CallCentric
Affordable Internet phone service.
Summary
CallCentric is a bit of a surprise. It is not widely-acclaimed like the big guys, but offers a wonderful array of features for an extremely attractive price. Additionally, its services begin with a “pay as you go” package and graduate to unlimited or a business plan. CallCentric's prices are neither too high nor too low to be competitive and customer reviews are good to excellent – more than 70% of the reviews were positive.
Although CallCentric does not supply its own adaptor, its system is compatible with many ATAs. The freePBX configuration is prominently located on their site- should problems arise the information for troubleshooting is readily available.
One very important notation to make about CallCentric is that the first-time VoIP user might be a bit confused about set-up prior to accepting some instruction from the online tutorials and FAQ sections, or emailing the technical support team. For those accustomed to using a VoIP service, the requirements for both equipment and set-up are fairly straight-forward.
Pros
- Simplicity
- Excellent customer service
- Promises kept
- FAQ sheets with plenty of instructions
- Technicians who give clear explanations, especially for first-time users
- Use your own device (adaptor)
- Plenty of options to satisfy business, traveling and personal needs
- Calls to more than 35 countries
Cons
- Does not provide adaptors
- Not all services compatible with Mac platform
Expense
CallCentric, like Skype, views incoming and outgoing calls as two separate entities. This concept is directly tied to the pricing plans. For the “pay as you go” plan, outgoing calls are made at very low rates – some as low as 1.5 cents per minute. You can choose an unlimited plan for outgoing that is either US-based for $19.95 per month or world-based for $29.95 per month. Incoming calling plans start at about $18 per month.
Toll-free numbers are also available, with per-minute rates comparable to the incoming plan, and a small monthly service fee, about $4.
Calling plans and pricing for CallCentric are comparable with its competitors.
Features
CallCentric offers a simple interface, which configures many of the same mainline features as the larger providers. Some of the most valuable include:
- Forward voicemail to email and mobile phones (not standard with all VoIP providers)
- 4-way calling
- 911 support
- Anonymous call reject
- Call forwarding
- Call return
- Call waiting
- Speed dial
- Redial
- Click2 dial
- Fax reception
- Free directory assistance
- Do not disturb
Common Misspellings
Call Centrick, Calcentric, Callcentrics, CallCetric
Bill:
CallCentric is one of the most no-nonsense carriers. They are one of the veteran VoIP companies, so I don't expect them to close their doors all or a sudden like many others have. The pricing structure makes sense. Pay per call is the most fair way of keeping rates fair for home user, and it discourages telemarketing. Feature set it good.
posted on Monday, May 21, 2012
Jack:
OK where do I vote? this setup easy and in five minutes I was making a call from my laptop for 5 bucks, and I have 4.85 left! no gizmos to buy and since I can recieve calls on my other phone I don't have to leave the computer on.
posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Leo Esch:
Do they have call hunting?
posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010
Grant Harkus:
jackmurphy: they come in mp3 format - no other choices available, but since everything plays mp3 nowadays, the point is moot.
Preston: they now have CNAM (caller id names), alternatively, you can add entries to your phone book which will override the callerID name.
Philippe: they are a BYOD provider, so ultimately its up to you. I ran into this with a Linksys PAP2T, it doesn't support the T38 fax protocol, and doesn't seem to switch codecs on the fly when sending faxes, so I had to use the 2nd line port and configure it appropriately just to fax!
posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010
John:
Really? Because Verizon Voicewing has that same feature. Leads me to believe that other VOIP providers have this option. BTW, Voicewing is terminating March 31, 2009.
posted on Monday, April 6, 2009
Philippe Cairic:
I have been using Callcentric for two years now. Cheap, efficient, very nice control panel (what they call the Dashboard) and a lot of features.
Only problem, I have a second number for fax reception (received faxes are e-mailed to you) and it does not work... at all. All the faxes I receive are a nice blank page. They promised to fix that 12 months ago, but I am still waiting...
posted on Monday, April 6, 2009
Preston Lewis:
Callcentric has one more nice feature that really sets it apart from other VOIP providers. Most VOIP incoming calls do not have caller ID name, only the incoming phone number. With CallCentric, you can enter a name to be displayed on your phone when a certain number calls you. No other VOIP provider offers this and I really like it.
posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Adam:
Yes, you can.
posted on Saturday, July 12, 2008
jackmurphy:
Does anyone know if i can get my voicemail emailed to me with callcentric?
posted on Friday, July 4, 2008
