will VFX's server download a new firmware version to my PAP2?
Or is it only the settings that change?

Currently my PAP2T is running Software Version 3.1.9(LSc) with Hardware Version 0.1.5.

If you could confirm about the software version change (or NOT) for me, I think I will give it a go. Our Auckland address already uses WorldxChange as their Broadband and Tolls provider, so that should make things easy.

Cheers,
Grant.

maverick

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#50300 30-Oct-2006 16:13

Grant17:
maverick: Faxing I'm afraid is generally better over a traditional TDM network so keeping a Standard line as a Fax line / Disaster Recovery line may genearlly be a good planning idea

I have a completely reliable FoIP setup but it has taken some experimenting to get it working reliably.

Basically:

1) In our Auckland office I have an Internet Telephony Gateway which supports T38 FoIP protocol. It connects to several PSTN lines.

2) At home I have an identical Internet Telephony Gateway which has 4 FXS ports. One of them is connected to my fax machine.

A couple of months ago I did try to send faxes via iTalk and it failed miserably, no matter what Codec I used. I also tried the MySky box via iTalk -- Nah, sorry, didn't work either.

So if you are saying that National faxes could be sent via VFX, that would be of interest. It would save me paying 15c/minute. Instead I would just pay 5c/minute to WorldxChange and faxes to the Auckland area would be free

Feel free to plug your fax in and see how you go with National faxing, I use faxing all the time here in the office off the MyVFX Service with the Wag / SPA's / PAP devices and don't have to many issues, but try it and tell us how you go.

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

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maverick

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#50302 30-Oct-2006 16:20

Grant17:
maverick: if people want to leave we will place a blank config with open access back on the device. If people are not comfortable with that then I fully understand that as well

Awesome! Thanks Maverick. That's the kind of attitude I like. Not trying to lock me in, I can't ask for more than that.

Will VFX's server download a new firmware version to my PAP2?
Or is it only the settings that change?

Currently my PAP2T is running Software Version 3.1.9(LSc) with Hardware Version 0.1.5.

If you could confirm about the software version change (or NOT) for me, I think I will give it a go. Our Auckland address already uses WorldxChange as their Broadband and Tolls provider, so that should make things easy.

Cheers,
Grant.

Yes we do like to upload the Firmware version if it is different to the one we believe works well on the system but you are running the currently supported one so no problem there. Once again feel free to try the service and make comments I myself appreaciate all comments and feedback, any thing that helps us make the service better for everyone has to be a good thing

Regards
Phil Moore

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GEOMAX

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#50309 30-Oct-2006 16:25

Like the mobile problem with prepaid phones....where there's a will there's a way.
PSTN customers dont supply their physical address Telecom provide it and regularly update if from their records.
No doubt you can too. The problem will be the same globally but I am sure some bright Geek will work out how to ping back to the origonator and track out the exceptions. Cheers,George

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coffeebaron

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#50310 30-Oct-2006 16:28

Grant17: I'm also not quite ready for the idea of surrendering my PAP2T to the control of VFX's provisioning server, but if you give me an assurance that I can revert to my current configuration (with iTalk) in the event that it all turns to custard, I would be prepared to give it a go. Let me know if that's possible.

Cheers,
Grant.

You can also factory reset your PAP2T anytime using the built in IVR. Lift handset, dial ****, then 73738# [RESET#], then 1
This allows you to do any trouble shooting, trying other VOIP providers etc etc. Then simply factory reset again, drop the VFX config line back in, and it will reprovision to VFX again.

The support staff (once you get through to the right people) are helpful in adjusting your VFX profile if you have some specific requirements, like having a second VOIP provider, or adjust a few other settings that you may need.

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grant_k

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#50312 30-Oct-2006 16:34

coffeebaron: The support staff (once you get through to the right people) are helpful in adjusting your VFX profile if you have some specific requirements, like having a second VOIP provider, or adjust a few other settings that you may need.

OK, thanks to you both Maverick and Coffeebaron, I really appreciate your help.

I'm going to sign up for VFX definitely on the strength of it.

Now, there's just one thing I need to work out:

==> I need to know what my VFX number will be so I can set up Call Forwarding on my iTalk number before I lose the ability to access it...

That's a bit of a conundrum -- what do you suggest?

maverick

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#50321 30-Oct-2006 17:44

Grant17:
coffeebaron: The support staff (once you get through to the right people) are helpful in adjusting your VFX profile if you have some specific requirements, like having a second VOIP provider, or adjust a few other settings that you may need.

OK, thanks to you both Maverick and Coffeebaron, I really appreciate your help.

I'm going to sign up for VFX definitely on the strength of it.

Now, there's just one thing I need to work out:

==> I need to know what my VFX number will be so I can set up Call Forwarding on my iTalk number before I lose the ability to access it...

That's a bit of a conundrum -- what do you suggest?

What will happen is that once your service is provisioned you will recieve an Email with your details for your Account, when you logon you will be able to see your new number, you can forward off your number then and after that then put in the provisioning link and get the new config

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

coffeebaron

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#50338 30-Oct-2006 19:09

Grant17:
==> I need to know what my VFX number will be so I can set up Call Forwarding on my iTalk number before I lose the ability to access it...

The PAP2T allows you to have two VOIP providers, so when you get your VFX service setup, ask them to leave access open to line 2. This will allow you to configure the line 2 to italk. There still seems to be some issues here though; the VFX setup I think has some global settings that are not entirely compatible with the italk setup. I'm currently working on trying to get a setup that works correctly, a little hard when you can't see the VFX setup.
Will post my findings once I have something that seems to work.

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grant_k

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#50357 30-Oct-2006 21:50

coffeebaron: This will allow you to configure the line 2 to italk. There still seems to be some issues here though; the VFX setup I think has some global settings that are not entirely compatible with the italk setup. I'm currently working on trying to get a setup that works correctly, a little hard when you can't see the VFX setup.
Will post my findings once I have something that seems to work.

After 6 months of banging my head against a brick wall, I've had enough of iTalk. If VFX works as claimed, I won't bother with iTalk again.

These are the issues I've been putting up with for nearly all that time and none of them have been completely sorted. On good days, the service doesn't miss a beat but there are too many bad days where one or more of the following things happen:

1) Incoming callers receive: Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep (number doesn't exist)
2) Incoming callers cannot hear me, even though I can hear them (thanks to Caller ID I can call them back, but I shouldn't have to)
3) Voice Mail doesn't kick in when the phone is not answered (phone keeps ringing forever)

With iTalk it's not possible for customers to set the number of rings for Voice Mail to kick in and the server seems to wait for well over 10 rings before answering, if it bothers to answer at all! By that stage, most people would have hung up.

Outgoing calls have never been a problem, only incoming ones, and Voice Mail.

At one point during the 6 months I have been using iTalk, I was referred me to the lead engineer who was indeed very helpful in answering my questions. He did make some improvement to the service, but the system is still not reliable enough to qualify as a landline replacement for incoming calls.

Many other users are reporting the same problems yet each time the Ops Manager says "it should be sorted now", one of the above 3 glitches seems to reappear within a few hours or days later. I have given a lot of help to other users via iTalk's forum, and have studied the PAP2 Administrator Manual intently, learning a lot about SIP in the process. So it hasn't been a wasted effort by any means.

However, iTalk's forums have now been hijacked by a group of hardcore spammers who seem intent on ruining them for everybody, all the while promoting their various sex videos or other dubious products. I really appreciate the effort put in on GZ by Mauricio and his dedicated team of moderators even though I have been on the wrong end of it once or twice. I have not seen another on-line forum so completely destroyed by spammers but it makes you realise what can happen if any forum is just left unattended on an open slather basis to all comers.

There are various people currently using iTalk who wouldn't be satisfied with VFX (primarily Asterisk users).

But it looks like VFX will do everything I want and if today's responses from Phil Moore are anything to go by, I should be in for a vastly improved experience compared to iTalk. It's a shame that iTalk hasn't delivered on its early promise. Maybe some other users feel differently (I hope so for their sake).

Phil Moore has greatly exceeded my expectations so far with his responsiveness and willingness to answer any questions directed his way. This is a VAST improvement on the support given by iTalk. Have a look through their forums at all the unanswered questions and you will see for yourself.

With any luck I should have VFX up and running tomorrow. I will wait for a few days and post back my experience to the forum so others can judge for themselves. Fingers crossed!

coffeebaron

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#50456 31-Oct-2006 14:19

maverick: Feel free to plug your fax in and see how you go with National faxing, I use faxing all the time here in the office off the MyVFX Service with the Wag / SPA's / PAP devices and don't have to many issues, but try it and tell us how you go.

Initial tests seem to work fine. Tried sending and receiving to Telstra Faxcheck 0508 500499 (test results very good), and to my Vodafone mailbox. (Oops, turn off anonymous call rejection when trying to receive from Vodafone Faxmail). This was on an ADSL 512k up-link connection and QoS router. Will try it on my friends ADSL 128k up & non QoS router next and see what happens.

I do very little faxing myself, so a bit difficult to do comprehensive testing. Would be great to get feedback from anyone else has tried too.

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coffeebaron

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#50465 31-Oct-2006 14:40

Grant17:
After 6 months of banging my head against a brick wall, I've had enough of iTalk. If VFX works as claimed, I won't bother with iTalk again.

These are the issues I've been putting up with for nearly all that time and none of them have been completely sorted. On good days, the service doesn't miss a beat but there are too many bad days where one or more of the following things happen:

1) Incoming callers receive: Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep (number doesn't exist)
2) Incoming callers cannot hear me, even though I can hear them (thanks to Caller ID I can call them back, but I shouldn't have to)
3) Voice Mail doesn't kick in when the phone is not answered (phone keeps ringing forever)

I haven't had too many problems with iTalk, except when using alternative hardware. I guess the same would be with VFX, difference being you can only use approved VFX hardware with VFX. But I do agree the iTalk service has lagged in development, and the Grandstream phone is nothing flash.

Just another thing to keep in mind when trying out VFX and forwarding calls from iTalk. VoIP to VoIP forwarding between different providers can cause some quality issues, so be sure to give out your VFX number to a few friends, that way you'll get a true measure of call quality.

I have noticed that the iTalk service produced slightly better voice quality than VFX, but it is a very marginal difference. It may be more to do with the route via the Internet, or difference in voice codec. I use G711A with iTalk, and I think VFX is G711U.

I think I'm beginning to like VFX!

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maverick

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#50467 31-Oct-2006 14:44

coffeebaron:
maverick: Feel free to plug your fax in and see how you go with National faxing, I use faxing all the time here in the office off the MyVFX Service with the Wag / SPA's / PAP devices and don't have to many issues, but try it and tell us how you go.

Initial tests seem to work fine. Tried sending and receiving to Telstra Faxcheck 0508 500499 (test results very good), and to my Vodafone mailbox. (Oops, turn off anonymous call rejection when trying to receive from Vodafone Faxmail). This was on an ADSL 512k up-link connection and QoS router. Will try it on my friends ADSL 128k up & non QoS router next and see what happens.

I do very little faxing myself, so a bit difficult to do comprehensive testing. Would be great to get feedback from anyone else has tried too.

whewww.......

........lucky for us, but seriously though Fax over IP is very difficult and the hardest thing to do well over IP due to the very nature of timing and negotiation and I know for a fact the some other providers have some major issues that we don't seem to have one of the other reasons we like to keep the configs locked down, we are pretty happy with Faxing at present so any feedback is welcomed reguarding it, however in saying this the PAP2 range of products will not be supported for faxing in the future as they do support T38

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

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