VOX Adsl Affinity

Std call rates apply, your free minutes in closer packages apply too.

The free minutes on mobile contract apply as well.
 
Standard call rates DO NO apply and neither do free minutes

This is why it's not a great deal at all - well not for those people phoning you anyhow.... To phone the vox numbers will set you back R1.04 per minute! Neither do the free minutes on a close package apply!

Bear this mind before making the switch - do you really want to subject people phoning you to exorbitant rates?

(tried to edit the subject line to read NOT instead of NO - but cannot edit that part - apologies for typo)
 
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Be carefull with Vox

another problem with the 087's is that they were previously sex call lines. many companies with older PBX's block dialling to 087 no's. Secondly I had a trial with Vox in July 2008, an absolute shambles which cost me a lot of money, dropping 80% of the calls. I am still trying to stop there debit order coming of my account every month. No-one seems to know what they are doing in Vox.
 
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AASIP said:
This is why it's not a great deal at all - well not for those people phoning you anyhow.... To phone the vox numbers will set you back R1.04 per minute! Neither do the free minutes on a close package apply!

Bear this mind before making the switch - do you really want to subject people phoning you to exorbitant rates?

(tried to edit the subject line to read NOT instead of NO - but cannot edit that part - apologies for typo)
Click to expand...

I would think there are also a few questions ICASA should be answering on this subject. How is it that with Government, industry players and the Public, all screaming for an urgent need for a competative environment, can go ahead an sanction that "scewed interconnect rate" resulting in these tariffs.? It only opens the door for companies like Vox to prey on the uneducated or misinformed public. This type of business model simply steals from the one half of the consumers who are forced to call the number, while Vox collects from (unfair and overpriced) interconnect fees while paying some comission to their dealer channel, who are encouraged to sell this as a service.
I will never phone anyone on an advertised 087 number. I will phone a competitor rather out of principle. I also hear they cut their Corporate market clients into some commission if they take an 087 line from them.
i.e. So a Bank can advertise or force their clients to call them on a Vox 087 number, so they can earn revenue.
Its a sad story and disgusting business practice.
What is ICASA doing about this?
 
Bullitt: your response of not calling 087 numbers because of Vox's practices is disingenuous. If you feel that way about Vox, don't call 08780 numbers. Not calling the entire 087 range only serves to discourage competition, particularly some of the others who have termination tariffs as low at 7c!

In terms of what ICASA is doing, they are conducting a review of the numbering plan. Many (including myself) have made or contributed to submissions and taken the time to meet with ICASA to raise some of these issues. One of the things I stressed to them was that revenue share services are premium rate services and should be implemented on the premium rate services number range. Currently, that is 0862, 0865 through 0867.

In Vox's case, things are slightly more complicated as theirs is a two-way (inbound and outbound) service, not an inbound only. the 086 range is generally associated with inbound services of various natures (cost split, premium rate, etc).

The thing is that Vox are perfectly entitled to do what they're doing. The numbering plan regulations don't tie up to any markets and comeptition regulations and the Interconnection regulations have been in draft for years; even the draft doesn't address this.

What really perplexes me, however, is why you're so anti-Vox for applying high interconnect tariffs, yet you say nothing about the mobile operators whose termination tariffs are even higher and who don't even provide revenue share to their clients but rather keep it all for themselves posting billions of rands of profit. To add insult to injury, the original reasons they gave ICASA to jusitfy the massive interconnect rate are no longer valid. Most notably, the cell phone subscriber base in SA is tens of millions strong, not under 1 million as was the foundation of the argument.

I'm also perplexed at why you feel revenue-share services are a bad thing. Implemented in a transparent manner, they provide an ideal means of providing real value add services. E.g. Want to call for directions? Call a premium rate number and have a human give you direction. Want a guided walk-through tour of a city? Call a premium rate number and listen to a virtual tour-guide as you walk about. Want a once-off teleconference without having to hand over credit card details? Simply dial a premium rate number. Want computer support? Why not dial a premium rate number and get professional support.

I agree that it is really nasty for a business that is providing no intrinsic value to the call (or who is charging you via other means, e.g. bank charges) to participate in a premium-rate scheme. I don't like the idea of paying the bank a premium to call them. But I don't see why this is the network's fault. It's a dubious business practice on the bank's part. Insofar as the network purports to be providing a normal service, it is questionable, but it boils down to the issue that ICASA should allocate numbers from ranges according to the intended application and set clearer regulations so that consumers have clarity. ICASA realise this and are reviewing the plan. If you've made a submission, good for you. If not, accept the status quo. If you're serious, it's still early on in the process and you can probably make a submission to ICASA.
 
"What really perplexes me, however, is why you're so anti-Vox for applying high interconnect tariffs, yet you say nothing about the mobile operators whose termination tariffs are even higher and who don't even provide revenue share to their clients but rather keep it all for themselves posting billions of rands of profit..................."

Hi

Thanks for sharing your opinion and views.
First dont let this perplex you, this thread was started and revolved around Vox, I have opinions on the GSM Networks and am prepared to share them in other threads, it just didnt seem the place.
 
Is it only VOX customers that get free calls to one another through their service or any other voip service as well?
 
Drake2007 said:
Is it only VOX customers that get free calls to one another through their service or any other voip service as well?
Click to expand...

Hi

As far as I understand it, both users need to belong to the Vox "community". This would result in an "on-net" call. If you were on Vox and called another person using a similar service, you would be billed. This would however be dependant on Vox and the other provider, having an interconnect agreement. If they didnt have an interconnect between them, then I think (could be wrong) your call would go nowhere. (Other readers may correct me if I have gone wrong somewhere on a small detail)
 
It's only Vox's on-network calls that are free. i.e. 08780 to 08780. Same for TelFree - 08775 to 08775 numbers are free.

In the case of one network to another, this traffic is sometimes passed via direct interconnect and sometimes transited. E.g. Vox Telecom <-> Switch Telecom calls are direct, but many others are transited via Telkom or another third party. In such instances, provider A routes the calls to provider B who onward-routes it to provider C. This may or may not be a reciprocal arrangement. E.g. provider A may be able to call to provider C in the above arrangement, but not vice versa. Typically, provider A and provider C will co-operate to ensure this works, even if they don't go the formality of a signed agreement.
 
ok thanks so it's down to business cooperation. From what I gathered it's mostly effective with keeping international call rates down.

Any idea if the handset will work with skype as a device on the PC or if skype <-> VOX no issue?
 
gmza said:
What really perplexes me, however, is why you're so anti-Vox for applying high interconnect tariffs, yet you say nothing about the mobile operators whose termination tariffs are even higher
Click to expand...
??? to my knowledge Vox & the mobile operators have the same termination rates, namely R1.25/R0.77.

My concern with the huge variance in termination rates to the various 087 sub-ranges is the impact it may have on international inbound routing/pricing.

Don't think most global operators will want to micro manage rates for the individual 087 sub ranges, believe they'll rather price the whole range at the max or block it altogether.
 
So I guess as a normal VOX adsl phone its not worth it compared to the Telkom Closer packages
 
My word this company is starting to annoy me. They called me last week to offer me the 20 day trial. (I think Telkom gives out all their subscribers' numbers, which also annoys me) Luckily I didn't have my bank details on me otherwise I may have just given them everything. So some other guy calls me back the next day and I've decided not to bother with it so I tell him not to worry (after many pathetic attempts to convince me). Now, about a week later, the original person calls me back and tries to get my bank details from me. She was very persistent even after I told her I wasn't interested and hung up. Tried calling me back about 4 times before I turned my phone off.

It could be that the call centre handling their 'campaign' is just having a miscommunication, but then it made me wonder whether there was some kind of scam using the current VOX marketing thing to get banking details out of people. Who knows.
Anyone else have similar experiences?
 
Never give out your personal or bank account details to somebody you don’t know and trust.
If you receive a call from an organisation, don’t provide your personal details. Instead ask for their name and a contact number. Check with the organisation in question before calling back.
Also if the caller is agressive and pushes you to provide personal information,warning bells should start ringing.
 
Just received a call from them. Any fresh experiences with them? Legit? Scam? Value in their offer?
 
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