| VoIP FAQs |
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Here are some answers to our clients most frequently asked questions regarding our VoIP services and equipment:
Since VoIP greatly depends on the internet and your link to the internet, it can happen that when you are downloading something big as fast as your speed, you will hear breaking up of the other party. Similarly if you are sending an email with a big attachment for instance, it will happen that your voice is not heard properly on the other side. To prevent this, make sure you don't do these actions while on the phone, or have a bandwidth-managing router to help out. On the first question, outside phones can still reach you. Just dial 62486060, wait for the system to ask you the extension, and then dial the phone you wish to reach. Of course, a real phone number which can be had for small monthly fee is much more convenient for people to call you. On the second question all VoIP phones can call outside of the network, just like normal phones. I.e. Singapore numbers simply dial as normal, and IDD numbers use 007xxxxxxxx.... or 001, or 15xx or whatever you were used to to dial overseas. Yes, usually the fine print will show you that it only applies to land lines (which are cheap for many countries), and "normal" usage is expected. This means it is up to the provider to interpret what is normal. I.e. if you own a call shop and you want to make use of this unlimited account, your joy will be short-lived. Also the monthly fees will always cover the usage. In general these free unlimited usage is only between IP phones, where it is really free unlimited, but as soon as a normal phone gets involved, there are limitations. For USD 79.00 (a typical plan) one can make *a lot* of calls, making it feel like unlimited (but then again, nobody can hang on the phone unlimited time to chat). While compression is achievable with voice, faxing is quite different. Actually a fax modem is converting an image (e.g. a document, picture, etc.) into an analogue signal, and modulates it over an appropriate carrier frequency of the sound spectrum. The signal travels through landlines to reach the other fax modem that actually recognizes the fax signal, demodulates it and converts it back to an image. So here is the big problem. Compression means some loss in signal spectrum, phase and amplitude. There is no way this loss to be recovered. So a somewhat damaged or modified signal reaches the receiving modem. No device or algorithms can convert a compressed signal the way it was before compression. Otherwise there would have never been any problem with broadband requirements or disk space availability. This is why faxing over almost can VoIP never work properly and if it does "work", it behaves quite unpredictably, and the result images are often unrecognisable. VoIP is based on compression for the sake of broadband while faxing is based on a nearly perfect conversion of images. Some Adapters (a.k.a. ATA's) claim they do T.38, which is the protocol used for faxing over VoIP, but most implementations of this are in the beginning stage and are usually not compatible between different brands or even the same brand/different model ATA. You may be lucky though. The Aglow VoIP Service requires a functional and reliable broadband Internet connection. IP Phones or ATA require a spare Ethernet connection and wireless IP phones require a home or business wireless network. For Aglow Control access, you will require any recent browser like Mozilla or Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later. Most IP phones and ATA use a standard Ethernet connection, which is the same as a LAN connection on a PC. The IP phone will be plugged into your local computer network exactly the same as a normal computer. The exception to this is the wireless IP phone, which doesn't use any cables but uses the wireless gateway/access-point instead. Yes as long as the wireless broadband connection is reliable and has enough available bandwidth to serve the number of VoIP Lines you intend to use. You need it if the IP phone is connected to the LAN. Yes, this is a custom solution but we can supply you will a VoIP gateway which will convert your PBX to a broadband phone system. Please contact sales for a quotation. Provided the new premises are equipped with dedicated Internet connection, the service can still be used globally. If you move premises, please inform us of your change of address. You use the extension number to dial other Aglow VoIP lines free of charge. VoIP Lines use codec, a compression technique, which means the calls are very small in comparison with a traditional telephone call. We currently use the codec G.729 that uses approximately 13kbps per call (64kbps for a traditional call) and provides good voice quality. There are lower bandwidth codes available for use on our service however this will impact on call quality Calls will be billed in the normal manner. Essentially you are using Internet bandwidth at the hotspot so the phone will be billed from any location. You will also have to pay the hotspot computer for the Internet usage, the same as you would with a laptop. No, only wireless broadband phones that are wi-fi compatible e.g. ZyXEL P2000W. Yes, provided the broadband phones IP addresses are configured to operate at all sites. The quality of service can only be controlled where the customer has an un-contended broadband connection and has a router with quality of service. Most ADSL connections do not have this currently so the quality of the call cannot be guaranteed. We support the following list of voice codecs:
Yes, in effect you can register for 2 VoIP Lines because you have a 2-line adapter - i.e.: 1 phone account for each line. If you are a new customer, register for a single account on the web site or from the cd-rom. Once you have your first account set up, you will have access to our Aglow Control panel (username and password is e-mailed to you). From this, you can set-up additional broadband phone accounts for the second line on your Cisco ATA. You should then configure your Cisco to use both SIP usernames and passwords supplied by us. Yes, our service allows you to do that. No, we have a way more reliable service for that, Fax2Email and Email2Fax respectively. These calls are charged at our discounted rates. If you have a technical problem with your VoIP service, please go through our troubleshooting guide sent to you. If you still cannot find the answer to the problem, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with as much information as possible about the problem. Cheque or Paypal. Giro is also possible, you would need to instruct your bank to set it up though. Yes, you can, if you are a resident in Singapore and you make a deposit payment of S$ 50.00 Fill in this form, fax it back together with a copy of your IC / passport, and you will be contacted the next working day. For accountability, prevention of fraud we require this information. It is a legal requirement for Singapore DID numbers. Do just as with Singapore phones, i.e. 001, 018, 019, 15xx, whatever you are used to. All the IDD calls will be routed through our back-end at our discounted rates. From your IP phone dial 111# and the credit will be read to you. Also you can check your credit in the websystem which shows it in the menu. You will pay less per month than for a normal telephone line (if you only use cablemodem). Furthermore you save a lot on IDD calls, and if you have family and friends overseas you can ask them to sign up with us as well, and you can make unlimited free calls to eachother. Follow-Me is forwarded strictly via the normal telephone system (wholesale carriers) to the PSTN / mobile number overseas, whereas VoIP DDI's start with 3 and adhere to different levels of service as well as routed over the internet strictly. Typically we do not as we don't ask for any set-up fees for a normal account. So you are technically not bound by any minimum membership. Since the margins for VoIP calls are very low, all we ask is a small deposit, even a few dollars will do if you want to make "test" calls.
Can I call with my Singapore SIM card in overseas after I have redirected it to Aglow Follow-Me DDI?
Sure, but do verify with your mobile provider how you would be charged, as it depends from provider to provider, and also on which plan you are. Yes, SMS would still be charged as per normal roaming SMS's. Only in certain circumstances you would need this. Before you subscribe to an International Callback DDI, try first triggering a call to +6562489000 and see if you get a callback, if not, then try dialing +6597311359. If you still don't get a callback, then we can't see your caller-id and you would need to subscribe to a callback DDI. Yes, we do. It depends from country to country. Please contact our sales personnel for this. Yes, for sure, on average you still save about 50-70% of your roaming bill as an incoming roaming call is cheaper than an outgoing call. Especially if you are not calling back to Singapore, but to another country, your savings are substantial. Technically it is possible, but not all overseas operators know how to handle these commands from the phones, and some additional charges may be imposed. Check with your mobile operator. |
