Innovative Phone Services

Innovative Phone Services, Inc.,  provides full-service support to the payphone industry offering such services as parts repair, payphone equipment refurbishing, new and used payphone equipment sales and manufacturing.  

IPS manufactures cabling and interfacing solutions, so you may use your existing spare parts when upgrading to another board type or manufacturer. 

We are proud to be a distributor for Mars Electronics International. We have factory trained technicians, replacement parts and Mars Electronics proprietary test and calibration equipment for the repair or reprogramming of your Mars MS 16. 

DIGITAL PHONE SYSTEMS

General information:  

Departments requiring a higher level of phone functionality may want to look into purchasing a phone system, as opposed to the standard single to 4-line desk phone set-ups. Multiple line appearances, intercom capabilities, speakerphones, LCD displays, system paging, programmable feature buttons, mute and hold buttons, caller ID compatibility, receptionist monitoring, on hook dialing, in-use indicators, redial, date/time display and many other features are available with a phone system that are not available with the traditional analog phone sets. Both the NEC Elite IPK and the
Meridian phone systems have several models of phones available, and not all of the phones have all of the same features. If you are interested in purchasing a phone system, please be sure to call Telephone Services at 831-2412 to schedule a site visit to have a phone need analysis done. You can also e-mail Telephone Services at telephone-services@udel.edu.

How to obtain a phone line or change phone service provider

 If you want a new phone line installed, inform the phone service provider of the date you want it to start. This can be done over the phone but you will then need to make a written application. 

 

If you want to change your phone service provider, notify both the current and new providers. 

 

If the phone service provider agrees to supply services, the terms and conditions of supplying the phone line will be set out in the company’s standard terms and conditions. The services must be provided within a reasonable time. If the phone service provider does not supply the phone line or services as set out in the contract, it will be in breach of contract. 

 

For more information about problems with services, see Buying Services – your rights. 

 

If you want information or advice about changing to a new phone service provider, you could consider contacting OFCOM (see under heading Useful Organisations). OFCOM can give very general information about what to check when considering whether to change to a new phone service provider, and a list of the licensed phone service providers in your area. OFCOM cannot recommend individual phone service providers.

BroadVoice Internet Phone Service

Broad Voice™ Internet Phone Service lets you make and receive broadband phone calls to or from any number using an ordinary telephone, a WiFi telephone, or your own SIP phone. Every Broad Voice account in the
United States includes emergency 911 services. 

BroadVoice simplifies your life by offering easy to understand flat rate plans. All you have to do is choose one that best fits YOUR needs. You can always change your plan at any time if your call needs change. All plans include a money-back guarantee.  

With BroadVoice, you do not need a promo code or coupon to get the best VoIP deal. In fairness to all, BroadVoice provides everyday low pricing.

Long Distance That’s Cheap, But Not Free…

I’ve listed my favorite telecommunications companies, and their plans below. If you want a plan from AT&T, MCI or QWest, you will have to go to our Long Distance Calling Plans page, where I’ve listed a ton of companies and their plans from the cheapest to the most expensive. There is also a rate calculator on that page to check who is the cheapest provider in your state. I keep adding more carriers as I find and evaluate them, so check back often. 

The services listed below are the ones that I’ve dealt with over the past decade, the ones that I know offer good customer support as well as good rates. On average, since they are resellers, and not baby bells, they will take somewhere between 3 and 10 days to get your lines switched over to their control, but it is well worth the wait consider the size of the savings. Also, when you do sign up for service, you don’t need to cancel your old long distance telephone service in most cases, since the old carrier will be notified that you are switching away from them by the local telecom carrier.Opex 2.7¢ per minute:I’ve always liked Opex because of their awesome customer service. Very rarely does a customer come back and say anything bad about the rates, customer service, web interface or their billing practices. And, if there is a problem, Opex is always willing to go that extra mile for their customers. 

Pioneer Telephone 2.7¢ per minute:I was one of the first agents to really pick Pioneer up and run with them online, and I loved working for them once they got the bugs worked out of their online ordering system. But, now that they’ve been online for years with a great track record of service and value, they are truly a joy to work with. Pioneer is another company that definitely treats their customers right, and they’ve even been given the thumbs up by consumer advocates like Clark Howard for their customer service and low prices. 

Unitel 2.5¢ per minute:When I started selling Unitel, it was 1997 and I was mad at USWest for charging me 25¢ per minute for instate long distance service in
Oregon. I looked around online and found a company on the internet named Unitel that was charging the unheard of price of 6.9¢ per minute for state to state long distance and, if I remember correctly, they were only about 12¢ per minute for instate calling. In other words, they were charging less than half of what US West was charging for the same thing. I figured other people would like to save money on their phone service too, and that is how I became an online telecom agent. Now, 10 years and 50,000 customers later, I still like Unitel and have no qualms about sending tons of customers their way. 

Global Fibernet 2.85¢ per minute:I find it interesting that there are currently 14 plans on the LD page that offer state to state service for less than 4¢ per minute. That’s a lot of carriers offering very low prices. Heck, even MCI has a plan for 4¢ per minute now. (Of course it costs $6.99 per month to sign up for it… Give me a break!) Global Fibernet was the first service I had that offered a plan for less than 3¢ per minute, and this plan is still only 35/100ths of a penny off of the low cost leader, IBNtel, listed on the long distance page. I like global Fibernet’s customer service and attention to detail, just like I like Pioneer, Opex and Unitel. All of these plans have one thing in common besides their low prices, they have good customer service. If are looking to save money and get a good deal, I would go with one of these 4, as well as Powernet Global, ECG or Cognistate on the long distance page.