Via Talk Voice Over IP Review

Voice Over IP Reviews

More VOIP Services

Voice Over IP Articles

- Voice Over IP Becomes Increasingly Popular
- Is Telecom Done?
- VOIP Services
- VOIP
- Communication
- VOIP Calling Cards
- VOIP Wars
- International VoIP
- Cheap VOIP Calls
- VOIP Evolution
- What is VOIP
- VoIP Off!
- Saving Money?
- How does it work?
- VOIP & 911?
- VOIP?

StarReviews Alerts

Get alerts on your favorite products and services

I agree to the Privacy Policy

Via Talk - Star Review

GoTo Via Talk

GoTo Member Reviews (1)

Email This Review

Via Talk Star Rating

If you have close friends and family who live out of town, those long distance phone calls can really get expensive, especially if you don't use a mobile phone. That's probably why so many people are switching to today's top voice over IP providers, which led us to investigate which are worth your time. Via Talk is one of the companies we came across when scouring the web for some of your best choices for your local and long distance calls. Here's the scoop...

What's New?

New Internet phone control panel.
Pay $199 for an entire year of service and get a second phone line free plus 3 months of free service.
All Viatalk users get free in-network calls.

Star Reviews' Favorite Feature:
We really like Via Talk's Internet phone control panel. It allows you to check your voice mail on your PC and also allows you to forward your calls to another number (like your cell phone) while you're away. If you like easy access to all of your calling features, you're going to love it.

About Via Talk:
Finding out about Via Talk, their history and their mission wasn't as easy as it should have been. The company had no "About Us" page whatsoever. However, after a little bit of digging we were able to find out that Viatalk has been around since 2000 and are growing at an impressive rate. In fact, it appears that many Sunrocket customers (a VOIP service that went under) switched over to Via Talk and have been happy with the products and services ever since.

What Via Talk Offers:
Via Talk offers both home and business VOIP plans. All Via Talk VOIP plans include:

E911
Voice mail
Call forwarding, waiting, return
Caller ID
Call hunt
Do not disturb

In addition to the above services, you can also get a virtual phone number, an 800 number, fax service and priority support for an additional fee.

Via Talk Pricing:

vt_500 (home use including 500 monthly minutes) starts at $9.95 per month.
vt_unlimited (home use including unlimited minutes) is $199 per year or $22.95 per month.
vtb_1500 (business use including 1500 monthly minutes) starts at $29.95 per month.
vtb_unlimited (business use including unlimited minutes) starts at $35.95 per month.
$29.95 activation fee applies to all new accounts.

The Via Talk Experience:
God help us, but finding a link that allowed us to sign up for Via Talk's services seemed unusually complicated. We thought we'd find an "order now" or "sign up here" link in the service description pages, but that just wasn't the case. We had to navigate through a few pages before finding a link that actually allowed us to sign up.

Once we did find the sign-up link, the system asked us to enter our city and state so they could verify service was available in our area. It was. We were then brought to the actual sign-up page, which was laid out well and easy to understand and took less than two minutes to fill out. However, it wasn't until this page that we were made aware there would be a $29.95 activation fee and a $9.95 shipping fee. If we wanted the order processed sooner than the average 7 to 10 business days, it'd be an extra $9.95. We felt a bit as if we were being nickeled and dimed.

After we made our selections we were taken to a page that requested our personal data and our credit card information. From there, it's 7 to 10 days for Via Talk to process your order. However, it's important to note that if you're having your existing number transferred to Via Talk, it usually takes about 20 days (in addition to the 7 to 10 day processing period) for this to happen. That being said, the 20-day timeframe isn't written in stone. It could take longer than a month in some circumstances.

No, Via Talk didn't mention this anywhere on the sales page, but we knew to ask and that's the time estimate we were given. We felt that Via Talk should have made this information very clear during the checkout process to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Via Talk's Customer Support:
Via Talk's customer support, while adequate, did leave a bit to be desired. We called during the day and held for about 35 minutes before hanging up. We called back later that evening and held for about 15 minutes before speaking with a rep. Fortunately, the rep was helpful and friendly and was able to answer our questions honestly and directly regarding the number transfer time. Email support was also helpful, providing us with an answer to our question in less than 24 hours. The information knowledge base was quite comprehensive, if not a little cumbersome to navigate.

Upside:
Great prices, friendly customer support, online control panel.

Downside:
Hidden charges.

Summary:
Via Talk is a viable means to communicate with friends and family, as many are utilizing this Voice Over IP Provider's service. We liked alot of what they offer here, such as the Internet phone control panel, which you can use to check your voicemail online or have access to other phone features. Pricing isn't bad here, with a basic plan starting at $9.95 a month for 500 minutes. Please keep in mind that there is a $29.95 activation fee for all new accounts. Signing up for this service proved to be a small chore and there are some hidden fees here, so pay attention and read between the lines. Customer support is friendly, but the hold times can be improved. Overall, we did like what this VOIP service offered, though.

GoTo Via Talk

Via Talk Member Reviews

GoTo Via Talk

GoTo Star Review

Member Rating
	(based on 1 reviews)

See all 1 reviews

write a review

Via Talk - Good Service

by expertsandy who has written 159 reviews and is trusted by 1 members

Via Talk is a digital phone service. They have got different plans. But my favorite one is $199 per year. This gives you two unlimited phone lines for the price of one. Again when you subscribe for the first time, they offer you 1 year of free service. Also there is not separate initial equipment fee. They have got 1-800- kind of live support. The customer service is 24/7 U.S. based. Other features that are offered are voicemail, free in-network calls, caller id, and many more. I find it quite interesting and appealing.

Agree Completely	0	Helpful	0	Seems Biased	0	Just a Flame	0

Rate Review Add As A Trusted Reviewers

E-mail Review

star reviews

we search, we compare... you save!

Voice Over IP Reviews

More VOIP Services

Voice Over IP Articles

StarReviews Alerts

Get alerts on your favorite products and services

Via Talk - Star Review

Via Talk Star Rating

Via Talk Member Reviews

Member Rating