What is up with Sipgate?

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Anthony R. Gold

2012-03-09 14:45:12 UTC

Does anyone understand Sipgate? Who are they and are they commercially
stable? I have been using the UK service with great success but I am most
concerned at whether they are viable and stable. They started to operate in
the USA http://www.sipgate.com/ but then put up messages about increased
registrations in the last few weeks and of new number "very soon". Those
message must be around a year old by now.

Does anyone have any insights directly or via contacts or other reports into
their viability and/or stability in Eu or elsewhere?

To be clear, I love their service but will be badly messed up if my Sipgate
DID stopped working.

Gordon Henderson

2012-03-09 15:09:54 UTC

Permalink

Post by Anthony R. Gold
Does anyone understand Sipgate? Who are they and are they commercially
stable? I have been using the UK service with great success but I am most
concerned at whether they are viable and stable. They started to operate in
the USA http://www.sipgate.com/ but then put up messages about increased
registrations in the last few weeks and of new number "very soon". Those
message must be around a year old by now.
Does anyone have any insights directly or via contacts or other reports into
their viability and/or stability in Eu or elsewhere?
To be clear, I love their service but will be badly messed up if my Sipgate
DID stopped working.

I can't say anything about Sipgate other than that I've used them since I
first got interested in VoIP 5+ years ago and they keep on going...

I think the answer to your first question is: "A couple of blokes in Germany".

However their upstream in the UK is (or was, I presume still is) Magrathea
and I know from talking to them that should one of their resellers go
"phut" for whatever reason then a good effort would be made to keep their
customers happy - by seeing if another one of their resellers would take
over their customers - I also resell VoIP from Magrathea... Part of my own
"get run over by a bus" plan involves another Magrathea reseller to take
my stuff over...

So (without really knowing anything about Sipgate), I'd be reasonably
confident that things aren't going to change - at least not in the UK -
for a while.

Gordon

Ria Elaine

2012-03-27 07:09:00 UTC

Permalink

Post by Gordon Henderson

I can't say anything about Sipgate other than that I've used them since I
first got interested in VoIP 5+ years ago and they keep on going...

Ditto. I have 5 numbers on the UK network, I also still have a German
number active from when I was there for a while 5 years ago. It's not
been used since then, but still registers and periodic calls to the
voice-mail number produce a nice German lady telling me to press various
numbers :-)

Post by Gordon Henderson
I think the answer to your first question is: "A couple of blokes in Germany".

I used to know someone who worked for them at the time they started in
the UK, hence my spending a little time over there. I believe they have
around 25 or so employees.

Post by Gordon Henderson
However their upstream in the UK is (or was, I presume still is) Magrathea
and I know from talking to them that should one of their resellers go
"phut" for whatever reason then a good effort would be made to keep their
customers happy - by seeing if another one of their resellers would take
over their customers - I also resell VoIP from Magrathea... Part of my own
"get run over by a bus" plan involves another Magrathea reseller to take
my stuff over...
So (without really knowing anything about Sipgate), I'd be reasonably
confident that things aren't going to change - at least not in the UK -
for a while.

They seem to be remarkably stable these days, given their early history.
I'm certainly happy with them; where else can you get UK numbers
completely free..?

--
Much love,
Ria xx

Gordon Henderson

2012-03-27 11:49:13 UTC

Permalink

Post by Ria Elaine
They seem to be remarkably stable these days, given their early history.
I'm certainly happy with them; where else can you get UK numbers
completely free..?

UKDDI - Hm. seems to now be: http://www.3c.co.uk/

Gordon

alexd

2012-03-10 09:29:54 UTC

Permalink

Post by Anthony R. Gold
Does anyone have any insights directly or via contacts or other reports
into their viability and/or stability in Eu or elsewhere?

I've been using Sipgate since about 2005 and am confident enough in their
financial viability to keep paying them up-front for calls.

Something to bear in mind about the US is that incoming calls don't get
revenue share, whereas in the UK Sipgate will get a tiny bit of termination
fee for incoming calls. This may affect the viability of the service in the
US. Also, Google Voice is a strong competitor, probably all the more so now
that Android is in the ascendent. I'm not sure what the deal is with revenue
share in the rest of the EU.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (***@ale.cx)
09:14:07 up 58 days, 12:44, 5 users, load average: 0.02, 0.06, 0.15
Qua illic est reprehendit, illic est a vindicatum

Anthony R. Gold

2012-03-10 14:10:29 UTC

Permalink

Post by alexd

Post by Anthony R. Gold
Does anyone have any insights directly or via contacts or other reports
into their viability and/or stability in Eu or elsewhere?

I'd be happy to be offered a different pricing model that was more
appropriate to the USA, such as with a monthly charge for the USA DID.

Post by alexd
Also, Google Voice is a strong competitor, probably all the more so now
that Android is in the ascendent. I'm not sure what the deal is with revenue
share in the rest of the EU.

GV offers no forwarding via SIP. I am able to use GV in connection with
another service, i.e. IPKall, but it is no alternative. And IPKall is the
weak link in the system with the continual risk of DID number loss through
inactivity and with no way to buy oneself a safety net.

If anyone can recommend some other reliable USA DID/SIP provider, I'd be
most grateful.