iTalkBB December Promotion

For the past several months, iTalkBB has run different promotion programs each month. It comes to December and iTalkBB's December promotion is out now. It isn't quite exciting comparing to the past few months (here or here) though.

Between 12/01/2007 to 12/31/2007, new users signing up for iTalkBB's $299/14-month Global Unlimited plan can get unlimited iTalkFreedom service, which is a free phone-card-type-of-calling (including international calls) for your cellphones. This is in addition to all the services and features the plan offers, such as free caller id, 3-way call, voice mail, voice Email, 911 support, fax support, unlimited domestic and international calls to 20+ countries, free secondary phone number in China, video-on-demand from partner site, etc.

Using iTalkBB promotion code 953110 gets your additional $10 off at sign up.

iTalkBB as Affordable Voip Provider; not iTalk phone

Those who hear iTalkBB for the first time may confuse iTalkBB with the Apple i-series product.  As a matter of fact, there is an iTalk phone in speculation before iPhone unveiled. Below is a clip for the fabulous iTalk phone.  The iTalkBB we are talking about in this blog is one of the leading Voip providers in US and Canada, which offers low-price and feature-rich voip servic, and is especially popular in the Chinese community for reasons you will find out soon. 

iTalkBB's Global Unlimited Package costs $299 per 14-month, which includes tax and fees, and comes with great features such as Caller ID, 3-way call, Fax support, E-911, VoiceMail, Voice-Email, Free secondary phone number in China, 200 minutes phone card use per month for you cellphones, Unlimited domestic and international calls (to 20+ countries), 24/7 customer service, and free on-line VideoOnDeman (Chinese Movies and TV series) through iTalkBB partner site. Using promotion code of 953110 from this blog, one can get additional $10 savings at sign up.

Did you win iTalkBB's Moon Festival referreral prize?

It has been a month since the end date of iTalkBB's Moon Festival referral promotion drawing. In a few days, the winners for the Grand Prize (52" Sharp LCD TV), 20 First Prizes ($200 costco gift cards) and 100 Second Prizes (2 AMC movie tickets) will be generated and contacted by email and phone. Make sure to check your email for the notification. And congratulations to the winners!!!

For those who missed the Moon Festival promotions, there is an on-going promotion described here. And also, you can still get additional discount by using iTalkBB promotion code 953110.

Poll on iTalkBB call quality

I have used iTalkBB for half a year now and I am quite happy with its phone quality. To collect general statistics, I decide to run a poll at this blog on iTalkBB's call quality. Please share your experience of iTalkBB with others. Note that it grants one vote for each IP address. Post in comment if you have more to say...

Added GrandCentral to my iTalkBB

I just got my GrandCentral Account setup (yes, I got a referral invitation and yes, I am willing to share my invitations if you leave your email in the comment...)

Although iTalkBB already provides voice mail and voice-email (send voice mail message as email attachment) free of charge, it doesn't have the sim-ring, customized voice messages, customized ring-tone and such-like cool features that GrandCentral offers. Some users who switched from Sunrocket to iTalkBB miss very much the sim-ring feature (capability of ringing multiple phone numbers at the same time). Now through GrandCentral I have it completed and more!

To summarize, with iTalkBB + GrandCentral, I got everything I need for phone service. $21.39/month gets me all the International calls, a free second phone number in China, 3 way call, caller id, fax, etc. and 200 iTalkFreedom minutes per month from iTalkBB. That's tax and fees included, and with possibly a free second year due to a recent promotion from iTalkBB.
And from GrandCentral, I got sim ring, personalized ring-tone, personalized voicemail and all the fancy features. And best of all, as a subsidiary of Google, GrandCentral offers all these for free!

If you need a promotion code with iTalkBB, try "953110+8991095718" to get $20 off at sign up.
If you need an invitation to GrandCentral, leave a comment to the post. Best deals belong to everyone!

iTalkBB Referrer Promotion

Just receive this email from iTalkBB. It's definitely worth checking out.

Plus, use iTalkBB promotion code "953110+8991095718", you can get $10 off and free shipping too.

Refer 3 friends and earn your 1 year of free service!

Dear valued customer:

The iTalkBB team sincerely thanks you for being a loyal customer. We hope you enjoy the benefits iTalkBB has brought to you; our money-saving calling plans, our exclusive China Phone Number, and many other free features.

In the past 2 years, more than half of our customers have received free services through our Referral Program. To express our appreciation and thanks to you, we have designed a better and easier Referral Promotion.

This Promotion starts from 11/1/2007 to 11/30/2007.
If you upgrade to our $299 Global Advantage Plan or renewal your annual plan to qualify, and, in the following 3 month after your upgrade or renewal, refer 3 family and friends to join iTalkBB's $24.99 Global Unlimited Plan or $299 Global Advantage Plan, you will receive 12 months for FREE! Plus 200 free iTalkFreedom minutes each month!

How about that! Buy 12 month and get 26 month of service?

Thank you for choosing iTalkBB!
Sincerely yours,

The iTalkBB Team

Can vonage lawsuit shadow iTalkBB?

The leading Voip provider in US, Vonage, settled another long-standing patent lawsuit with Verizon, in which Vonage agreed to pay Verizon either $80 million or $117.5 million, depending on a pending appeal decision. This follows a similar settlement with Sprint Nextel for $80 million a few weeks ago. Yet anther patent infringement lawsuit is pending with AT&T.

Consider that Vonage has 2.5 million customers; amortizing those settlement cost in 5 years means each customer need to pay one more dollar per month to cover this cost. Vonage now typically charges $25 per month for unlimited local and domestic calls, compared to iTalkBB charging $21.36 per month for unlimited local and international calls. We have compared the price and features of Vonage and iTalkBB in an earlier post.

Would iTalkBB suffer a similar round of patent lawsuit? Has iTalkBB allocated enough resources to keep up with legal fight? As its customer base grows in US, iTalkBB will face these problems sooner or later.

You can use iTalkBB promotion code 953110 to get $10 off at sign up (here), or read more discussions, reviews and competitor comparison in this blog.

italk Global Communications?

Ran across a site http://www.italkglobal.com while looking up some information on Google. iTalkBB states on its site that "iTalk Broadband Corporation is a subsidiary of iTalk Global Communications, Inc. located in Vienna, Virginia." I wonder if it is the same iTalk Global. The italkglobal.com site is quite broken though.

  

To bundle or not to bundle, that's the question (Comcast vs iTalkBB)

The leading cable service provider, Comcast, has been pushing out its Triple Play bundle package for over a year now: new subscribers to Comcast are eligible to get Internet, phone and cable service all three for $33 each per month for the first year. Many people consider this a good deal, as it appears. However, it turns out that if you get the same services separately, it can be much cheaper.

Let's take a look at the ongoing Comcast packages on its website:

Triple play: $99.00/month for the first year and ranging from $128 to $144 (depending on the area) per month thereafter.

Same high-speed Internet service individually: $20/mo for first 6 months and $43/mo afterwards
Same Cable service individually: $33/mo for first 3 months and $42/mo afterwards
iTalkBB Global Unlimited Plan, which includes unlimited call to 26 countries, with all features that Comcast Digital Voice service provides and more: $299/14-month; and remains the same afterwards. Unlike Comcast Digital Voice, tax and fees are included in iTalkBB's package.

So the total for the first year is $20*6+$43*6+$33*3+$42*9+$299/14*12=$1111

compared to the total for the Triple Play bundle: $99*12=$1188

And cost per month after the first year is $43+$42+$22=$107 compared to Triple Play bundle: $128 to $144.

It's definitely a save; plus you get International calls for free; get 200 minutes/month iTalkFreedom (calling-card-like for cellphones); save on hefty phone tax; etc.

Using iTalkBB promotion code 953110, you can save another $10 at sign up.

There is also a $150 early termination fee for the Triple Play Bundle that one should beware of.

last day for referral super prize drawing

Tomorrow is the last day for iTalkBB's Moon Festival Referral Super Prize Drawing. New sign-ups can still get the $19.99 discount described here and existing users can still have a chance to win a 52" Sharp LCD HDTV. The prize drawing is scheduled on November 15th. Good luck!

Net2Phone $19.95 deal?

Julie mentioned in her comment last week a good deal from Net2phone: 3 free months and $19.95/month afterwards (assuming to unlimited US/Canada plan). Normally, I would rule Net2Phone out as a strong competitor to iTalkBB since its regular price is way above market average -- $29.99/month for an unlimited US/Canada plan and $35-$45/month if you add any international options, with tax and fees as extra. It charges a $29.99 activation fee and a $39.99 early termination fee (before 12 service months). Moreover, it does not provide any special attractive feature such as the free China DID number offered by iTalkBB, or the video phone feature from packet8. The aforementioned special offer from Net2phone is much better than its regular rate, however, it is still not very attractive compared to the $299/14 months (tax and fees included) iTalkBB's global unlimited plan, which includes free international calls to 20+ countries, dual phone numbers, 200 free iTalkFreedom minutes and online (Chinese) video on demand service through partner sites. I would pick iTalkBB over Net2phone.

If sign up this week, the iTalkBB promotion mentioned here still works.

Could Vonage be the next SunRocket?

Last week, I talked about Vonage's plan to lower the price to stay in competition with other VOIP providers such as iTalkBB. Today, Wall Street Journal reports Vonage (VG) as one of the top losers for the past financial quarter. Vonage's stock has dropped continuously from $7.89 a year ago to recent under dollar range ($0.89). Vonage's plan, compared to iTalkBB, is higher in price and poorer in feature. IMHO, Vonage can survive to today is mainly due to its aggressive commercial campaigns in mainstream media (TV, news paper, etc.). However, this adds to the cost overhead, making Vonage unable to compete with other Voip providers in price. On the other hand, iTalkBB uses low cost advertising (mainly online advertisement combined with referral program), so as to gain an edge on the price.

Interested in learning more about iTalkBB? Read more posts on this blog. Use promotion code 953110 to sign up with iTalkBB, you get $10 off.

Should pick Linksys SPA2102 over SPA1001 IP box

iTalkBB charges an additional $15 deposit for Linksys SPA 2102 adaptor while no extra charge for SPA 1001 one. However, it has been reported that some users experiencing call/quality problem with iTalkBB had the problem fixed after upgrading to SPA2102, especially for those with low bandwidth Internet connections. So if you had any doubt about your ISP, pick Linksys SPA2102. It can make quite a difference.

Vonage ready to lower price (to comparable to iTalkBB)

The leading voip provider in the United States, Vonage, is planning to roll out a new service plan, costing $14.99+tax & fees/mo with unlimited domestic calls. This has not gone public yet, but if you are a current Vonage subscriber, you can still get it by


(1) calling customer service # 866-243-4357
(2) following the prompt to account management, and
(3) mentioning that you want to cancel service but would stay for a $14.99 plan (since others are getting it)


Many people had successfully switched to the $14.99 plan on the first shoot. So good luck trying.

It is great to see that Vonage has to lower the price due to competitions from companies like iTalkBB. The $14.99 plan comes with one year service contract. With tax & fees, it comes to around $19.xx per month, in comparison to iTalkBB's counterpart, $19.99/month (tax/fees included) residential unlimited plan. Or with $2 more, you can get the $299/14-months (averaging $21.36/month) global unlimited plan from iTalkBB, in which you get unlimited international calls to 20+ countries. Furthermore, Vonage does not have any of the advance features that iTalkBB offers. For example, in iTalkBB you get one local US number and a free China number so that people in China won't pay long distance charge to reach you. There isn't such thing in Vonage.


Final words: while you are considering switching to the $14.99 Vonage plan, you may also want to take a look at iTalkBB. You can use iTalkBB promotion code 953110 to get $10 off at sign up (here), or read more discussions, reviews and comparison in this blog.

iTalkBB customer service

The customer service line of iTalkBB (1-877-482-5503) operates 24/7 in both English and Chinese. To me, the time flexibility is definitely an advantage: you can deal with the problem at the time of your convenience, as opposed to making time in the middle of your busy day to handle it. I personally didn't have much experience in using iTalkBB's help line. However, reading some of the user reviews on various forums and blogs, I got a mixed feeling for its customer service, as some saying it is good while others complaining about it not being very helpful. Since the evaluation of customer service is typically subjective and varies case by case, I don't want to claim one way or another (you are welcome to leave your review or feedback in the post comments). But I want to do my part in making things better, if you happen to be the unfortunate one. Here is how:

When you sign up with iTalkBB with promotion code "953110" ($10 off), you may leave a comment to the post or send an email to iTalkBB.deal@gmail.com, stating your name, the plan your subscribed and iTalkBB number if known. If you encounter a service problem and find the customer service unhelpful, you may send an email to iTalkBB.deal@gmail.com (describing the problem) and I shall try my best to communicate to iTalkBB (through the dealer service channel) to get problem solved. Let's see how it works.

iTalkBB promotion code 953110

Today, an email notifying the change of China DID number (covered in a previous post here) has been sent out to iTalkBB users. In the mean time the iTalkBB Moon Festival Referral Promotion is also progressing in full swing. Use iTalkBB promotion code 953110+899xxxxxxx (referrer ID) to get another $10 off and free shipping.

iTalkBB's new China phone number

Last month, I described the alternative China DID number in one of the posts. Now an inside news says this will replace the existing iTalkBB number (17971001....) for good. In this month, the new dial-in number: "4007128899" will replace the old one. You shall tell your family or friends in China about this change so that they won't have any trouble in reaching you. Or it may be a good time to cut someone off by not telling them your new number :-)

Anyway, to use the new dial-in number, simply dial "4007128899" from a phone in China, either a land line or a cellphone. Following the voice prompt, dial in the ten-digits iTalkBB number "899xxxxxxx", then the "#" key. The 179 number and the 400 number will be both active for a short peroid time (a couple of weeks maybe), and after that the 179 number will only be playing an announcement recording notifying the replacement number. The final cut-off of the 179 number will be really soon too (in a month or so).

The "4007128899" number is expected to provide better coverage and better quality, which is good. But personally, I think iTalkBB should allow a longer time for the transition to happen.

In case the "400" number doesn't work, here are a couple of backup solutions:

(a) 4 dial-in number in Beijing: 13439377355,13439377356,13439377357,13439377358 (dial 0 first if from a land line outside Beijing); wait for it to ring and disconnect automatically; within a few seconds you will receive an incoming call (so that you don't have to pay a long distance cost) asking for the destination iTalkBB number; enter the "899xxxxxxx" number followed by the "#" key to connect.
(b) send text message "HH" to the above 4 dial-in number; within a few seconds you will receive an incoming call; the rest are the same.

If you feel you have gained useful information from this blog, you may want to bookmark this blog and check back later for more updates. If you have decided to sign up with iTalkBB, click here and use italkbb promotion code "953110" to knock $10 off.

iTalkBB PK Lingo

In the arena of affordable Internet phone service providers, Lingo is definitely a strong player. Being a subsidiary of Primus Telecom Group Inc., a Fortune 1000 global communications company with operations in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, Lingo offers very competitive deals to consumers in the United States and Canada.

Let's now see how does iTalkBB compare to Lingo by their most popular VoIP packages --- Chatter Box from Lingo versus Global Unlimited Plan from iTalkBB:

Price: iTalkBB is Cheaper

*Lingo Chatter Box: $21.95/month with first month free; plus tax and fees $4.09/month
*iTalkBB Global Unlimited: $24.99/month or $299/14-month with tax and fees included

Lingo $290.53/12 month versus iTalkBB $299/14 months

Features: iTalkBB is slightly better

Both includes: Port in existing number; Voicemail; Caller ID; Call Forwarding; 3-way Calling; 911 Emergency support; Call waiting; fax support
* In addition, Lingo offers toll free number for $4.95 a month; additional US/Canada number for $4.95 a month; additional International number for $10 a month;
* In addition, iTalkBB binds a second China phone number to your phone free of charge; offers 200 free iTalkFreedom minutes to two cellphones for annual plan subscribers; supports voicemail to be sent to email address as attachment; promotional online (Chinese) video-on-demand through iTalkBB partner

Hidden Cost: iTalkBB is slightly higher

Lingo charges $29.95 activation fee; promotional $0 for equipment; $9.95 shipping; $39.95 early termination fee; unspecified amount for non-returned equipment charge.
iTalkBB charges $0 activation fee for annual plan or $29.99 activation fee for monthly plan; $0-$15 equipment deposit; promotional $0 shipping; $69.99 early termination fee; $59.99 for non-returned equipment.

International Coverage (free call): iTalkBB is better

Both have coverage (as listed on their website) in US, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City
Lingo also offers free call to Finland
iTalkBB also offers free call to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Chile, Greece, Japan, Malaysia

Conclusion: it is reassuring to know that iTalkBB is at least as competitive as Lingo. Using promotion Code (953110) to get additional $10 discount from iTalkBB makes it an even better deal. No more waiting: Sign up here.

a few must-knows for iTalkBB new users

Having covered a broad range of topics related to the VoIP provider -- iTalkBB, I believe some sort of summary may be helpful, especially to people who may be interested in signing up its service.

* Promotions:
$19.99 off new-user-promotion (limited time)
Prevailing promotion

* Comparisons to other voip providers:
To Vonage, AT&T, Verizon, Sunrocket
To Packet8
To Vopcon

* Plan information:
Popular residential plans
Cheap second line option
International calls
videopark service

* Bewares:
need-to-know for 30 day trial period
strict cancellation policy
my wish list
no sim-ring

* Instructions on setup/specific features:
Transfer existing number to iTalkBB
Voip box setup
secrete China dial in number
3-way call
call forwarding
voice mail and voice email
wiring suggestion

* Reviews:
Why did I choose iTalkBB
Other people's review
Another review site

win 52" Sharp LCD HDTV from iTalkBB

Looking for sharp promotion code? try your luck here: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=606578

Refer your family or friends to iTalkBB, you will have a chance to win 52" Sharp LCD HDTV. How?

The most recent promotion from iTalkBB says that if you refer friends to iTalkBB's annual or monthly unlimited plan, by using promotion code "953110+899xxxxxxx" where 899xxxxxxx is your iTalkBB Number, your friends will save $10 and $9.99 on shipping, while you will have a chance to win referrer awards. Promotion runs between 09/01/07 and 10/15/07 and winner will be drawn 30 days after the end of the promotion.

Eligibility	Number of Winners	Awards	Estimate Value
referrer having the highest number of new subscriptions	1	52" Sharp LCD HDTV	$3000
referrer having 2 or more new subscriptions	20	Costco Gift Card	$200
referrer having 1 or more new subscriptions	100	2 AMC Movie Tickets	$20

Tell you friends about iTalkBB now!

iTalkBB September promotion $19.99 off

iTalkBB is now running a new promotion (9/1/07 ~ 10/15/07):

If you sign up iTalkBB's service between September 1 and October 15, you can use promotion code "953110+8991095718" to get $10 off and free shipping ($9.99 value).

The second part (899......) can be any valid iTalkBB number (say from a friend or colleague who is a current subscriber of iTalkBB's service). The owner of the 899....... number will get referrer credit as well.

Compare popular iTalkBB's residential plans from previous posts here, or read reviews and comparisons with other VoIP providers from this blog. Remember, the $299/14-month anual plan come with 200 iTalkFreedom minutes per month as well!

iTalkBB's secrete backup China DID number

One of the features that distinguish iTalkBB from the rest of VoIP providers is the so-called China DID number: your iTalkBB phone comes with a FREE China phone number and your family and friends in China can simply call your local China phone number to reach you in the United States/Canada without having to pay an International call charge! Feel interested? Sign up with iTalkBB with promotion code 953110 to take an additional $10 off.

To call from China, simply dial 17971001+899-xxx-xxxx where 899xxxxxxx is your 10 digit iTalkBB number. In most places in China, this feature has been enabled by the local phone carriers -- see a detailed chart here: http://www2.italkbb.com/bb/enu/enu_support_07.asp

However, if the caller happens to be in a region that 17971001 number is yet open, here is a backup: dial 4007-128-899, wait for it to connect, then dial the 899-xxx-xxxx number, followed by # key.

(A reader of the blog has complained about having a friend in China without direct 17971001 access. Here is your solution then.)

==============================================================

UPDATE: The Local access numbers have changed -- see here for detail.

interview with iTalkBB's president

Sina news covers a recent interview with iTalkBB's president and CEO, Jack Zhao. (Available in Chinese at this link: http://voip.sina.com/2007/0814/4138.html and http://voip.sina.com/2007/0814/4138.html) One interesting number pops up from the interview --- 97% of the iTalkBB users have renewed their service plan with iTalkBB after the expiration of first year's service. The number is quite high. I believe that this may have something to do with their strict cancellation policy (search my previous posts for details), but on the other hand, this also suggests that iTalkBB's service qaulity is quite satisfactory, or at least at an acceptable level.

iTalkBB's limited free trial

iTalkBB offers 30 days free trial for its service. The idea is for users to try iTalkBB and if not satisfied with the service, one can cancel the service with no charge. If you are uncertain about the quality and service of iTalkBB, you may still sign up and try it out. But you'd better keep track the following:

(a) Time limit 1: 30 days
If you want a full refund, you have to call 1-877-482-5503 within 30 days from activation date and obtain an equipment return authorization from iTalkBB. Activation date is the 7th day after sign-up date or the date that the first call takes place, whichever comes first.

(b) Time limit 2: 7 days
You need to return the VoIP box in its original packing (with box, manual, etc.) to the address given in the equipment return authorization within 7 days (postal mark time) from the cancellation call.

(c) Usage limit: 500 minutes
Your first 30 day usage shall not exceed 500 minutes to qualify for a full refund.

(d) No toll charge
Your toll charges (for calls that are not covered in the plan you subscribed) will not be refunded. For example, international calls for residential (domestic) unlimited plan subscribers will be charged.

If you sign up with coupon code "953110", the $10 you save will be yours to keep.

iTalkBB now offers voicemail and voice-email

It almost sounds like I planed this... Last week, I talked about some features that SunRocket users would miss if switching to iTalkBB. Among them, the VoiceMail and Voice-Email (forwarding your voicemail to your specified email address with the message as an attachment) are on the top of the list. Four days have passed and I am happy to say that both VoiceMail and Voice-Email features are open for iTalkBB users now.

Here is how to set it up:
(1) login to your iTalkBB account at http://www.italkbb.com/
(2) click on the new tab that says "activate voicemail"
(3) activate your voicemail by providing a password (more than 4 digits) and an email address that you wish to receive email message from.
(4) click the "activation greeting setting" link on the top to set up greeting message. You can either call the number listed or fill in your number for a call back to record your greeting.
*** if you skip this step, there won't be any greeting message (not even a default one)
(5) wait for two hours and try it out.

I tested the voice-email out of curiosity although I have an answer machine and plan to keep using it. Well, it worked!

It feels that my post last week has something to do with the new change. (I know, it's impossible...) Hope iTalkBB can keep bringing values to its service. And remember to use promotion code 953110 to get $10 off when you decide to sign up with iTalkBB.

features that former sunrocket users would miss from iTalkBB

In the past few weeks, there are many former SunRocket users picking iTalkBB as their new VoIP service provider. While they discover some new features like China DID (having a China phone number for your phone in US), or iTalkFreedom, they also find some features that SunRocket supported missing from iTalkBB. Here is a list of features that a former SunRocket user misses the most: (a) No voicemail, or forwarding a voicemail as an email with the message as an attachment (b) No free second line and SimRing (an income call rings multiple phones) (c) No distinctive ring (i.e., identify a caller by the ring)

I can imagine the inconvenience for those who had got used to those features, espeically the email attachement thing, which is quite cool -- I don't know any other VoIP providers that support this feature. If you think you can live without those, give iTalkBB a try, and save $10 with promotion code 953110 at sign up.

==========================================
Update: VoiceMail and VoiceEmail are now open at iTalkBB. Read here!

compare italk bb with packet8 on termination policy

I was a little upset when I discovered the possible termination charges in i Talk BB's terms and conditions, and decided to take a look at other VoIP providers. I picked Packet8 since SunRocket had used its dying breath to promote Packet8 (those former SunRocket users would have received a last email from SunRocket suggesting Packet 8 as an alternative...).

Packet8 is the voip service offered by a 20 year old telecommunication company - 8x8 Inc., which is the patents holder of many multimedia and VoIP technology. As iTalkBB's uniqueness lies in its dual number (US/Canada local + China local) service, packet8's strong sell point is its video phone service (with special device of course) in addition to regular VoIP.

Packet8's most popular plan are the $24.99/month, or $199/year plus taxes and fees (Unlimited in US/Canada), which corresponds to iTalkBB's $19.99/month (tax included) Residential Unlimited plan. Packet8's Freedom Unlimited Global plan ($29.99/month) is also much more expensive than iTalkBB's counterpart, Global Unlimited plan ($24.99/month, or $299/14-month).

Leaving price aside, what I want to check is the cancellation policy hidden in terms and conditions. Here's what I found.

* Early termination fee: $59.99 for regular voip phone and $199.99 for video-capable service phone if cancellation within 12 months of service (users joined at different promotion periods are subject to different disconnection fee, ranging from $99 to $299)

For packet8, there is no any equipment charge at the end of service term, however, the device need to be paid up-front at sign up time. One has to admit that packet8's videophone is quite cool in looking though.

So, after this comparison and find grass is not greener on the other side of the street, I feel less upset about the i Talk BB's termination charge. In general, I dislike this kind of sales practice, i.e., hiding all catches in lengthy terms and conditions, very much.

iTalkBB cancellation policy

Living in a country where lawyers prevail, one has to learn how to read tiny-font-ed terms and conditions to avoid any catches. Today, I delved into the heavily-packed terms and conditions from iTalkBB website and pulled out things that I believe one should be made aware of before signing up the service -- service cancellation policy.

First, I shall say that iTalkBB's cancellation policy is not the best one can hope for, or put it gently, that iTalkBB is really reluctant to let a paying customer go. Here is how.

* Early Termination Fee: $69.99, charged for cancellation within 12 month after activation and after trial period.

• fee avoided after 12 months' subscription -- $69.99 is like 3-month-worth of service. If one wants to cancel service after 9 months, it would be better off waiting for the end of the service year than paying this huge penalty.

* Equipment Charge: $59.99, charged for equipment not mailed back to iTalkBB within 7 days from termination.

• To avoid the charge, one need to call 1-877-482-5503 to terminate the service and obtain an equipment return authorization form, and within 7 days (postmark time) ship the voip box in original packing to Return Department at 1608 Spring Hill Road, Suite 430, Vienna, Virginia 22182.

Gosh, they make this hard!!! Now I wish iTalkBB's service would be good and stable, so as not to give me a reason to terminate the service. I don't want to deal with that at all.

Now you can make an informed decision, and, if it helps, the $10 discount you get using promotion code 953110 would be yours to keep...

Update: I feel less upset about it after this comparison.

cordless phone with voip service

One of the inconveniences of using a voip service like iTalkBB is the wiring of phone lines in home. Almost all houses or apartments are already wired up for conventional phone lines with jack available in every room. But for voip phones, you pretty much have only one phone jack, most likely being next to your cable/dsl modem. The easiest way to set up multiple phones is to use expandable cordless phone. In my case, I got the PANASONIC KX-TG1031 phone for ~$80 at costco a few weeks ago. It comes with 4 handsets and an all-digital answering system, all having caller ID (which iTalkBB supports). Simply put one handset in each room and you can forget about all the wiring problem. There are other brands and models of phones, and typically in the price range of $20-$100. When you shop for those, I would recommend emphasis on two features:

(a) DECT 6.0: which is a newer technology for base-handset communication. It is more network friendly (less interference with wireless network), and has increased clarity, enhanced security and wider range.
(b) expandability: how many handsets can be added to the same system. My phone can support up to 6 handsets; some phones have just one base and one handset. You need to find the one that match your need.

My experience with PANASONIC KX-TG1031 is quite happy. I'm very impressed by the battery performance -- it goes 10+ hours talk time at one charge, much better than my previous phone that beeps (at low battery) all the time... Highly recommended.

200 Free iTalkFreedom minute expires (7/31/2007)

The website says the 200 free iTalkFreedom minutes for Global Unlimited Plan ($299/14-month) is going to expire on 7/31/2007. The expiration deadline had been extented in the past: (see post here - http://italkbbreview.blogspot.com/2007/06/italkbbs-italkfreedom-promotion.html) Don't know whether it will be extended again...

UPDATE: As expected, the 200 free iTalkFreedom minutes promotion is extended again (till 8/31/2007). Now I believe it is a merely sales trick. So no need to hurry...

comparison between iTalkBB and Vopcon

Compared to big-corporation-voip-providers such as Vonage (AT&T) or VoiceWing (Verizon), iTalkBB has clear advantage both in terms of the offered features and the prices. Today I take a look at how does iTalkBB compare with mid-sized players in voip domain. I picked Vopcon as a representative since I learned that some of my friends had switched to Vopcon after SunRocket's crash.

Vopcon was founded in early 2004 and is based in Indiana, Indianapolis. Its features and prices are quite comparable to iTalkBB: both have great features such as call forwarding, caller ID, 3-way call, 911 support etc and both got good call-quality based on recent reviews on the Internet.

Here is the highlight of the differences:

*Dual phone number: iTalkBB binds both a China phone number and a US/Canada local number to your phone, hence avoiding long distance charge for folks in China to call you -- great for people having family or business in China. Vopcon doesn't. [iTalkBB:Vopcon = 1:0]

* Cell phone feature: Vopcon binds your voip service to your cell phones at the rate of $18.99 for the first line and $9.99 for the additional line with unlimited calling. iTalkBB charges 2 cents per minute purely on usage basis. In addition, iTalkBB offers 200 free minutes per month to two phones for users in the $299/14-month global unlimited plan. [iTalkBB:Vopcon = 2:0]

* Economic plan: Vopcon offers $9.99/month plan with 500 minute in US/Canada included. iTalkBB offers $4.99/month and $0.02/minute usage charge. The better plan of the two depends on the usage. Tie. [iTalkBB:Vopcon = 3:1]

* Global unlimited plan: Both offers $24.99/month global unlimited plan but iTalkBB offers $299/14-month package. [iTalkBB:Vopcon = 4:1]

* Device: Vopcon has one model of Voip adapter that has build-in wireless access point for $39.99 . iTalkBB does not have a such a model. [iTalkBB:Vopcon = 4:2]

* Promotion code: Code 953110 saves you $10 at sign-up with iTalkBB (free activation, free adapter, need $10 shipping). Code sunrocket gives you free activation, free adapter and free shipping at sign-up with Vopcon. Tie. [iTalkBB:Vopcon = 5:3]

Well, my vote goes to iTalkBB.

iTalkBB supports call-forwarding

I have talked about using iTalkBB's 3-way calling features in a previous post. It is quite handy. On h0lidays or for special occasions such as my parents' birthday, I would have a three-way call to my parents in China and my sister in Canada and have a "family meeting".

Another feature that comes in most of iTalkBB's plans is call-forwarding. Two types of call forwarding are supported -- "Call Forwarding - Always" and "Call Forwarding - No Answer":

"Call Forwarding - Always" would forward all your incoming calls to a predetermined phone number, and your iTalkBB phone would not ring at all upon incoming calls.

"Call Forwarding - No Answer" would ring your iTalkBB phone first and forward your incoming calls only after a time period when no one answers.

Both are easy to set up as instructed below.

Call Forwarding - Always
Activation (*72) Listen for the dial tone. Press *72 followed by the telephone number you are forwarding your calls to. Activation will be confirmed with 2 beeps tone.
Deactivation (*73) Listen for the dial tone. Press *73. You will hear a confirmation tone signaling your change has been accepted.

Call Forwarding - No Answer
Activation (*92) Listen for the dial tone. Press *92 followed by the telephone number you are forwarding your calls to. Activation will be confirmed with 2 beeps.
Deactivation (*93) Listen for dial tone. Press *93. You will hear a confirmation tone signaling your change has been accepted.

Call forwarding are included in most of the iTalkBB plans that you sign up with. Remember to use promotion coupon code 953110 when you sign up with iTalkBB to get discount offer.

iTalkBB's special offer to former sunrocket users

As many sunrocket users are seeking new voip service providers, I got many inquiries about my experience of using iTalk BB service. I have been using its service for over 3 months now and am quite happy with it. The quality is very good. The customer service, based on my one time experience when I had a question using iTalkFreedom service, is quite helpful too. And two things make it really distinguished from other voip providers --

(1) You get both a local (US/Canada) phone number and a China phone number bound to the same phone you have. Your family/friends in China can dial a local call to reach you in US. I haven't looked into it, but I heard that iTalk BB offers Korean local number as well.

(2) You get free iTalkFreedom service, which allows you to use up to two cellphones to receive and make International calls from your Global unlimited plan.

I use both features quite extensively...

For former sunrocket users, iTalkBB offers further discount such as free months in addition to the $299/14-month promotion. One can call toll free number 1-877-482-5522 for special deals. Mention that you are a former sunrocket user and promotion code 953110 ($10 off) to get discount offers! The customer service is available both in English and in Chinese. But hurry up, as special offers won't last long...

iTalkBB outlives sunrocket

In one of the previous posts, I mentioned a friend of mine who had chosen sunrocket over iTalkBB for their lower price. Now almost two months later, news has it that sunrocket ceased operations Monday, cutting off service to some 200,000 subscribers. Callers to its customer-service department were directed to a recording stating, "We are no longer taking customer-service or sales calls. Goodbye." It is widely believed that the company failed partly because it offerd too many features, like call-forwarding as iTalkBB offers as well, but with price too low to cover the operational cost.

iTalkBB on the other hand offers reasonably-priced packages. It finds good deals for the customers while maintaining a healthy bussiness operation for the company. I'll talk to my friend to see if he is interested in switching to iTalkBB. Of course, he will be welcome to use the promotion coupon 953110 to get further discount.

iTalkBB's residential plans

I am totally convinced that the $299/14-month global unlimited plan is the best deal for me. But there are other plans from iTalkBB that can also be great deals for people that use the phone less frequently. Here are some other popular plans that iTalkBB offers:

(a) Global Unlimited Plan; $24.99/month - tax & fees included.

• Your choice of area code
• A China phone number
• Caller ID; Call waiting; Call forwarding; 3-way calling; 911 support...
• Unlimited local and long distance calls within US and Canada
• Unlimited calls to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
• Unlimited calls from China to your assigned China Phone Number

(b) Residential Unlimited Plan; $19.99/month - tax & fees included.

• Your choice of area code
• A China phone number
• Caller ID; Call waiting; Call forwarding; 3-way calling; 911 support...
• Unlimited local and long distance calls within US and Canada
• $.02/min for calls to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
• $.02/min for calls from China to your assigned China Phone Number

(c) Residential Economic Plan; $4.99/month - tax & fees included.

• Your choice of area code
• A China phone number
• Caller ID; Call waiting; Call forwarding; 3-way calling; 911 support...
• $.02/min for calls within US and Canada
• $.02/min for calls to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
• $.02/min for calls from China to your assigned China Phone Number

Basically the main difference lies in whether one gets unlimited national/international calls, and of course, the price. If you are a light phone user, you may consider using an economic plan or a residential unlimited plan.

In all cases, you can always use the promotion coupon code 953110 to save some extra bucks. Use this link to sign up with iTalkBB.

iTalkBB: good news and bad news

Bad news: iTalkBB's videopark promotion is over, though one can still try signing up with videopark.tv

Good news: iTalkFreedom promotion has been extended to 7/31/2007 (check last month's post for details); And promotion code 953110 can still save you $10 here.

my wish list for iTalkBB

Do I have a wish list for iTalkBB? Well, I do. But so far it has been short.

(a) I wish their adaptor would not only have build-in router function (as in Linksys SPA2102 model), but also have wireless access point support. Two's a company; Three (modem + voip box + wap) is definitely a crowd.

(b) With the exception of a few countries such as China, USA and Canada, iTalkBB charges users, although at a fairly low rate, for calls to mobile phones in international destinations. My second wish is for iTalkBB to include those destinations free of charge, so that I don't have to care about whether my callee is using a land line or not.

I have also heard other users' complaint about not have a voice mailbox. It doesn't bother me much since I already have an answer machine. But I could see it could be a valuable feature to some.

That's it. I'll add to the post if I find something else.

If you can live with that, here is the link to sign up iTalkBB. Use promotion code 953110 to save an additional $10.

iTalkBB's iTalkFreedom promotion expiring soon

In an earlier post, I mentioned one of the pleasant surprises I discovered after I signed up with iTalkBB -- iTalkFreedom service. With iTalkFreedom, you can get two additional China phone numbers and bind them to two cellphone numbers of your choice. Your family and friends in China can reach you by cellphone as if they were dialing a local number. You can also make international calls from your cellphone by dialing one of the following number first.

• (323) 908-8701
• (646) 682-0300
• (832) 631-3081

After the call is connected, you may then dial 1 for English or 2 for Chinese, followed by the destination number. The iTalkFreedom service offers first 200 minutes FREE each month. After that, it charges 2.2 cents/minute for outgoing calls to China and 3.5 cents/minute for incoming calls from your China phone number. It is very convenient indeed!

But the iTalkFreedom promotion is expiring soon. By the end of the month (Jun 30th, 2007), the 200 free minutes is gone. Hurry up to catch this benefit while it lasts, with promotion code 953110 at sign up for another $10 off. You'll get all the great deals from iTalkBB and iTalkFreedom.

iTalkBB Global Unlimited Plan

iTalkBB global unlimited plan offers free calls to China, United States and Canada. For most users, it is enough. Some others may need to call people in besides these three countries. I for one have a brother-in-law who studies in Australia and we call each other occasionally. iTalkBB does offer free calls to 20+ countries and regions including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Vatican City. However, most of the above do not include mobile phones. Although the calling rate to mobile phone in those counties are fairly low, you'd better check it out (here) to avoid any surprises in your phone bill.

3-way call in iTalkBB

iTalkBB supports 3-way calling --you can add a third party to your conversation at anytime. It is quite easy to use.

1. Press flash button or the hook switch to place the first party on hold.
2. Wait a couple of seconds untill you hear the dial tone -- you would hear three short tones followed by the dial tone.
3. Dial the number of the third party -- when the third party answers, you may have a conversation with him/her while the other party is on hold.
4. Press flash button or the hook switch again to join all parties.

That's it. Happy teleconferencing!!

iTalkBB on dwnews.com

There was an article recently on dwnews.com covering an interview with iTalkBB senior executives. If you read Chinese, you will find the story on how was iTalkBB founded while the four founders were playing double tennis in year 2003. In short four years, this company has grown to a multinational corporation with more than 2 million subscribers all over the world, The four founders, Jack Zhao (president and CEO), Sizhen Wang (VP in marketing and sales), Tong Wei (VP in customer service) and Jinhui Sun (senior executive officer) are now still taking care of the business operation of iTalkBB in its four divisions located at Austin Texas, Washing DC, Shanghai, and Beijing. About the name of iTalkBB, Zhao says, that iTalk stands both for Internet Talk and for "I" ,as the first person, -talk, which is a coincidence to apple's i-series, and BB comes from the BroadBand icon, Yahoo! BB. With the emphasis on technology and customer service, and of course great deals such as $10 promotion code 953110, iTalkBB is destined to leading VoIP provider in the world.

free online movie and tv series for iTalkBB users

As mentioned in an earlier post, there was a pleasant surprise when I signed up with iTalkBB -- free VideoPark access. It is really a pity that iTalkBB did not put up any active advertising campaign about this great benefit... As a partner to iTalkBB, VideoPark offers online movie and TV series free of charge to iTalkBB users. They have a good selection of recent Chinese movies and popular Chinese TV series. It may not mean much to an American user who doesn't speak Chinese. But to me, this is really a huge plus. I had watched more than 50 hours of video since I discovered this service. Here is a sample of the titles that are available at VideoPark.

Now you've found another reason to sign up with iTalkBB. Besides you can get another $10 discount for iTalkBB using promotion code 953110.

Advanced iTalkBB hardware setting

If you have a wireless access point (WAP) or have more than one computers at home, you would connect your WAP or multi-port router with the iTalkBB VoIP box (Linksys SPA2101). Now you have two options.

(a)
Cable/DSL modem
|
VoIP Box ---> telephone
|
WAP/Router ---> PC

(b)
Cable/DSL modem
|
WAP/Router --> PC
|
Voip Box ---> telephone

Option (a) is suggested in the installation guide. If you don't need to run a more advanced home network, this is the way to go. The pros are easy to setup, and the potential for the vo-ip box assigning higher priority to voice traffic over competing data traffic. However, you need to contact the iTalkBB technical support if you would like to have some specific port-forwarding (e.g., port 80) enabled. The login information attached in the installation guide does not give administrator privilege required for such settings.

Option (b) gives more flexible control on the home network setup. However, one needs to be more knowledgeable in setting up the network IP addresses and configuring port-forwarding properly. The best way to do so is to bind a static IP address to the vo-ip box by the mac address and set incoming port forwarding of the iTalkBB required ports (5060, 6802, 16384-16482) to that IP address. It's not very hard to do, but you should only use this setup when you know what you are doing.

If you are considering taking advantage of iTalkBB's latest promotions, remember to use promotion code 953110 to get a bonus $10 or sign up HERE.

Linksys SPA2102 VoIP box

When you sign up with iTakBB (Don't forget using promotion code 953110 to save $10), you will receive a pre-configured Linksys SPA2102 VoIP box in post mail. It comes with an installation guide, which is very easy to follow. All you need to do is to connect your devices as the picture shown below. If you have a wireless access point (WAP), you may connect it to the Ethernet port (where the computer is).

For those who choose SPA1001 box, you need a router connecting your cable/DSL modem to your SPA1001 box.

The only tricky thing happens when you try a power cycle: you need to turn off the cable or DSL modem and keep it off for 1-3 minutes before you try turning it back on. This would ensure the routing/registration status stored in the network properly time-out. A little patience would pay off.

a friend picked sunrocket over italkbb

I recently recommended iTalkBB to a friend of mine who was considering switching to a VoIP phone from conventional phone. I shared my good experience with the $299 iTalkBB global unlimited plan to him. A few days later, he told me that he had chosen sunrocket's $199/yr plan instead. Sunrocket does not provide a China phone number and charges an international calling rate of 3 cents/minute to China. However it is considerably cheaper. It wouldn't be a bad choice if the quality is as good as iTalkBB. That said, I shall mention that iTalkBB also have other plans that charge as low as $4.99/month. One should be able to find the desired price/feature trade-off within the iTalkBB plan family.

Here are some comparison with other popular VoIP provider in US as it stands today:

Plan Comparison Chart
	iTalkBB	Vonage	AT&T / SBC	Verizon
	Global Unlimited Plan	Premium Unlimited	All Distance Select	Verizon Freedom
Monthly Fee	$24.99	$24.99	$39.94	$44.99
Local Calling	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
US & Canada Calling	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
International Calling	Includes 20+ Countries	Includes Some European Countries	Not Included	Not Included
China Phone Number	Yes	No	No	No
Calls to China, HK & Taiwan	Unlimited	$0.06-$0.10/min	$0.10/min	$2.23/min
Calls from China to US and Canada	Unlimited	No	No	No
Taxes & Additional fees	No	~$32	~$132	~$145
Total/14 months	$299	$382	$691	$875
Total Savings	—	$83	$392	$576

italk bb feature

Why did I choose to use iTalkBB:

(1) it allows me to keep my existing phone number even when I moved outside of the area code region
(2) it is cheaper than my Verizon telephone service, and no hidden cost (even tax has been included)
(3) it has free and unlimited calls to China (and 20+ countries and regions)
(4) it comes with a China phone number -- my family and friends can easily reach me with no extra cost
(5) it has all the features I need, including caller ID, three-way calling, call forwarding, and fax
(6) it supports 911 call, which will be directed to the nearest dispatcher in emergency situation

After I started using iTalkBB service, I found two more features/service that I like very much:

(7) it allows two mobile phone numbers to be binded to each account -- one can make call and receive call from these two cell phone with the iTalkBB number
(8) it comes with promotional free service to videopark, where one can watch hundreds of movie and TV series online

Einstein sings high praise for i talk bb

Nay, I am kidding. It takes more than an Einstein to have the vision for technologies like this...

Check on-going iTalkBB promotions here.

iTalkBB User Reviews

If you are like me, you would hope to read more user reviews and learn from other people's experience before try iTalkBB out. Well, there is one thing that one need to beware of --- iTalkBB has a good referrer program, meaning those who post promotion code like the 953110 may not truthfully share their bad experience (if any). But this code does get $10 off the total price when you sign up.

Here are a few user reviews that I pulled from the Google:

May 15 2007 --- Problem with Italkbb today

Apr 13 2006 --- italkbb VOIP phone service

May 8 2007 --- iTalkBB Voip Reviews and Voip Ratings

April 26 2007 --- iTalkBB great if calling to China

May 16 2007 --- iTalkBB opening account

I would like to hear about your experience too if you post it in the comments.

Voice over IP

The technology that iTalkBB uses belongs to the family of VoIP (Voice over IP), also by the name of IP phone or Internet telephony. The basic idea is to use the Internet, which traditionally only carries data traffic, to carry voice traffic as well. A few years earlier, there could be serious performance problems with this design, as voice traffic is highly sensitive to network delay or jitter. In recent years, Internet has attracted more and more commercial usage, drawing capitals and research into improving the service quality and reliability of the Internet. Nowadays, many backbone ISPs such as AT&T have already adopted the single core architecture where data traffic and voice traffic share the same core network. In some residential places, cable companies such as RCN connect telephone adapters to broadband Internet connection and output signal onto existing telephone jacks, making the service nearly indistinguishable from conventional phone. Now shopping for a telephone solution among various choices has come down to a simple comparison of supported features and prices, which we'll do at a later time. Of course, promotion code 953110 to get $10 off iTalkBB's $299-for-14-months deal would help in the decision making.

Wikipedia has a good coverage on different aspect of VoIP related issues.

port in existing phone number with iTalkBB

I recently got relocated to Boston. Having used my old home phone number for years, I really hope to keep my phone number. After looking around, I found iTalkBB. They are running a promotion at $299 for 14 months. With code 953110, one can knock another $10 off. My existing Verizon basic local service cost me $24.99 a month plus $5 or so for taxes and fees. It is really a no-brainer. I signed up with iTalkBB and the number transfer went quite smoothly.

Here is what I did:

1. I first tried to sign up on-line at iTalkBB.com. However, I found that my area code is not listed in their sign up page. So I called their customer service at 1-877-italkbb (1-877-842-5522) to sign up via phone instead. It turned out that it didn't matter. I could use any area code at the time of sign up.
2. Three days later, I received my phone adapter via UPS. Since my broadband Internet was already set up, I simply plugged in the adapter as instructed and connected my regular phone to it. After a couple of minutes, I heard dial tone and the phone was ready to use.
3. I followed the example here and filled out the form that was sent to my email from iTalkBB. Using my fax machine that was just connected to the adapter (yes, it supports fax too), I faxed the signed form and the cover page of my last Verizon bill to 512-637-1451.
4. Two days later, I received a notification email saying my number transfer request had been submitted. Meanwhile I could log in to my italkBB web account and check the progress at the "DID PORT IN" tab.
5. Two weeks later, I received another email notifying my number transfer had completed. The temporary number that I was assigned to at sign-up time became void. I tested my old number. It worked fine.
6. I called Verizon to close my old home line.
   

There are more instructions on number transfer at:
http://www2.italkbb.com/bb/enu/enu_support.asp#01
http://www2.italkbb.com/bb/enu/enu_support_03.asp