VoIP Much announced recently that it was lowering its monthly rates for the second time in less than a year. In November 2013, it cut the rates 28 percent from $11.83 to $8.53 per month. The most recent cut comes from the company’s decision not to pass the cost of E911 service to its customers.
Toronto-based VoIP Much provides VoIP phone service to residents and businesses in Canada and the U.S. The company offers free calls to more than 1000 cities throughout the country and provides conferencing, SIP trunking a hosted IP/PBX service and IVR.
The monthly rates VoIP Much offers are very competitive with Vonage (News - Alert), which has an unlimited plan at $9.99 per month for the first three months that then jumps to $24.99 per month afterwards.
The problem is that VoIP Much’s rates are not as competitive with other VoIP phone services available in Canada. According to Gonevoip.ca, Phonepower’s residential monthly rate is $5.40; Yak’s is $4.29 and AxVoice’s is $5.64.
These plans are generally available only in the more populated Canadian provinces, but since that’s where most of the customers are, the price difference is a disadvantage for VoIP Much and may explain the latest rate reductions.
Another potential problem may be reflected in the user ratings. In all fairness to VoIP Much, one must acknowledge the possibility of shill reviews and ballot box stuffing, but all that aside, its favorable rating on Gonevoip.ca is at 80 percent. Not awful, but not as good as Phonepower’s rating of 96 percent.
If it hasn’t done so already, VoIP Much should at least investigate the unfavorable reviews and attempt to resolve them. Its monthly rates are about 50 percent higher than the next highest competitor, so obviously VoIP Much does not want to get into a race to the bottom on pricing.
The company will have to offer superior service and reliability to differentiate it from the competition if it is to avoid having to cut rates again. It may also need to consider service that caters to higher end customers.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson