Vox.co.za: Anyone using it?

I see webace has prevailed upon a mod to close the other thread. At least he also seems to have been asked to remove the spam-links from his sig.

EDIT

Thinking about it, I do hope it was webace who got the thread closed, and not Vox, who advertise here. Nah! Couldn't be! I trust the powers-that-be too much.
 
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...looked at thier prices and said... No-way!!... I'll stick with my Telcrap landline till Neotel's NeoVoice, atleast it's going through fiber :D unlike Telkoms *cough* copper.
 
Quote from webace:
"local calls are slightly more expensive than vox at 50c per minute but then again you can switch to a Telkom line for local calls if you wish by just dialing *9 on your phone "

An interesting stat Ive just come across is that 40% of consumer calls (home user) are to a local number. This means you will have to remember to hit the *9 at least 40% of the time. This takes a chunk out of possible savings you can make using the service.
NOTE: The operative term being "YOU WILL HAVE TO REMEMBER" so after dinner tonight you better round up the family including the house keeper and have a meeting about how to override the service. Should be fun.

The other alternative, taking the above into account, is use a simple prepaid Dialthru company for International calls and Telkom for Local. If you make calls to Cellphones from home, then look at adjusting your cellphone package to give you the best rate cellular to cellular, and use that. Bonus: No kit required. You then dont need Telscum Broadband to run the vox service on, you simply use the GSM offerings. Im sure you will easily come out "even-Stephen" with this scenario. You do the math dependant on your habits. You wont feel guilty "making a buck" while someone has to call you at R1.07 per minute.

*Just trying to be helpful, we are all so tired of inflated prices and complicated schemes.
 
Try Wanatel

Otherwise, do you know Wanatel ?
They are even cheaper than Telfree and offer an excellent quality of service. :)

Rate on Cell phone :R 1,325/min
Rate on Fix : R 0,5/min

Cheers :cool:
 
Just got my VOX phone and what seems to be a THOMSON TG790: DECT Wireless VoIP Gateway. Now to find a PDF user guide to figure out all the settings!

The start-up cost seems fine if you allready have ADSL.
 
The only reason I will get a service like this is, if i can save money!

Thats the long and short of it, ask any company, does not matter what size, and they will tell you that, the hassle of getting some new provider better be worth it, either in the terms of the service or in terms of the monetary value!

So for me personally if vox to vox calls are free and cell and land line calls are significantly cheaper, then I will switch. We run a vpn between offices and for them to call support on telkom lines costs a significant amount each month, if we can have a good quality service which is free between our offices, it would be great.

Anyway I do believe that voip and the like are very good technologies, that can make a difference in the state of telecoms in this country.
 
Vox! Woot woot!

Great call quality, seems they've sorted out their growing pains. Well, some of them.

I still have to wait several days for support queries and sales inquiries to be answered...

And just as I'm about to surrender my query to what I can only hope is their technical incompetence unable to identify my legitimate mails in a heap of steaming spam on their doorstep.... all of a sudden 3 support people call me on the same day. Maybe they're all playing solitaire until their manager walks in once a week with his sambok, threatening to take their free call accounts from them if they don't answer some mails.

Won't rate them the #1, or even the #10 best company to do business with...

But I *almost* like their idea. Maybe if they get a support ticket system...... or a decent website, that actually shows you useful stuff like your account information.

And stop sending their dealers pen-and-paper application forms... like IS. Just maybe, they'll get more support from technological mortars such as myself.
 
We recently signed up as a Vox Dealer and got the Vox phones for ourselves aswell - just made a phone call to USA for 20-something minutes... paid R5.80! Also phoned to London for 11 minutes and paid like R2.80.

Even if we werent Vox Dealers I would still recommend this product... we would obviously also not become Vox Dealers if we didn't believe in their product(s).
 
Hey Blunt,

I assume you have a Vox phone? Experienced any problems so far? What is nice about it is, you can plug it out when you move and plug it in at your new place and you will still have your same number. Also heard they bought the ISP side of ABSA (or part of it, I am not sure...).

It would be cool if they can publish a directory later on with all their clients phone numbers.. similar to the white pages.. why pay to call someone if you can call them for free on their Vox numbers. Without a directory like this we won't know which companies have Vox phones..

Hope they are here to stay!
 
Host-Connection.com said:
We recently signed up as a Vox Dealer and got the Vox phones for ourselves aswell - just made a phone call to USA for 20-something minutes... paid R5.80! Also phoned to London for 11 minutes and paid like R2.80.

Even if we werent Vox Dealers I would still recommend this product... we would obviously also not become Vox Dealers if we didn't believe in their product(s).
Click to expand...


All good stuff, regarding outgoing international calls, but don't forget to bypass the system for local calls :) or all those savings will get eroded. Please be responsible and remind others they are paying twice the local rate, when they call you on your Vox number opposed to your Telkom number, its only good manners!
I think the tariff associated to calling a Vox number (or any other VANS number for that matter) should be published wherever it is advertised, ie on a business card etc, in the interests of the consumer, at least I would give up my bleating (good news for Vox dealers) and everyone would be aware upfront before the "rip off takes place" etc, etc. As a dealer of Vox, be sure to publish your Telkom number on your business card as well, as an "LCR company" you should always put the clients interests first, remember you are running around as the "Advisor" on how to achieve the best Least cost routing" /cost savings etc, your clients have the right to call you at the cheapest rate, I hope the irony of this is not lost on you.
PS: don't forget to keep your telkom number active *(for when your ADSL line goes down) that way we can still get hold of you.

Good luck with your dealership, remember if it doesn't work out there are other providers that do this and will gladly sign you (or anyone even with no Telco background) up as a reseller,(only thick skin required) they have become "a dime a dozen" which is good news and adds the much needed Competition to the telco environment. Dont be counting too much on the inbound call revenue, yes it looks good now, but those in the know, will tell you its not sustainable. TRUST ME ON THIS, (dont go buy that new Ferrari just yet.)
 
Puttybag,

I totally agree with you, though calling to a Vox number is still cheaper than a cellphone number if I'm not mistaken..

The downside of Vox, as you said puttybag, is that calling from Vox to a local number is expensive and it would be cheaper to bypass your Vox handset and call local numbers from your Telkom line.. Though there is a guarranteed saving on National/Cell/International calls..

Another thing is... your Vox phone won't ring while Eskom is busy with their loadshedding...while your normal Telkom phone will ring, except if you have a PABX ofcourse.

Suppose those are the downsides, otherwise its all good and havent heard much complains as of yet.
 
Host-Connection.com said:
Puttybag,

I totally agree with you, though calling to a Vox number is still cheaper than a cellphone number if I'm not mistaken..
Click to expand...

Im please you agree on some of my comments however:
I dont know how you can even start to make an analogy on these different routes. Why not make the comparison it to a satellite phone? So what if its cheaper than calling a mobile phone. Its cheaper than Petrol. Its cheaper than 2L milk, its probably cheaper than medium chips at the Spur, (depending on how long you talk) but its more than twice the cost of calling a Telkom fixed line.
Lets face it Telkom are offering customers the best inbound rate.
Clearly I want to be calling people on their landline before I ring their mobile, or Satellite phone or Vox phone, 4 minutes to a Vox phone = a double cheese burger and coke, while calling Telkom line = 1x glass of water, a stale roll and 1 x patty (no cheese or garnish) Believe me, Im well know in the industry as a "Telkom Basher" and that was based on the same principles which I have to apply to Vox, fair is fair.
Logically you are replacing what would have been a call to a fixed line ie Telkom to an alternate fixed line ie Vox number. What has that got to do with calling a mobile phone? In addition people call a mobile phone half educated on the costs. If they called someone on a regular basis that was more often than not, at the end of their Telkom line, they would first call the Telkom number, No?? If you handed out 2 numbers Telkom and Vox, which one do you think I would call?? (at least the extra cost to a mobile phone means I can at least get someone wherever they may be, while a Vox number is still fixed, so calling Vox numbers it can only be compared to calling another fixed line operator.) If this were not the case then their would be no need for anyone or any company to bother with inbound facilities at home or on their PABX's, they would tell the staff to just hand out their mobile numbers. If you want such a service and you think that's a bargain I can provide such a service for you, it doesn't make it right. If any company hands me a Vox number to call they would loose my interest in doing any business with them, or I would change them as a vendor out of principle. Can you imagine a Medical aid company handing out these numbers? Is the medical aid costs not high enough (another rip off industry) than the need go the extra mile to rip me off when I need to query a claim? (So they can earn a commission or rebate from Vox??) Despicable business model.
You cannot justify it no matter what, the public will soon enough throw a wobble they just need to be educated. ICASA should for once just see it coming and change the rules, complaints are going to come, Im doing my bit to educate, wherever I can. In addition this is not all about Vox, others are also providing the same inbound rip off. It gives the industry a bad name and they all go against their promise of "We are the cheaper alternate communications company "with high morals and loads of good advise" We save you on outgoing calls, but will catch you out if you have to phone in." Oooops gotta go PUKE. How could ICASA even allow this situation to develop to start with, is mind blowing. (then again..........I withdraw my last statement in order not to discredit myself.)
 
free speech on vox adsl

What are you talking about this is a way to Save or Make money (vox adsl phone) t will reduce your phone bill even more.... bonus is if you get more calls in than what your phone bill is worth you get the money... no problem, you score if you are a customer or a dealer everybody wins ......
 
vox is working already

Sorry to say this business is going to be massive, & look the business is still in the growing: reason = business still young (it sound almost like when the people said amway it will never work or bla....bla....bla...) look now, &nobody can argue amway is one of the largest company's ever still standing. imagine if most peope subscribe to voxjust as customers... and you are in a marketing business where there is a lot of call's to be made & received it only makes sence that the customer is going to score.... sorry :([/QUOTE]
 
www.voxadsl.350.com said:
Sorry to say this business is going to be massive, & look the business is still in the growing: reason = business still young (it sound almost like when the people said amway it will never work or bla....bla....bla...) look now, &nobody can argue amway is one of the largest company's ever still standing. imagine if most peope subscribe to voxjust as customers(Mmmm moving on quickly from that silly daydream) ... and you are in a marketing business where there is a lot of call's to be made & received it only makes sence that the customer is going to score....er how exactly will I score if I phone your 087 number??? sorry :(
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]


Please clarify how the customer is going to score??
Im never phoning a company on an 087 number. What?? and take it up the ass while at the same time you collect a commission from Vox.??
 
Vox: Wow

Vox have really improved their customer service.

Their voice service is excellent, and they offer lower call rates than Telkom.

The single only down-side is that you need ADSL. But if you already have ADSL or plan on getting ADSL, you don't need to hesitate. You don't even have to get an ADSL modem or Wi-fi Hot-spot or cordless phone, because they supply you with all of these in one device.

As of July, Vox is cheaper than Telkom, for calls multples of 1 minute for:

* Any call shorter than 2 minutes.
* Any long-distance call during business hours.
* Any 0861 and 0881 number
* Other VoIP operators (?)

Vox: (per minute)
Local/National R 0.50 (approx R 0.0083 per second)
Cell R 1.59 (approx R 0.0265 per second)

Telkom Contract:
Local/National:
Minimum Charge: R 0.5940 / R 0.65
Thereafter: R 0.38 / R 0.64 (R 0.00634 / R 0.01083 per second)
Callmore time: R 0.17 / R 0.32 (R 0.00284 / R 0.00542 per second)
Mobile: R 1.1316 / 0.7044 (billed per 30s after first minute)
Voip: R 0.3648 - R 1.0716 / R 0.513 - R 1.0716

Telkom Prepaid: (A bit more expensive)
Local / National:
Minimum Charge: R 0.62 / R 0.75
Thereafter: R 0.46 / R 0.98 (R 0.00773 / R 0.01497 per second)
Callmore time: R 0.45 / R 0.207 (R 0.00345 / R 0.00750 per second)
Mobile: Per Minute: R 1.1316/ 0.7044

As for costs to Vox:
See this post

Vox is the 3rd cheapest to call from Telkom, after hours, at R0.41 and one of the 5 most expensive to call during business hours at R1.07 per minute.

But, as we all know, the best part about Vox is that if you receive incoming calls, some of the profit is shared with you:

From Telkom: R 0.20 per minute
From Mobile: R 0.40 per minute

So it's by far the best number to have as an incoming call number. If you are called for at least 60 minutes per day, 25 days a month, that equates to R300 in your pocket, monthly.
 
www.voxadsl.350.com said:
What are you talking about this is a way to Save or Make money (vox adsl phone) t will reduce your phone bill even more.... bonus is if you get more calls in than what your phone bill is worth you get the money... no problem, you score if you are a customer or a dealer everybody wins ......
Click to expand...

No not everyone, if you call a Vox line from your Telkom line you loose. Plain and simple.
 
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