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Canadian VOIP Provider Round Up - The best and worst of Canadian VOIP providers in 2007

Vonage Canada

No Canadian voip provider review would be complete without at least a mention to the Grand-daddy all Voip providers, Vonage. Vonage has been operating in Canada since 2004, and in the US since 2001. With over 2,000,000 customers in North America they are clearly the largest non-cable VOIP service provider in Canada.

Rates:

If you’re looking for affordable, Vonage will disappoint. It is not the cheapest nor does it offer the most features. Below is a list of the Residential plans that Vonage offers:

Plan	Features	Cost
Basic	500 minutes anywhere in Canada, US and Puerto Rico	$19.99 + Taxes
Premium Unlimited	Unlimited calls to anywhere in Canada, US, Puerto Rico and Europe	$39.99 + Taxes

As per the typical way Canadians get treated, Vonage Canada is actually more expensive then Vonage US. The Unlimited plan in the US only costs $24.99, but you have to be a US Resident with a valid US credit card to be able to apply for Vonage US. Although the premium unlimited plan is more expensive then the Basic plan, the plan might be worth it for people who frequently call the US or Europe. Vonage is one of the few VOIP providers who allow unlimited calls to Europe as part of their unlimited plan. Although not all European countries are included, Italy, France, Spain the UK and Ireland are.

The pros of using Vonage is that it’s a large company and thus you can purchase their ATAs or VOIP adaptors directly from retail stores like Best Buy and Futureshop, and they hopefully won’t fold up overnight. Unfortunately using Vonage does not come without its downsides. Some people have complained that it’s not possible to call some 1-800 numbers in Canada because Vonage provides an ANI that shows up as being from their office in New Jersey. This means that the 1-800 numbers detect the Vonage numbers as being from out of the country so it doesn’tt allow the calls to be completed. There is not yet any word on a fix. Another con is that Vonage has outsourced their tier 1 tech support to India and since they are overseas they have very little power to do anything. According to various complaints out in the forums they mindlessly read scripts until all criteria is satisfied and they can forward you to a higher tier of technical support.

Primus Talkbroadband

Primus is backed by a large telco, Primus Group. Their offerings are a bit more reasonable, and they have unlimited local service which Vonage lacks. Primus’ downside is that they nickel and dime you for all the extras, similar to what you would expect from the incumbent telcos. Their call quality is on par with Vonage, and in general they have pretty good support.

Plan	Features	Cost
Basic Service	Unlimited local calls – all other features are charged at between $3.00 - $12.00 extra per month!	$15.95 + taxes, but this doesn’t even include caller ID
Ultimate bundle	Unlimited local calls + all features except long distance	$19.95 - to be realistic this is the plan most of you will go for
Unlimited Bundle	Unlimited local + North America long distance calls	$29.95 + taxes

Hidden fees: You are charged $4/month extra if you don’t purchase the ATA or “Gateway” from Primus for a total cost of $69.95.

Pros - A lot more affordable then Vonage, and still with a large and reliable company.

Cons - Depending on calling habit all you can eat VOIP may still be more expensive then pay as you go VOIP options.

Atlasvoice (now a Division of Think simplicity)

Not a well known voip provider in Canada, but one that I have had personal experience with. Atlasvoice has plans that are a lot more reasonable then Primus or Vonage. They allow you to port your number over from your traditional telephone service provider, though they will assign you with a temporary number while you are waiting for your number to port. If you are using the service internationally and want to port from another VOIP provider, good luck. I tried to port my number both from and to Atlasvoice and didn’t have any luck. This is not just a fault with Atlasvoice, but all Canadian VOIP providers.

Call Quality: From personal experience call quality was excellent for quite some time, however before being taken over by think simplicity there was a period when Atlasvoice kept going down, and the phone was pretty much unusable. After they were taken over by Think Simplicity the service has been a lot more stable, with only one major drop out that I can remember, and that was partly my fault since they changed servers, and I was using my own device.

Pros: Allow you to BYOD (bring your own device) this is very useful since you can purchase a VOIP device that suits you, and not be forced to pay monthly rentals, or use whatever generic device they offer. However if you are scared of configuring your own device then you can also rent/purchase one of their VOIP ATAs (or VOIP adaptors). This is one of the few VOIP providers I have found that supports caller ID with name. The other small voip providers only support caller ID with number. The most important thing is that they have outgoing caller ID with name as well, again only supported by a handful of VOIP providers. Allows you to send a text message to a phone when you receive a new voice mail. Voicemail is delivered to your email, and includes the caller’s name if that information is available.

Cons: Call quality definitely not the best of the lot, prices in the middle (not the cheapest, but not the most expensive). Overall they provide an excellent service for your money.

Plan	Features	Cost
Basic	Unlimited local calling + 500 minutes North America calling	$19.99 + taxes (no taxes if overseas)
North America	Unlimited Local + 1000 mins North America calling	$29.99 + taxes (no taxes if overseas)
Unlimited North America	As the plans says	$39.99 + taxes
Budget	Unlimited local calling, but has all the features (3 way calling etc.)	$14.99 + taxes

Netfone.ca

Based out of BC Canada netfone is a small VOIP provider, but has good service and an excellent price. They support incoming caller ID with name, but not outgoing caller ID with name (only number). Their plans are really well priced, and they also do not charge taxes if you are overseas. Tech support is either via their live support panel (which I have a hard time catching them on) or via one of their many Canadian local numbers.

Call quality was on par with Atlasvoice, though they have an annoying buzzing sound just before you hear the ringing tone for the call. I have no idea why this happens, but using the same device on 5 other voip providers I do not get this sound. It must be unique to my set up with them, or some sort of problem with their set up. Either way, I’ve just learned to live with it as the call quality when calling others is perfect.
Netfone has a unique calling plan that may suit Canadians who call within Canada frequently. For only 12.95/month + taxes (if in Canada) you can call within the major cities of Canada. If you have any doubts simply follow the link and enter your number into the Free Canada calling coverage area box on the left and it will tell you if the city that you would like to call is within your free calling area.

This is the cheapest deal I have ever found for calling within Canada, especially with a local Canadian number. Netfone also support BYOD for those of you that would like this service, and if not you can rent/purchase an ATA or VOIP adaptor (same thing) from them. Their portal is pretty basic but it now allows you to enter in your credit card details (it was a pain to have to email them when your details changed) as well as allowing you to reject anonymous calls. Another thing I like about their portal is that it clearly shows you clearly your call log, including duration and the amount charged (if any).

If value for money as well as good call quality and reliability is what you are looking for the netfone.ca is your company. In the 1 year that I’ve had their service (as well as Atlasvoice and Unlimitel) I’ve never had Netfone’s service go down. Hopefully they can continue to provide good quality phone calls as well as rock bottom prices.

Plan	Features	Cost
Local Calling	Free local calls + all features (caller ID, voicemail etc.)	$9.95
Free Canada Calling	Local + Selected Canada calls + all features	$12.95
North America Calling	North America calling + all features	$24.95

Unlimitel

This is my VOIP provider pick for 2007. When I had other VOIP providers I used to always have backups incase one of them went down. Though rare my experience was that it was always when you needed the phone the most, and even with a backup the price would still be less than using an incumbent phone service. Then I got Unlimitel. They have a neat little tool that you can run on a windows computer that tells you exactly what their network status is. It’s pretty much always up, except a few times when they’ve been updating the network, but even it’s usually only for a few minutes. Customer service is excellent. I’ve emailed Stephen (the owner and CEO) of the company and odd hours (cause I’m across the world, so they are regular hours for me) and he responded promptly. Any concern that I’ve ever had has been answered honestly and truthfully. Update: I have had a few rude responses from Steven, when I was quering an extra charge for a number that was supposed to be within my free calling area. Although it was for a neglibile amount, I bet you they would chase you to the ends of the Earth if you owed them even a fraction of what they owed me! Sorry Steven but you’ll have to lose a few points for customer service.

Recently Unlimitel upgraded to caller ID with name! This was the only thing holding me back from using them 100% as it’s nice to see other’s names when receiving a call. Unlimitel now supports caller ID with name, both incoming as well as outgoing. I’ve tested the feature extensively and it works well.
Call quality is the best I’ve ever had with a Canadian voip provider. I only get issues with one particular number, but all other calls are exactly like a landline. The ISP I’m using is rock solid, it’s an Annex-M ADSL 2+ connection with 21mbps downstream and 2.5mbps upstream that also gives all VOIP packets priority in their network. So any issues I have with VOIP is usually on the VOIP provider’s end as I can always double check my connection with one of my other VOIP providers. I’m happy to say that in the last year I’ve had almost zero call problems with Unlimitel.

Now the bad - they are Expensive! The charge a horrendous $18.95 a month for unlimited local calling + they charge taxes even if you are overseas (the only VOIP provider that does this). Although this charge includes all the features, such as Caller ID, voicemail to email, 3 way calling etc. it’s still up there with the bigger VOIP providers and in no way competitive with Atlasvoice or Netfone. Unfortunately though I have little choice because for me voice quality is the most important feature and they deliver on this 100%. Their website is a bit of a joke sadly, but luckily is no indication of their network quality. They currently do not have a user portal as advanced as Atlasvoice or Netfone, but I’ve been told that their working on this. These are all minor problems as far as I’m concerned because what good is a portal if your voice keeps dropping?
To save a bit of money you can also use their A la carte VOIP option. This is good for people who do not make a lot of calls. You put in a deposit of say $50, and then your balance is deducted until you top up your credit again. You only pay $2.50 per month to get a local number in the major cities ($5.50 for Cornwall, Brockville and Kingston) and then are charged a mere 1.1 cents/minute (incoming and outgoing). If you do the math $21.00 a month (including taxes) gets you over 1900 minutes! Unless you talk a lot you would probably be better off on the a la carte plan then the unlimited plan.

This is the only VOIP company where customers are consistently loyal and Ive found very few with anything bad to say about them. They support BYOD and so if you’re looking at experimenting with VOIP but are not sure that you are 100% ready to take the plug, give Stephen an email and I’m sure he will hold your hand through the process.

Notes:

Voip is not a perfect technology, it depends not only on your equipment (Modem, Router etc.) but also your ISP. If you have Rogers in Canada a lot of people have been complaining that Rogers throttles VOIP connections though I have no idea if this is true or not, before your blame the VOIP provider I would suggest trying your VOIP out on someone else’s connection - if you have a friend with Bell then plug in your VOIP box there.