RADIO INTERVIEW: Our Client, netTALK was featured as a guest on the DOTTOTECH RADIO SHOW discussing the netTALK DUO and the advantages of firing your phone company.
netTALK Duo Saves Money
February 2nd, 2012Health Care Spending Accounts Go Online
January 23rd, 2012NEWSPAPER STORY: Our client, Tom Zapatinas President and CEO of PreAxia Health Care Payment Systems Inc was featured in a story in THE CALGARY HERALD.
CLICK HERE TO READ FROM PDF OR READ BELOW
Health Care Spending Acconts in Canada
January 23rd, 2012Radio Interview: Our client, Perry Shoom, Vice President of PreAxia Health Care Payment Systems Inc was interviewed on 680 News Toronto and discussed Health Care Spending accounts in Canada.
netTalk Duo is one of the best landlines money can buy
January 12th, 2012BLOG REVIEW: Our client netTALK was reviewed by the FUTURE SHOP CANADA BLOG.
Click here to read review http://tinyurl.com/3drqp72 or read below
netTalk Duo is one of the best landlines money can buy
by 
TeddyK on 09-30-2011 03:48 PM – last edited on 10-06-2011 12:54 PM
TeddyK on 09-30-2011 03:48 PM – last edited on 10-06-2011 12:54 PM
I realize the headline sounds a lot like an endorsement, and in some respects it is. I haven’t had a traditional landline in over a year now, mostly because I moved to a new place and used my cell phone and Skype to take care of calling needs, but with a netTalk Duo, I can have a landline for a full year at a cost of just $80 — with calls to all of Canada and the U.S. included.
The netTalk Duo is one of those utility devices that both small business owners and students would benefit from. The service offers up all of Canada and the U.S. gives you your own number (unfortunately, you can’t port your old landline number to it) and makes it easy to use when you travel, too.
VoIP dongles like this and the magicJack aren’t new, but in the past, they’ve been tied to a computer that must always be on. In the case of the Duo, it plugs right into the router, so it’s always on. Use it with a cordless phone setup with one base and a few phones, and you can cover a house quickly and cheaply.
You get voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, and call waiting. Long distance calls to other countries are also at pretty competitive rates compared to other vendors. The Duo also offers free 411 service, and three-way calling can be initiated by pressing *46# during a call with another caller waiting.
The only requirements are a broadband connection with a minimum 128kbps upload rate, so dialup or satellite service in some rural areas might not be able to use this.
For whatever reason, the Duo driver can only be installed on a Windows PC, even though I could set up my account and phone number using Firefox on a Mac. You do have the option of choosing a phone number from a different area code, so if all your friends and family are in another city, you can make it easy for them to call you without paying long distance.
Aside from a router, the Duo also only works with a PC when plugged in directly, which is a big minus against it because there’s no Mac compatibility yet (though netTalk says it’s coming).
Call quality is consistently clear, and definitely better than what you would expect from a mobile phone.
And then there’s the cost. The Duo is an upfront cost of $79.99 that includes both the device and 12 months of service. Each additional year is a flat fee of $39.99.
Not a bad way to save a lot over the course of a year talking to anyone and everyone in two countries, right?
Tech Toys
January 12th, 2012NEWSPAPER AND ONLINE STORY: Our client, netTALK was featured in a story in the Vancouver Sun about Tech Toys
Click here to read review http://tinyurl.com/88su7or or read below.
Tech Toys column for week of Dec. 27
By Gillian Shaw, Postmedia News December 27, 2011
Ooma Telo, Ooma, $230.
This used to be the season that saw long distance phone bills jump as people called friends and relatives around the world. Not so much any more with the lower long distance costs, flat-rate pricing and a range of options, from Skype and Apple’s FaceTime to other services and devices. This season Canadians have another option, the Ooma Telo, a second generation VoIP device from Ooma, a company that has offered services in the United States and recently extended it to Canada. A little black item just a bit smaller than my wireless modem, the Telo plugs into an Internet connection and connects to your existing home phone to deliver free calling across Canada, with added features including caller-ID, call waiting and voice mail. You can check the rates for international calls (Hong Kong, for example is $ 0.034/minute calling from Vancouver) or pay a flat monthly rate of $11.99 for 1,000 minutes to more than 60 countries. The cost for the basic service is the price of the Telo unit plus taxes and fees for your area, which when I checked amount to $3.98 for Vancouver. A premier service that includes free calls to the U.S. is $10 a month or $120 a year. You can also link your mobile phone to the Telo with a Bluetooth adapter that Ooma sells for $30. While the service says it includes 911 calls, note that the 911 operator will only get the address listed on your registration. In an emergency you may not remember you failed to update the address – a failing that could have tragic consequences (http://ca.ooma.com)
netTALK DUO, $80.
Another VoIP offering that has crossed the border to Canada is netTALK DUO, a U.S.-based service that is expanding here. Like the Telo, it connects directly to your router or modem so it doesn’t require a computer to work, although you can also plug it into your computer and use netTALK’s videophone application for computer calls. The cost of the device includes the first year of calling across Canada and the U.S. and after that it’s $40 a year. You can add an international plan, good for calls to 60 countries, for $120 annually. netTALK DUO also has calling features like voice mail and others and the 911 service that relies on the address you give with your registration (www.nettalk.com).
Extreme cases for tablet and notebook computers, G-Form, from $70.
I must have told London Drugs buyer Theo Horsdal the sad story of the cellphone I dropped on a tile floor because the minute the industrial strength Extreme sleeves for tablets and notebooks arrived in Canada, he was quick to let me know. Unfortunately not in time to protect the laptop I dropped at the top of the stairs and retrieved, slightly worse for wear, at the bottom. Such klutziness would provide no problem for the G-Form cases that are showcased with videos showing employees using G-Form clad iPads as Frisbees and as a baseball backstop, and dropping 10-pound bowling balls on them. Sleeves are available for 10-inch tablets, 11-inch notebooks and 13.3-inch notebooks (http://g-form.com).
netTALK DUO Review BY Canadian Reviewer
January 12th, 2012WEBSITE REVIEW: Our client netTALK was reviewed on the CANADIAN REVIEWER web site
Click Here to read review http://tinyurl.com/8x3zrft or read below
netTALK Duo now available in Canada, $69.95 for a year of unlimited North American calls
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 11:46PM
netTALK.COM, Inc. a telecommunications and consumer electronics company offering a variety of innovative, easy-to-use products designed to help consumers save money on phone calls and more, announced today that the netTALK DUO telephone adapter and digital phone service is now available from coast-to-coast across Canada.
“Helping Canadians save money on their phone bills has long been a major priority for us, and we are glad to report that Canadians are responding in droves by scooping up the netTALK DUO wherever it is available,” commented Anastasios ‘Takis’ Kyriakides, President and CEO of netTALK. “At Amazon.ca, the netTALK DUO has been the Number One bestselling product in the Telephones category for months, and is currently one of the Top Five bestsellers in the Electronics category. We are responding to this overwhelming demand by bringing on more major Canadian retailers in the near future.”
Winner of PCMag.com and Laptop Editors’ Choice awards, and officially designated “Business-Ready” by PCWorld, the netTALK DUO is a revolutionary VoIP device and digital phone service. The smallest VoIP analog telephone adapter in the world, the netTALK DUO enables free nationwide calls to any phone in Canada and the U.S. from anywhere in the world, as well as rock-bottom international rates and a slew of other features, detailed at www.netTALK.com. No computer is necessary to use the netTALK DUO, as it simply plugs directly into a router or modem (or computer).
The netTALK DUO is available in Canada via netTALK’s website and at Amazon.ca, Dell.ca, BestBuy.ca, Sears.ca, TigerDirect.ca, and Best Buy, Sears, TigerDirect, and Zellers stores. The suggested retail price is CDN$ 79.95, including the entire first year of phone service and all other features, and only CDN$ 39.95 for each additional year, with no additional fees or long-term contracts. And 911 Service is available in Canada as well.
Additionally, the netTALK smartphone app enables free outgoing calls from any smartphone without running up talk time minutes, and is available for free from iTunes Canada – where it has been the Number One Social Networking app, besting even Facebook, for months.
Here are some of the features of the DUO
1.The netTALK DUO will allow you to save money on a Brand New Phone Line
2 It is a full featured phone line including Call Forwarding, Call Waiting and Caller Id, Visual Voicemail, Fax Friendly, Voicemail to Email, Conference Bridge, and has connectivity through Wi-Fi / Edge / 3G / 4G
3. It can work with a computer or without a computer and this can be demonstrated.
4. It has North American (USA and CANADA) calling for a flat fee per year which is $79.95 for the first year and $39.95 for each additional year renewal (includes all local and long distance calls)
5 It has a NORTH AMERICAN Add-On which is $70.00 per year that will allow you to call the US, Canada and Puerto Rico on land lines and mobile phones, Mexico calls can only be to landlines.
6 It has an International Add-On which costs $120.00 per year that includes calls to 60 Countries http://www.nettalk.ca/callplansinternational
7.It has a downloadable APP that works on smartphones that have the iOS, Android, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile operating systems installed on them. This APP allows you to make calls via your cell phone Internet connection that allows you not to waste your cell phone minutes and avoids roaming charges.
8 IIt has live tech support
9. Great for a student in a dorm room
10. it has true Canadian 911
netTALK DUO Review BY TechnaPedia
January 12th, 2012WEBSITE REVIEW: Our client, netTALK was reviewed on the TECHNAPEDIA web site
click here to read review http://tinyurl.com/7tcodrk or read below
netTALK, a telecommunications company offering VoIP service in Canada since early 2011 has announced service expansion in Canada as of December 1, 2011 and has gone into full retail distribution through Amazon, Best Buy, Sears, Tiger Direct and Zellers. Standard service offers unlimited calls absolutely free for the first year when a netTALK DUO device is purchased for $79.95 and costs only $39.95 for each additional year with no long-term contracts. Features that would be expected like Caller ID, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, Visual Voicemail, Conference Calling and Voicemail to Email are present. netTALK DUO is not dependant on a computer; however it has capability to either connect straight to a router or to a computer through USB which allows for service to be used in public areas where one would not have access to the router. Continue reading for the full review and remember that we are giving away two of these netTALK units to our Canadian Twitter followers.
Hardware
The hardware is very simple and looks like a larger USB stick. One side will give you standard RJ11 telephone jack to connect your corded or cordless phone and RJ45 Ethernet jack to connect the device to your router. There is a power indicator light up top which also serves as notification LED in case there is something wrong with the service. Around the back there is standard mini-USB connector that can be connected to power outlet via included USB power adapter. The same connector can be used to connect netTALK DUO straight to the computer. Capability to connect to the computer eliminates the need for access to a router, which in most cases is not possible if you’re travelling. Lastly there is the reset button in case if your device is not responding and you need to kick it back into life – Remember, you can also reset the device by dialing *61. If there is anything we would like to see in the next version of the netTALK’s portable phone device is wall mounting holes on the back of the unit – As it is, my netTALK DUO is hanging behind my desk. Otherwise, perfect.
Features
A host of features are available, mostly all standard expectation from any phone service. Caller ID, Call Waiting and Conference Calling all work well. Conference Calling didn’t add any kind of delay and sound quality was maintained, we only tested three parties in total. We found voicemail to be exceptionally good, you can change your greeting completely with no mention of netTALK or a computer’s voice once customized, which helps targeting business users – however, the best feature that we like is Voicemail to Email. Instant email notification was received on our test iPhone 4S along with attachment of the voicemail message. The message is compatible with iOS and plays with a single click. The message was also compressed heavily so unless you’re on a very small data plan, there are no worries. A typical 2 minutes message was around 40KB.
Call Quality
Call clarity surpassed what one would expect from a typical Rogers cell phone. A conversation was tested from a Rogers cell phone to a Bell landline, then from Rogers cell phone to a netTALK DUO user and experienced louder and crisper voice on netTALK DUO. We did experience some stutter a few times but that is only because the system goes through an internet line and internet bandwidth can fluctuate depending on how congested the connection is. In Toronto, internet is almost always congested and experience with netTALK was still 9.5 out of 10. We have yet to experience a dropped call or a failed call with close to 40 different 1-800 numbers dialed and all calls were completed without any issues. We tested voice delay with the netTALK DUO system, a small portion of the test is also included in the video above, and however, it sounds confusing testing something like this on camera, overall experience was next to nothing for delay when speaking with the other party in over 150-minutes of conversation so far. Listen to a brief test below.
Call Control
One feature-set that is missing is the capability to block a netTALK DUO number from showing up on receiver’s end. There is no code to block call display but we found something in FAQ’s that suggests calling technical support to request it. With this being limited there is also no way to mimic another phone number as the Call Display number – for example, I wanted to call a friend but not present my netTALK DUO number, instead present my cell phone number because I know he does not pick up calls from unknown numbers, I couldn’t speak with that friend. I couldn’t find an option to set number of seconds phone rings before it goes to voicemail, I wanted to setup my netTALK DUO for outbound calls only and wanted any incoming calls to directly get routed to netTALK’s voicemail system. The netTALK system needs to work on providing more call control but luckily these features don’t hinder almost anyone’s experience.
Smartphone App
netTALK provides Smartphone apps for all major platforms including iOS, Android, BlackBerry and even Windows Phone. We originally wanted to test iOS, Android and BlackBerry with our test hardware but only ended-up testing it on iOS. The app is great and it’s free, allows a user to make unlimited calls to anywhere in Canada and USA; however it does not allow for calls to come in. Essentially making Smartphone app to save on long-distance and local minutes but does not make a complete solution yet. This limitation is because the Smartphone app for any available platform is not associated with a netTALK DUO account. Call display number presented to the receiver is not your netTALK DUO number, hence limitation to just outbound calls. The app works well, quality is good and is definitely useful for someone who wants to test out quality of service without spending any money and save on long-distance. netTALK promises incoming capability soon and that will make netTALK an unbeatable service in its niche.
Conclusion
Ultimately netTALK service with or without the netTALK DUO device is a pleasing experience. The company provides phone support from Monday to Friday, which isn’t any better or worse than big phone companies in Canada, like Bell. Why would anyone want to pay upwards of fifty dollars for the same service. Currently, netTALK service can be used as a secondary phone line because number transfer or porting is not available, so you can’t port your current landline number to netTALK. And for people with no landline (take me for instance) who solely work with cell phones, our bills can be quite high because of usual long-distance charges netTALK service can be a big savings – one could also be more social with people we otherwise don’t call that often because of these high charges. First year free with purchase of the device at $79.95 isn’t bad at all, however $39.95 per year after the first year comes down to $3.30 per month and that is a huge difference in cost that would force one to seriously think about alternatives. netTALK DUO can be purchased from local stores like Best Buy, Zellers, Sears and Tiger Direct or online from all of these retailers as well as Amazon.ca – of course you can win one of the two netTALK DUO we have available but you have to have a Twitter account for that, it is pretty simple though, re-tweet and win.
Final Score
Hardware: 9 out of 10
Features: 9.5 out of 10
Call Quality: 9.5 out of 10
Call Control: 7 out of 10
Smartphone App: 7 out of 10
Overall Score: 8.4 out of 10
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Tags: app, home phone, landline, nettalk, review
Terrestrial Talking
January 12th, 2012NEWSPAPER STORY. Our client, netTALK was featured in a national story that appeared in The TORONTO SUN and may other Sun Newspapers across Canada about it’s groundbreaking product, the netTALK DUO.
Buying a Car Before The End Of 2011
December 29th, 2011TV INTERVIEW: Our client , Paul Timoteo, President of CarCostCanada appeared on a major Canadian TV Biz show and discussed buying a new car before the end of the year.
The Best Time To Buy A New Car
December 16th, 2011TV INTERVIEW: Our client , Paul Timoteo, President of Carcostcanada appeared on CTV NEWSCHANNEL and discussed strategies to buy a new car before the end of the year.
