Author Topic: Can someone explain VoIP to me?  (Read 3810 times)

fallstoclimb

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Can someone explain VoIP to me?
« on: September 29, 2014, 12:09:07 PM »
I know IP Daley has the superguide but I swear I'm just too much of a novice with this stuff to be able to understand it.  I'm really just a complete idiot here. 

I work from home two days a week and have to call into meetings often.  We only have a cell phone, but sprint sent us this free airwave (?) system that basically creates a cell tower in our house, so we have great service now -- no more dropped calls.  However, today I was unable to dial in to the conference call because of what I think must be an obscure ios (8.0.2) issue -- I could call the number fine, but when I went to the keypad to enter the meeting ID, I kept getting an error message "Meeting ID is not valid."  I wasn't even able to dial "9#" for help -- so I think something weird is happening with the keypad that comes up after you are already on a call.  It makes no sense, I know, but no one else was having issues dialing in so that's all I can think of.

Anyway, I'm thinking I should maybe just get an actual home phone.  I'll lose telework privileges if I don't get this fixed, and I *hate* going into the office.  The iphone audio quality isn't the best either so I may have a better time in general on meetings if I have a real phone.

Verizon said it would cost $40 a month to add a landline to our internet, which we are already overpaying for at $70/month, so uh no thank you. 

I know another option is to use Google Voice or Skype or something through my computer, but my work computer has all sorts of restrictions on it.  I tried to use Google Voice when calling in this morning and couldn't get it to work, and I'm pretty sure I can't download Skype. 

So is VoIP an option for me?  Please explain as though I am about 8 years old. 

Daley

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Re: Can someone explain VoIP to me?
« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2014, 12:39:16 PM »
Yes, VoIP is (and should be) an option for you. The problem you're encountering with the freebie stuff likely has to do with how touch tone (DTMF) information is broadcast and parsed over VoIP (in-band vs. out of band) in relation to the audio compression codecs used, and it could even potentially tie in with the issues on the Airave (might not be an iOS issue after all). The long short of it, you get what you pay for with this stuff.

I reckon the easiest solution for you is probably to just take VOIPo up on their two year offer with 30 day money back guarantee. Pre-configured and ready to go with a price that works out to less than $8/month after taxes and fees along with a good support staff that should be able to address any problems you might encounter during setup and trial. If it works, problem solved! If it doesn't, nearly no money lost.

I could go into great depth on how to treat and address the problems you're having, but you want the 8 year old solution, which I can understand and appreciate. That would be VOIPo.

ender

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Re: Can someone explain VoIP to me?
« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2014, 12:49:07 PM »
Do you have a personal computer you could use to call in with either Skype/Hangouts/etc?

This seems like an easy and trivial solution - what am I missing?

fallstoclimb

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Re: Can someone explain VoIP to me?
« Reply #3 on: September 29, 2014, 01:18:07 PM »
Do you have a personal computer you could use to call in with either Skype/Hangouts/etc?

This seems like an easy and trivial solution - what am I missing?

My home laptop isn't reliable either -- it's so ancient it's several operating systems behind the current Apple one and can't update.  We are looking to replace this in the next year though so I suppose this will be an option at some point.  Although DUH I just realized my husband leaves his (also ancient but slightly more reliable) laptop home during the day --- I could stick Skype on there and see if it works.  I don't love talking at a computer but I could get used to it. 

Yes, VoIP is (and should be) an option for you. The problem you're encountering with the freebie stuff likely has to do with how touch tone (DTMF) information is broadcast and parsed over VoIP (in-band vs. out of band) in relation to the audio compression codecs used, and it could even potentially tie in with the issues on the Airave (might not be an iOS issue after all). The long short of it, you get what you pay for with this stuff.

I reckon the easiest solution for you is probably to just take VOIPo up on their two year offer with 30 day money back guarantee. Pre-configured and ready to go with a price that works out to less than $8/month after taxes and fees along with a good support staff that should be able to address any problems you might encounter during setup and trial. If it works, problem solved! If it doesn't, nearly no money lost.

I could go into great depth on how to treat and address the problems you're having, but you want the 8 year old solution, which I can understand and appreciate. That would be VOIPo.

VOIPo seems super simple.  Thanks so much for the recommendation. 

But now I am curious....you think the Airave is suspect, rather than iOS?  Can we elevate this to like a 14-year-old cognition level and solve it?  I assumed iOS because we've had the Airave for several weeks with no issues, but I just updated my iOS -- but I did a lot of searching online and found no one having a similar problem. 

fallstoclimb

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Re: Can someone explain VoIP to me?
« Reply #4 on: September 29, 2014, 01:40:20 PM »
Yeah nevermind.  It is an iOS issue (or maybe iOS combined with Airave).  My husband hasn't updated yet and I just called in on his phone with no problems. 

So Voipo works with normal phones or do we need to buy a specific one?  (Currently don't own any kind of home phone so will have to buy either way).

Daley

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Re: Can someone explain VoIP to me?
« Reply #5 on: September 29, 2014, 02:18:28 PM »
So Voipo works with normal phones or do we need to buy a specific one?  (Currently don't own any kind of home phone so will have to buy either way).

Yup, normal POTS phones. You can usually pick up a decent Vtech single handset cordless for under $15.