So I got Access Communications' new Digital Voice service installed on Friday. So far I must say that it's working extremely well.
The quality seems to be very similar to SaskTel's landline service. Of course, because of its greater dependence on local power, it may be somewhat more unreliable during very long power failures, but I suspect that it will be quite usable. Let's be honest; almost everyone has cell phones these days (and I have more than a few of those :) )...
So here is what I like, and what I don't like, so far:
- sound quality is very good
- 10-digit dialling works - e.g. you can dial 757-7111 for time of day, or you can dial 306-757-7111 and it still works. For local people this is not of huge consequence, but when your friend from Toronto uses your phone to dial a local number, it is a nice feature. Torontonians (and many other people) have to dial an area code on every call, local or long distance, and dialling with 10 digits is a habit for them. SaskTel does not support this feature on their landlines (at least not as of a few weeks ago), although both SaskTel Mobility and Rogers allow it on their cell phones. (Rogers requires it when you are out of your local area code, in fact.)
- modems work! I don't know if the Internet would ever be down and phone service would still be up, but if it happens, you can use Digital voice to place a modem call. I got 49,333 bps yesterday with a USR V.Everything modem (admittedly one of the best modems ever made, probably the best, but also a modem that tends to connect on the slow side because of its conservative design). Latency was quite reasonable.
- You can't use dial-around long distance providers, which is slightly annoying but not surprising - Primus doesn't allow it either. (I've been using Primus TalkBroadband for more than a year, and still have it connected for the time being.) The thing that makes it slightly annoying is that Access uses Allstream as its long distance provider, and its proposed North American toll rate of 7 cents per minute is rather high. (Yak charges 5 cents as a dial-around service and 3.5 cents if you make it your long distance provider.) On the other hand, Allstream's toll rate to the UK is only 4 cents, which is exceptionally good. (UK mobiles are 29 cents, which is reasonable.) Solution: get a number at Grand Central, add your contacts to your GrandCentral phonebook, and call them using the web portal; GrandCentral will call you at the number you specify and then connect your call. This will cost you nothing at all within North America, at least while the GrandCentral testing period persists, and apparently the thought is that you will still get 500 minutes per month for free afterward. (Quality seems very reliable by the way; I've been using GrandCentral for a few weeks. I have a 213 Los Angeles number.)
- Access has decided not to include Visual Call Waiting with the service, even though it includes both Call Display and Call Waiting. This is pretty stupid. Unless Access is planning a large package of additional calling features for a low flat fee (similar to SaskTel's Residential Calling Features Package), I can't imagine anyone would want to pay four or five dollars a month just to get Call Display when they are already on a call. Access, please include this for free - you don't want to seem cheap when people are comparing you to SaskTel, and it seems like a nickel-and-dime feature to not include, because its being missing will be a surprise to everybody until they actually get the service. People will expect it to be included. I suspect it will generate a lot of complaints, and Access should be concentrating on creating a lot of goodwill right now.
Anyway, so far, I'm reasonably happy. There are certainly some things that need to be fixed (why isn't call forwarding included? ... why are the long distance rates so high? ... why isn't there an unlimited long distance package available at a reasonable price, similar to what SaskTel and Primus offer? ...) but it's a new product and it will surely evolve.