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bbob · **yackie mobile review -** 25-10-2007, 10:51

I also used the free sim trial yackie gave as it is a good chance to test their service.

I sent a mail to ask for a voucher giving them proof of purchase of a now non working manx card. The same day I got response and a voucher number.

Ordered the card online, selected a local number and they offer a wide range of local numbers. For some countries like Holland for every area code for example USA some area codes in some states. I selected a US based number.

Some days later I received the SIM by mail.

The number is a +354 number, put the sim in my phone and it worked without problems. Called the US number and the call got forwarded to the cell phone.
When calling the US number it took about 10 seconds before I heard a ring tone but than the cell phone would also ring. Caller ID of the ringing phone was visible on the cell phone.

With the account came a Voip DID number which could be forwarded to voip, sim, 1 of the 2 or both.

I tired to find the settings how to login to the voip account using a softphone but no luck. I could not find the settings anywhere on their site. I would need the sip address of their voip server. Can you supply me this information or put it on the website. In faq you have answers for gsm but nothing for voip.

I also looked at their rates for making call through their voip system. The rates are not the lowest and not the highest in the voip market.

The charge for incoming calls through a voip number is $0,29 euro 0,20 which is ok.

EU law now has maximum rates for receiving calls: http://ec.europa.eu/information_soci...l/index_en.htm

2007 incoming is maximum 0.24 euro (without local vat) 2008 0.22 euro 2009 0.19 euro

Maximum roaming rates when making a call inside the EU but outside your home country, 2007 maximum 0.49 euro (without local vat) 2008 0.46 euro 2009 0.43 euro

So when you have a say German cell phone and you are in France and someone calls you on your German Cell number you pay 0.24 euro per minute. When making a call using your German cell phone in France you pay maximum 0.49 euro (without vat) to fixed and mobile numbers inside the EU.

So at the moment the rate for yackie of $0.29 per minute seems reasonable as it is a bit cheaper than the EU maximum. This said using your own voip system like pbxes and forward call the rate for receiving calls can be lower 0.11 tot 0.14 eurocents. But this is a do it yourself solution which is not plug and play.

So incoming rate on a DID number to your mobile seems ok. 1 DID number comes with the account but you can add many more. If you add did numbers they will cost you around $9 per month or $108 per year.
In my opinion this is fairly expensive for DID numbers. In Some countries you can get your DID number for free, like Germany, UK, in other countries like Holland you pay 10 euro per month, Belgium has them also for around 10 euro. Paying $108/Euro 77 per year for a voip DID number is just to expensive.

Yackie call rates.

As said above the EU has maximum rates now which will be lowered the next 2 year to a maximum of euro 0.43 per minute (without local vat) in 2009.

When looking at the yackie rates these are really to high !.

My thinking on this is very simple. The charge $0.29 per minute for incoming call through your voip did number to your cell phone + voip ratex is what calles should cost.

Take for example Mexico.

Incoming =free or 0.29 through a DID number
Calling the Netherlands from mexico is $ 1.89 to mobile and $ 1.79 to fixed line.
Making a yacki voip call to the netherlands is $ 0.024 for fixed lines and 0.26 for mobile.
So I would think the rate would be $0.29 + $ 0.024 / 0.26 = $0.314 / $ 0.55

Example Germany

Incoming =free or 0.29 through DID number
Calling France from Germany is $ 0.59 to fixed and mobile
Making a yacki voip call to france is $ 0.024 for fixed line and 0.271 to mobile.
So I would think the rate would be $0.29 + $0.024 / 0.271 = $0.314 / $ 0.561

Example Australia
Incoming =free or 0.29 through DID number
Calling UK from austraila is $ 0.49 to fixed and mobile
Making a yacki voip call to UK is $ 0.024 for fixed line and 0.286 to mile.
So in this case the rate to mobile would be $0.29 + $0.286 = $ 0.576
In this example yacki is cheaper to mobile compared to $0.29+voip rate !

I can give more and more examples where it shows that the rates for outgoing calls on your yackie phone a very high in most examples. Some countries and only to mobile they are lower than the $0.29+voip rate to mobile.

On the yackie website you can have a rate list by saying the country you are in an the country you are calling you. What I would like to see is an overview of the countries with free of 0.29 (through) DID incoming calls.

Also I does not state how that rates are charged, per minute per second, per 30 seconds or 1 minute and than per second.

You can call the 105 number for customer support but what is the rate for doing this or is it free of charge ? Same question for the number 108 for voicemail ?

So to conclude the review.

Positive

- Order processing was very smooth and fast.
- Choice from many DID numbers worldwide.
- Have incoming numbers being forwarded to your cell phone for $0.29 in many countries, which is an acceptable rate (lower is only possible with do it yourself solution)
- Many countries have no incoming call charges when calling the +354 number directly.

Negative

- Outgoing call rates are to expensive
- Incoming calls of $0.29 are charged per minute not second.
- DID numbers have a too high monthly charge (typical $ 9 per number per month)

Would I use yackie ?

For incoming calls yackie has a plug and play solution to forward a DID number to your cellphone so people can call you on a local number (local charges for them) and you pay $0.29 per minute. So yes for receiving calls yackie is a good solution.

Four making calls I would not use yackie as their rates are to high. I gave an example of their voip rates and I think call rates should be the $0.29 incoming cost + the voip rates the destination you are calling. Yackie is although using far higher rates in most cases (expect some mobile destinations). Even a novice user could use a callback solution to set cheaper outgoing rates.

Because of the many free incoming countries I will probably use the sim in combination with pbxes and voicetrading and setup my own did forward and callback.
Using this solution forwarded DID calls will only cost me euro 0.114 / $ 0.16 per minute.
pbxes pro also has the callback option which makes calls using voip possible. Outgoing rates would be the $ 0.16 + voip rates. For fixed lines to most countries this is between $ 0.015 and 0.05 per minute and mobile $ 0.15 to $ 0.35 so rates will be between $ 0.175 - $ 0.21 to fixed line and $0.31 to $ 0.51 per minute to mobile.

Update: tried to call the +354-380 number using betamax voip and can't reach the number. I get an asian lady saying callie is busy please try later. This makes me reconsider using this number for my own callback, let alone using it at all. My current um+ solution works fine for the moment.
Worst case I could callback the DID number pay yackie $0.29 for connection to the sim and have my pbxes dialtone. I would only use this solution when um+ is offline or has problems.

	(#1)
bbob (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 499 Join Date: 20 Feb 2007 Country:	yackie mobile review - 25-10-2007, 10:51 I also used the free sim trial yackie gave as it is a good chance to test their service. I sent a mail to ask for a voucher giving them proof of purchase of a now non working manx card. The same day I got response and a voucher number. Ordered the card online, selected a local number and they offer a wide range of local numbers. For some countries like Holland for every area code for example USA some area codes in some states. I selected a US based number. Some days later I received the SIM by mail. The number is a +354 number, put the sim in my phone and it worked without problems. Called the US number and the call got forwarded to the cell phone. When calling the US number it took about 10 seconds before I heard a ring tone but than the cell phone would also ring. Caller ID of the ringing phone was visible on the cell phone. With the account came a Voip DID number which could be forwarded to voip, sim, 1 of the 2 or both. I tired to find the settings how to login to the voip account using a softphone but no luck. I could not find the settings anywhere on their site. I would need the sip address of their voip server. Can you supply me this information or put it on the website. In faq you have answers for gsm but nothing for voip. I also looked at their rates for making call through their voip system. The rates are not the lowest and not the highest in the voip market. The charge for incoming calls through a voip number is $0,29 euro 0,20 which is ok. EU law now has maximum rates for receiving calls: http://ec.europa.eu/information_soci...l/index_en.htm 2007 incoming is maximum 0.24 euro (without local vat) 2008 0.22 euro 2009 0.19 euro Maximum roaming rates when making a call inside the EU but outside your home country, 2007 maximum 0.49 euro (without local vat) 2008 0.46 euro 2009 0.43 euro So when you have a say German cell phone and you are in France and someone calls you on your German Cell number you pay 0.24 euro per minute. When making a call using your German cell phone in France you pay maximum 0.49 euro (without vat) to fixed and mobile numbers inside the EU. So at the moment the rate for yackie of $0.29 per minute seems reasonable as it is a bit cheaper than the EU maximum. This said using your own voip system like pbxes and forward call the rate for receiving calls can be lower 0.11 tot 0.14 eurocents. But this is a do it yourself solution which is not plug and play. So incoming rate on a DID number to your mobile seems ok. 1 DID number comes with the account but you can add many more. If you add did numbers they will cost you around $9 per month or $108 per year. In my opinion this is fairly expensive for DID numbers. In Some countries you can get your DID number for free, like Germany, UK, in other countries like Holland you pay 10 euro per month, Belgium has them also for around 10 euro. Paying $108/Euro 77 per year for a voip DID number is just to expensive. Yackie call rates. As said above the EU has maximum rates now which will be lowered the next 2 year to a maximum of euro 0.43 per minute (without local vat) in 2009. When looking at the yackie rates these are really to high !. My thinking on this is very simple. The charge $0.29 per minute for incoming call through your voip did number to your cell phone + voip ratex is what calles should cost. Take for example Mexico. Incoming =free or 0.29 through a DID number Calling the Netherlands from mexico is $ 1.89 to mobile and $ 1.79 to fixed line. Making a yacki voip call to the netherlands is $ 0.024 for fixed lines and 0.26 for mobile. So I would think the rate would be $0.29 + $ 0.024 / 0.26 = $0.314 / $ 0.55 Example Germany Incoming =free or 0.29 through DID number Calling France from Germany is $ 0.59 to fixed and mobile Making a yacki voip call to france is $ 0.024 for fixed line and 0.271 to mobile. So I would think the rate would be $0.29 + $0.024 / 0.271 = $0.314 / $ 0.561 Example Australia Incoming =free or 0.29 through DID number Calling UK from austraila is $ 0.49 to fixed and mobile Making a yacki voip call to UK is $ 0.024 for fixed line and 0.286 to mile. So in this case the rate to mobile would be $0.29 + $0.286 = $ 0.576 In this example yacki is cheaper to mobile compared to $0.29+voip rate ! I can give more and more examples where it shows that the rates for outgoing calls on your yackie phone a very high in most examples. Some countries and only to mobile they are lower than the $0.29+voip rate to mobile. On the yackie website you can have a rate list by saying the country you are in an the country you are calling you. What I would like to see is an overview of the countries with free of 0.29 (through) DID incoming calls. Also I does not state how that rates are charged, per minute per second, per 30 seconds or 1 minute and than per second. You can call the 105 number for customer support but what is the rate for doing this or is it free of charge ? Same question for the number 108 for voicemail ? So to conclude the review. Positive - Order processing was very smooth and fast. - Choice from many DID numbers worldwide. - Have incoming numbers being forwarded to your cell phone for $0.29 in many countries, which is an acceptable rate (lower is only possible with do it yourself solution) - Many countries have no incoming call charges when calling the +354 number directly. Negative - Outgoing call rates are to expensive - Incoming calls of $0.29 are charged per minute not second. - DID numbers have a too high monthly charge (typical $ 9 per number per month) Would I use yackie ? For incoming calls yackie has a plug and play solution to forward a DID number to your cellphone so people can call you on a local number (local charges for them) and you pay $0.29 per minute. So yes for receiving calls yackie is a good solution. Four making calls I would not use yackie as their rates are to high. I gave an example of their voip rates and I think call rates should be the $0.29 incoming cost + the voip rates the destination you are calling. Yackie is although using far higher rates in most cases (expect some mobile destinations). Even a novice user could use a callback solution to set cheaper outgoing rates. Because of the many free incoming countries I will probably use the sim in combination with pbxes and voicetrading and setup my own did forward and callback. Using this solution forwarded DID calls will only cost me euro 0.114 / $ 0.16 per minute. pbxes pro also has the callback option which makes calls using voip possible. Outgoing rates would be the $ 0.16 + voip rates. For fixed lines to most countries this is between $ 0.015 and 0.05 per minute and mobile $ 0.15 to $ 0.35 so rates will be between $ 0.175 - $ 0.21 to fixed line and $0.31 to $ 0.51 per minute to mobile. Update: tried to call the +354-380 number using betamax voip and can't reach the number. I get an asian lady saying callie is busy please try later. This makes me reconsider using this number for my own callback, let alone using it at all. My current um+ solution works fine for the moment. Worst case I could callback the DID number pay yackie $0.29 for connection to the sim and have my pbxes dialtone. I would only use this solution when um+ is offline or has problems. Last edited by bbob; 25-10-2007 at 16:58..