Help Pages
Setting up Your Texar Talk Account and Devices
Understanding Texar Talk Pay-as-You-Go Pricing
You may be scared by the Pay-as-You-Go model, but it allows you to actually make significant savings and is much more flexible than traditional phone providers. Let's walk through pricing together, but keep in mind that Texar Talk splits its pricing in two parts, inbound and outbound calls.
Inbound
First, you will need one phone number (DID). A U.S. or a Canadian DID will cost you $2.00 USD per month.
Second, you’ll pay per minute for incoming calls at a rate of $0.01 per minute (1 cent!).
Outbound
As soon as your device(s) are set up, and you can make calls, you do not necessarily need to have a phone number associated to it. You will simply be billed according to your usage with 6-second increments. From our example above, for outbound calls in Canada, you will pay $0.01/minute (1 cent!).
So how much is this costing you?
Say that in a given month, you speak on the phone for 10 hours (you love to call your family and friends!) and receive calls for 5 hours that is 300 incoming minutes (at $0.01/min) and 600 outgoing minutes (at $0.01/min). Therefore, your monthly recurring bill would be $2.00 for your phone number and $9.00 for all your calls during the whole month with your Texar Talk phone system!
Please note that Texar Talk charges in U.S. dollars.
Ready to get started? Keep on reading.
Devices
Texar Talk has a Bring Your Own Device policy, thus you may either already have something handy at home or may decide to buy a new device.
Whatever you choose, we are ready to support you. We have support with most flagships companies for devices and softphones.
We suggest to have a softphone installed directly on your mobile for fully unified communications. If this is a new term for you, A softphone is an application you run on your phone, tablet, or desktop. The softphone communicates with the Texar Talk servers and presents to you a phone like interface where you can answer and place calls; and send and receive text messages.
For your phones and tablets, any softphone that supports SIP or AIX protocols should work, but we strongly suggest the GroundWire softphone available from both the Apple and Google app stores. It does cost a few dollars as a one-time payment, but we think it is well worth it. It has battery saving technologies, as well as push notification of incoming call in provide a superior subscriber experience. At Texar, we all use the GroundWire softphone.
For your laptop or desktop machine, we recommend the Zoiper5 desktop softphone. You can run the free version if you don’t need to be able to send and receive SMS messages. You can always use a browser open to your Texar Talk Dashboard to send and receive SMS messages.
Phone Numbers (DIDs)
Once you have your device(s), you will either get a local DID or transfer your current one, or both.
1) To get a DID, you may get a local number in USA, Canada or 60+ countries across the globe.
2) You may also transfer your DID from your current provider with our portability tool. This process usually takes up to 5 business days. Moreover, porting local and toll-free DIDs is free with Texar Talk across the U.S. and Canada.
Don't forget to activate your E911 services and your Caller ID Number and Caller ID Name!
Sub-accounts
If you do not plan to have more than 1 device, you may skip this section.
In order to set up your devices, you will need to create sub-accounts. Sub-accounts allow you to register your devices, they are free and you can have as many as you want. Just send us an email at [email protected].
With your DID, your device(s) and your sub-account(s). You are now ready to build a cloud phone system tailored to your specific needs.
Building a Basic Cloud Phone System
Voicemail
First of, you will need a voicemail to make sure whoever is calling you can leave a voicemail message in the event where you cannot pick up the call. We strongly advise you to take the full benefit of our voicemail system and activate the voicemail to email feature where all voicemail messages are forwarded to your email address as an MP3 attachment.
Call Forwarding
You may be at at home or on-the-go, but you should always benefit from unified communications and therefore to increase the likelihood of getting all your calls, you should activate the Call Forwarding feature. If you do not pick up your home phone within a specific delay, the incoming call will be redirected to a number where you have more chance to answer (e.g. your mobile number or your cottage's phone!).
Ring Group
Ring Group is a great extension of the Call Forwarding feature, but is definitely optional. Say that you have kids and would like to provide them an emergency line. You could easily purchase a local number, and whenever your kids call on the number, it would ring your home phone, your mobile, your significant other mobile, your cottage's phone, etc. all at the same time until somebody picks up.
Phone Book
Finally, our Phone Book feature allows you to configure speed dial entries. Say you have a relative that you call frequently, you can create a Phone Book entry in order to make a call using a speed-dial entry of 4 digits long.
Do you offer a Test Account or Number?
We currently do not have a test account or test number program however we provide free dialing codes to test the quality of the service. Echo & DTMF test
4443 (Echo Test): This code is used to access the echo test, with a new account this code can be dialed even without funds, it is useful to verify the quality on your line.
4747 (DTMF Test): This code is used to access the DTMF test, with a new account this code can be dialed even without funds, it is useful to verify if DTMFs are transmitted from your device or app correctly.
How do I start?
You can open an account following this link : https://texar.com/talksignup Once your account is created you will need to use the “add funds using Paypal” tool on the Dashboard Balances tab.
Once your account has a $15 credit, we will automatically create your SIP/AIX credentials and send you notification that it has been completed.
You can then use your Texar Talk Dashboard to add and configure a DID, voicemail, ring group, and SMS.
You can also use your Texar Talk Dashboard to create and provision a virtual fax service.
Is there a cost to open the account?
Opening an account is completely free. The minimum amount of funds you can add is $15 USD which will become your account balance to use the services.
Your SIP/AIX account has a base charge of $0.50 / month.
Is there a Contract?
There are no contracts with us, you can open an account for free at any time you wish, for as long as you want.
What are the Payment Options?
The current options available are Paypal (No Account Needed for Paypal Guest CC Payment), VISA, Master Card, American Express, and via Bank Wire deposit to our bank account in Montreal. Please contact Customer Support for information about Bank Wire.
As of 2023-10-05, we now support Google Pay and Apple Pay (for Apple device users).
Can I deposit less than $15 into my account?
Currently $15 is the minimum amount you can add to your account.
Can I get a refund of my balance if I am not satisfied or no longer need the service?
If a customer made a deposit and does not want to continue with the Service, for any reason, the Company will refund the Customer in whole, for any unused pre-paid balance (total amount of deposits minus the usage by the customer), upon request, for all new deposits made within ninety (90) days of such request of refund. Any other amounts will not be refunded to the Customer, but will still be available for use.
Do you charge taxes?
All customers with Canada as country will be charged GST or HST for those provinces that charge it on your deposit. This applies for both Paypal and Credit Card payments.
In order to get further details about how these are applied, feel free to check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxes_in_Canada
How much does the service cost?
The cost will vary depending on the services used. For outbound calls you are subject to the per minute rate of the destination you call and the billing increment. For inbound calls you are subject to the rate plan of the DID, the monthly fee and the billing increment it if applies. There may be additional monthly fees or set up fees depending on the services you subscribe to.
What is the Billing Increment?
The Billing Increment is a call duration measurement unit expressed in seconds. For example, with our 6 seconds billing increment, a 5 second call will be billed as 6 seconds or 1/10 of 1 minute or $0.0010. This way, you don't get charged for a whole minute just for a 10 seconds call.
With a $0.0100 per minute rate, and a 60 seconds billing increment, any call less than 60 seconds is rounded up to 60 seconds or 1 full minute of usage. A 5 seconds call and a 50 seconds call are both billed as 1 minute or $0.0100.
What is a DID?
A Direct Inward Dial number (DID), in simple terms, is a virtual number that, for all intents and purposes, can be considered a regular phone number, with the exception that it is not attached to any POTS line (Landline). Once your configuration is ready, your DID will be the phone number that everyone in the world will call to reach you, just like any other phone number.
What type of DID numbers you offer?
There are different types of DID numbers. They are mostly differentiated by their geographic presence. Local DIDs from US or Canada. International DIDs. Toll Free numbers.
These are the most common used by our customers. For further information about getting a DID number and other types please check our related article Order a DID Number
Can I dial out with my DID?
The DID numbers are a type of service that are exclusively for receiving calls. When you place outgoing calls with our service you are not calling from the DID number but from the account instead and the number you will pass on your calls as your Caller ID will be the one that is configured on the accounts settings from the portal.
What is Caller ID?
Caller ID is a telephone service that transmits the calling party’s number to the called party’s telephone . When available, the Caller ID number can be complemented with Caller ID name (e.g. John Smith). If you are placing outgoing calls you will likely need to pass a Caller ID to ensure proper termination of your calls, particularly to reach toll free numbers. There are two types of caller ID and it is important to differentiate them: Caller ID Number (CID) and Caller ID Name (CNAM).
What is CNAM?
CNAM stands for CallerID Name and it's the information that will be displayed in the phone of the receiving party, when you place an outgoing call. If you will be making calls to Canadian numbers, you can simply pass the Caller ID name from your device or system as most of them support this. The Caller ID name on US calls works differently, this is controlled by a national CNAM database with records of numbers and names matching each number. We can update the CNAM database under request.
Can I port my existing number from another provider to Texar Talk?
Texar Talk does offer Local Number Portability (LNP) service and your number may be available for porting. Please contact Customer Service to find out whether your current number is portable to Texar Talk network.
Do you provide any hardware for the service?
We don’t provide any kind of hardware device, software or system to use the service. The service is a BYOD (Bring your own device). You should be able to get one from any Communications specialized store and all SIP- compatible devices are supported.
Can I use my existing device with Texar Talk?
Basically any device or system that supports SIP or IAX2 protocol will work with our service . If you bring your device (ATA, IP phone) from a previous provider, make sure it is unlocked and you are able to make changes to its configuration.
Do you have Configuration Samples?
You can find configuration samples for most of the common devices and phone systems used with Texar Talk here: Devices If your device or system is not listed there but supports the protocol SIP or IAX2 and at least one of the following codecs: G711u, G729a or GSM, you should be able to use it, and you can always contact our Technical Support staff for additional assistance.
Do you offer Technical Support by phone?
Due to the nature of the troubleshooting which can result time consuming we chose our main ways to offer support to be via email. At this point, Technical Support over the phone is not available.
What is my Main Account SIP password?
You SIP/AIX credentials are viewable using your Texar Talk Dashbard.
What Server should I use?
Usually, in order to receive better results, you should choose the server physically closest to your location.
Note:
Make sure that your SIP/IAX device and your phone number are pointing
to the same server.
United States
Atlanta 1, GA (atlanta1.texar.com) 208.100.60.17
Atlanta 2, GA (atlanta2.texar.com) 208.100.60.18
Chicago 1, IL (chicago1.texar.com) 208.100.60.8
Chicago 2, IL (chicago2.texar.com) 208.100.60.9
Chicago 3, IL (chicago3.texar.com) 208.100.60.10
Chicago 4, IL (chicago4.texar.com) 208.100.60.6
Dallas 1, TX (dallas1.texar.com) 208.100.60.29
Dallas 2, TX (dallas2.texar.com) 208.100.60.30
Denver 1, CO (denver1.texar.com) 208.100.60.32
Denver 2, CO (denver2.texar.com) 208.100.60.33
Houston 1, TX (houston1.texar.com) 208.100.60.15
Houston 2, TX (houston2.texar.com) 208.100.60.16
Los Angeles 1, CA (losangeles1.texar.com) 208.100.60.35
Los Angeles 2, CA (losangeles2.texar.com) 208.100.60.36
Los Angeles 3, CA (losangeles3.texar.com) 208.100.60.37
Los Angeles 4, CA (losangeles4.texar.com) 208.100.60.38
New York 1, NY (newyork1.texar.com) 208.100.60.66
New York 2, NY (newyork2.texar.com) 208.100.60.67
New York 3, NY (newyork3.texar.com) 208.100.60.68
New York 4, NY (newyork4.texar.com) 208.100.60.69
New York 5, NY (newyork5.texar.com) 208.100.60.11
New York 6, NY (newyork6.texar.com) 208.100.60.12
New York 7, NY (newyork7.texar.com) 208.100.60.13
New York 8, NY (newyork8.texar.com) 208.100.60.14
San Jose 1, CA (sanjose1.texar.com) 208.100.60.40
San Jose 2, CA (sanjose2.texar.com) 208.100.60.41
Seattle 1, WA (seattle1.texar.com) 208.100.60.42
Seattle 2, WA (seattle2.texar.com) 208.100.60.43
Seattle 3, WA (seattle3.texar.com) 208.100.60.44
Tampa 1, FL (tampa1.texar.com) 208.100.60.46
Tampa 2, FL (tampa2.texar.com) 208.100.60.47
Tampa 3, FL (tampa3.texar.com) 208.100.60.48
Tampa 4, FL (tampa4.texar.com) 208.100.60.49
Washington 1, DC (washington1.texar.com) 208.100.60.63
Washington 2, DC (washington2.texar.com) 208.100.60.64
Canada
Montreal 1, QC (montreal1.texar.com) 208.100.60.19
Montreal 2, QC (montreal2.texar.com) 208.100.60.20
Montreal 3, QC (montreal3.texar.com) 208.100.60.21
Montreal 4, QC (montreal4.texar.com) 208.100.60.22
Montreal 5, QC (montreal5.texar.com) 208.100.60.23
Montreal 6, QC (montreal6.texar.com) 208.100.60.24
Montreal 7, QC (montreal7.texar.com) 208.100.60.25
Montreal 8, QC (montreal8.texar.com) 208.100.60.26
Montreal 9, QC (montreal9.texar.com) 208.100.60.27
Montreal 10, QC (montreal10.texar.com) 208.100.60.28
Toronto 1, ON (toronto1.texar.com) 208.100.60.50
Toronto 2, ON (toronto2.texar.com) 208.100.60.51
Toronto 3, ON (toronto3.texar.com) 208.100.60.52
Toronto 4, ON (toronto4.texar.com) 208.100.60.53
Toronto 5, ON (toronto5.texar.com) 208.100.60.54
Toronto 6, ON (toronto6.texar.com) 208.100.60.55
Toronto 7, ON (toronto7.texar.com) 208.100.60.56
Toronto 8, ON (toronto8.texar.com) 208.100.60.57
Toronto 9, ON (toronto9.texar.com) 208.100.60.58
Toronto 10, ON (toronto10.texar.com) 208.100.60.59
Vancouver 1, BC (vancouver1.texar.com) 208.100.60.60
Vancouver 2, BC (vancouver2.texar.com) 208.100.60.61
Vancouver 3, BC (vancouver3.texar.com) 208.100.60.62
International
Amsterdam, NL (amsterdam1.texar.com) 208.100.60.65
London, UK (london1.texar.com) 208.100.60.34
Paris, FR (paris1.texar.com) 208.100.60.39
Sydney, AU (sydney1.texar.com) 208.100.60.45
Can I ping Texar Talk Servers?
For security purposes, Texar Talk servers cannot be ping. What is suggested to test the quality is to call 4443 (quality test call) which is free and see the results.
Does Texar Talk encrypt the communication?
By default the SIP communication is secure although not encrypted. We offer Call encryption over SIP-TLS/SRTP, that we can enable as you wish for your main account/sub accounts. The communication will be encrypted between our servers and your devices.
Do you Support e911
We offer e911 service only for US and Canadian DID numbers (including USA and Canadian Toll-free numbers). This feature can be activated in the Customer Portal directly under the e911 page under the DID numbers menu. More information see your Texar Talk Dashboard and read the 911 Terms of Service in the Terms and Conditions.
Do you offer Calling Card?
We do not offer any Calling Card feature at this moment, however you can set up a Calling Card solution with your own system and our DID numbers as long as this is used with DID numbers in our Per Minute plan. For more information please contact Technical Support.
Do you offer Fax service?
We offer a Virtual Fax feature. This feature can be used with special Fax DID numbers which can be acquired and configured through our Fax portal. Please see the Virtual Fax section in your Texar Talk Dashboard.
Do you offer SMS service?
SMS is available for a great number of DIDs and Cities from US and Canada and requires to be used through the SMS portal.
We also offer SIP SMS, providing the possibility to send and receive SMS messages from softwares and PBXes that support the functionality.
Do you support TCP for the SIP communication?
TCP is fully supported in our servers.
Do you Support IPV6 with SIP and or IAX2?
We do not support at this time IPV6 for SIP and IAX2 protocol at this moment.
Do you transmit DSCP QoS priority bits?
Yes we do, we transmit Code CS3 for SIP and EF for RTP.
Do you offer alternative ports besides 5060/5061?
We offer alternative SIP ports, UDP/TCP 5080 and 42872 on all of our servers, You can try those ports in case your Internet Service Provider blocks the port 5060 UDP/TCP or if you need to use another one. For the SIP-TLS we offer alternative ports only by TCP protocol, 5061 and 42873 on all of our servers name with a number at the end. e.g. chicago1.texar.com
Can I register 2 or more different devices with the same account username?
It is strongly suggested not to do so, this can possibly cause conflicts while routing the calls to your device as well issues related with registration. If you need to register more than one device please request for us to create you additional SIP/AIX credentials.
Do you accept Call Center, Autodialers or Telemarketing traffic ?
The Customer covenants and agrees that if he wishes to use Texar Talk termination (outbound) services for telemarketing purposes (including, but not limited to Automated Dialers, Call Centers and collection agencies) that he first has to reach out to [email protected] to get the written authorization to do so. In the event where the Customer does not obtain the proper authorization from the Company, Customer understands that Texar Talk will suspend such activities without warning, to its sole discretion.
Do you offer Wholesale Rates?
If you are interested on a discount based on traffic usage or volume, please send an email to [email protected] providing all details about your traffic like destinations you need to call and average of minutes used per month, in order to receive additional information and quotes.
Can I port out my number ?
If you wish to port out a number from our service you can do so at any time by starting the porting request with the new provider. We authorize all Port Out Request matching the correct information from your account. Remember to delete the DID number from your Texar Talk account once the port out process is completed – BUT NOT BEFORE.
For any question regarding Port Out please send an email to our LNP Department at [email protected]
How do I delete my DID ?
From the Taxar Talk Dashboard “DID Numbers” menu tab and then click “DID Billing”. From this page, you can cancel number(s). Remember this process cannot be reversed, please be sure that you will no longer need the number.
Is there any Cancellation Fee ?
We do not charge any cancellation fee of any kind, you are free to cancel your account or number at any time you wish to.
What are the audio codecs you support?
We support audio codecs: G722, G729a, G711u (also know as uLaw or PCMU) and GSM. Their specifications are:
Codec : G.722
Bit Rate: 64 Kbps
Nominal Ethernet Bandwidth (Kilobits) : 87.2 Kbps
Codec : G.711u
Bit Rate: 64 Kbps
Nominal Ethernet Bandwidth (Kilobits) : 87.2 Kbps
Codec : G.729a
Bit Rate: 8 Kbps
Nominal Ethernet Bandwidth (Kilobits) : 31.2 Kbps
Codec : GSM
Bit Rate: 13 kbps
Nominal Ethernet Bandwidth (Kilobits) : 29.2 kbps
What is a pulserate?
Since call fees are usually advertised per minute, and most calls last more or less than sixty seconds, to calculate the charge rate of a call, we use what is called a Pulserate. With a Pulserate of six seconds, a charge is made based on how many intervals of six seconds the call lasted. For example, if you make a phone call to a $0.05 per minute destination, lasting only one second, you will be charged for six seconds - $0.005 ($0.05/minute x 6 seconds ÷ 60 seconds). If the call lasts thirty-two seconds, you will be charged for thirty-six seconds, or the equivalent of six Pulserates - $0.03.
The grand majority of countries around the world are calculated with a pulserate of 6 seconds, but there is a few countries which have a pulserate of 60 seconds, meaning that wether you speak for 10 seconds or 50 seconds, you will be charged for the whole 60 seconds.
Here is the list of countries having a pulserate of 60 seconds
Mexico
American Samoa
China
Cook Islands
Fiji
French Polynesia
Gambia
Haiti
International Networks
Kiribati
Lesotho
Maldives
Nauru
New Caledonia
Niue
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Suriname
Tokelau
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Western Samoa
Global Mobile Satellite System
Satellite
Thuraya Satellite
Last updated 2025 08 28