BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
 ·Comcast
| [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick
Well I am back at Voicestick.com (i2telecom). I hope that a few of you have GOOD memories of me. My name is Bruce Nicklin. I was with Voicestick for one year and we had everything going in the right direction. (not perfect but heading correctly).
Last May my contract as VP ended, and I was not able to renegotiate anything that was acceptable plus I was under extreme stress with the one person between myself and the CEO. We had loud disagreements almost everyday, most concerning proper business practices.
This person is now gone, I now work directly for the CEO, and they are renewing a good contract with me.
That being said it appears from the large number of negative comments here that the person that was in charge after I left took the company in the wrong direction, offended customers, and did several moves that just make no business sense.
So I offer to all of you a place to come and vent, get relief, have an issue fixed. Just IM me. I promise to review and answer every IM that I get personally. If I agree with your want or request I will make sure that it happens. If I do not agree I will at least give you a straight answer.
Sorry for all of the problems that have come up. I will get it all fixed.
If ANY of you have thoughts, suggestions, or ideas please let me know.
Bruce |
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meister_sd
Premium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA
| Bruce, welcome back!
I think two of the biggest issues were the free incoming minutes plan was removed and the second, maybe bigger, were the constant changes in the terms that even violated your own TOS, such as advanced notice.
I had been with VS for a few years and when they cut off the free incoming minutes, that is when I stopped being a customer. Mostly because of HOW they did it, not THAT they did it. I would still like that plan brought back.
I believe it was your son who took over here in the forum for a while and while I think he did what he could, it felt that he was being tied down somehow but wouldn't/couldn't say that.
Hopefully things will return to the way they were - great plans, great service, etc... I would also like to hear from you with regards to the things that changed since your departure and what is going to stay changed and what will be changed with your return.
Thanks,
-Mike |
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HolmanGT
Premium
join:2001-11-20
Saint George, UT
·Baja Broadband
| reply to BruceN
BruceN,
I am not a Voice Stick customer. I just wanted to say that I think your gesture here is very unique, good business practice and generally uncommon in the industry.
I am very impressed and I can assure you that you have peaked my interest enough to look into the merits of Voice Stick as something that I may want to be a user of.
Best Regards to you and what I would hope will become a trend setter for other companies.  |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Comcast
| reply to meister_sd
Thanks for the input. Yes I sent my son Matt out to see if he could calm down some of the insane stuff but the same bully that I had issues with walked all over him (Matt is 16)
But as I mentioned before that person is LONG gone. I know what you mean about "HOW" it was done. Policies changed at whim!
For those that know me, I have a long track record of owning companies, and that is NOT how to make friends or keep business up and moving.
My deal is one where I am ONLY paid in stock, and the stock is ONLY going to go up if I can get this thing back on track (And I will!)Stock is ITUI
I know that customers are the best place to figure out and fix what is wrong! And the bunch up here are without doubt the best.
As to free incoming, I am going to look at it. It is free of course on monthly plans, but is now charged for on pay as you go plans. It was my idea to charge for it, BUT it was supposed to ALSO include a major drop in out bound costs. That part did not happen.
We pay for both incoming and outgoing calls. The calls cost us the same. What we had going on was a large abuser base that made zero outbound and a ton of inbound. My thought was to stem the abuse was to adjust the difference in rates.
We had accounts that had zero income yet costs to us at $200 to $300 a MONTH!!!!!
I have some other MONSTERS that I am going to focus on in the first few days, rates in general are going to take a week or two.
Also we going to change calling switches and NOC locations so that they will be inside of the building (THANK god)
Again, thanks for the input. I need it, and love it!!
Bruce |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Comcast
| reply to HolmanGT
Hey thanks! If you Google me you will see I have a long history of owning great small companies (I don't own this one)
If you give customer legendary service you will shock them. It has worked in the past, it worked last time at VoiceStick and I will do it again!
Bruce |
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fixup
join:2007-01-26
| I think the key part is: you still don't own this company; how long you'll be in charge?
I have left VS because of all those stupid things that guy did. I hate to go back if another stupid guy will take up you in a year or so.
How can you convince us on this? |
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slow mo
join:2002-03-19
USA
edit:
February 9th, @04:04PM
| reply to BruceN
Welcome back.
I've used VS for a long time. I still have the outbound only N2N plan.
The international rates have gone up since VS started charging incoming. This is puzzling. I am still using VS for all my international calls but have been contemplating changing to Voipbuster. This is something I would like to see improved.
Losing i2Bridge is another big one. I understand DID's cost money and don't expect to get it for free. Could there be a dedicated number for outbound only N2N plan holders to call and dial the internal account 333 number to somehow replace i2Bridge? I wouldn't mind being charged for incoming and international rate. When I am on the road, using cell phone to make international calls is just too expansive.
Any plans to start sip incoming?
Thanks.
EDIT: P.S. Voipbuster does have a New York # to call and it bridges my cell # to my account for international calls. |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Comcast
| reply to fixup
The CEO is a great guy, but hates to clean house. The cleaning should have been done long ago.
I needed too to also be convinced that I would not waste 75% of my day arguing the case of common sense.
I get along great with Paul (the CEO) and I also trust him. He just hated to clean house, and it took a long fall down the shaft for him to make the move.
My deal is payment in stock, no cash. So I have a vested interest to gain back market share and enhance shareholder value. My being a shareholder is a big driver.
OK, how do I convince you????? It is going to just take time. I don't think I even care today if I convince anyone today. My current mission is to clean up a large bunch of missteps that have been put in place.
IM me late Monday to see if I am still convinced
I enjoy the input, IM me any time. I am on the computer most of the time.
Now I am off to fix some accounts that need fixing.
Thanks, Bruce |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Comcast
| reply to slow mo
Just thinking out loud, we do have a PRI in Atlanta that will do 30+ incoming calls at no charge to us.
We are also developing a new web site that will address all those concerns. IM me for the url, I don't want to publish it in the wild.
Also we are changing the telco switch to an open source switch that will allow us to do some of the things on my want list.
While I was gone the network guys moved forward, it was mostly the sales, marketing, and customer support that got all screwed up.(Yeah like that was not enough
Keep the input coming, I need it to be able to pull a rabbit out of my hat.
I will have an office number next week if anyone wants to bend my ear.
Bruce |
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mazilo
From Mazilo
Premium
join:2002-05-30
Lilburn, GA
| reply to BruceN
said by BruceN  :Well I am back at Voicestick.com (i2telecom). I hope that a few of you have GOOD memories of me. My name is Bruce Nicklin. I was with Voicestick for one year and we had everything going in the right direction. (not perfect but heading correctly). I hope your come back can steer VP to a better direction. Welcome back and it sure is nice to hear from you again.
--
Mazilo
US Phone: +1-678-601-0907
UK Phone: +44-703-194-2574 |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Comcast
| Mazilo, I have missed you. You are also direct and plain spoken. I always know where you are coming from.
I can use all the straight input I can get. You seem to always know who is doing what. IM me any time, please!
I have my work cut out for me.
Bruce |
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gbh2o
join:2000-12-18
Greenville, NC
 ·STANAPHONE
·Voxee
·VBUZZER
·VOIPo
 ·Embarq
·callwithus
·MyPhoneCompany
·Axvoice
·Packet8
| reply to BruceN
Glad you're back to lend an honest voice representing VS. I enjoyed doing business with you at VS and in a couple of your earlier business 'lives'. I tend to believe what you say based on past experience. 
I don't mind paying for inbound, as long as I don't also have to 'pay through the nose' for a DID... we both know the DIDs aren't that expensive by themselves. There are basically two ways to go; charge a DID price high enough to balance out the inbound use, or charge a low DID price and charge inbound by the minute. You just can't do both and expect customers to do it... especially without notice. I also didn't like the constant changes in the minimum recharge amounts.
I did like the i2bridge, and it easily solved a couple of problems for me, but I found the costs prohibitive after a while... now I just do it through an asterisk box. The i2bridge removed the gamble that Embarq could keep my DSL alive on a reliable basis.
I never could figure out the reluctance to allow us [* users] to use VS as an outbound trunk. VS prices were reasonable and I would have thought that using more minutes would just have enhanced your buying volume and price point. Maybe I was wrong? Now other companies get my $. I keep a mix of the cheap and the reliable providers so that calls can always be completed, with usable clarity.
I still have a balance in one account that I didn't close. I was trying to figure out if I could just donated it to any deployed service member's account that used a softphone; I don't use softphones and * isn't allowed. So the balance has just sat there since rational use of i2bridge ceased being possible.
VoiceStick had a lot of potential. I've just been waiting for it to join the rapidly growing list of the departed. I sincerely hope that it's not to late and you can use those stock shares for more than wallpaper, toilet paper or insulation in the future. |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Comcast
| At this point I don't see a problem with Asterisk. Prior to all of this, when inbound was free, there was some drastic abuse to Asterisk.
Give me till about Tues on that one
You should see the junk in front of that.
I also agree on the DID cost, and the per min cost.
I am a fan of up front pricing, instead of smoke an mirrors, but sometimes smoke is needed.
My original thought was a 75 cent cost for a DID, and have a inbound/outbound of 1.3 cents. Also charge dead cost of $1.50 for e911 (A real pain!!!)
But that was about the time I left, and the mad man then did almost hour to hour crazy changes.
Maybe we need a straw vote here in this forum to see which way people want to go.
I also will have a real phone number direct to me on Monday, I will post the number and extension.
Thanks for all of your loyal support, you know me I will get this all done.
Bruce |
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deheza
join:2004-06-10
Allen, TX |  reply to BruceN
Welcome back! Outstanding customer service is the way to go. It has worked well for the company that I work for.
--
RoadRunner, ViaTalk, Vitelity, VoipJet, Stanaphone, NuFone, CallWithUs, QuantumVoice
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buckeyered
Premium
join:2005-05-07
Hamilton, OH
·VoicePulse
·QuantumVoice
·Callcentric
·ViaTalk
| reply to BruceN
welcome back Bruce,
I closed my account as well as my wifes because things just got real bad and international calling prices for the Philippines skyrocketed. Hope things work out for you.
--
'If you change phone numbers one more time I am leaving you.' - My wife |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Thanks for the input. I need to look at rates. Again this was an area that went just crazy. Do you mind me asking what are you finding as a good rate? |
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BruceN
VP VoiceStick - MyGlobalTalk
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | reply to deheza
Thanks! They keep on telling us that the USA is a service economy, yet service seems to be missing so often! |
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N9MD
Premium
join:2005-10-08
Wayne, NJ
·ViaTalk
·VOIPo
·Callcentric
| reply to BruceN
Welcome back to the whirlwind world of VoIP, Bruce. Based on the early years of VoiceStick (such as the N2N Plan) --- unless you are looking to be only a full sevice provider rivaling Vonage, ViaTalk, VoicePulse, P8, etc. --- you may want to take a very, very close look at CallCentric. Of all the varieties of VoIP providers out there now, CallCentric appears to have expanded their service & features & fee structure to a point just beyond where VoiceStick was originally heading.
And I agree that free incoming minutes on a N2N type of per minute outgoing plan is suicide for a provider. Most of us former VS users (abusers) will fess up to using VS just for the free incoming calls. CallCentric's apparent success to date is because they are charging for incoming and outgoing minutes (except on their unlimited plans). |
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triumph
join:2007-01-03
Austin, TX
·AT&T Southwest
·Callcentric
·RoadRunner Cable
edit:
February 10th, @03:01AM
| reply to BruceN
I will tell you why I originally was attracted to VoiceStick.
1) The VoiceStick flashdrive
2) i2bridge
I thought the VoiceStick flash drive was a terrific idea, but when I heard that you still had to plug in an external mic or headset separately, it didn't seem very special. I can download any number of softphones for free and load it onto my own flash drive instead of overpaying for a small capacity one.
Now Magic Jack offers a similar USB device, except it seems to be an ATA, so it can be used with cordless phones. In my opinion this is superior to the VoiceStick, and the rate plan looks cheaper too.
It would be nice if you offered a VoiceStick that also integrated a headphone/mic jack. Better yet, a VoiceStick that incorporated a bluetooth adaptor, so you could pair it with a bluetooth headset and not be tethered to your computer. I don't know what kind of software/driver hurdles this would pose, but it's something I would definitely be interested in. I know I have seen this type of device somewhere before.
The other feature I was really interested in was the i2bridge. However other companies have similar options and it isn't really that unique now. I have a SPA-3102 now so I personally don't require i2bridge any more.
One feature I am really starting to like is access numbers (like SIP broker, OneSuite, or Vonage v-access offer), so others can call me inexpensively from around the world. I don't remember if VoiceStick promotes this. |
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hoolahoous
join:2004-08-25
Red Valley, AZ
·ViaTalk
| reply to BruceN
I think voicestick is a great idea. But why not sell voip service .. currently it seems whole idea is to sell 'voicestick' device.. why not make that usb drive as ONE of your offerings and not the ONLY offering ?
Here is my wishlist
1) Asterisk support. To avoid abuse, you can restrict minutes to some upper cap (like all other providers have). And please do not have stupid things like having to reload trunk every half an hour.
2) make it open. i.e. promote people to use their own devices on next2nothing plan. That would be a real crowd puller.
3) I think voicestick is a great and unique idea (well not so much after magic jack) but it has potential to be a carried forward. (maybe like one of the poster suggested to have bluetooth ??)
4) you have amazing international rate. (atleast for countries I call to). You could promote next2nothing + byod + cheap international rate as cost saving trunk for byod users. (Just like onesuite does) I would love to have voicestick as my primary international carrier (viatalk international rates are too high for me). |
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