Basic Talk Available At Walmart

[Bill Smith]

TV ads have recently been running offering BasicTalk, another VOIP service. The cost is $9.99 plus tax per month; total cost seems to be in the $12-$14 range.

The website is: http://basictalk.com/

I can see no compelling reason to use this service. The Obihai device can do all that this can and more.

Has anyone tried this yet? Comments?

[SteveHC]

BasicTalk is a new Vonage discount VOIP brand, sold exclusively directly from the Basictalk website and Walmart stores. It appears to be Vonage's attempt to compete directly with MJ. The services/features appear to be identical to MJ. Currently, when ordered directly from basictalk.com or walmart.com there is no charge for the device itself (which otherwise supposedly retails for $30) but the MONTHLY fee is $10 plus taxes/fees and there is no additional charge for porting in a number or keeping it. The device cannot legally be used or exported outside of the U.S. Currently, calls can be made from a Basictalk device from within the U.S. to the 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico but not to ANY other countries or territories. Faxing is NOT supported. An Alaskan number (Anchorage) is available. Call forwarding is NOT available. Customer Service is via online (FAQ's and live help chat) only. The device's firmware is automatically updated when an update is "pushed out" by the company. Only one registered phone number per device per account is possible, but customers can have more than one account.

- So it seems to me that the primary advantage over MJ *might* be that it may not have the problems that MJ has regarding inability to call certain exchanges without having to pre-pay additional funds. But who knows; it JUST became available, and its TOS doesn't seem to guarantee that all U.S. exchanges can be called (but I assume they're the same as the full-priced Vonage service). But it's about $12-$14/month vs. MJ's $20 or $30/YEAR.

I quickly checked walmart.com for any consumer reviews. Even though the product just came out within the past week or so there are already 5 reviews. 1 was posted by someone who said nothing beyond something like "buy magicjack instead because you can take mj out of the country and use it"; the other 4 said it seems to work pretty well for them so far. My guess is that it will be a trial and error, "your mileage may vary" type of thing just like every other VOIP service seems to be (including mj).

[aditya]

Also BasicTalk does not have international calling plan

[SteveHC]

Also BasicTalk does not have international calling plan

- I know; I already had stated in my post (which you just responded to) that with BasicTalk you can't call to any countries other than the U.S. and Canada