VoIP - Engin (1 Viewer)

[fatmuscle]

Dunno if anyone else has tried any other VoIP service (except Skype)

I signed up to Engin the other day, and i have to admit, the quality is basically the same as a normal phone. If not better when calling overseas.

It's a great way to get a 2nd phone line without having to pay another $40.

 

[Collin]

It's great, especially if you have relatives overseas. Free calls Engin to Engin, you can't beat that shiet. I work at an I.T retailer and 3 months back when we first started stocking the product, staff members were offered the voicebox for only $20 for a limited time. Damn, wish I got it then.. *cries*

 

[AsyLum]

Could someone explain to me how VoIP works specifically, because we were thinking of getting rid of our landline, since we don't use it, and primarily its used for international calls.

 

[Collin]

It's basically the routing of voice conversations over the internet. VoIP generally refer to the protocol used for such a process. From the way I understand it (although not completely sure of the details), your normal 'phone calls' are dumped to a VoIP provider like Engin, and then routed via your Engin voicebox straight to you (through a normal phone, connected to the voicebox). When you look at it from a few steps back, all it really is is just another form of telephony, in which the protocol is over the internet (or even WAN/LAN for some corporations) instead of through the conventional phone lines.

 

[AsyLum]

But i still need a landline connection right ?

 

[Collin]

That depends; VoIP uses your internet connection as the means to transfer telephony services. So if you're on ADSL broadband, then you'll still need your phone line service, since your ADSL modem requires a phone line. If you're using cable broadband, you won't.

 

[AsyLum]

Oh awesome, im on Optus Cable, and we're looking at keeping this, and dumping the other.

Hmm, cool, i might investigate this further thanks jkd

 

[Collin]

Happy VoIPing!

 

[Hobbsee]

We've had engin for a while - works brilliantly.

Of course, in the event of a power failure, it stops working, because the router dies - but we can live with that - we have mobiles too.

Was really weird being on holidays - you couldnt just pick up the phone and make a 10 cent call - you had to think about the call rates, and when would be cheapest to call interstate, etc...

 

[seremify007]

Do you get your own phone number for ppl to ring in?

 

[TerrbleSpellor]

Do you get your own phone number for ppl to ring in?

Yes.

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I wouldn't advise getting rid of your land line all together; you wont know what problems this will create. It most certainly would deny access to certain services on the phone, and certain number ranges.

 

[LeftrightOut]

I use astratel, sipphone, oztell and a few others.
While in the UAE I setup a nice system whereby people could ring my Sydney/Brisbane/Canberra number and my laptop would ring so for the cost of a local call people could keep in touch with me. I also do all my calling home from the laptop costs me 10 cents for as long as I like to anywhere in Australia from anywhere in the world as long as I have a net connection, can't beat that for value.

At home I have one Sipura SPA842 handset, a Sipura SPA3000 gateway ATA and an asterisk box, now i'm hunting cheap wildcat cards to setup a 10 line pabx and do some demos in class.

i also setup up external VOIP gateways from countries I have friends and relatives in so now from around 10 different countries people can call my number local (in their country) which is a local call for them which gets routed to my systems. So I like VOIP

One place I helped put onto VOIP for just STD fax calls their costs went from $400 a month down to $40. I know some of my family who I have setup cal overseas a lot drop from $300 a month down to $10 and they make same amount of international calls to normal phones.

Many people use Skype, it's not bad for newbies and if other person uses skype too it's free i guess but I like my normal SIP providers that I can offload onto a cheap gateway to make the final mile switch to places with no net. Sometiems you get quality problems sure especially if you're using the net at the same time but there are QOS systems you can setup to combat this.

Anyway bored at work today I think i'll go setup one of these class computers to run asterisk and teach my diploma students some VOIP configurations with PBX functionality.

 

[LeftrightOut]

I wouldn't advise getting rid of your land line all together; you wont know what problems this will create. It most certainly would deny access to certain services on the phone, and certain number ranges.

Yep 000 doesn't like VOIP right now due to the portability possibility of the numbers giving false locations. Which is why almost all recommend you keep a landline for emergencies. Especially when your net is out and you have no VOIP or when the power is down.

 

[AsyLum]

Well, my family currently has 3x 3G mobiles, which my mum, and brothers have, im on virgin mobile and they usually txt/call me if needed but im not a big user.

We're looking to dump the landline, because we scarcely get any local calls, and we barely make any out, since we're users of email/msn primarily. So the landline doesnt justify itself, unless like you said of emergencies. We have an ambulance station across the street, and having 6-7 phones more than satisfies any emergencies, so its not that much of a concern.

The only thing I would be worried about was the fine detail, and I'd want to make sure of this just to ensure we don't get ripped off.

For the best voice quality engin recommends a minimum 512/128Kbps broadband plan.
Myth 4: You need to have your PC or laptop on to make and receive calls:

False

Some VoIP providers only offer a service in which you must talk through your computer.

engin offers a service that allows you to use your regular home telephone handset. Therefore when using engin your computer does not need to be switched on to make and receive phone calls, you just need broadband.
Myth 5: You cannot make phone calls when there is a blackout:

False

The engin Voice Box Series 2 has a redundancy feature built in, allowing users to make calls in the event of a black out.

New technology enabled within the Voice Box Series 2 ensures that calls made in the event of a blackout automatically fallback to your pre-existing landline connection. Click here for further information.
Myth 6: You cannot call emergency services using VoIP:

False

This will vary depending on the quality of the VoIP provider. engin offers full emergency services so that you can call 000 from your engin phone line. For further information refer to the Emergency Services sections of our SFOA

hehe, its looking nice at this stage, but yeah, gotta decide if its worth keeping the line.

 

[CSI: CRIMES ™]

so can you still make free calls through your ADSL line???

and how you get that VoIP engin thing? download or buy it?

 

[fatmuscle]

I was stupid enough to not read the difference between the Series 1 and Series 2.
Damn I wish I got the Series 2 box.

the offer is still out regarding the $100 cashback. So just buy and sign up!

If you're getting a router, really looking at the WRT54G2P
It's just like a WRT54G but with 1 less ethernet port, but 2 Voip lines.
Unlike the series 1, u can actually use both lines in the router.

Another plus is call tracking.
not many phone services provide phone tracking.
as soon as u get off a call, u can see who u called, how long it was for, and how much it costs.

but if you are buying a series 1/2 box, make sure your router has QoS. very important!!!


I was meant to trial the service out for a month, but so far everyhting has been great!
I'm now looking for a set of cordless phones so i can place them around the house.