2talk vs. VFX/DVX

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Zeon

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#96453 27-Jan-2012 21:18

Hey guys,
I was checking out WxC and their prices and comparing them to 2talk. Now I admit, I have been a loyal WxC customer for years and we spend about $300 a month with them for tolls and 4 DVX simultaneous calls.

But when I compare to 2talk, 5 concurrent calls, huge number of included minutes and their per rate for overseas is like 30% in some cases and all for $35 a month?!

What am I missing, why the disparity? WxC has a really reliable system which is why I like them but the pricing disparity is HUGE. I presume 2talk isn't business grade?

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#574236 27-Jan-2012 21:38

Support and reliability, The support just isn't there - If you have an issue and try to call them they will fob you off as hard as they can to log a ticket in their website, they say the tickets are answered quickly but speaking from experience the first response can be anywhere from 1 day to 1 week and it's normally asking for information you spelled out.

A recent example was a ticket logged about failure of some calls coming from a specific blocked caller ID number to a 2talk number, the response that came back first was "please supply both parties phone numbers" to which i provided blocked ID and xxx-xxxx and they accepted it. Any calling issues you can expect their default response of getting the party calling you or you are calling to log a fault with their carrier. It's extremely common for them to blame their upstream carrier CallPlus for issues. The list goes on and on, Support is something you dont want to have to count on to get the issue fixed quickly or at all.

The platform has had quite a few issues, A while ago their connection to NZ was via APE which they connected to via CallPlus, There were call quality issues at peak time which went on for a while until they got their own connection to APE, We had to counter this by having a direct Ethernet circuit with them in Sky Tower. More recently we found an issue tthat they didn't know about where their DB backup's were stopping calls from working at 3am to 3:03am. If you make alot of International calls then avoid them, I'd had countless issues with them and International calling ranging from calls ringing on our end but not at the remote side (Upstream carrier issue) to calls simply not connecting randomly despite working within seconds on another carrier.

They are cheap for a reason, If you can live with any issues you run into being slow to be dealt with i.e 2talk line as backup only or you dont mind it failing then it's a cheap phone line but if it has to work and be fixed quickly stick to WxC, I've had dealing with them at various points and they have always been on the ball. I have alot of professional respect for WxC but 2talk simply aren't upto scratch when it comes to having a phone line perform the way most Kiwi's expect it to

Most problems are the result of previous solutions...

All comment's I make are my own personal opinion and do not in any way, shape or form reflect the views of current or former employers unless specifically stated

grant_k

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#574237 27-Jan-2012 22:15

^ ^ What Beccara said...

I tried iTalk in the early days for a few months, but quickly gave up on them as the service just wasn't reliable. Sometimes the caller could hear us, but we couldn't hear them, other times the phone wouldn't ring at their end ... the list goes on and on. Support was non-existent or terrible, and at about that time Xnet VFX was launched.

After using VFX as our sole phone provider since 2006, I would never go back to iTalk or 2Talk. In 2009 I did use 2Talk at a different property for a few months, but still wasn't that impressed either with the support or the call quality. VFX leaves it for dead on both counts.

Like many VFX customers, I live in hope that WxC will see fit to reduce the Land-Mobile calling rate which at 28c is way out of whack with what they are paying in termination charges (less than 10c now IIRC). The 5c national rate is still fairly competitive though, so no complaints there.

Basically, I am prepared to pay that bit extra in the knowledge that WxC will be there to help me if I need it. Earlier this month, I changed to a new Cisco router, and they had me up and running inside a couple of minutes, with the auto-provisioning working a treat. Try and get that sort of response from 2Talk and you'll be **** out of luck.

At the end of the day, you pays your money and makes your choice, but I can't speak highly enough of Xnet VFX. I would revert to a traditional landline in preference to using iTalk or 2Talk again.

hads

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#574238 27-Jan-2012 22:20

We have used 2Talk for the last 4 years or so. No major complaints.

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nate

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#574241 27-Jan-2012 22:37

Zeon: I presume 2talk isn't business grade?

Depends who you talk to.

WxC uses Broadsoft as their platform, used world wide by some big carriers.

2Talk uses a custom built platform based on Asterisk.

andrewcnz

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#574295 28-Jan-2012 07:06

Using 2talk for a while and have had no issues. Using the plus service the call quality is quite good. Also it's easy to customize settings via the "live" option on website. But as with most cheap providers customer service is not so good.

Mattnzl

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#574297 28-Jan-2012 07:39

We've used 2talk for many years in two homes & one business. No complaints at all - just works.

We have litteraly saved thousands of dollars over these years.

kfella2000

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#574368 28-Jan-2012 12:13

Have been using 2talk for the last 4 1/2 years now. I started off with VFX and then found 2talk and had them both for a while but then like the OP has found I had to make a choice between the two and in the end 2talk came up on top as far as value for money. I have had no issues with the service. I have also set my parents in Nelson and one of my sons up on 2talk as well. I had to ring 2talk up late last year to do with my parents number port and had no problems getting a CSR Rebecca I think her name was who I found very helpful and a real credit to the 2talk team.

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mtvessel

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#575294 31-Jan-2012 13:28

I have been with 2talk for 3 years now.
They are OK but.... wait until you need support.
There is a number I am trying to call and I get a message telling me to talk to my service providor.
I have had a ticket out with 2talk for 11 days now.
Someone rang me and asked if I would test the number again if they were to ring me back on my cell phone while I was testing the number I have a problem with. That was over a week ago and I haven't heard back.
Yes 2talk are fine if you aren't having a problem but I don't think they are reliable as your main provider.
Seriously, I am thinking about going back to PSTN

Ragnor

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#578844 8-Feb-2012 18:01

Zeon: Hey guys,
I was checking out WxC and their prices and comparing them to 2talk. Now I admit, I have been a loyal WxC customer for years and we spend about $300 a month with them for tolls and 4 DVX simultaneous calls.

At work I've just been given the hospital pass of reviewing what they have in place currently and it's a hideously overpriced mess with multiple analogue lines with different providers, plus a whole lot of old Telstraclear gateway service DDI's that aren't really used as DDI's just extensions.

Q: I presume 2talk has no SLA and is simply best effort? Does DVX have any SLA?

Where is the DVX information gone? I can't find any information about DVX on the Xnet site http://www.xnet.co.nz/ any more (since the redesign) and there is very little information on http://www.wxc.co.nz/

I suppose you have to ring sales and talk to an account manager the old fashioned way?

Phones are pretty mission critical to most businesses if something breaks you really want downtime measured in minutes or hours not days. Good support is probably worth a couple of hundred a month to most small/mid size businesses....

nate

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#578999 8-Feb-2012 22:46

Ragnor: Q: I presume 2talk has no SLA and is simply best effort? Does DVX have any SLA?

Where is the DVX information gone?

No SLA with DVX. You might be able to get one but it'll cost you. I would also think WxC would want to provide the connectivity.

For DVX you need to chat to a dealer, they'll be your liaison for all the WxC products.

hads

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#579005 8-Feb-2012 22:52

Ragnor:Where is the DVX information gone? I can't find any information about DVX on the Xnet site http://www.xnet.co.nz/ any more (since the redesign) and there is very little information on http://www.wxc.co.nz/

I suppose you have to ring sales and talk to an account manager the old fashioned way?

Yes it is a little old fashioned, they don't have much online.

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Ragnor

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#582450 16-Feb-2012 16:43

Zeon, did you go any further with investigating 2talk? Are you signed up with WxC directly or via an agent/reseller?

For us I think 2talk seems like a bit too much of a risk.

I gave WxC a call a couple of days ago to find out more info, they gave me a rough indication of pricing and were supposed to be getting an agent/reseller to contact me but I haven't heard anything yet.

Question for Nate:
What happened to 3bitvoice.co.nz, out of the voip game now?

Are there any other geekzone members lurking who are WxC agents/resellers feel free to drop me a pm, looking for someone local to us - we are in Newmarket, Auckland.

Anyway at the moment I have pricing for Telstraclear's IP Gateway service, has some advantages eg: they run a separate fibre just for it so no need to setup QoS or have it compete with out general office internet traffic, no pbx to manage, no security issues to worry about. Disadvantages are: contract length, price per user is still fairly high and you pretty much have to have one number/ddi per user (no internal only extensions) from what I can see.

Also had proposal for a leased or lease to own managed PBX installed here, eg: Avaya IP500 for x users... looks pretty expensive compared to buying IP phones directly and running a open source software PBX in a vm.

Looking and Conversant and WxC options next as ideally I won't want to have to admin/manage a PBX.

kiwitrc

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#582455 16-Feb-2012 16:52

I think Coffeebaron does WXC work Ragnor.

Zeon

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#582464 16-Feb-2012 17:06

Ragnor: Zeon, did you go any further with investigating 2talk? Are you signed up with WxC directly or via an agent/reseller?

For us I think 2talk seems like a bit too much of a risk.

I gave WxC a call a couple of days ago to find out more info, they gave me a rough indication of pricing and were supposed to be getting an agent/reseller to contact me but I haven't heard anything yet.

Question for Nate:
What happened to 3bitvoice.co.nz, out of the voip game now?

Are there any other geekzone members lurking who are WxC agents/resellers feel free to drop me a pm, looking for someone local to us - we are in Newmarket, Auckland.

Anyway at the moment I have pricing for Telstraclear's IP Gateway service, has some advantages eg: they run a separate fibre just for it so no need to setup QoS or have it compete with out general office internet traffic, no pbx to manage, no security issues to worry about. Disadvantages are: contract length, price per user is still fairly high and you pretty much have to have one number/ddi per user (no internal only extensions) from what I can see.

Also had proposal for a leased or lease to own managed PBX installed here, eg: Avaya IP500 for x users... looks pretty expensive compared to buying IP phones directly and running a open source software PBX in a vm.

Looking and Conversant and WxC options next as ideally I won't want to have to admin/manage a PBX.

Talk to Coffeebaron who is a re-seller and pretty on to it.

Yea ended up going with VFX as don't want to have poor support so it made sense even if they are more expensive.

In regards to the Telstra deal - a single piece of fibre, that's pretty risky for the price. You should be going layer 3 as you can then easily put in a backup VDSL2 line or the like should there be a fibre cut. If it's layer2 then look for diversity of suppliers.

TBH for the cost I think it would be better overall to go with a software PBX system in house and just outsource the management and maintenance?

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cisconz

cisconz
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#582473 16-Feb-2012 17:22

Ragnor:
Question for Nate:
What happened to 3bitvoice.co.nz, out of the voip game now?

Are there any other geekzone members lurking who are WxC agents/resellers feel free to drop me a pm, looking for someone local to us - we are in Newmarket, Auckland.

3Bit Voice got sold to passionIT who in turn merged with Telco and EdTech (long story).

Flick me a line and I will see what I can do.
I used to own 3Bit Voice and am still a WxC dealer in my new job.

Cheers

David

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