i2 Telecom VoiceStick Portable USB VoIP Internet Phone with Headset
By: i2 Telecom Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 18
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 On: 2007-12-29
I bought this for frequent calls to Uganda, where we work with a school for orphans. Obviously, we want to spend as little as possible - but communication is vital. when I switched to Voice stick, our schools administrator commented on how clear the connection was. The best thing is... a 10 minute call to a mobile phone there is only about a dollar!
also, I use a Mac and have had no problems with the downloaded softphone - I dont use the "stick" itself because with the softphone I dont have to.
 On: 2007-08-06
Today is August 06th 2007 and service is down for the last week. Customer service has yet to respond my emails. I am asking myself whether they bankrupted or not.
Usually, it works great for a couple of weeks and then it dies. When it works, it is great. I havent seen any VOIP provider cheaper than Voicestick and thats the only reason I am still keeping them. Not reliable as a home phone replacement. If you want to buy it, I would recommend using i2bridge for international calls and make sure to have a backup phone card as you will experience a lot of downtime.
On: 2006-11-08
I got it from Voicestick when I created my prepaid account. The USB device is slim and includes a nice headset. It had enough space to load my portable Skype version so I have both services in a single USB stick. COOL and very useful. However, I have to confess that I use the service most of the time from my cell phone rather than from the computer.
Pros
- Best rates to most of my preferred international destinations, lower than Skype, Yahoo M, Stunt, and local "cheap" phone cards.
- If you dont like contracts you can open a prepaid account with $0.00.
- Can use the service with regular phones, you dont even need a computer (they sell the SIP adaptor required).
- You get a phone number in US for free (skype charges a fee).
- Pinless access from a registered number. You can call international from your cell phone.
- Very easy to use software.
- Incoming calls are free.
- Other cool services such as global call forwarding, free calling to other voicestick subscribers, voicemail, speed dial, caller ID, call logs, do not disturb, and conferencing.
Cons
- Charges national long distance, I better use my cell phone or Skype.
- The stick rapidly overheats, however it works well, I dont know if that is normal??
- Occasional communication problems associated with voice delays, call drops, sound quality, etc.
On: 2006-05-01
Calling Globaly on a cell phone means never having money left over to eat. Go to voicestick.com and sign up for the $25 a month Global unlimited minute plan, then put YOUR cell number in the bridge. So when I call the UK or Italy, or even my one friend in China I just use my cell to call to my voice stick number and then I get a new dial tone.
No more sky high long distance rates. PLus I can use my computer to call out on. What a deal
 On: 2006-01-31
Using My Laptop at an MCI Center in Kutait, I Paid 99 cents a month and 2-3 cents per min, I Prepaid so I didnt Have any Problems with Billing, I used a Quality Computer and Quality Connection so I had no problems. I cant answer for some of the problems above, but I will Say This Device was very Used by fellow Soldiers. I bought 4 for myself and used them to talk to my family. Because they all subscribed, it was FREE! Setup was kind of Slow but after that easy to use. I never had to use customer service, and the mic and earphone was compatable with my laptop and my cell phone. I used it a lot.
 On: 2006-01-24
I use Voicestick from my cell phone to call across the Atlantic. Some days I can talk an hour or more with no problem. MANY times when my friends pick up the phone and they can not hear me. I have to redial. The line (almost every time I talk) go deaf on one end for a few seconds. Other times it drops the line for good.
I only rated it 3 stars because it is cheap. 99 cents/month + low minute (couple of cents a minute to Europe)charges. What do you expect...well, they aspire to become the best voip service. They have a long way to go.
On: 2006-01-12
While on a business trip in London, an associate raved to me about the portable VoIP phone she had just picked up - i2 Telecoms Voicestick. I borrowed it for a night and made several calls to the U.S. I couldnt believe how remarkably clear and dependable the connection was! When I got back home, I ordered my own Voicestick.
Im away from home on business about 2-3 days per week, including about 1-2 trips per month overseas. Ive tried the Voicestick from several U.S. and international cities and its never failed. Im saving about close to 90 percent on long-distance charges as a result.
I admit Im somewhat tech-phobic, and I had some difficulty in setting up some of the Voicetstick options, such as voice mail. Fortunately, i2 Telecom support worked with me, without brain pain, until I was completely comfortable with the device.
I cant imagine theres a better protable VoIP phone on the market.
 On: 2006-01-03
I bought the voicestick,based on Amazons reviews and i2telecom web site promises, to handle calls while traveling. I installed it, paid for the highest end service and... voila..I could call home and friends and thought it works...for all 20 minutes..
As soon as I tried calling abroad, my calls would disconnect within less than 15 seconds... I tried several countries and numbers over a few days and got the same call drops. In order to ascertain that the problem was not with my PC or voicestick, I tried calling these numbers from other PCs and also from a regular phone through i2telecom bridge; the calls continued to drop clearly evidencing that the problem rests with the i2telecom network not the PCs. I contacted customer service several times and got one reply that they will be checking this and will contact me..no follow ups or responses to further messages...I settled to consider this service for US only calls. Unfortunately, even these do not quite work. For example, when I call 800 numbers or companies which have a switchboard, the call is typically lost as soon as someone puts it on hold or transfers it.
I then wanted to disconnect from the service but could not find at i2Telecom web menu a pathway for terminating the service; one can only subscribe, not cancel. My messages a few eeks ago to customer service are yet to be answered on how to do this...
On the positive side, if you wish to get a working VoIP phone while on the road, try Skype... it has been working for me excellently calling in the US, from the US abroad from abroad to the US and to other countries...and the fees are rock bottom...Alternatively, I have been using Vonage for my home phone for over 3 years...it is as good as the best traditional phones.. they offer a soft phone service but their fees are higher, which is why I wanted to give other services a try...
Last, I am too busy to try to get a refund on this lemon...If you do wish to have a voicestick contact Amazon to send me email and I will give you my voicestick and i2telecom phone number for free...
On: 2005-12-28
It sounds good. It sounds cheap - but read the Terms of Service. They charge you $29.99 to "terminate" the "service". Thats same as charging $29.99 to connect you - only they hide it away and charge it at the end - or you can simply pay their monthly fee forever and never pay to terminate.
Do you really want to give your credit card number to a company that hides its true charges?
If you want to pay the disconnect fee then go for it!
On: 2005-12-23
Pros:
1) Dirt Cheap
2) Nice GUI to the Softphone
3) Works with bluetooth headsets which is great!
4) Phone quality varies from decent to excellent.
5) Excellent feature of calling from your cell phone.
Cons:
1) The SoftPhone for the mac is buggy AT BEST!
2) Customer Support is NONEXISTENT! (you call and they say "let me get your number and well have someone call you back." $100 says youre dead before they call you back.)
3) Will not be able to use it for Long Distance or 800 numbers (see below for explanation)
4) So buggy that if youre using a bluetooth mouse and headset at the same time, youll have to re-pair the mouse for it to work normally again after a phone call.
I signed up for this because my only phone is a cell phone and was speeding through my minutes on long holding calls like customer support calls etc... However, because the software is so buggy (or the entire Voicestick system is faulty), it hangs up on almost every long distance and 1-800 phone call after 30 second (even their own tech support number doesnt work!). The only two types of calls that I needed this thing for are long distance and 800 numbers and of course, those are the only two that dont work!!!
This means that I have to use their very cool feature of making the call via my cell phone (you call your own number and it asks what number you want to dial, so you can make dirt cheap long distance calls from your own cell or home land line which is great). The problem with this, of course, is that I have to call after 9pm, otherwise it defeats the entire purpose of getting this in the first place. Most customer support places are closed by then....there enlies the uselesness of Voicestick.
I have emailed and called their tech support about this numerous times (around 7 or 8) and no one has so much as even made an attempt at getting back to me or even mildly fixing the problem. I have to give it such a low star rating only because it doesnt really do the only two things I need it to. Voicestick may be a perfect great breeze on Windows, but if youre a mac user...consider this youre warning....stay away!
On: 2005-08-24
This thing is great for people who travel a lot..or make lots of long distance calls. If your children travel away to college....you can buy 2 of them for under $50....and just pay $3.99 a month each...and you get unlimited calls to each other.
The call forwarding feature also allows you to make free calls when routed through your Voicestick.
On: 2005-07-02
Anyone who travels needs the convenience of this USB phone. I cant even begin to tell you how delighted I was. I was traveling in France, and I own my own business. I was on vacation and did not bring my PC, or cell phone. I got an email that there were some very unexpected problems with a very key deal I was working on. I had to call back to the States and have some long and involved conversations. Had I done this on the hotel phone, it would have cost my business literally thousands of dollars. But a friend had given me a Voicestick (that she basically got free on Amazon with a rebate) before I left. What a great little package!
I plugged the Voicestick into the back of the hotels "business center" computer (just a laptop in the corner of the lobby - it was a small hotel). I was able to register on screen in minutes, and then plugged in the headset that came with the VoiceStick, and was able to talk for a literal fraction of what it would have cost me otherwise. And further, once I had registered the first time, I could use the Voicestick over and over, with no problem at all. This is a great deal -- you can throw it in your pocket, and in a flash have full connectivity thru VOIP -- something Id never dealt with previously, and always assumed would be a hassle to set up and use.
A couple of things you should note on the Voicestick -- it does not work on Mac -- a friend ordered one after I raved about the product, and didnt realize it was Windows-only until he plugged it in. Not a big deal, because again, with the rebate, he got it free. Also, you do need to have a broadband connection. Most Internet cafes, etc. have these, so even if youre on the road in fairly remote places, you can usually just plug
the Voicestick and your headset in and turn the cafe phone into a VOIP phone.
I cant recommend this product highly enough. Great design, small, compact, and it offers unparalleled convenience.
On: 2005-07-01
Anyone who travels needs the convenience of this USB phone. I cant even begin to tell you how delighted I was. I was traveling in France, and I own my own business. I was on vacation and did not bring my PC, or cell phone. I got an email that there were some very unexpected problems with a very key deal I was working on. I had to call back to the States and have some long and involved conversations. Had I done this on the hotel phone, it would have cost my business literally thousands of dollars. But a friend had given me a Voicestick (that she basically got free on Amazon with a rebate) before I left. What a great little package!
I plugged the Voicestick into the back of the hotels "business center" computer (just a laptop in the corner of the lobby - it was a small hotel). I was able to register on screen in minutes, and then plugged in the headset that came with the VoiceStick, and was able to talk for a literal fraction of what it would have cost me otherwise. And further, once I had registered the first time, I could use the Voicestick over and over, with no problem at all. This is a great deal -- you can throw it in your pocket, and in a flash have full connectivity thru VOIP -- something Id never dealt with previously, and always assumed would be a hassle to set up and use.
A couple of things you should note on the Voicestick -- it does not work on Mac -- a friend ordered one after I raved about the product, and didnt realize it was Windows-only until he plugged it in. Not a big deal, because again, with the rebate, he got it free. Also, you do need to have a broadband connection. Most Internet cafes, etc. have these, so even if youre on the road in fairly remote places, you can usually just plug
the Voicestick and your headset in and turn the cafe phone into a VOIP phone.
I cant recommend this product highly enough. Great design, small, compact, and it offers unparalleled convenience.
On: 2005-06-29
I recently meoved to Italy and took my VoiceStick with me. Amazing. I sill use my LA 310 prefix and I call all over the USA from ITALY for $19.95 a month. Since I still do business, have family and friends in the US, I figure this "Stick" is saving me about $350 bucks a month. The company told be they are coming with an international plan for a few bucks more. Then I can hook up with the other European offices for zip. This IS a hot product.
On: 2005-06-29
I think this product is great. Its smalll, inexpensive and easy to use. I travel with mine and its awesome. Its so cool to basically have your office phone with you, plus the ability to make cheap cheap calls. Heartily reccomend
On: 2005-06-13
This is the easiest internet (VoIP) phone to set up and carry anywhere. Many features, including a cellular bridge. No commitment contract and its currently free with a rebate and a 30 day money back guarantee on service plan.
On: 2005-06-12
If I didnt travel so much, I would have never been looking for a replacement for my packet 8, which I loved. But I hate to lug the router around, and I read about the voice stick on forbes.com, so I tried it. A week later, I upgraded the service to the unlimited.
Much easier to use than vonage, att, or packet 8; better quality than net 2 phone, and you can use it in other computers without giving away your information - and - for those of us who stay in hotels a lot, YOU CAN USE THIS WIRELESSLY!!! So, if your hotel wants to ding you $15 to use the internet, you can go down to the local coffee house, check your email (voice messages left on the voice stick come over email - easier for the traveler, because they are uploaded onto your hard drive - and make follow up calls if need be. Amazing that no one else thought of this first (although a couple of VOIP companies let you download a dialer).
Ive tried a lot of VOIP phones and companies, and so far I like this the best.
On: 2005-05-13
I brought along i2 Telecoms Voicestick on a recent trip to Hawaii -- it easily fit into a small pocket in my travel case --plugged it into my laptap in my hotel room and saved a fortune on long distance calls to the mainland. The sound quality and connection are as good as any land phone. Best feature is i2 Telecoms iBridge, which allows you to make cheap VoIP calls using your cell phone or a land phone. No computer or broadband connection necessary! I even used it on the beach.
Also, when I needed a little help setting up the voicemail feature, tech support responded right away and patiently guided me through the steps.
Great to take on vacations or business trips. I also use it at home, and was able to eliminate one of my land lines.
Highly recommend this cost-effective, cutting edge VoIP phone.
On: 2005-05-03
I honestly cant believe that there are people who dont have this and/or dont even know about it yet. It is indispensable for business, and for personal stuff its always a conversation piece. The portability is obvious, but it is convenient even for just having an extra line at home that i can use while im doing work on my computer. Lastly, the price is ridiculously fair. Its really a no brainer.
On: 2005-05-01
I started out thinking this was a geeky little device, but it actually saved be several clients. I was starting a 5 country, 11 day review of business units in Europe for a client. Day one in Barcelona, I am sitting in a cafe and I get a call on my cell phone. I finish the call, place it on the table and a 10 year boy comes up and "borrows" it leaving me with no way to manage my business while on the trip. Lucky, I had just gotten the Voicestick. For the next 10 days it was my primary communication device. The most critical feature it has is you get an inbound number for people to call you. I was in Europe and my clients were calling a 404 area code never knowing I was not in Atlanta. Amazing product that anyone who travels has to have.
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