phone service Archives

With BasicTalk, You Can Call All Your Friends and Still Have Money Left Over

August 25, 2013 by Alyson 16 Comments

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Phones, phones, phones. With a pair of Tweens in our home and a 7 year old who wishes she were one, phones are a frequent topic of conversation.

Mom, when can I have my own phone?

Dad, I want a phone like Hallie has!

Mom, let me just send this one more text!

I have no idea where all my minutes went, Dad!

Sound familiar?

Brett and I both have cell phones, however, we are not comfortable having no phone at the house and we are soooo not ready to equip everyone with a cell. We do, however, want to cut costs and with as many area codes as there are in play around the Metroplex, well, phone charges can add up in a hurry. Voice-over IP (VOIP) has proven to be a terrific answer for us.

By having Voip for our home phone service, it costs less that a traditional land line plus we are able to cut back on some of the amount of minutes we purchase each month for our cell phones. Now, there are several choices available to you when selecting a Voip service. The one we are using is Basic Talk. At $10 a month plus tax, Basic Talk’s home phone service offers a very affordable way to keep in touch with friends and family near and far, without breaking the piggy bank.

Basic Talk Basics:

Basic Talk phone service offers unlimited calling within the United States (see the reasonable use policy here). There is no contract to sign and there are no hidden fees. You can even keep your existing number if you’d like (a facet I know my Mom would love), or just get a new one at no additional charge. Included with the service are voicemail, caller id and call waiting. You can also set it up to be able to make 911 calls and if you ever have questions, it is super easy to contact Basic Talk’s customer service online.

You will need a working internet connection as well as a home phone. The other components (come included in the box) are the power cord and an ethernet cord. The power cord goes from the modem into the power outlet. The phone cord runs from the telephone to the modem. The ethernet cord connects the modem to your web service. The Basic Talk phone receiver modem was a breeze to hook up. My husband handled it for me and had it hooked up and in working order within minutes. He didn’t even have to stop for directions. *grin*

Basic Talk is exclusively available at either your local Walmart or online at Walmart.com. When you purchase BasicTalk online from BasicTalk.com, you pay $9.99 for the first month and they wave the $29.99 fee for the box. Either way, you activate the service on BasicTalk.com and minutes later, viola, you have clear, easy to use, inexpensive phone service.

So What Do I Think About Basic Talk?

Truthfully, I really like it. It has been clear, crisp and easy to communicate on. We are a band-width hogging household, where it is not unheard of for two computers, a tablet or two and a phone to be in use simultaneously. I have been happy as can be with the quality of the calls and even happier with the monthly cost. *grin* This is an affordable and easy to use product I happily recommend!

Your Chance to Win Basic Talk Service for a Year:

Here is your chance to win a BasicTalk box plus a year of service for FREE! Giveaway runs now through Wednesday, September 4th at 12:00 am CST, US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BasicTalk provided product for this review and giveaway as part of the BasicTalk blog ambassador program. My review is an honest opinion based on my own experience and has not been reviewed or edited by BasicTalk.

Keeping Tabs & Protecting Your Children & Teens Using Sprint Guardian

January 2, 2013 by Momstart 10 Comments

I remember being a teenager and how much I was on the computer and my cell phone. I don’t remember texting that often but I see how much it used now and how I want to know what people are saying. I’m sure when my kids are older I’m going to wonder as well. Sprint sent me a statistic that says that 83% of teens text at night when they should be sleeping or resting. You can set restrictions on their texting, making sure they can’t text during bedtime or school hours.

According to Pew Internet Research, 75 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. To help parents ensure their teens are using smartphones responsibly, Sprint Guardian, a collection of mobile family safety and device security bundles that provide families tools to help keep their family smartphones safe and secure. Sprint Guardian is available on many Sprint Android™-powered devices through Sprint Zone.

What you can expect:

Sprint Guardian features leading mobile applications from Safely, a division of Location Labs, and Lookout. The family safety bundle from Safely enables families to protect their phone-carrying children through location checks and limits on texting while driving or at school. The device security bundle from Lookout helps customers protect their mobile devices from loss and malware. You can set parameters for when and where your children can text and a Sprint phone can be programmed to stop calls and text messages while driving. Plus you can find your child using the location of the phone, Sprint Family Locator, that or you’ll find a lost.

Inside Sprint Guardian: Safely and Lookout

The family safety tools from Safely bring together three applications to help parents keep their kids safe and focused on what matters whether they are at home, at school or on-the-go. Sprint Mobile Controls, Sprint Drive First and Sprint Family Locator are available as a Family Safety bundle for $9.99 per month for up to five lines on the same account. It reminds me of Harry Potter and how Mrs. Weasely had the clock that told her where each of her family members were. I always want to know where my family is. Are they on the road, are they at their friend’s house or is my husband still at work?

Lookout Family enables Sprint customers to manage their phone security by protecting against identity theft and fraud, find a family member’s missing device when it is lost or stolen, and back up their precious data. Lookout Family bundle is $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year, for up to five lines on the same account.

In addition to simplicity and convenience for families, Sprint Guardian offers significant cost savings.

Sprint Guardian helps families stay safe and secure

Family Safety Bundle

Manage and monitor your family’s wireless experience

Sprint Mobile Controls Sprint Family Locator

Sprint Drive First

$9.99 per month (15 day free trial)

· Locate your child on an interactive map

· Oversee and control your child’s phone use to encourage responsibility

· Lock your child’s phone during family time

· Help reduce risks of driving distracted

Mobile Security Bundle

Protect your family’s phones from malware,

phishing, loss and theft

Lookout Mobile Security

$4.99 per month*

· Back up contacts, call history and photos and restore them to a new phone

· Find lost phones

· Lock and wipe phones to protect personal information

*Also available for $49.99 per year

Choose both bundles for $14.98 per month

For a family of five, that offers a 73 percent savings – more than $39 per month – over purchasing each application in the family safety and device security bundles separately

I really like how easy it is to set up and use. I tested the service out on the Galaxy Victory. When your child goes above 10 MPH in the car with Sprint Drive First they can not text. They can override it but you will get a notification, so you know if they were driving you can take their phone away. As soon as they are done moving in the car the texting unlocks again. It’s a pretty cool service from Sprint.

We received sample phones to test out some of Sprint’s services.