Getting Started
From VoIP.ms Wiki
This is a simple article to help you get started using Voip.ms services.
I established an account recently and had a number of questions when I first signed up. Some of those questions were answered by support staff either through Live Chat, or via the ticketing system (which is linked to [email protected]). Many other questions were answered by searching on various forums and web sites.
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Signing up for an account
Signing up for an account is FREE. You do not need to complete any credit card details to open an account. Simply visit the signup page and complete the required information. After signing up you will have to activate your account by clicking the link in your activation email.
First Log In
When you first log in you may be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of menu options that are available. Don't worry...as you spend more time on the Customer Portal you will become familiar with the how the system works.
The Portal Home Page (the page you get to after logging in) shows you some important information, starting with your Main Username. Interestingly I was able to register my ATA with that username. So if my Main Username was 123456 then you could register an ATA or softphone to [email protected]. However this does not allow you to receive incoming calls. So your next step will be to create an extension. In Voip.ms these are called SubAccounts.
Creating a Sub Account
I recommend creating 2 sub accounts so you can ensure that everything is working well. There is no charge for creating sub accounts. On the main menu, select Sub Accounts --> Create Sub Account. Enter in the details. Once the account is created, go ahead and create a second sub account.
Important Note : Your SIP login details for your sub accounts will be slightly different than your direct SIP URI to your extension. Here is an example from my configuration.
Sub Account : 123456_101 Sip Proxy : servername.voip.ms SIP URI : [email protected]
Don't get caught out by this! If you can't connect your ATA / Ip / Soft phone to your sub account, check these details!
Once you have registered your devices to 2 sub accounts, you can call between them. You want to make sure this is working fine. For my testing, I registered ext 101 to my ATA, and ext 109 to my iPhone (using one of the many free softphones available from App Store). When I dialed 101 from my softphone on the iPhone, I was immediately connected to the ATA in my house.
You can always check the status of your ATA / softphones on the Portal Home Page (see Main Menu --> Portal Home). If you look at your list of Sub Accounts near the bottom of the page, you will see if they are registered or not.
Why would I want a Sub Account?
If you want to receive incoming calls from other SIP devices or VOIP providers, you will need a sub account as you will now have a SIP URI that accepts incoming calls.
You can also have the sub accounts based on different continents! So let's say you live in New York, but your parents live in Seattle, and your Aunt lives in England. You can create a sub account for each of them. Let's say your sub account is set up as extension 101, you parents as 102, and your aunt as 103. To call each other, you would simply pick up the phone and dial the 3 digit extension number. There would be no charge for this call as it is considered an internal call.
If you work from different locations, you might want to set up an extension in each physical locations. Have an ATA & phone hooked up in your home, and an IP phone on your office desk for example.
There are many reasons to use your Sub Accounts!
Adding Funds
In order to purchase DIDs, make outbound calls and so on, you will need to add funds to your account. This is a very simple procedure. Just click on Finances --> Add Funds in the menu system. Make a payment with your Credit Card or Paypal account. The minimum is $25. As Voip.ms operates a prepay service, you will notice your funds deplete as you use their paid services. However there is a good chance that your initial $25 deposit will last a lot longer paying for voip.ms services than your local phone company!!!
Getting a DID number
Next thing on my list was to choose a DID number. A DID number (DID) is a "regular" landline telephone number. As I was creating a new business venture and wanted a separate telephone number for the business (rather than handing out my home number) I purchased a DID. This would give me a nromal phone number that could be dialed from any standard telephone (landline, cell, payphone etc).
Voip.ms have a fantastic selection of DIDs and extremely competitive rates. For example a 415 area code (San Francisco, California) would cost $0.99 per month + 1 cent per minute for each incoming call, or $4.95 inclusive of incoming calls (up to 3500 minutes per month, intended for residential use).
If you wish, you can choose to enable Caller Line ID (CNAM) lookups on your DID. This is completely optional. A CNAM lookup checks the telephone number that is calling against a database and returns the name of the calling party. If you do not make use of this, you will still see the person's telephone number on your display, just not their name.
I wanted a Toll Free number for my business. It costs me $0.99 (yes, 99 cents) a month, plus 2.4 cents per minute for incoming calls from the lower 48. 8c per minute for incoming from Canada, and a little more for calls coming from Puerto Rico or Alaska. However, as is typical with Voip.ms, I had other options available. If I was going to receive a lot of toll free calls from Canada or Alaska, I could have chosen to get the DID from the Canadian carrier. All incoming calls would then have cost 3.2 cents per minute, although the monthly cost would have increased to $1.49 per month!
It is worth noting that when you set up a DID number with voip.ms, you will also get a new SIP URI. In North America, the DID number is used (without the leading 1) in combination with your chosen server. For example if your DID was 1-555-0199-3333 and you were registered with the New York server your newly assigned SIP URI would be [email protected] although you may find that [email protected] works as well.
When you order your DID, you can tell voip.ms what to do with calls that come in on that number. You can have it route directly to one of your sub accounts. So your aunt in England can have a regular New York landline number that is routed to her extension (103 in the example above). Then when you are on your cell walking around Manhattan and want to ask your aunt a question, you dial a local number to you, but her phone rings in England. Of course you may want a DID that routes directly to your Voip phone at home, or in your office. Perhaps you would rather have all calls go to Voicemail and then be emailed to you, or maybe you would like to set up an IVR menu ("press 1 to speak with Sales, 2 for Customer Service..."). I set up my toll free number to forward calls to my cell and to my IP phone between the hours of 9-5EST. Outside those hours, the calls go to Voicemail automatically and my phones don't ring :-)
Outbound Calls
In the Voip industry, outbound calls are known as termination. The termination rates at voip.ms are very low, and you can choose to send your calls over the value route or premium route.
The Value Route generally offers lower rates, and monitoring may not be as good. I have been using the value rates since I signed up, and have had no trouble with them.
The Premium Route offers higher call quality, but if you are mostly calling within the US & Canada you may be fine on the value route. Caller ID is also guaranteed on Premium routes.
Users who regularly make calls to the Middle East and Far East have reported that the Premium routes provide excellent service, whereas the Value Routes may or may not work as well.
You would expect that Premium routes would always be more expensive than Value routes, however this is not necessarily the case. Here are a few sample taken from the Rates pages as of May 2011.
Premium to US = 1.25 cents per minute. Value to US = 1.05 cents per minute. Premium to Canada = 1.25 cents per minute. Value to Canada = 0.52 cents per minute (yes, that's half a cent). Premium to UK = 0.7 cents per minute. Value to UK = 0.79 cents per minute. Premium to Japan = 10 cents per minute. Value to Japan = 2.5 cents per minute.
Different termination rates may apply for calling cell phones in other Countries. The rates pages list all the various rates for different cell providers in each Country.
Conclusion
I hope this Getting Started Guide will serve as a useful "howto setup voip.ms" how to guide for new users. Existing users, please feel free to add more to this wiki!!!
