Review of Optimum VoiceAll reviews of |
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[May 25, 2009: Minor updates made to review]. [Update: April 4, 2009: Service has been fine for since late January. Apparently the company was installing major system upgrades, resulting in some disruptions, but this seems fine now]. [Update: January 20, 2009: Service continues to be good, but a few episodes where the phone service just died for no apparent reason. Because this is cable company VoIP, the phone hooks into the cable modem. The cable modem had to be power-cycled to restart the phone service. Once this happened over the Christmas holidays and so it apparently was out for a few days. Disappointing as the main reason to use cable company VoIP is for the reliability]. [February 22, 2009: Apparently recent problems were due to intermittent slowups in Optimum's internet network as a whole, reportedly due to roll-outs of DOCSIS 3.0. Internet service has now stabilized, so the Optimum Voice phone service has stabilized as well.] Optimum Voice (OV) is the phone service associated with Cablevision's Optimum Online (OOL) internet service. This review is written with regard to business use, not residential. OV has excellent quality and reliability. My number was ported from Verizon in about a week, with no problems. The monthly fee for business line is $ 35 after first year including unlimited US calling, and this includes many features. If you have 4+ lines there are discounts. This cost is much less than a Verizon business landline with comparable service. However, a pure VoIP player could be cheaper still, with more flexibility. There are no extra junk telco fees. Of course, OV requires the OOL internet service, which is about $ 50 per month. Porting a business number is free. However, OV charges $ 40 to port a residential number, which I believe is very shortsighted. Still, OV now has over 2 million phone lines in its metro NYC and northern NJ communities. This particular number was not the main published # for my business, so CNAM and directory listings were not an issue. The reason that I do still have my main number with Verizon is precisely that---concerns over those two issues. I would like OV to be more specific as to how this is handled---I have heard conflicting things. In summary, OV for business is very good overall. Like many cable company phone services, it may be a little pricey. Businesses may not want to use it for their main published number until they can make sure that their outbound CNAM will show. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The VoIP quandry facing a small business: *Verizon landline w/ calling plan, voicemail, and caller ID: Almost $ 90 a month, but no worries about CNAM or directory listing, and with good service. Verizon fees are obscene. *Optimum Voice: $ 35 a month including all features, very reliable. Outbound CNAM should be OK in most cases, but always good to check with company! Internet charges extra. Same company responsible for voice and internet. *Pure VoIP with modest usage (for example, on a pay-as-you-go Voip plan): Maybe $ 16-24 a month including features, generally reliable but dependent on separate internet service, big concerns about CNAM and directory. Followup comments:
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Still working without a glitch. The price has gone up to $20 a month but that's just one of the joys of dealing with Cablevision. Even with that it's still a bargain. Update 11/01/05 Still working flawlessly. I haven't had a single hiccup or problem. I can't believe my luck. I'm getting $60 a month POTS quality service for $15! What a deal! Update 9/01/05 The service has been and continues to be flawless. I have absolutely no complaints. They have a new feature set and unlike Sunrocket, they actually work. Dropping Sunrocket and going to CV is one of the smartest things I've ever done. (as far as phone service is concerned) Going to Sunrocket first was one of the dumbest. If you already have Cablevision for TV and Internet, Optimum Voice is a no brainer. Original Review The price listed is for customers who already have CV for TV and OOL. I've only had it for a week so I know it's a little early to give such high ratings. They will be adjusted as neccessary as time goes by. I've had Verizon phone service for most of my life. I've grown accustomed to being able to pick up the phone and make a call without giving it a second thought as to whether or not it was working. I recently tried one of the major VOIP providers and found how disconcerting it can be to not have that peace of mind. Although for the first few months the VOIP was flawless, the wheels came off and the reliability went down the toilet. I made the mistake of porting my number over to them and I wanted it back so I attempted to go back to Verizon so I could retain my number. After a month of trying they were unable to accomodate me so I called CV to see if they could get it done any faster. I was desperate to have decent phone service. When I did call CV and was told that I could have Optimum Voice for $14.95, it suddenly wasn't that important to get my old phone number back. (CV wouldn't port from my VOIP provider). I signed up immediately. I already have one of the new modems with the phone port on the back. All I had to do was call sales,set it up, talk to a Tech and plug in my phone. The whole process took less than ten minutes. It worked for incoming and outgoing calls immediately. The sound quality so far has been equal to POTS, far better than any VOIP, with no echos and no background noise. I'm not a big fan of CV and the Dolan family but it sure is nice to have a phone that works again. Followup comments:
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A battery backup for the modem is provided FREE OF CHARGE for business customers. Backup time is around 6 hours. My services were installed less than 24 hours after the order was placed. Followup comments:
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I am currently subscribed to their first time customer triple play package at 29.99 for phone, internet, and television in addition to subscribing to BOOST (30megs up, 5megs down). I almost didn't get the triple play promotion pricing due to the fact that 12 and 18 years ago (might as well be 100 years ago) when I lived in CT I had Cablevision. The customer service representative told me that I was not eligible for the promotion because of this as I was not a new customer and their is no statute of limitation as to how long ago I was a customer of Cablevision (jeeze). Optimum Voice and Optimum Online was not around then - definitely not Optimum Voice!! I just called customer service and got another representative and he was kind enough to ask his supervisor (without me asking for him) about this and the pricing was adjusted, thank goodness!! The installation went very well; the technician was quick and knew what he was doing. The Motorolla Surfboard Digital Voice modem for Optimum Online and Optimum Voice was installed on my computer. I have excellent, reliable call quality, better than Digital Voice and less expensive with many free calling features included in the price. I love getting an email / text when I have a new voice message from my home phone. It would be great if they included the voicemail call-in number on the email / text so I can dial the number directly from my BB. With Optimum Rewards the monthly price can be as low as 19.99 per month. Followup comments:
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Continue to have no issues....voice quality is good. update - 12/22/08 - Had some call quality issues and they replaced the cable from my house to the local pole. Since then all has been good. Continue to like all the features and functions. Followup comments:
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Best part--very clear Followup comments:
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Optimum Voice
New Jersey
$35 per month
"Good voice quality and reliability. No extra junk telco fees."
"Cheaper than phone company, but still costlier than pure VoIP."
"Good service but more costly than independent VoIP."
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Business customer
about 1 days
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Optimum Voice outbound sound cuts out