Excellent VOIP Provider
There have been a lot of reviews of PhonePower that are just rubbish, particularly from some idiot, (http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/user_reviews/phone_power_voip_review.htm, review date of Jan. 15, 2009), who wrote essentially a book on why he doesn't like PhonePower that is just nonsensical and full of inaccuracies (and to this moronic reviewer, no I don't work for PhonePower). Having previously had Verizon VoiceWing for over a year until receiving notice they were shutting down, I did extensive research on VOIP providers. What attracted me to PhonePower was the price ($200 for 2 years including a cloned line for unlimited minutes, well almost, 5000 outgoing, unlimited incoming), the ease of use on their web site, the fact that their customer service and tech support is U.S. based (yeah!!), the fact that in addition to having the ability to enter chats with their customer service and tech support that they will automatically email the chat text to you (indicating that they are not afraid to stand behind what they tell you in a chat) and the fact that they have a forum on DSLReports.com that solicits user input. I had been considering Broadvoice as my brother swears by them (and they appear to be a good company also), but PhonePower's price and ease of contact won me over. Plus, unless Broadvoice and other VOIP providers, PhonePower does not charge an activation fee (activations fees are total ripoffs).
As far as my experience with them goes, first they ported my number on the day I selected, always a good sign. Second, I had some issues with my Actiontec MI424WR (a real POS router in my opinion) and Verizon FIOS, which they were able to work around. The ATA PhonePower sent me used, the Grandstream HT502, is a better device than the Linksys PAP2 that I used with VoiceWing. I am able to access the HT502's web page to view status and can configure Basic Settings. The Advanced Settings tabs can not be accessed by users but that is understandable as VOIP novices could really screw things up. However, if you are knowledgeable (or even if you're not) in the ways of VOIP and SIP, you can BYOD with PhonePower just fine and configure away your device to your heart's content.
In terms of voice quality, its is as good or better than what my POTS line used to be and better than VoiceWing (I understand to some they may not be saying much but VoiceWing, while not great, was not that bad). I can't speak to the quality of other VOIP providers, but I know that the most important factors are you broadband speeds (up and down) and the quality of your ATA. Having FIOS I get outstanding rates and I can also adjust my QoS settings in my ActionTec (one thing it is good for), both which certainly contribute to the excellent quality I get. But in any event, PhonePower is doing nothing to stand in the way of my voice quality. In terms of features, their voice mail, both over the phone and on their web site is easy to use and I also receive emails of my voice mail. The cloned line is terrific. It means my wife and I can both be on the phone at the same time with having only one number (very convenient). Calls are properly routed, both incoming and outgoing. And their customer service and tech support and responsive and professional
In sum, I am very happy with PhonePower and you should not pay any attention to any review that slams them.