netTALK Duo and netTALK smartphone APP Reviewed – Giveaway

Ok so what is this netTALK device you are hearing about? It is a VOIP service available in Canada. For just $59.95 for the first year you can talk to your relatives in Canada and USA for unlimited airtime via your high speed internet connection. Each additional year is just $39.95 or $3.30 per month.

The DUO is netTALK’s 2nd generation VoIP device. The DUO carries on the impressive capability of being the only device in the world flexible enough to connect directly to your router’s internet connection or through your computer. All you need to do is connect the netTALK Duo to your router/modem or also to a Windows PC. Unfortunately we found Mac OSX is not yet supported.

So we received our review unit and found the activation process very simple, as well as the connection process. During the activation you are required to choose a Canadian number from a local area code close to you. Not all area codes are available to take a look at the availability before purchasing. This also appears to be the weakest link in the product. You are not yet able to port your existing home phone number in Canada so do not go cancelling your home phone service just yet. Just last month this feature was announced for netTALK USA so perhaps they are close to providing the service to Canadians. And I know there are millions of Canadians just waiting to cancel their home phone.

Once the netTALK is connected to your router or pc, and you have chosen your local phone number, you will need to connect a phone to the back of the netTALK Duo via standard RJ45 cable, or if you have connected to your Windows pc, you can install the USB drivers and use your computer for making calls.

For more information or to sign up, visit nettalk.ca.

For our review we used the Gigaset C610A and L410 handset devices which will be reviewed soon separately.

netTALK has a free iPod/iPad/iPhone application which can be downloaded from the Canadian iTunes appstore. Now keep in mind, this is a separate service that netTALK provides. We were kind of hoping we could use the phone number we had just selected for our netTALK Duo  and be able to utilize the number from our iPhone but that is not the case. That aside, the netTAlk application is pretty slick. It allows you to make outgoing calls via your 3G/4G/LTE or Wifi network to anyone in Canada and USA. The outgoing phone number you are using is randomly assigned and appears to always be different so for those of you that have relatives screening calls, make sure you let them know. As for incoming calls, the application is not able to accept incoming calls. One great feature is the ability to record the phone call. When activated a quick disclaimer introduces to the caller that the call is being recording and proceeds to record the call with no additional interruptions. To summarize, we find the inability to use your selected number, choose your own local number, and also accept incoming calls really put this application behind others available on the market, such as the newly launched Dell Voice. The Dell Voice iOS application allows number porting for just $25, and also allows incoming/outgoing calls at a local number you can choose. This application is also on the iTunes appStore for free so be sure to try out both.

To summarize the netTALK Duo, the price is right and the service quality was great. The main benefit to this product over others is the fact no computer is required as this plugs directly into the router. The one thing that stands out is the inability to port your local phone number to the device. Other competing products allow number porting for a low cost of $25 per month.

And as well, with the netTALK iOS application, there is no real comparison to the Dell Voice application recently launched to Canadians.