TeleBlendBL
join:2006-09-27
Mclean, VA
| Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO As mentioned, should get going around 3:15, sorry for the delay. The CEO, Bill Fogg, will give a brief introduction, provide some answers to questions that I've collected from the other thread, and then he is happy to take questions. If possible, let's try not to re-post the same question others have.
I'm sorry we are running a little late, and appreciate everyones patience | |
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 ryeny3
join:2004-06-09
Rye, NY
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO I found this on broadband reports. To the best of my knowledge, the following terms was posted when I signed up on 7/18.
TeleBlend's Unlimited Plan includes:
* Unlimited calling – U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico
* Free international minutes ($3.00 credit every month)
* Enhanced Emergency 911 Service
* Over 12 built-in calling features, including Caller ID, 3-way Calling, and much more
* Two free Directory Assistance calls each month
* No hidden fees
* No cancellation fees
* No transfer fees
* Option to add an extra phone number for $4.99 per month
IMO the new terms are materially different.
Take advantage of:
• No startup costs
• FREE activation
• USE your existing hardware
• FREE and quick transfer of your current number
• UNLIMITED calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico
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peacerosetx
@mindspring.com
| Greetings...I feel confused about my sign up with TeleBlend because it is not clear what they will be offering for those of us who want to go month-by-month but don't want an unlimited month-by-month plan. Is there an opportunity to get a lower monthly rate (as a result of limited minutes) after lets say a few months, or is the $19.95 going to be it?
Peace..
going forth trusting in the Lord | |
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 | gergev
join:2004-11-17
Ayer, MA
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO When I moved Sunrocket assigned me a new number for E911, but let me keep my original phone number as my signature number.
I don't really want/need the new number (I have a regular landline as well for 911), but do receive calls on my old phone number.
Do I have to pay an additional $4.99/month for this?
Your website states
" Until the end of your annual contract, TeleBlend will give you the exact same services you know and love for only $12.95/month.
" | |
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Jon V
@comcast.net
 from:
gatorkram 
| Just a general question about "unlimited service". A lot of other VoiP providers offer so called "unlimited national calling" but then restrict you to 3000-5000 mins a month or a total amount per year. Does Teleblend do the same thing. Do we not truly get unlimited minutes? | |
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loitus2
join:2003-08-07
Neshanic Station, NJ | CEO - How do you expect to be successful with such a "thrown together at the last minute" operation? | |
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voodooevil
join:2007-07-21
Leland, NC
| can you provide us with real answers not the stock answers we have been getting. Your customers will make or break Teleblend so stop having us go in circles. I am happy that I have service at the moment, and we have all given Teleblend enough time......
Thank you....Joe | |
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dmolavi
Premium
join:2005-04-11
Sewell, NJ
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
 ·ViaTalk
| are you now, or were you ever, in posession of sunrocket customer's personal billing information (credit card numbers, etc). the first few days the TB site was up, it filled in all your location information automatically upon processing your SR phone number.
if you are in possession of said information, please purge my billing information from your database. i did not give sunrocket, sherwood parners, nor TB permission to share and/or obtain my personal information with a company with which i have no business releationship. i am not now, nor will i ever be, a TB customer.
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Get your Gizmo Admin Passwords, Unlock Instructions, and How To use your Gizmo with other providers at »gizmopasswords.blogspot.com
NukedGallery.net | |
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TJ_in_IL
join:2006-06-10
Winthrop Harbor, IL
·ViaTalk
·Teliax VOIP
·Comcast
·Teleblend
1 edit | What is the anticipated 'official' stance with TeleBlend on BYOD?
Will it be allowed/supported, as other VoIP providers already do?
In addition, those of us that have signed on early to TeleBlend have not been experiencing the same level of service as promised, during this transition period (voicemail, international calling, blocking, logs, etc.). Are there any plans to issure a prorated credit for a degregated service during transition, or will this just be the penalty that we encounter for signing on early, as instructed by the mass e-mails that were issued?
TJ | |
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NH Rocketeer
@epoch.net
from:
gatorkram
| With all the turmoil during this conversion period, are you considering any type of credit for those of us who signed up right away? We have not had our features and those SR customers who did not sign up received the same service.
Perhaps reset the next billing date to August 31st for all existing customers. | |
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| TeleBlendBL
join:2006-09-27
Mclean, VA | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO 5 minutes guys and we will be ready to rock and roll. | |
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peacerosetx
@mindspring.com
from:
gatorkram
| I agree about the extension of the first billing date. I notice that many of the other providers are offering incentives to sign up(including a free month!) An extention for the first billing period seems highly appropriate considering we are not getting the full services at this point--not to blame anyone, but I am hesitating because I don't want to pay for a full month and not have voice mail. So it would seem a move in the right direction to offer some more substance other than the $12.95 considering that we are all trying to make this work (even the month-to month folks).
Peace,
trusting in the Lord... | |
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mack1951
Universal Soldier
join:2000-04-18
Bayonne, NJ | To me the main question is what do you know and when did you know it? Did you have prior knowledge of SunRockets demise?
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THE ROAD: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9 | |
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join:2007-07-24
Schenectady, NY
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Not to be a pain, but if we actually get meaningful answers, this thread will likely be read by tens of thousands over the next few weeks. Could we try to keep the chatter to a minimum, beyond asking questions, to facilitate easy access to the answers for all those who end up coming here over the next few days / weeks? | |
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| | | TeleBlendBL
join:2006-09-27
Mclean, VA | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Yes. What I hope is that the CEO can answer some of these questions now, but lets keep this open and productive going forward rather than trying for a Q&A blitz. I started this thread, the CEO is part of it, and we will not forget it is here. | |
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| | | | walletless
join:2007-07-20
Bellevue, WA | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Question: Is there an upper-limit on minute usage for the "unlimited" plan? If so, what is the number. | |
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| | | | | walletless
join:2007-07-20
Bellevue, WA
·VOIPo
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO SunrocketBL - If you want me to setup a forum specifically for this discussion (or similar ones in future), please let me know. It will take me a few days to set one up, but it should be up by this weekend if you need it. (I have my own domain where we can facilitate this). | |
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| | | | | | TeleBlendBL
join:2006-09-27
Mclean, VA | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO That sounds good. For this I know that people wanted answers sooner rather than later so while the structure isn't ideal it at least gets things rolling. Bill will post a few more answers in two minutes, he is compiling your newer questions. | |
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laserjobs
Premium
join:2004-05-02
Las Vegas, NV | Are any of the ex-SunRocket executives now part of the executive team with Teleblend? | |
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TeleblendBF
join:2007-07-25
Essex Junction, VT
| First off, let me provide an overdue introduction. I’m Bill Fogg, CEO of USA Telephone, we are a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) that has been providing reliable local and long distance phone service since 1999. TeleBlend is a nationwide broadband phone service that is being offered by Unified Communication Corp., and managed by USA Telephone. The TeleBlend offering was developed with enhancements specifically for former SunRocket customers, but over time we will be offering nationwide service as well to non-SunRocket customers. | |
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| TeleblendBF
join:2007-07-25
Essex Junction, VT
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO I realize there is a great deal of confusion on the Board, as well as frustration regarding what happened at SunRocket. Customers have every right to be angry. I do want to state that USA Telephone and TeleBlend is not related to SunRocket in any way, we are a totally separate company. That said, we have been working with Sherwood Partners to put a system in place to ease the transition for those customers that would like to move over to TeleBlend, and doing so in a way that lets folks keep their existing equipment and phone number without going through the porting process.
Questions:
Probably the question I’ve seen most frequently relates to the equipment being locked and passwords. Let me say this: the reason that former SunRocket customers still have service is because TeleBlend is paying the bills to carriers so that the lights stay on. In other words, service still exists because the network has been kept running. We do not have access to equipment passwords and we can’t impact your service at all; all we have done to this point is pay the network operators to keep service operable. We don’t have access to your passwords or information that would enable unlocking.
For porting, if you decide to go with another vendor other than TeleBlend I think most folks realize but I’ll reiterate, we aren’t involved in that process. Porting your number from SunRocket would require dealing directly with the CLEC or incumbent that has your DID.
Voicemail and International Calling: These two capabilities are our priority right now and they both should be available very shortly. After that, we will bring the other enhanced features online as part of the process.
Is there a SunRocket affiliate program? Not at this time but we are targeting Fall 2007 to get that going.
What about additional calling plans? Right now, the $12.95 per month plan is our offer for SunRocket customers. We will be rolling out a plan for non-SunRocket customers in the near future that will be at a higher price point. | |
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| | B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28 | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO I'm whelmed. Welcome Bill.
DSLR does not in general delete posts just because they are answered. I suggest that all relevant posts remain.
-- B
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In a realm outside causality and function | |
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| | undef
join:2007-07-24
Schenectady, NY
| If all you have done is pay the bills, please answer the following related questions:
1. Sunrocket customers whose lines have not gone down hear TeleBlend announcement when they dial 0... this seems like more than writing a check would produce.
2. Customers who had access to their devices as of last week no longer can access the device to make changes - paying a bill is, again, unlikely to result in such a technical change.
3. What is TeleBlend's stand on who owns the devices? | |
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| | | walletless
join:2007-07-20
Bellevue, WA
·VOIPo
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO said by TJ_in_IL :said by TeleblendBF :We don’t have access to your passwords or information that would enable unlocking. Then who is in control, and who has these passwords? Somebody is locking them, if not TeleBlend. I would assume, that if TB took over all contacts from SR, then hopefully have a point-of-contact from Innomedia where they can ask about resetting the password, etc. Can/will TB be willing to do this for the sake of disgruntled SR customers like me and 200,000 others? | |
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| | | xtof
join:2007-07-23 | And how can Teleblend change the gizmo config to point to their own network if they don't even know what the new password is (and who changed it...)??? | |
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| | | | undef
join:2007-07-24
Schenectady, NY
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Along the same lines as xtof's question:
Mr Fogg, as TeleBlend obviously has control over the devices in order to facilitate running the now defunct Sunrocket environment, will you have your technical staff either set the passwords on the devices and provide the password to former Sunrocket customers, or have them disclose the passwords that are already set? Being able to set the passwords goes part and parcel with being able to provide service, which you obviously are doing, so this is not a question that requires a great deal of technical research or side-stepping. Are you willing to extend to us an olive branch? | |
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| | | B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO said by burris :How is it possible to pay network operators to keep the service running? What does that mean? Who are network operators? If you are implying that the original SR service is running all by itself with no input from anyone and simply sending provisioning to the adapters, I find this almost impossible. Running by itself is certainly possible -- that's what it's been doing. It's the magical change in provisioning and accompanying password change that's impossible. Bill doesn't know how it happened; the immaculate deception.
-- B
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In a realm outside causality and function | |
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| | TheTony
join:2006-11-02
Minneapolis, MN
| said by TeleblendBF :Is there a SunRocket affiliate program? Not at this time but we are targeting Fall 2007 to get that going. I assume you mean Teleblend.  | |
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| | | B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO said by TheTony :said by TeleblendBF :Is there a SunRocket affiliate program? Not at this time but we are targeting Fall 2007 to get that going. I assume you mean Teleblend. Now that's funny!
-- B
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In a realm outside causality and function | |
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| TeleblendBF
join:2007-07-25
Essex Junction, VT
| Do we have billing info for customers?
We do not have access to billing information for the SunRocket customer base. The only information we access is if a customer signs up with TeleBlend, and then we would only access the information needed to ensure we are not assigning a duplicate phone number to customers.
What is TeleBlend’s stance on BYOD?
Right now, all of our efforts are focused on transitioning SR customers so that they have consistent dial tone. We at this point are not supporting a BYOD. We will communicate if that changes.
Is this a last-minute operation?
Let me say that USA Telephone has been around since 1999 and we know the phone service space. We are ramping up the TeleBlend offering but we are not going anywhere and hope to set up long term relationships with our customer base.
Is there an upper-limit on minute usage for the “unlimited” plan?
At this point no, but we do ask that folks adhere to fair use and if that doesn’t happen going forward we will communicate to customers if that policy changes. | |
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See 10 replies to this post |
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| | TeleBlendBL
join:2006-09-27
Mclean, VA
1 edit | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Thanks everyone for the feedback. Tough crowd, but I expected that. Appreciate the feedback, really do. Upward from here.
And yes, that should have read TeleBlend affiliate program. Old habits die hard. Very hard. | |
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Cutting edge
@af.mil
thumbs down from:
PloKoon
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Hey -
Thanks for setting this up.
For all you yahoo's out there complaining. That was the CEO!!! Call tech support if you want a diatribe on the technical setup of devices. I know this is a tech forum, but really!
I am glad there was a group that came in and is trying to pick up the pieces. I got screwed by VT trying to port over, and now I just want someone to move us forward. The CEO is trying to do that and make a buck at the same time.
Give the conspiracy theories a rest... everyone isn't out to screw you personally... | |
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| | | | SteveH07
join:2007-07-25
Andover, MN
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO "Give the conspiracy theories a rest... everyone isn't out to screw you personally..."
Most CEO's of technical companies are pretty darn technical. He posted answers after having some time to ask others in his organization. He isn't trying to "help us" without helping himself 1st. If it wasn't him, it would be another company. I never thought SR customers would be left to die. That simply isn't logical because 200K subscribers have value.
So I guess all of us "conspiracy" types are illogical in wanting straight answers. I guess when we smell B.S. we should just realize he is trying to make a buck and he is doing his job.  | |
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mack1951
Universal Soldier
join:2000-04-18
Bayonne, NJ | Keep giving them your bucks and let us know when you get something in return besides were working on it.
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THE ROAD: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9 | |
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hmm8
join:2002-05-21
Frisco, TX | Question.
How much time do Former SR customers who do not switch to the TeleBlend have to port their numbers to other providers should they choose to do so? In other words how much longer will you keep their numbers working? | |
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voodooevil
join:2007-07-21
Leland, NC
| I am happy this guy finally revealed himself. I was getting worried about things. I did not want to go through the headache of switching to another company and I will give teleblend some more time after hearing from CEO. uninterupted service for usa calls. I just really need international calling plan. But thanks for answering our questions.
Joe | |
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loitus
@bcconverting.com | CEO - How do you expect to be successful with such a "thrown together at the last minute" operation? Can you assure us your fate shall differ from SR's in any way? If so, in what way are you different? | |
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sandwidth
join:2004-10-22
Ontario, CA
·Time Warner Cable
| Since you answered my 2nd question (in the other thread) I'll ask this one.........
Equipment/Servers/Software.........Are you going to just use the SR stuff???
***IF*** you guys turn the SR switch ***OFF*** and the TB switch ***ON***, can we expect the same or better voice quality w/ TB????? | |
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See 13 replies to this post |
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voodooevil
join:2007-07-21
Leland, NC | Can you ball park a date for international calling and voice mail. The answer you gave earlier could mean years. | |
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| walletless
join:2007-07-20
Bellevue, WA
·VOIPo
| Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO said by voodooevil :Can you ball park a date for international calling and voice mail. The answer you gave earlier could mean years. Probably why he is not mentioning anything  | |
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| | undef
join:2007-07-24
Schenectady, NY | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO Was that it, or can we expect answers to the remainder of questions? | |
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TJ_in_IL
join:2006-06-10
Winthrop Harbor, IL | Re: Official TeleBlend Interview thread with CEO [visualize a virtual hourglass.... thinking] | |
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hmm8
join:2002-05-21
Frisco, TX | Still waiting for an answer to my question... Hopefully Mr. Fogg will find time in his busy schedule to address most of the questions we posed here. | |
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