Fongo Home Phone [VOIP] - 4 Months Free Service (New Signup) - On Till Jan 9th [Extended]

Emporium wrote: ↑ Using an alarm system with VoIP is not recommended. Even if you get it to work, it can be temperamental. Not sure I'd trust it. This was one of the reasons I delayed my initial migration from Bell to VoIP. I have a colleague who uses his alarm system with VoIP.ms VoIP service and all seemed to work initially. However a few months later he came home one day and the alarm system was triggered (false alarm luckily), but he had not gotten a call from the alarm company. So he called them to see why he was not advised, and he was told that they never got a signal. That is when he decided to switch. In his case, he opted to go with an internet communication system, since he had a slightly more recent system. Can it be made to work, I'm sure. But would I trust it, no thanks. And if you are getting a discount on your insurance for being connected to central monitoring, then if something happens and call couldn't be made, there would need to be some explanations I'm sure.


Just before I switched to VoIP many years ago, I decided to switch my alarm system from dialup, to GSM. I have an older system (but still functional and meets my needs), and was concerned I'd need to replace the whole system, but it was simple. My installer just installed a Telguard TG-1 onto my panel, and it was seamless. The alarm panel still thinks it is dialing out (so no need to replace), but the TG-1 unit establishes the call via GSM and it does not occupy my phoneline when it dials out and is not dependant on my phone working or internet being alive. Considering I was saving over $50/m from bell, I did not mind spending a little to be free from a dialup connection. And since it did not occupy my phone line to call out, I enabled all the reporting functions of the alarm system, so I now get emails on when and who arms or disarms the alarm (I previously had that disabled, since I did not want the system dialing out every time system was armed or disarmed).

Oh and needless to say, I switched from ADT who's prices had gotten ridiculous at the time (don't know what they are now). I had originally started with Videotron Telesurveillance, which became Protectron, and then was sold off to ADT. When ADT took over, the price hikes came in regularly. Got ridiculous. I think at the end before I quit, they had hiked monitoring fees to $35/m for dialup monitoring which is nuts for residential monitoring. Switched providers, and now basic monitoring is costing me $10/m and another $10/m for the GSM service. Still a far cry from $35/m. I switched my mom who was also with ADT, and she is still with dialup (no GSM for her), so it is costing her just $10/m which she prefers and prepays for the year. All these smaller alarm companies all outsource their monitoring to Lanvac anyhow, which has been doing this for years. Their service and response time has been pretty much on par (or better) with what Protectron/ADT used to offer.

bylo wrote: ↑ Go to https://www.fongo.com/services/fongo-home-phone/ then

...

Apparently you don't have to do anything apart from signing up. The 4 months free happens automagically.

Some questions/comments:
1. Is the ATA locked to Fongo or can it be used with other VoIP providers if one isn't happy with Fongo's service?
2. Can this be ordered without an ATA if one already has one (e.g. GrandStream HT812)?
3. Does Fongo offer a sample config file for those who BYOATA (assuming A2. is "Yes.")?
4. Can I use this with a software SIP client? They say it won't work with Fongo Mobile app but how about Groundwire or Voiper?
5. Note that port-ins are $10 at sign-up but $25 afterwards. Makes it more expensive to try before you commit.

dealerguy wrote: ↑ Thanks for the detailed reply. I think you are talking about Monitoring Center based on the costs you mentioned. Did you have to pay any upfront costs for the GSM module?

I am looking at Ring Alarm as well. Want to leave ADT asap.

Emporium wrote: ↑ Yes, you are correct, I am talking about a Monitoring center. For the GSM module, my installer had charged me a $100 upfront cost for the unit, and no cost for his labour to install it. At the time, I had looked around to try to find the unit any cheaper, but the cheapest I could find was $130 back then, so the $100 price he was charged me, was very reasonable. He probably didn't make much on the unit (if anything), but making up for it for the monthly service fee. The guy was straight up. He gave me options, and did not try to upsell me a whole new system (like other did). Others flat out refused to even consider retrofitting my existing system. He also helped me convert my mom's system. I have recommended many of my friends and colleagues to him since then and everyone has been happy.

For me, a monitoring central connection was a no brainer. The monitoring costs are more than covered by the discount offered by my insurance company on my home premium for having a burglar alarm and fire alarm connected to a 24/7 monitoring central. Also, as much as the Ring system looks interesting, I'm a little old fashioned and prefer EVERYTHING to be hardwired where possible (only bare essentials are on WiFi - like tables, phones, and some IoT devices - even my laptops in the home are on dicks with hardwired conenctions). I had all my sensors hardwired when I bought the home 23 years ago, and plenty of CAT 5 runs added (CAT 5e was too pricey at the time, and CAT 6 was still not introduced back then) to make things easier down the line. And I already have 4 PoE Hikvision dome cameras around the outside of the home (1x4k, and 3x2k), with over 30 days retention of 24/7 recordings.

dealerguy wrote: ↑ Could you pls PM me the installer details who installed and converted your system to GSM. Thanks

Edit: I was on mobile and now see you are in Montreal and your contact may not work for me.

brunes wrote: ↑ Not sure why anyone needs a home phone in 2021. We bit the bullet and ditched it 5 years ago, and honestly have never even thought about it since. We have even had the service for free from Bell since we got a new bundle a year ago, and never even bothered to connect it.

Emporium wrote: ↑ We still use it in the house. When I am home, I drop my cell phone on the counter and rarely use it. People know, if it is after business hours, if you want to get a hold of us, then just call the home line. I rarely answer my cell when I am home.

Also, all calls for doctors appointments and similar, are done through the home phone. I have voicemail to email configured, and when someone leaves a message both myself and the wife get a notification and we can arrange schedules.

bylo wrote: ↑ Same here.

I appreciate that if one starts with personal numbers only there may not be any need to have a common home phone number. But that's not the case when the landline number has been unchanged for some 20 years as in our case. So if we wanted to port it to a personal cell or VoIP account, whose would it be, me or my partner? Same with voicemail. Those want to reach either of us have a single number to call. Those who want to reach one of us specifically have two other numbers for that purepose.

ArmandoU39760 wrote: ↑ My parents have been using Fongo Home Phone for the past year now. Never had an issue, only ever had to reboot the ATA device once because of minor problems. Call quality Is identical to their bell line they had before, I know that it uses G711 uncompressed codec. It's never been down for them either, it's been pretty great.

I actually had a conversation with sales because I had a few questions and the guy waived the porting fee for me so even better.

If they ever get tired of it, or if it turns to shit they can always leave and use the ATA adapter with another VOIP service. Big advantage unlike ooma which turns into a brick.

Fongo Is also owned by Fibernetics wich is a big telecom company, VoIP.ms uses their phone routes with their "premium routing" option.

For 5$ a month just buy it. If you don't like it go explore elsewhere and reuse the ATA. VoIP is superior to wireless home phone in terms of call quality and features.

ArmandoU39760 wrote: ↑ My parents have been using Fongo Home Phone for the past year now. Never had an issue, only ever had to reboot the ATA device once because of minor problems. Call quality Is identical to their bell line they had before, I know that it uses G711 uncompressed codec. It's never been down for them either, it's been pretty great.

I actually had a conversation with sales because I had a few questions and the guy waived the porting fee for me so even better.

If they ever get tired of it, or if it turns to shit they can always leave and use the ATA adapter with another VOIP service. Big advantage unlike ooma which turns into a brick.

Fongo Is also owned by Fibernetics wich is a big telecom company, VoIP.ms uses their phone routes with their "premium routing" option.

For 5$ a month just buy it. If you don't like it go explore elsewhere and reuse the ATA. VoIP is superior to wireless home phone in terms of call quality and features.

Tjklovesthisplace wrote: ↑People have home phoned still ?[/quote

YMMV

I have a cell phone plan with 100 minutes outgoing calls/unlimited incoming/ unlimited text and 250mb data, costs me $8/month. I have Ooma telo home phone for $5/month that I use for calls from home especially if I know I will be on hold forever. Plus I have cordless phones on 4 house levels running on Ooma in case of a medical emergency and I can't get to my cell phone which I usually need to find by calling from my home phone. Get a UPS to run your router, Ooma telo and cordless base for a bit if there is a power outage and you feel you need it. Ooma will notify my cell of a call to home but I can't pick up just listen to VM. If you go with Fongo home phone you can forward to your cellphone number. I have Fongo app on my cell (got it for work) for when I was in the real world.

Emporium wrote: ↑ VoIP.ms is a top notch premium VoIP provider and if you are NOT a heavy outgoing call kind of user, then their prices are pretty good, for a premium provider. But once again, you do need to get your own ATA and configure it (so may not be for everyone).

Webhead wrote: ↑ Anyone who got in on this Promo receive their ATA and try the Service?

Wondering how's it working.