In this edition of head to head, we compare VOIPo with Phone.com Home Plus. Phone.com is primarily a business VoIP provider with a home division, and VOIPo is primarily a residential VoIP provider. Will that make the difference? Let’s look at the tale of the tape.

Service VoIPo
Visit Site
Phone.com
Visit Site
Blowout Sale $149 for 2 years $214.56 for one year
BYOD Option Yes No
Directory Information Free/Automated, $1/Live Attendant Paid per call
Equipment Lease Free Free
Equipment Shipping Free $9.95
Fax $5/mo or $36/yr inbound, free outbound E-Fax Free Outbound Fax
International Minutes In Basic Plan 60 Per minute per country
International Premium Cost $7.95/mo, 1200 minutes n/a
iNUM Support Yes Yes
Max # of Calls at Once Two Two
Mobile App Available Through Third Party SIP Clients Outbound Calls
Month to Month Price $15/month $9.88/mo, 300 Minutes/mo + $0.049/min
N11 411, 711, E911 411, 711, E911
Number Porting Fee Free Free
Ringback/On Hold Music n/a $.99/mo
Second Line Free Free
Service Portability Yes Yes
Setup/Activation Fee Free Free
SIP Credentials Yes No
Tech Support, Phone M-F 12pm-8pm ET, US-based 24/7, English & Spanish
Tech Support, Web Knowledge Base, Email support, User Guides, email support,
Toll Free $4.95/mo + $0.45/min n/a
Trial 30 Days, full refund 30 day Free trial
U.S/Canada Calling Unlimited $9.88/mo, 300 Minutes/mo
Virtual Numbers $4.95/mo or $36/yr n/a
Voice Mail Notification Email and SMS Email
Voice Mail Transcription n/a $1.50/mo
SoftphoneMore Details Yes n/a
More Details Visit Site Visit Site

I think I’ve made it clear that I like VOIPo. It’s not that I’m biased, it’s that I feel that they offer the best price, and no other residential VoIP provider comes close. As of this writing, the blowout deal is two years prepaid for $149, which is more expensive than other blowout deals, which have been as low as $129. Still, that’s pretty low. On top of the price, they have a ton of features. This head to head brings a new challenger, Phone.com. Phone.com has residential and virtual office divisions, so it brings home many features that are office features. It also does them in a pretty innovative way. I like that. Below, I will focus on some of the features that are exclusive to, or shared by, either VOIPo or Phone.com.

Shared Features:
Standard Call Features, 3-way calling, call forwarding, privacy rules, call routing, day/night/holiday rules, number porting, address book, online voicemail, tech support, free in-network calling

Phone.com Exclusive Features:
Voicemail transcription: For $1.50 per month, Phone.com subscribers can have their voicemails transcribed and emailed to them.

Phone.com Features

Call transfer: Seamlessly transfer an ongoing call to another phone, such as your cell phone.
Call Screening: Screen your calls to avoid talking to anyone you don’t want to.
Chatcalls: Record and send a short message to your friends and family.
Click to call buttons: Also called Click2dial, call from your desktop without picking up your phone.
411 blocking: Block 411 calls to avoid a surprise bill
Greeting: Leave a recorded greeting for the person who calls you at certain times of day or before the conversation begins.
On hold music: For $.99/mo, even home subscribers can use their own of Phone.com’s library of on hold music.
Text to Greeting: record a “joke of the day” or an usual voice mail greeting.

VOIPo Exclusive Features:
Softphone access/BYOD: VOIPo allows the option of SIP phone and Softphone provisioning, Phone.com does not.
Distinctive Ringtones: Pick a distinctive ringtone on your phone depending on who is calling your home.

Pricing:
VOIPo has a month to month price of $15 for unlimited calls, or a two year prepay for $150, as of this writing. Phone.com has a month to month price of $19.88, or a prepay of $21.56 for one year for unlimited. You can also get a 300 minute plan for 9.88 and $.0049 for overage minutes. That’s still a good plan, and incoming minutes are free.

Overall, I’d say that Phone.com is a solid contender. They have a number of features, like internationall calling block and 411 block, that avoid surprise billing. They have a number of PBX-like features for the home, including find me/follow me and day/night mode that VOIPo also has, but Phone.com has more variety and a slightly bigger feature set. The biggest feature is voicemail transcription, which is available at a reasonable price. VOIPo has an hour of free international minutes, which is good for the international caller, and has the option of a toll free number, even for residential calls.

The Bottom Line: VOIPo continues to be a leader in low price, which makes it my favorite, but Phone.com has a solid feature set that can keep VOIPo on the ropes. For the final bell, I’d say the decision is up to you.

Related:
VOIPo Reviews
Phone.com Reviews