Review of Optimum VoiceMember review of |
[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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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."
