Originally Posted by Atlantic Xpat

Inter-rest-ing.... We're in the process of moving from Webex to Teams so are at the opposite end of that curve. Webex is godawful shite, Teams seems to work better.
Skype for business works well as a messenger service but is useless for audio or video. Zoom is banned from our corporate PC's / Network for security concerns but we use it at home for everything from virtual dance lessons (for the kids not me I hasten to add) to socials. Mrs AX uses google meet because she's a teacher and education boards have sold their souls to Google (Classrooms, Chromebooks etc)

In truth all of the video meeting apps are problematic at some time or other. Tens of minutes lost to "I can't hear you", "You are on mute", "Could you go on mute because there is background noise (kids, typing, screaming, drilling etc) etc etc. However these are primarily user issues rather than the platform itself. They certainly show the disparities in internet connectivity around the world. I'm particularly amused by colleagues in London (the Engerland one rather than the Ontario one) with grainy, pixellated pics as their broadband, in a major city is sh1t. "Oh you are on Virgin Internet" they say to each other, with eyerolls. Well I assume eyerolls as I can't actually see them move at that point. I get all smug about my Fibre to the Home internet here in Nfld. In these days of the plague it seems to be worth the small fortune one pays for it.

EDIT to add.... On phones,since I work in the basement, I have dodgy cellular coverage. The workaround is Bell's "Calls over Wifi" functionality but thats a bit of a faff as you then need to dial the full 10 digit code for any call you make ever even when on actual cell service.

Originally Posted by dbd33

On the "small fortune" thing. My Bell phone costs about $350/month to talk to my mother in the UK for 10 minutes a week and the internet in the house costs about $150/month for service that's usable but weather prone. Is that the kind of money you're talking?

Originally Posted by Partially discharged

What kind of plan are you on that costs $350/month. Surely you can haggle and grovel and get something better. Is Bell the only option where you live?

Originally Posted by dbd33

On the last point, today I phoned Bell to complain about the bill. The support person said "your service isn't good enough to be able to discuss this, you're fading in and out" to which I said "of course, it's Bell". He said he'd call back in ten minutes and never did. Still he did speak passable English. Most of the Bell staff are like caricature Asian prostitutes, "I get you good plan, I make you happy boy". Truly, that's an awful company.

AFAIK, Teams doesn't support phones, only VOIP, what are you going to do for people who don't have internet connections that will support VOIP? That's not something that's consistently viable here in Ontario.

On the "small fortune" thing. My Bell phone costs about $350/month to talk to my mother in the UK for 10 minutes a week and the internet in the house costs about $150/month for service that's usable but weather prone. Is that the kind of money you're talking?

Originally Posted by Partially discharged

What kind of plan are you on that costs $350/month. Surely you can haggle and grovel and get something better. Is Bell the only option where you live?

Originally Posted by dbd33

They change the plan every time I call them, the new plan costs the same as the old plan. They've just switched me to :"email billing" so I only get a total, and don't know the break down. Their website says the bill isn't available online and their phone service isn't good enough to support calling them (presumably because they're in the Phillipines, it works better than Teams for callers in Ontario). Every now and then I put a few hours into trying to contact them but my heart's not in it; they've been awful since I've ben here.
.

Originally Posted by dbd33

..... In answer to a question above, in urban centers there's a second frim, Rogers. They don't have a presence here and, anyway, their history of dishonest billing puts me off. .....

Originally Posted by Partially discharged

The fact that you pay $350/month for a cell phone bill allows others to get deals for about $50/month Thanks for subsidizing the rest of us

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Looks to me like there are multiple options for calling the UK for about 1.0¢/min. You can set another Canadian city to dial from (near the top of the web page) - I just selected Toronto as an example.

As most of the option listed start no higher than $5 for 500 minutes, I don't see you have much to lose by try one, or several.

Originally Posted by dbd33

I should do that but it's a faff and I'm lazy. I like just to tap the steering wheel button and have it happen.

Originally Posted by Siouxie

I pay 2c a minute to call my sister in the UK... from my cell phone, direct dial... no added faff, I just tap the phone symbol on her name and 'ta da'

Originally Posted by dbd33

ok, ok, I shall try another method tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Cheltonian

I have been with Fido for about 20 years. my plan is unlimited Canada wide calling, unlimited texts incl international, 5GB data, and 5 extra hours of data a month, preferred rate international calling $0.02 to UK, voice mail, call display, Fido have just introduced Wi-Fi calling (for when you have no cell signal). My bill is $65 a month incl tax. I have found Fido to be very reliable and had no problems at all with their service. Was with Telus before and had no end of problems.

Originally Posted by dbd33

I'm talking to them now. "Very bad plan" I have, "I give you good plan", "Just put it all back as it was last year". "no can do that, but I make you good".

I've never been to a rub and tug but this is what I'd expect it to be like; they won't do what you ask them to do, they tell you want something else, which you don't really want but you settle for it rather than trying to parse any more syntax. I all costs more than they say and you're weirdly dissatisfied when they've finished.