General VoIP Phone Service FAQ

How is the sound quality with Big Fish Voice?

Big Fish Voice call quality is comparable to that of traditional landline or mobile phone service. Many customers have stated that the “call quality is better than their old provider”. Quality of service greatly depends on the quality and speed of your internet connection.

Will I still receive calls if my power or Internet service goes out?

Yes. Just set up your call forwarding when unavailable, and during an outage, all calls are forwarded to the landline or mobile number you provided.

Does Big Fish Voice provide installation service?

Yes, although Big Fish Voice phones are easy enough for most users to install on their own. For more technical installations, or to make all the phone jacks in your home or office work with Big Fish Voice, we have professional installers who can help.

Can I keep my existing phone numbers?

Yes, after completing the Letter of Authorization, the number transfer process usually take 5-10 business days to complete. The transfer process greatly depends on how fast the losing telephone company processes the transfer.

Will I receive a paper invoice?

Generally, your invoice will be delivered through email as a PDF attachment. By not printing and mailing your invoice, we are able to keep our expenses to a minimum which in turn allows us to offer you the best price possible. If you require a paper invoice, please send an email to support@bigfishvoice.com and we will make arrangements to have your invoice mailed to you.

Can I make international calls?

For your protection against “surprise” bills, the ability to call internationally is disabled. Some international calls can be as high as $9 per minute! If you require international calling service, we would be happy to enable it for you.

What are the requirements to get started?

To get started, we will need some basic information, a copy of your most recent telephone bill(s), and a completed Letter of Authorization. Complete the sign-up form to submit your request for service. The sign-up form will allow you to upload a scanned copy of your phone bill and the Letter of Authorization. Or you can fax the completed documents to 941-404-1954. You will also need to have a high-speed broadband connection.

Is an internet connection included with your service?

No. In order to use the Big Fish Voice service, you’ll need to have broadband Internet service from a third-party Internet Service Provider (ISP). Big Fish Voice works with any high-speed Internet service (such as DSL or cable).

What countries are included in the “unlimited plan”?

The unlimited plan will allow you unlimited calling to the 48 contiguous United States and Canada.

How does the E911 alert work?

This features allows you to be notified via email and SMS whenever 911 is dialed from your location.

How does the Failover Forwarding feature work?

In the unlikely event that our servers are not able to accept an incoming call, the call will automatically be forwarded to the failover phone number.

Business FAQs

Is there a limit to the number of concurrent call sessions we can have?

The quick answer is no, you can have as many concurrent call sessions as you need. Our servers are located in a cloud server cluster that allows us to scale up to handle additional loads within minutes.

The long answer is yes, each concurrent call session requires approximately 64 Kbps of bandwidth. A typical broadband connection usually has a larger download speed than the upload speed. So be sure that your upload speed is capable of handling the number of concurrent call sessions. For example, if you have 5 concurrent call sessions you will need a download and upload speed of at least 320 Kbps (64 x 5 = 320). Be sure to allow enough room for your computers to still communicate on the same broadband connection.

Is there a limit to the number of extensions we can have?

No, the only limitation to the number of extensions you can have is the speed of your broadband connection. IP phones use a majority of their bandwidth during a phone call, but they do communicate periodically back to the server when not on a call.

How much does it cost to add more extensions?

There is no additional cost per extension.  Except for the cost of the IP Phone or Analog Telephone Adapter.

Will the Big Fish Voice service work with my fire or burglary alarm system?

At this time, Big Fish Voice doesn’t work with alarm systems.

I have a credit card machine; will the Big Fish Voice service work with it?

Depends on the age of the credit card machine and whether the machine has the ability to communication in a slower baud rate or VOIP mode. Ethernet based terminals are the best option.

Can I have a call detail report?

Yes, we can provide you a detailed record of every call including extension to extension calling. These reports can be provided in PDF, CSV, or Excel formats. If you have a special format that you need it in, just let us know. Call detail report is an additional $5.00 per month.  Or you can log into the user portal and view your report anytime you like for free.

Will the Big Fish Voice service work with my fax line?

No.  We’ve found faxing over VoIP to very sporadic and unreliable.  We suggest you use our virtual fax service instead.  The incoming faxes come in as a PDF attached to an email.  Likewise, when you want to send a fax, a simple email with the document attached sent to a specific email address will fax the attachment out to the intended recipient.

How does the Virtual Fax service work?

Instead of incoming faxes being printed on your fax machine, the virtual fax service will deliver your incoming fax as an attachment in your email inbox. When you are ready to send a fax, just attached the document to an email and send it to a specially formatted email address.

Do all of the phones need to be in the same location?

The major advantage to a Hosted PBX system is the ability to have extensions anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection.

Residential FAQs

Can I have more than one person on the phone at the same time?

Yes, we can activate port 2 on your Analog Telephone Adapter for $2.50 per month. You then plug a second phone in the second port and you are ready to make and receive calls.

Do I need to use a computer to use Big Fish Voice?

Having a computer is not necessary. Our service works with either an IP phone, Analog Telephone Adapter, or a soft phone (pc software based phone).

Is the Big Fish Voice adapter easy to install?

Yes. Plug the adapter into your internet connection and then plug your phone into the port labeled “Phone 1”. After a few minutes you will be ready to begin using your Big Fish Voice service.

Will the Big Fish Voice service work with my alarm monitoring?

At this time, Big Fish Voice doesn’t work with alarm systems.