asterisk users - Oct 2006 - Re: [asteisk-users]USA DID + trunk

R.R. Libera wrote:
> Hello Steve,
>
> Thanks for recommend VoipStreet to me; their product look good. Could 
> you please tell me more about it? Could you please give, 
> approximately, the REAL amount of money for a certain amount of 
> minutes? (based on your experience). Somebody offer this flat rate:
>
> $15.00 for the DID.
> $17.00 for each channel monthly
> $10.00 for each channel, one-time install fee
> This is for typical "business" or "home" use.
>
> Is that more expensive or cheaper than VoipStreet?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> R.R. Libera
>
It's real hard to say without having at least some idea of your monthly 
usage. What we pay for voipstreet is

$3.00 a month for the DID + 1.4 cents a minutes. The only caveat is if a 
call lasts 30 seconds. They still charge you for the full first minute 
(1.4 cents). After 1 minute it goes to 6 second billing.

That gets expensive when you're doing a lot of inbound minutes. We were 
looking at voxbone and even though they have unlimited inbound minutes 
for $5.00 a month they limit you to two channels. Extra channels are 
22.00 a piece and you have to get 10 minimum. That's where they nail 
you. We might still use them for some of our numbers that don't have a 
lot of simultaneous calls.

$15.00 for the did seems high.
the $17.00 for the channel is pretty good though.

Do you absolutely need multiple channels per DID? If you can get by with 
2 channels things would be a lot easier.

R.R. Libera wrote:
> Thanks Steve for your timely response. I really needs 15 channels an 
> one DID cause I can?t make my customers to remember 7 PSTN numbers in 
> order they can reach me. That?s why I must have a DID + trunk.
>
> Just for getting an idea, we need to give 2300 minutes of support in 
> order to make some difference. So, that?s the MINIMUN I can  make in 
> order to get a bussines.
>
> Putting numbers clearly we have:
>
> *VoxBone*
> Install: 15 channels x 36 USD = 540 usd
> Monthly Charge: 15 channels x 22 USD = 330 usd
I REALLY don't know why they have to charge so much for additional 
channels.  I guess that's what makes sense for them. I would understand 
if an additional channel cost the same as a DID but not 4 times as much. 
I don't get it.
>
> *MetroTel
> *Install: 15 channels x 10 USD = 150 USD
> Monthly Charge: 15 channels x 17 USD + 15 USD = 270 USD
>
> *VoipStreet
> *Install: 3 USD
> Monthly Charge: 2.95 usd + (2300) x 0.0141 = 35.38 USD
> * Of course, that last formula it is not so close to the real life, 
> but things seems to be Ok with VoipStreet. The only caveat is the 
> "surprise" factor.
This of course sounds good. But you would be surprised how quick you 
rack up 2300 minutes. If you're running a  support line there is NO WAY 
you're going to be at 2300 minutes.

You might also need to triple check with voipstreet to ENSURE they can 
handle 15 simultaneous calls on one DID.
>
> I don?t really understand you when you said:
>
> "They still charge you for the full first minute (1.4 cents). After 1 
> minute it goes to 6 second billing."
I mean that AFTER the first minute of the call they charge  you in 6 
second increments. This means that if someone calls you for 1 minute and 
12 seconds they charge you:

1.41 cents for the first minute
+  0.0011 * 2 for the next 12 seconds.

If someone calls you for 30 seconds though, you still pay 1.4 cents.

This doesn't matter if most of your calls are > 1 minute. but if you 
have a lot of short calls it really sucks