Spectrum Voice Plan Question

[tb]

I live in the U.S. and would like to get Spectrum (the cable company)
Internet and Voice plans.

As for the Voice plan, Spectrum offers Spectrum Voice International
(SVI) that would allow unlimited calls in 70 countries or
low-per-minute rates in the rest of the world.

Back when people had a traditional telephone landline (copper wires),
one could choose a long-distance provider of his choice. That would
also include international calls. Typically such providers charged
lower rates than the telco (such as AT&T).

Does anybody know if such choice exists when getting a Voice plan
through Spectrum? Spectrum peoples told me NO!, but I'd like to make
sure that I am not given wrong info...
--
tb

[b...@ripco.com]

tb <nos...@example.invalid> wrote:

> Does anybody know if such choice exists when getting a Voice plan
> through Spectrum? Spectrum peoples told me NO!, but I'd like to make
> sure that I am not given wrong info...

I can't imagine any service like that who is using a long distance carrier
anymore.

They all use some form of VOIP (voice over IP), meaning the internet.

I'm pretty sure the majors (at&t, sprint) aren't even installing copper
anymore. It's all (or nearly all) VOIP.

-bruce
b...@ripco.com

[Whoey Louie]

+1

You could use one of those prepaid calling cards though, if it's less
expensive than Spectrum's rate for where you need to call. They were
less than most carriers back 25 years ago, IDK how they compare now.
It is another step, but if it saves enough, could be worth it.

[tb]

I did not explain myself clearly enough...

I don't want to get a telephone landline (copper wires)!
I want to subscribe to Spectrum's Voice Plan. (I don't know if it is
VOIP, or what).

Spectrum offers what they call Spectrum Voice International Calling Plan
<https://www.spectrum.net/support/voice/countries-included-spectrum-voice-international-calling-plan/>

The question is: What other choices do I have if I do not want to
subscribe to the Spectrum Voice International Calling Plan? Back in
the old days (when the only phone available was a landline!) here in
the U.S. one could choose a long-distrance provider of their choice.
Is that the same with a VOIP (or whatever Spectrum offers!) phone plan?

--
tb

[catalpa]

"tb" <nos...@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:xn0m110ks...@reader.albasani.net...

You need to educate yourself about VOIP. Your choosen VOIP is your
long-distance provider by default.

If you don't like Spectrum Voice just use Google Voice.

[Whoey Louie]

On Monday, November 4, 2019 at 3:17:29 PM UTC-5, tb wrote:
> On 10/25/2019 at 12:04:44 PM tb wrote:
>
> > I live in the U.S. and would like to get Spectrum (the cable company)
> > Internet and Voice plans.
> >
> > As for the Voice plan, Spectrum offers Spectrum Voice International
> > (SVI) that would allow unlimited calls in 70 countries or
> > low-per-minute rates in the rest of the world.
> >
> > Back when people had a traditional telephone landline (copper wires),
> > one could choose a long-distance provider of his choice. That would
> > also include international calls. Typically such providers charged
> > lower rates than the telco (such as AT&T).
> >
> > Does anybody know if such choice exists when getting a Voice plan
> > through Spectrum? Spectrum peoples told me NO!, but I'd like to make
> > sure that I am not given wrong info...
>
> I did not explain myself clearly enough...
>
> I don't want to get a telephone landline (copper wires)!
> I want to subscribe to Spectrum's Voice Plan. (I don't know if it is
> VOIP, or what).

It is VOIP.

>
> Spectrum offers what they call Spectrum Voice International Calling Plan
> <https://www.spectrum.net/support/voice/countries-included-spectrum-voice-international-calling-plan/>
>
> The question is: What other choices do I have if I do not want to
> subscribe to the Spectrum Voice International Calling Plan? Back in
> the old days (when the only phone available was a landline!) here in
> the U.S. one could choose a long-distrance provider of their choice.
> Is that the same with a VOIP (or whatever Spectrum offers!) phone plan?
>
> --
> tb

Already answered. You have two alternatives:


1 - Use a calling card for intnl

2 - Get Spectrum internet, but not phone service and use another VOIP
provider. I use Ooma, just $5 a month, plus whatever they charge for
intnl. You buy the Ooma VOIP box for about $50. You could check out
the various other VOIP providers and see what the rates are for the
countries of interest.

[tb]

Yes, but does VOIP preclude me from searching for another long distance
provider? That is what I do not understand. I readily admit that I am
old and not a techie so my question might not make much sense...

I could use a calling card as suggested by Whoey Louie or Google Voice
as you suggest. But I am just curious to know about long distance
providers and VOIP.

Another question: Using Google Voice does not imply that I need to get
a VOIP line from somebody else, like Spectrum?

--
tb

[b...@ripco.com]

tb <nos...@example.invalid> wrote:

> Yes, but does VOIP preclude me from searching for another long distance
> provider? That is what I do not understand. I readily admit that I am
> old and not a techie so my question might not make much sense...

THERE IS NO LONG DISTANT PROVIDER INVOLVED.

Understand that fact. It's all done over the internet.

You pay Spectrum $34.95 or whatever they want per month and it doesn't
matter if you call your next door neighbor 10 times a day or make a 10
hour call to your old high school buddy that moved to alaska, it is just
the $34.95 a month.

Long distance or local, it's all the same thing on those services.

-bruce
b...@ripco.com

[tb]

Yes, I can see how there would be no long distance provider if the
calls are made between VoIP devices. But what about if a VoIP device
calls a landline in another county or state? There must be somebody (a
long distance provider, for instance) who provides public switched
telephone network translation. That must be incurring some charges
from a phone operator. Right?

--
tb

[b...@ripco.com]

tb <nos...@example.invalid> wrote:

> Yes, I can see how there would be no long distance provider if the
> calls are made between VoIP devices. But what about if a VoIP device
> calls a landline in another county or state? There must be somebody (a
> long distance provider, for instance) who provides public switched
> telephone network translation. That must be incurring some charges
> from a phone operator. Right?

No.

If there is a fee to access a local phone company, it's built into the fee
you are paying your service provider.

Most phone companies have peering agreeements, they exchange local
connections with each other. Someone on Verizon phone service has to have
access to AT&T customers so they agree to handle each others traffic. The
AT&T customers need access to Verizon, so it's a win-win for both companies.

It's the same thing with VOIP service from cable companies, those customers
need to have access to AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and whoever else is left so
there is some agreement in place to exchange traffic between them.

Really, it's just the service fee Spectrum is charging you plus taxes (if
any) and feel free to smoke the lines 24x7. The only exception would be if
it's out of the country going to one of them that aren't included in the 39
countries they do connect to. Yes, you can call London England and yak away
for no more than the monthly service fee.

Trans Atlantic, long distance, local long distance, doesn't matter anymore.

-bruce
b...@ripco.com

[Whoey Louie]

Yes, when you have VOIP that service provider becomes your only
provider. Calls within the US are included with the typical plan.
Some also include calling to Canada, maybe Mexico. Calls to other
countries are at whatever rates are posted by the provider. And
it's not that simple either. Many countries will have one rate for
regular calls, a much higher rate for mobile. Some countries may have
a couple of different rates depending on the area of the country.
You have to check with a VOIP provider and see what their rates are
for where you will be calling.

>
> I could use a calling card as suggested by Whoey Louie or Google Voice
> as you suggest. But I am just curious to know about long distance
> providers and VOIP.
>
> Another question: Using Google Voice does not imply that I need to get
> a VOIP line from somebody else, like Spectrum?
>
> --
> tb

GV like the other VOIP services only require that you buy a hardware
device that;s compatible. If you use Spectrum, they provide it.

[Whoey Louie]

That's true for calls within the US and with many to Canada and Mexico.
But it's not true for international calls to other countries.

[Whoey Louie]

IDK what exactly Spectrum does, but with every similar VOIP provider I've
seen, you only get calling outside the US to maybe Canada and Mexico.
Other intl calling is either by the minute at various rates or you need
to buy a plan in addition to the regular plan that adds a bunch of intl
countries for free, others are still at per minute rates. And the rates
per min can vary widely, calls to mobile in foreign countries are the
most expensive, like 20 cents a minute.

[catalpa]

"Whoey Louie" <tra...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:40ffaf60-4a24-4d99...@googlegroups.com...

I didn't have to buy any hardware device to use Google Voice. I just use my
existing phone.

[Whoey Louie]

What phone would that be? The OP is taking about home phone VOIP, all such service I am familiar with use any ordinary phones and a VOIP hardware box. Some are doing it with Google Voice as the service together with a generic VOIP box. AFAIK, that's not the primary function or marketing of Google Voice, but some people are using it that way. GV, as I understand it, is a call forwarding system where your GV number in the cloud can be redirected to other numbers, following rules. Some are using that together with a generic VOIP box. I would not recommend it as a VOIP solution for the OP, as it's a roll your own solution, while Spectrum, Ooma, etc are fully supported.