Just wondering something. A lot of people on this forum seem to use the Oztell/Astratel/Pennytel combo. I'm wondering why Astratel is part of the equation? I understand they have the 19c for the first hour to heaps of countries, but why would you use them if you don't make many international calls, you use Pennytel for mobiles and Oztell is 9.9c for national calls?
Please correct me if I'm wrong on the Oztell rate for national.
I am one of the Oztell/Astratel/Pennytel crowd. The Oztell rate for calls to Aussie landlines is not 9.9c. (Edit: Sorry that is incorrect - see Ozimarco's post further down the thread.)
Oztell (edited) default rates to Aussie landlines are 12c hour plus 1.6c min thereafter to capital cities other than Hobart and Darwin, and are 5.9c min to other Aussie landline destinations.
Here is a link to the Oztell Australian (edited) default rates page: www.oztell.com/telephone...ustralia&from=61
Cheers.
moollar writes...
but why would you use them if you don't make many international calls
Because I make the odd international call and they have 10c untimed local calls.
Besides, the Oztell website/plans are confusing.....it's as if there is something hidden in the small print there somewhere!
So I use:
Freecall for multiple local calls under 10 minutes.
Astratel for international calls (infrequent) and local calls that may be more than 10 minutes.
Pennytel for mobile calls.
Try this from evilbunny
www.asterisk.net.au/costcalc.php
it's used to compare PTSN with VoIP, but gives you an idea of the reasoning.
Mudwiggle writes...
So I use:
Freecall for multiple local calls under 10 minutes.
Astratel for international calls (infrequent) and local calls that may be more than 10 minutes.
Pennytel for mobile calls.
I can understand your use of Freecall for "multiple local calls under 10 minutes" as their 1c/minute rate plus $5 monthly fee if you make lots of those calls would make sense financially. However, Pennytel's no monthly fee plan and 2c/minute would be more attractive if you don't make so many calls and they are under, say, (edited whoops!) 5 minutes. (Pennytel charges per second, but I am not sure if Freecall does.)
My guess is that many people are like me in that they don't make enough calls to be bothered about using either Freecall or Pennytel for shorter calls to landlines. We just go for a 10c flat rate with the likes of Astratel.
Cheers.
www.oztell.com/telephone...ustralia&from=61
This page shows the rates for the "Default" (019) call rates. I'm talking about the "Budget" (06) call rates taken from this page:
www.oztell.com/services/callratestemp5.php
From what I understand you can choose the Budget rate? Is this correct?
moollar writes...
From what I understand you can choose the Budget rate? Is this correct?
Yes, although you need to dial an "06" prefix to get them, or alternatively, create a web dialler entry to choose this routing automatically. The configuration can get tricky, but it works well.
Going back to the original question, I think Astratel are popular for historical reasons: when they were setting up, they were offering free calls. They also had reportedly-good call quality compared with others. I'm with OzTell and they're OK, but not great. Certainly not PSTN quality.
AndyB writes...
Yes, although you need to dial an "06" prefix to get them, or alternatively, create a web dialler entry to choose this routing automatically.
I thought so.
I'm with OzTell and they're OK, but not great. Certainly not PSTN quality.
So it's more about quality then? I'm genuinely curious - this is why I started the thread.
G'day
I am Oztell/Astratel user.
I only use Astratel when I am calling non city landlines.
I just pay the each 2cents with oztell when I call city landlines.
I know that you can use Oztell special rates - however my limited experience with them is that they have not been that good.
Astratel is also good - because there is no monthly fee - so when Oztell goes down you can swap over to astratel.
moollar writes...
www.oztell.com/services/callratestemp5.php
From what I understand you can choose the Budget rate? Is this correct?
In the Oztell forum the following appears "06 and 09 rates are no longer available"; see: ozforum.oztralia.com/ind...p?showtopic=1372 The 06 rate was 9.9c (edited) for calls to Aussie capitals except Hobart and Darwin.
Oh dear, Oztell is such a pain in the derriere to untangle.
Cheers.
AlexErko writes...
In the Oztell forum the following appears "06 and 09 rates are no longer available"
Ahhhh.... that makes sense then. :)
AlexErko writes...
In the Oztell forum the following appears "06 and 09 rates are no longer available";
moollar writes...
Ahhhh.... that makes sense then. :)
If the price was 9.9 c a minute to Captial Cities with Oztell anyway as opposed to 10c untimed to all Aus land lines with Astratel is what makes sense, not the fact that the rate is not available anymore.
AlexErko writes...
The 06 rate was 9.9c/minute for calls to Aussie capitals except Hobart and Darwin.
The quality of calls on the Oztell budget plan were very ordinary to say the least.
Astratel's 10c untimed is a pretty good price anyway (100 calls would only be 10c dearer than the price you thought Oztell's old budget rate was), especially as the quality is excellent, no monthly plan etc.
Their international rates are also pretty good other than the 19c for an hour to 24 countries and they have shown themselves to be competitive in this regard.
While there are cheaper options on per minute/second charges for short calls, a lot of the time you don't know how long you'll be on the phone when you start your call, so a flat rate means you know what you are up for.
Your confusion over Oztell's offering on its website highlights why many people don't use Oztell anyway - they have possibly the poorest designed website that I have ever seen and they won't pay a few bux to get a professional designer to fix it.
When I was with them, even to recharge your account was a mammoth task and took up to an hour as I futiley hunted through different screens and sent money to one place in order to then transfer it elsewhere on the site.
Pennytell are also competitive, but to get the 9c untimed call, you have pay $5.99 a month. That's 600 phone calls each month you have to make to save your first 1c off a call compared to 10c untimed, no monthly charge. If you call family inSingapore or NZ this is good value though.
chaosdog writes...
If the price was 9.9 c a minute to Captial Cities with Oztell anyway as opposed to 10c untimed to all Aus land lines with Astratel is what makes sense, not the fact that the rate is not available anymore.
The per minute was a typo on my part which I have fixed.
to recharge your account was a mammoth task and took up to an hour as I futiley hunted through different screens and sent money to one place in order to then transfer it elsewhere on the site.
I find recharging easy with Oztell. The newly charged amount is soon transferred to the phone account without any intervention from me.
Cheers.
AlexErko writes...
I am one of the Oztell/Astratel/Pennytel crowd. The Oztell rate for calls to Aussie landlines is not 9.9c.
It can be, with the 017 (Special) prefix which is replacing 06 (Budget). Web Dialler makes selecting this rate easy. However, we mainly use Astratel for our local and national calls because of their superior call quality. Oztell's quality is OK, but I find Astratel better. Our mobile calls go via Pennytel and our frequent calls to Malaysia to either Astratel or Pennytel. We are very happy with this combo. Our PAP2 is registered with Oztell and Astratel. Web Dialler does the rest.
AlexErko writes...
I find recharging easy with Oztell.
I agree that recharging is a breeze with Oztell. Astratel is easy, too. Pennytel can be a pain.
chaosdog writes...
If the price was 9.9 c a minute to Captial Cities with Oztell anyway as opposed to 10c untimed to all Aus land lines with Astratel is what makes sense, not the fact that the rate is not available anymore.
Sorry, I must have missed the per minute part. Anyway, as AlexErko has now edited his post to show that the rate wasn't per minute, it does make sense now. :) (That is, having Astratel now that those rates no longer exist - I happen to have an Astratel account BTW, but am looking at the Oztell combo people are using)
Ozimarco has correctly pointed out above that the Oztell "Special" 017 rate does provide 9.9c calls to landlines*. Sorry for the misinformation in my earlier posts - Oztell is not easy to decipher. Edit: I have done my best at editing/correcting my earlier posts.
*That 9.9c rate is only for calls to landlines in capital cities, except Hobart and Darwin.
Cheers.
ozimarco writes...
It can be, with the 017 (Special) prefix which is replacing 06 (Budget). Web Dialler makes selecting this rate easy.
Well there you go! :)
Oztell's quality is OK, but I find Astratel better.
This makes sense too. Why not have an Astratel account for better quality and let Web Dialler do it's thing.
Our PAP2 is registered with Oztell and Astratel.
I thought it wasn't necessary to be registered to make a call with Astratel. Is there a reason you have it registered? (e.g. do you have a DID with Astratel you answer on a different phone or something?)
I am another Oztell/Astrasip/Pennytel user.
The benefits to me are using Webdialer in Oztell so that:
- Astrasip is used for all landline Aussie calls
- Pennytel for mobile and o'seas calls
- Oztell DID in Brisbane
I also receive FWD calls (through WebPABX) and through the Oztell gateways (at times).
I also use their fax to email service (included in the $6.95/mo package).
The second line in my Sipura 2000 ATA is used as a backup Voip phone with Koala (sometimes Sipme).
I have not used Oztell's WebPABX much yet - but would like to when I get around to it.
Regards,
Harry.
moollar writes...
I thought it wasn't necessary to be registered to make a call with Astratel. Is there a reason you have it registered?
No, there is no reason, but it gives me an alternative direct connection to a provider in case Oztell goes down.
Tekmann writes...
One advantage to Oztell give you access t call cost immediately after call ends
I thought most VoIP providers did this...
chaosdog writes...
...it would weirdly NOT apply itself to my VoIP phone account. It would apply itself to my Oztell account and then I would have to transfer it from that manually to the VoIP account. I hope that's fixed.
Yes (or at least working for me).
Ah, they were threatening to have this service working when I was with them! I have this service through my work and they pay an absoute squillion for it.
You've got to admit that < $24 per annum for a incoming fax number is outstanding value.
Tekmann writes...
So what num's do international callers (Italy, US) dial and...
oztell dialin numbers, Italy option is only here via a Rome number.
forum.net2max.com/index....7&showtopic=2120
US dial in options
www.notaduck.com
Sipbroker pstnNumbers
www.sipbroker.com/sipbro...tion/pstnNumbers
Tekmann writes...
...what do they pay????
Would not have a clue!!
ozimarco writes...
Just to clarify: the 017 rate (9.9c untimed) is to all landlines in Australia.
In order to see what the quality was like I have been using the Oztell "Special" 017 rate to landlines today for some local calls. Both sides found the quality to be very good - no worse than with Astratel in fact. (I use a laptop with an iBurst PCMCIA card, with SJPhone and the GSM codec.)
I will continue with the "Special" rate for a while for all calls to landlines and also to mobiles, to see how good the quality is.
Thanks for the info about simultaneous registrations folks in the other thread, but I have decided to go down another route:
If the quality is still OK, then I will open another cheap ($1.95 p/m) Oztell SIP account which I will use for the two days a week that I am usually away from home. I will give people the Oztell access numbers to call me on those days as I will have my laptop with me. (There is no access to ADSL, landlines or cable there, but iBurst is fine.) My wife will be able to easily call me for nix on my new Oztell number and I will likewise be able to call her on the original Oztell number, as I will leave my Grandstream HandyTone 286 ATA connected to the ADSL and the original Oztell account, which I will continue to use with the Webdialer, Astratel (?), and Pennytel.
The WAF should be 100% due to regular local dialling at home and very cheap calls, while I will be dialling while I am away with full country and area codes, but I don't mind that. The little extra that I will be paying for calls to mobiles with Oztell for two days per week and the extra $1.95 p/month to Oztell will be more than offset by the free calls between my wife and myself. If I have to call 000 while I am away I will use my mobile.
Oztell accepts auto recharging, so running two accounts with them should not be any hassle at all. I had forgotten that Oztell had that provision, but someone pointed that fact out in this forum this weekend - thanks to that person - I can't remember who it was at the moment.
BTW, if you think I am throwing money around running an ADSL account as well as an iBurst account you would be wrong. I am going to be on the minimum $29.95 p/month iBurst plan, along with a sweetly priced $55 p/month ADSL and home phone line bundle option from GoTalk https://www.gotalk.com.a.../gonetvalue.aspx GoTalk are even throwing in a Netcomm NB5Plus4 for half RRP :-)
You might be wondering what has lead me to make all of these changes. Well it was all triggered by PBA/Commodore's recent outrageous iBurst price rises. They have indirectly done me a favour, as I used to be on a bigger iBurst plan as my sole internet connection, but now a small iBurst plan, a generous ADSL plan, and the phone line will cost almost exactly the same per month as what I was paying for the generous iBurst plan and the phone line. Actually I will be saving money overall as my wife will be able to use VoIP for those days that I will be away, unlike the current set-up.
Cheers.
Alex
Oztell is fantastic, but before you leap too fast, please be aware that while you can have two simultaneous registrations to the one Oztell SIP account, incoming calls will only ring ONE of those registrations and it is usually (but not guaranteed to be) the last registration.
FWD allows many, many registrations and will call all simultaneously. So you can do a work around by forwarding incoming calls to your Oztell SIP account to a FWD account (using Oztell's WebPABX). Since FWD usually works via SIP redirects, your voice path most likely won't go to the US and back again.
Alternatively, just pay an extra $1.95 pm for a second Oztell SIP number and use WebPABX on the first Oztell SIP account to send incoming calls to both Oztell SIP's at the same time.
Rob
RobT writes...
two simultaneous registrations to the one Oztell SIP account
I have decided against one account with two registrations. I am going to have two accounts, for the reasons that I mention above. Thanks for the tips though - options for the future maybe?
Cheers.
from what I can tell : https://www.pennytel.com
Pennytel dont have the 2c/min call rate now with no monthly access
they offer 9c flat with $6 monthly fee
Coooljono writes...
Pennytel dont have the 2c/min call rate now with no monthly access
The timed rates apply to the free plan.
The unlimited plans give you the flat rates (ie monthly fee).
Bruce
icic, i couldnt see any reference of the $0 plan with 2c/min.
Just need to look harder i guess :).
Hi,
I have me and my parents on the Engin $10/mo plan.
Parents are on ADSL with a 7402VGP and I am on BPC with PAP2, no landline.
I would like to save the $20/mo plan fees I am paying as niether me nor my parents need a DID.
I have narrowed my alternatives down to Pennytel and Oztell.
Can someone please clarify my research on their no fee plans?
Pennytel: 2c/min national, 18.9/min mobile, 13/1300 25c.
Oztell: 9.9c untimed national, 20c/min mobile, 13/1300 11.2c for first hour.
Both: 1800 free, 000 supported, no DID required for calls between same vsp users, free calls between users, online call records, automatic cc billing without being denied service for exhausting your credit.
Thanks, the websites have me bamboozled!
Can someone please post a link to Oztell's plans, call rates and DID info pages.
I can't make sense of their website.
Thanks
Warning writes...
Can someone please clarify my research on their no fee plans?
Oztell plans are not "no fee" for Voip.
As you'll need to also subscribe to "sip" - at a cost of $1.95/month. (If you wait to the first of the month, you'll get that month free).
With oztell, there are multiple ways you can route voip calls. One of them is the 9.9c per landline call. Another is the 20c/min mobile. Their setup is more complicated than others.
You might also like to look at astrasip, sipme or koalavoip for zero mnthly charges and simple setup?
Regards,
Harry.
Correction to my post above:
Pennytel do not allow 13/1300 or 1800 calls on their free plan.
Warning writes...
Pennytel do not allow 13/1300 or 1800 calls on their free plan.
I believe you are correct about the 13/1300 calls, however I understand that they may support 1800 calls but charge for them. See the Pennytel Wiki page: index.cfm?a=wiki&tag=VOIP_Pennytel
One of the attractions of Oztell in the Oztell / Astratel / Pennytel combo is the fact that Oztell supports 13/1300 and free 1800 calls while the other two apparently do not, with the exception of 1300 calls which are supported by Astratel. Pennytel supports 000 calls however, while the other two do not. This stuff is obviously more important for people who go all VoIP than for people who use a PSTN line for calling such numbers.
Cheers.
Can't get 1800 to work by dialling 611800 or 61800, despite my $5 credit.
Warning writes...
Can't get 1800 to work by dialling 611800 or 61800, despite my $5 credit.
I just tried to call an 1800 number via Pennytel and a recording said "This call is not covered by your tariff plan." I have a no monthly fee account; I wonder if people on Pennytel paid plans can ring 1800. Anyway, my next step will be to amend the Pennytel Wiki page.
Cheers.
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