Voipfone review
Voipfone has a pay-as-you-go service, but its site is geared for business users and it seems a little intimidating at first.
There are a host of services on offer, and the pay-as-you-go service isn’t easy to find among these. You have to click on the Signup menu button, at which point you’re offered a free trial. Once you’ve signed up, you can then buy credit.
Your free incoming number is limited to an 056 prefix. This is a new code introduced for VoIP services; depending on the caller’s phone service, it costs anything between 1p and 5p per minute, and much more from mobiles. UK geographic and other numbers cost an extra £1.99 per month.
Account management is also geared towards business users. The control panel is full of icons and menus for features you’ll probably never use, unless you plan on setting up a business phone network. For the individual, it’s overkill. There’s only an older version of the X-Lite softphone available for download, but there are numerous setup guides on the site to help you configure most VoIP hardware, plus a forum for help setting up softphones.
Call rates are average, and slightly cheaper than BT for UK and international calls. Buying a call package for international calls makes the rate more competitive, but there are cheaper services that are easier to set up, such as Sipgate. If you’re interested in advanced features, however, Voipfone is the best-value business provider.
