[talkabout]

If I'm on BYOD Lite, people in my area code (whichever I select) can call me for free?

[glomph]

Yep. Their cost is whatever a local call to your number would be. Your cost is -nada-.

[mberlant]

It is not usually enough to select the correct Area Code. You must also choose the right Rate Center (town name) from within the Area Code you desire. For example, if you are looking for a number in Southern California 949, people in Irvine would pay a few cents per minute to call your number in San Juan Capistrano, even though they are in the same Area Code 949. Also, be aware that in densely populated areas, like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the "local" Rate Center may be in an adjacent Area Code.

If you are in doubt, look up your friends' numbers in http://members.dandy.net/~czg/lca_index.php to see what Rate Center(s) they are in and what other Rate Centers are local calling for them. Then, go to the Sign Up or Availability page and see what Rate Center(s) might be available that are local to where you want to be. If your friends are not too spread out you might find a Rate Center located in between them that is free for all of them. I did this in choosing a phone number that was local to both my brother and my parents, even though they are in two different Area Codes.

[cayman]

Originally Posted by talkabout

If I'm on BYOD Lite, people in my area code (whichever I select) can call me for free?

Incoming is unlimited for you as others have answered, however *if* you're using SimulRing to another #, I think that this is considered outgoing minutes and "charged" against you.

If you'd like to test I know we would like to know. If you're a BYOD lite, setup a SimulRing#, place a call to your regular BV# and answer it on your SimulRing #. Hang up, unlink your SimulRing test#, and wait for the activity records to post.

A second test might be to do the same thing but answer it on your ATA device instead.

BTW: up in the San Fernando valley, north of LA, the local calling area can actually include parts of three or more area codes, all considered local calls. OTOH, intra-LATA charges by SBC can be very dear.

Interested in what your results might be,

- Don

[ethernet]

OTOH, intra-LATA charges by SBC can be very dear.

Oh I hear you!
For that exact reason my friend in Canoga Park dropped his landline (fortunately, I did sign him up for BV yet, he's happy with his NEXTEL free incoming plan and no landline). He was tired of paying SBC 26 bucks for the most stripped down service that didn't even include calling Studio City or Encino (within 818!).

And I couldn't find an exchange in 323 that would be LCA to both my parents in Hollywood on SBC and my grandparents in Santa Monica on Verizon, so I ended up with a primary 323 number in Anaheim and a secondary 310 line in Culver City.

[Kukulut]

Originally Posted by ethernet

Oh I hear you!
For that exact reason my friend in Canoga Park dropped his landline (fortunately, I did sign him up for BV yet, he's happy with his NEXTEL free incoming plan and no landline). He was tired of paying SBC 26 bucks for the most stripped down service that didn't even include calling Studio City or Encino (within 818!).

I feel the pain I live in Canoga Park and if I call to North Hollywood I have to pay extra with SBC.
But if I call Simi Valley (805) doesn't charge me extra.
Anyways if we can exchange some info about Broadvoice is going to be nice.
I have a SIPURA 2100 and I need some info to change settings to make it work better.
for now me service is decent I got complaints of very low voice volume and some echo (But I can hear the other side real good even on international calls.
I'm planning to dump SBC but I can't I have a contract for my DSL until November .
:roll:
Let me know.
Thanks

[cayman]

For those who have SBC etc, you can change your carrier for your intra-LATA calls to one of the steep discounters and save lots. It's easy to do, just choose your carrier (get their PIC code) and call SBC at the number on your bill. You can even do this for Remote Call Forwarding, although SBC will never tell you that.

HTH,
- Don

[ethernet]

Anyways if we can exchange some info about Broadvoice is going to be nice.

I forgot to mention that I'm an American expatriate (note my "location" userinfo part) living in Russia.
I will be more than happy to share all of my experience calling greater LA area codes, since that comprises about 98% of my calling, but you have to be discounting the fact that my latency/jitter/ping situation is specific to my location. I'm on a 256/128 ADSL link in Moscow.

I make and receive calls to Hollywood/West LA area and all over the Valley. Excluding the outage-related issues, it's been very, very good. I'm very active making calls to Verizon/Cingular phones in 818 and 213, including 3-way (mixed on BV side via CallManager since I don't have enough upstream for 2 concurrent G711 streams). All with great success.

Konstantin.

[burgerwars]

On the BYOD plan, incoming calls are free, as long as they're not being forwarded elsewhere (as stated above). You're OK if you just let the calls go into BV voicemail. Calls to other Broadvoice / SIP calls also don't deduct from your 100 free minutes.
My Broadvoice "Valley Service" includes a 818-530-XXXX number with the $5.95 plan, in which I have a cheap SIP phone in my guest bedroom connected to it. 818-530 is Van Nuys (I live in Northridge). With SBC, Van Nuys is probably the best centrally located location in the Valley if you're concerned about local toll calls to your number. Most all the Valley plus a good chunk of the Westside are within the local calling area.
My other Broadvoice line is 212-202 New York, and is their $19.95 unlimited plan.
I still have my SBC POTS 818-349 number, but have cut out all extra features except call forwarding. I feel I still need to keep it, considering the reliability aspects of VOIP.