You mean you have tried VoIP service using the 3G? How was the quality like? Have you tried surfing or download using 3G?

If the quality is 80% compared to PSTN, I might want to try it even for just a month. I just wish that there is a branded PDA Phone with 3G and WiFi below 3K.

To all VOIP sifu, kindly give comments on my present call plan.

Home Line

1) Skype Basic : Use only when I m online. Though its free call PC to PC, but can hardly use it because both party need to be online at the same time and no all my friends and relatives registered Skype nor have broadband access..

2) REDtone Plus : I fixed auto dialer with REDtone Plus gateway, hassle free calling from my home single line phone. The entire family member can call out without the need to change their dialing habit. Rate for calling nationwide land line: 18cts/min (7am to 7pm) 14cts/min (7pm to 7am), calling nationwide mobile phone 20cts/min (7am to 7pm) 14cts/min (7pm to 7am). Additional advantage is your house phone number will not be shown on receiver’s phone. Privacy ensured.

3) Italk : Alternative to REDtone Plus. Rates r cheaper at 12cts/min for nationwide land lines and 15cts/min for nationwide mobile lines. Though is cheaper than REDtone Plus, I still set my auto dialer default gateway to REDtone Plus simply for 2 reasons only….1) Using italk will reveal my house phone number to receiver’s phone, therefore no privacy. 2) iTalk has no internet itemized billing but REDtone has and furthermore it is a 24 hour delayed itemized billing system. However. I use italk when I need to “cook telephone porridge” or when there is no privacy concern.

Mobile line

1) Main line:- Maxis Package 75. Rates: Nationwide Maxis to Maxis call 15cts/min. Nationwide Maxis to other telco 20cts/min

2) Prepaid line:- All three celcos sms plan combine with italk mobile and Redtone Plus. callback service. Call rates 20cts/min land line, 25 cts mobile lines.


Why I choose above combination ?

1) The 015 broadband phone or other PC based voip needs monthly subscription and are troublesome to use. Kids and elderly folks don’t now how to use. Need both end to online at the same time therefore this service can not go into mass market in the foreseeable future.
2) SIP phone too expensive. Need both end to install, can not call multiple receivers.
3) Auto dialer (usually around RM60 to RM80) is the cheapest and easiest call routing device in the market to enjoy hassle free cheap calls from a single normal TM home line to multiple telcos lines all over the world. Auto dialer is a plug and play devices and no need complicated installation and settings.
4) Italk and REDtone just need RM10 top up and there is no monthly commitment. Just pay based on usage.

Please also share your call plan with me

Excellent.... no comments... i think its great.... 2 choices...


aeiou228 : how is the call quality ?

Xybirium : there is dopod 577w, no 3G but got wifi (advantage is that its small and the size is just like any other mobile phone) Check it out. I just bought one. Hopefully can locate a Softphone software for it so I can VoIP in WiFi zones

This post has been edited by rattan: Aug 2 2006, 01:46 AM

You only need both end to get the free call.. If you call to normal number just need 1 device, but it got per minute charges la. All 015 provider is SIP based on.. SIP Phone actually is ATA (Analogue Telephony Adapter) which convert your LAN to your normal analog phone..

Malaysia SIP provider still got monthly charges... But oversea one almost all usage based.. One of the cheapest should be voipstunt/voipdiscount family.. Just pay Euro 10 and enjoy free call for 4 months to malaysia fixed line and many other country (limit to 5 hour per week).. Mobile at 4 cent Euro which about 20 sen.

The catch is, while quality is acceptabe, the tend to have no one answer your email. But I still use them coz there are cheap.. Just reload for 2nd time.

The call quality in comparison with normal TM PSTN as follows:

1) Take TM PSTN line100% as a yard stick
2) REDtone/italk:- a) Voice call: 90% b) Data/Fax call: 75%
3) Skype/other internet telephony :- a) Voice: 65% b) Data/Fax call: 0%(can not use)

Ease of use.

Consider convenient, easy set up, installation and user friendliness:

1 Take TM PSTN line 100% as a yard stick
2 REDtone/italk (with Auto Dialer):- a) Voice call: 99% b) Data/Fax call: 99%
3 Skype/other internet telephony :- a) Voice: 10% b) Data/Fax call: 0%(can not use)

Cost wise.

1 TM PSTN line is a must have in order to use tier 2 telcos or ISP services.
2 REDtone/italk :- a) Auto Dialer RM60 to RM80. b) Star up RM10 c) Call rate more or less the same with other internet telephony or 015.
3 Skype/other internet telephony :- a) Need to buy PC, Modem, SIP phone, Head phone/mic, unlimited Broadband subscription. b) Star up free but PC to PC or Sip to Sip only. To call multiple lines needs subscription. C) Call rates: more or less the same as REDtone or italk but Skype Out to malaysian fixed line and mobile is more expensive as compare to REDtone and italk.

Other value added

1) REDtone Plus: 24 hour delayed itemized bill over the net. Free customer care hotline, All in One account ie: I can have max 10 lines registered in one REDtone a/c. Private number for privacy.
2) Italk: no itemized bill, All in One a/c for max 5 lines, caller id presentation. Free customer care hot line but product knowledge of staff no good.
3) Skype/other internet telephony:- no bill, no free human voice cust care,

By the way, can your Dopod 577w intall skype softphone and talk for free skype at hotspot ?

Agreed. But sip phone too expense for people with intention to save money. Interconnet call to other telcos also not very cheap that warrant the purchase of SIP phone. I might as well stick to Skype soft phone using my PC as SIP. Any idea of cheapest SIP phone in the Market ??

ATA usually cost around less than 300 nowaday.. For me if it one time payment it should be consider an investment to save a money.

Agreed with you call to other telco not very cheap.. But the are some unlimited package that normal calling card not cover.. Many got package like USD29.90 with unlimited call to fixed line in malaysia.. Jaring once was offering RM50 unlimited call to malaysia fixed line also..

Also by using ATA you dont need to switch on a computer.

I agree with aneip with ATA u can just plug ur old analog phone ...

as for hotspot area ehmm i gave up on them when I use softphone ie SjLab sjphone on my ppc it either cannot make calls or just 1 way voice mayb coz our hotspot doesnt have priorization on the packets

aeiou228:

I have been looking for an Autodialer in Kuching for the past few months and my main intention was to use it for VoIP calls i.e. iTalk. Is the Autodialer of any particular brand.

I am currently using:-
a) Celcom Postpaid Line with RM28 access fee. Calls to local 013/019 and local fixed lines are at RM0.10/min. Other lines and STD are at RM0.25/min. I wanted to migrate to the PowerTools18 but Celcom could not migrate it. Using it for incoming calls and iTalk Mobile.
b) Celcom Prepaid Line xPax Lite Plan. Spending minimum of RM30/mth to ensure that it is 'alive'. Used mainly for SMS and also iTalk Mobile.
c) CDMA from Telekom with RM26 access fee. Calls are the same rate as Homeline/Businessline. Used mainly to call using iTalk Mobile, iTalk STD/IDD & HyppTalk.
d) HyppTalk Calling card which charges RM0.18 nationwide to fixed/mobile. Charges are based on 60 seconds block. Have to finish it by 14/08/06 and after that will not use it again.
e) iTalk Mobile Calling card. Charges RM0.12 (RM0.10 - Merdeka Promotion) to fixed line and RM0.15 to mobile from fixed line or CDMA. Charges RM0.25 from mobile to mobile.
d) iTalk STD/IDD. Same rate as iTalk Mobile. I use it mainly to call from my office as 1-800 numbers have been blocked but local numbers are accessible. CDMA is not available from inside my office.
e) VoIP - Jaring MY015 and VoipStunt; but don't really use because just experimenting.
f) RedTone - used before but the rates are expensive from mobile.

I also have a LinkSys PAP2 ATA which is also for experimenting purposes.

PS - I also subscribe to Globe7, Pennytel & Gizmoproject. My aim is to find the cheapest mobile to mobile rates; if it exists.

There r many types of Auto Dialer in the market. Most commonly used are LS2000, Aristel and jupitel. These are the dialers that installed by REDtone, Nextel, Nasioncom in it’s corporate customers PABX or Key phone system. The rates offered to these high usage customers was so cheap that these corporate customers don’t even need to bother abt sourcing an expensive internet based VOIP system.(likewise to SOHO and SME or even home users)
The ASP have set up the entire VOIP infra and system for its customers and they just need to install the routing device (Auto Dialer) on the customer’s existing PSTN line and the ultimate intention to save communication cost is achieved without the need for 24 hours internet and voip equipments at customer’s end. Therefore I see no reason I should invest in any VOIP equipments in order to save my telecommunication cost.

Before buying auto dialer, u need to know your TM line whether it is a normal line or a line reversal. If your phone line is a line reversal, then u need to buy a dialer that support line reversal. But 90% of TM lines are normal lines. (Maxis fixed line by default are all line reversal.)

Here are my comment on your call plan. (no offence ya)
a) Calls to local 013/019 and local fixed lines are at RM0.10/min ??? ya ka ?? R u very SURE ??? Why the rate so cheap and yet u need to use italk ?
b) U dun have to spend RM30/mth to keep it alive. I spent only RM5 to keep my 2 xpax numbers for 3mths and 10 days.
c) If I were u, I will discontinue this service. Why pay RM26 (+ 5 % tax) rental just to enjoy 4cts call to land line on mobile ? Just check your fixed line calls weighted % in your last 3 months mobile bill, if exceed 50% then continue using it. My fixed line calls well below 10% on my maxis bill.
d) Ya, better discontinue
e) Yes, cheapest in terms of reliability of the service provider. But, some short comings as posted earlier.
f) Remember to add 8cts/1st 2 min and subsequent 4 cts/min in your cost calculation if you use local access.
g) Try the new REDtone Plus at reduced rate. I use it as default carrier because of 24 hours delay itemized bill and private number. The 24 hrs delayed itemize bill enable me to trace phone numbers that I did not save. Company’s admin can track unauthorized calls the next day. No need to wait for the mthly bill.

Ok great, thanks for sharing guys.

Anyone need ATA device let me know. I have new stock. DLink ATA. Only RM250 (Brand new 1 year warranty) PM me if anyone interested.

Market is selling RM 280.

Just to share some industry secrets with u guys,

If u want TM to offer u a discount up to 70% or 80% off your monthly TM bill, there is a way.
Subscript to any non TM related ASP discounted call service. After a few months, TM Retail will either send u a letter of offer or call u to offer u discount on your TM bill.

Useful Tips
TM Retail will respond to u faster if u use REDtone, because REDtone is currently No 1 rank discounted call service ASP in the country.
If u use TM related italk, then sorry, u wait until your cucu get married also they dun even know who u r.
TM will know if u r using discounted call, they can even call u up and ask “ Encik sekarang ada pakai REDtone ka ? Sekarang kami boleh offer Encik discount bla…bla… ”
The offer comes in many packages and dun waste time searching at TM website, Its was never published.

The catch is
It all depend on how hard working the local TM Retail officials compete against the ASP.
Also, priority is given to high usage TM customers.

Rattan,

your dopod 577W can use skype on wifi at hotspot or not ?
About Dlink ATA, what is the rate calling nationwide fixed and mobile line ?. which ASP to subscript ? Mthly fee how munch for unlimited calls ?

Aeiou228:

a) Actually I prefer to use charges which I pay beforehand before I use even if a bit more expensive. PS - The number is a "Golden Number" which I got for free.
b) Keeping it alive means I still need to SMS.
c) Basically just for experimenting purposes (a bit crazy; I know).
d) Thank you. I'll finish it off.
e) I can use from almost all phones.
f) I'm not paying for the 8sen/min, so I don't bother.
g) Thanks, I'm actually thinking of using since I'm quite sure the rates from CDMA/fixed line is cheaper. Is their website under maintenance?

Thank you for your comments and I know that all of the visitors to this thread have learned something new.

Once again, keep it up. This thread needs a lot of people like you to keep it alive.

How much is the call rate anyway? I can always inform my boss and maybe 'naik pangkat' a bit. Hehehe...

Anybody heard of the Merdeka Plan Promotion for fixed line?

As i said there r many packages, the cheapest one that i ve seen was 20cts/min to all fixed and mobile line. IDD more expensive.


I was offered Merdeka Plan last year but i rejected the offer. Why ? because my home line TM bill only RM30+/mth (basically rental + local call only) and TM wants me to take Plan 48 + 5% tax monthly commitment about RM50 . I asked them to give me Plan 38 but they refused. so be it. Merdeka plan got pro and cons. the pro is there is no rental but the con is the call is based on per minute block which i think it is very very expensive even if TM were to charge me 10 cts/min. I would rather settle with 20 cts/min with 20 sec block. For those who read this thread, dun be fool by just cheap rate. check out the block size as well. TM never published the Merdeka plan call block size in their promotional materials nor their call centre staff were equiped with the knowledge of actual block size.

No I do not have skype installed on my dopod 577w at the moment. I only have IE and MSN messenger.

The ATA is unlocked. You can configure your own provider, PM me if anyone interested.

This post has been edited by rattan: Aug 4 2006, 01:00 PM

This might be a new Merdeka Plan promotion. I think they keep changing it every Merdeka. I have a colleague who subscribed to last year's Merdeka Plan at RM128/month with unlimited calls to any fixed/mobile line in Malaysia. Her children were at that time mostly in college and universities.

There is no change till now.
Merdeka have Plan 38, 68, 88, 128, 2x8, 3x8
Its not unlimited. its minute plan.

This post has been edited by aeiou228: Aug 4 2006, 11:07 PM

Thanks! Is it on their website or do I have to check with them.

Anyone here using tmnet BBphone ? I cant use the call conference function ! Anyone ?

I think u cant use the conference button to call more then 1 fixed or mobile ... they blocked it ... but onnet to onnet i think still can ....