how-to block ads
|
BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·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 | |
|  
meister_sd
Premium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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 | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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 | |
| | | nitzan
Premium,VIP
join:2008-02-27
·ViaTalk
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick said by BruceN  :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. On that, you're definitely right. I am glad to see that finally some other companies are starting to realize this. 
I do have a personal account with VS, but I have pretty much stopped using it once I got sick of the incoming charges and attitude I got from customer support. At one time I remember a rep telling me that VS doesn't support ATAs other than Grandstream. That's around the point I decided to take my business elsewhere. Or to be more exact, attitude from customer service at multiple companies, including VS and ViaTalk, drove me to start my own company.
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. I totally hear you, but I think my problem with it personally was less about having to pay for it, and more about how much it cost. I know not all DID providers were created equally, but in general incoming calls don't cost $0.011/min to provide. If you do the math, a customer that receives 3 calls a day, each 10 minutes, that's 900 minutes monthly. 900*$0.011=$9.9 per month, and that's not even including taxes & fees.
I do like the way you're taking things though, it is rare to find executives who listen these days!
And finally- out of curiosity, I know your main target is residential customers, but do you plan on offering wholesale services to smaller providers perhaps? ViaTalk for example does that, but their pricing models and support are abysmal.
One market that is totally waiting to be tapped is E911 for smaller providers. To date I have had zero luck with finding a provider which doesn't require me to sign 12 NDA agreements before allowing me the pleasure of paying them thousands of dollars just to "set up". ViaTalk does offer E911 for their own numbers, but they too are $0.011 which prevents me from using them. What would be great for smaller providers (and a good source of income for a larger company like VS) is a third-party E911 service. Something like $1/DID or similar, without all the monthly minimums and ridiculous set up fees.
But, I'm dreaming. I am sure you have a lot on your plate these days. Good luck!!!
--
Nitzan Kon, CEO
Future Nine Corporation | |
| | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Yeah things got all screwed up while I was gone. Paul (CEO)did some adjusting to the group and made me an offer I could not refuse.
Besides I like Paul a lot and the job I took after i2 almost got me killed, and I needed a couple months off to think about nothing.
But I am back and hitting it hard!
Today was a busy day. I got a far better deal on outbound, and shortly will have a better deal on inbound. We have been paying insane termination rates (retail schnook prices ). We are a public company, go look at the books, we were paying about $2 for every $1 in termination sales.
Paul calls me the "fixer". I have been going full blast 18 hours a day 7 days a week. We are making head way.
Customer service. We are a clean slate. New ticket system tomorrow!!!!!
Garbage fees, gone. If we need them to stay in business, I need to go do something else. We are going to win customers on quality products, quality service, decent prices and my good looks...... Well at least the first 3 !
e911, what a rape of the system. I think that there must be price controls. Every provider is the same price! Anyone know of a deal for less the one buck? IM me.
Look for rate reductions and whole programs to come AFTER the new billing system and switch are set up.
ALSO go check out my beta thread for myglobaltalk | |
| | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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 | |
| | | fixup
join:2007-01-26
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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? | |
| | | | | slow mo
join:2002-03-19
USA
4 edits | 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. | |
| | | mazilo
From Mazilo
Premium
join:2002-05-30
Lilburn, GA
| 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 | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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 | |
| | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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 | |
| 
deheza
join:2004-06-10
Allen, TX | 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
| |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Thanks! They keep on telling us that the USA is a service economy, yet service seems to be missing so often! | |
| | | | | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick usa2k Hi! IM me your VS DID number and I will look.
Thanks for the input!!!! | |
| | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick 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? | |
| | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Great idea. FOR SURE we are going to lift any sort of ban on Asterisk TOMORROW!
I will go look at their program.
Was wondering if Asterisk users need some sort of special program...... Any thoughts? | |
| | | | | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Lots of little users are just as good (if not better) then one big user.
I will go look at these links. | |
| | |
meister_sd
Premium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA
| said by BruceN :Was wondering if Asterisk users need some sort of special program...... Any thoughts? Asterisk users are generally more advanced users that shouldn't use much, if any, of your customer service needs. I see CS as a big chunk of revenue lost. Also, you could state that * users are only supported via a forum, as long as you monitor it very regularly. On any CS, people hate to wait a long time for a resolution.
The N2N plan should be brought back, but with limits. There are many hobbyist and part-time voip users who used this and weren't abusers. I used it, before the * no-no, for testing and demonstration. I think if you have a very reasonable cap of 100-200 minutes of free incoming, you would attract back a lot of people who could/would turn into higher paying customers. I probably averaged about 30 minutes a month of incoming a just a few outgoing - again as testing/demonstration. I still had a balance from the initial $5 given after a year. (Don't know if this is good or bad from your end!  )
I use CallWithUs as our DID. I pay $4.70 that includes 3000 free incoming minutes. That is ALOT of minutes for the average person, especially since people still have home phones and cell phones. We have a Tokyo DID with them and I also tested them with outgoing calls and it also is great. I don't mind so much the setup cost since it is a one time fee but no more than twice the monthly charge. Mine was the same as the monthly charge, I think. | |
| | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick OK, just finish a phone meeting with the guru or gurus. He is our head of system development.
We are making a transition off of our old (real old!!!!) Soft Switch. We will be state of the art in 30 days (Which of course will become 45 days)
I was asked for my wish list for asterisks !!!!
Bring it on guys! I want to look good, and seem like I know what I am talking about (I am a novice at Asterisk's)
In the meantime, he still want to keep Asterisks off the system, as the system is rather fragile!! (At least it is an answer)
When the new switch is installed I want to be state of the art, best program on the net.
That is where this forum comes in. (Maybe we need to move it to it's own topic?)
Bruce | |
| | | gbh2o
join:2000-12-18
Greenville, NC
·Future Nine Corpor..
·callwithus
·MyPhoneCompany
·VBUZZER
·Voxee
 ·Embarq
·VOIPo
·STANAPHONE
·Axvoice
·Packet8
2 edits | Quite frankly Bruce, asterisk 'types' don't need a lot of extra bells and whistles. The asterisk platform and add-ons allow us to do pretty much anything we can think of.
I would suggest two programs:
One for the 'normal' residential end-user that gets all the goodies and concentrates on a semi-flat-rate offering. As you browse the competition you'll see that most offer a limited plan with 'free' incoming on a provided DID, and a pot of 200-500 minutes outbound in a month. Other popular plans like Vbuzzer offer a DID, free inbound and around 1500 minutes out for $15/mo. $18-25 a month seems to get a more 'unlimited' pot, usually soft-capped and looked at for abuse at around 2500-3500 minutes. _Don't play the game with the 'unlimited' tag... you really don't mean it. Of course a 'business' or SOHO similar setup seams to run $10-20 higher for the same features. You may want to offer BYOD availability [_very_ limited support, maybe user to user in forums] as well as a fully supported, but unlocked ATA of your own on lease, rent-to-own or out-right purchase basis. Make it one with only limited user options if you want to retain sanity in your customer service department.
Since you seem to have excellent wholesale pricing available to be able to offer many of your termination rates, you should be able to enter the 'bulk' business provision arena also. At the lower end of this program you find the residential asterisk user, followed by businesses running their own asterisk [There certainly are other PBX software type systems here too] and then the real bulk business buyers that eat DIDs and minutes 24 hours/day. I believe these very different groups all are seeking almost the component level of services. Sell me DIDs optionally with either no included minutes but a fair per minute rate in/out, or DIDs [higher cost to average actual usage costs] that include an incoming and/or outgoing bucket of minutes with overages at a slightly elevated, but still fair price which encourages them to buy bigger buckets, if available. Again, you don't need to offer many fancy features in this arena other than a straight-forward control panel for managing their rented assets; i.e. this DID gets linked with this server/destination point. I'll bet if you query RockyBB, he would gladly offer many sound suggestions from the perspective of a knowledgeable reseller/user consultant[I think]. I guess the one feature we smaller guys do appreciate is a fail-over to a pre-designated number if [_when_ if you have Embarq] our 'broadband' circuit dies for a bit. For the bigger customers, you may want to also be able to sell a bit of a reliable pipe to service them, if required. Short version, for asterisk, think bare-bones. And yeah, using enum and associated services could actually eliminate a good percentage of actual termination fees since more and more users are directly addressable via a VoIP URI [hope that's an appropriate terminology].
BTW, the i2bridge was a perfect solution for my Mother [didn't want routers/switches, ATAs or anything else cluttering her area], and for my Mother-in-Law who doesn't even have broadband service. At least it was until the costs kept escalating without warning or sanity. Then my mother went back to OneSuite and my M-I-L uses my asterisk system features.
My own little world for play consists of geographically dispersed asterisk boxes linked together as well as a PBXes account for safety. I rent DIDs and buy minutes from several different providers, so I have lots of trunk options. And yes, I tend to choose the lowest cost, _reliable_ outbound route for calls. My extended family throughout the US have a flock of my ATAs and are my users; they yak to each other quite a bit now. Only a few have access to my external termination [except in emergencies] since I'm footing the bill and it's only a hobby, it's only a hobby, it's only a hobby. Then there's always my nephew in Shanghai and my sister-in-law's folks in Bogota ...
But what the heck, I'm just a ROF and end-user myself... so what do I know? | |
| | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick I think when we get to the new switch we are going to be wide open to many things, and that is why I am asking for the info (and I am getting GREAT info) at this point.
As I mentioned before I hear a target date of 30 days. I have seen some of the specs, and will be seeing even more this next week.
I think having broad product offers is the way to go. Why tie in to just one or two types of offers. | |
| | Ricci
join:2001-11-04
Tampa, FL
| Hi N9MD.
Just to add one small info to your message. I'm a Callcentric customer with a $5.00/month DID and I have unlimited inbound. Even the cheap $3.00/month DIDs have unlimited inbound.
Just to clarify that unlimited is available at Callcentric even if you don't have a monthly outbound plan. | |
| | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Thanks for the input. My dead cost for DID's is 50 cents, and inbound costs us .09 cents a min. So at around 500 min a month the deal goes negative.
I have not studied them, a great (but limited) work around to carrier inbound termination cost is a PRI. One would need a PRI in a rate center to have zero inbound termination cost. That is maybe not practical, so one would need to limit the areas of DID's to the places where you have a PRI (PRI's are not cheap)
I will need to go over there and see how they are doing it. It is either a cap on the "unlimited" or limited DID areas, or it is a money loser due to abuse.
Anyone have another view on this?
Welcome the input!!!
Bruce | |
| triumph
join:2007-01-03
Austin, TX
·AT&T Southwest
·Callcentric
1 edit | 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. | |
| |
See 23 replies to this post | |
hoolahoous
join:2004-08-25
Red Valley, AZ
| 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). | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick hoolahoous, you just hit all of the hot buttons I had in a special weekend meeting.
I am with you on all of these points.
As to caps, yeah on a "unlimited" program, every one has caps as it is sold on the basis of Residential. I think every one is cool as long as you publish WHAT the cap is, and what any cost would be going over.
As far as a 1/2 hour reload, we are changing Telco switches. I need to see what the new spec is. We are moving to a new open source switch, and new billing platform. | |
| 
Glurg
@server4you.de
| Welcome back.
Encourage ata-to-ata calls:
free plan where you get a pseudo-number you can use in an ata
Allow 'quick dial' numbers like callcentric's *75xx, that can be mapped to a sip url. If I then register my ata to voicestick, I can type in *7501 and be connected to somebody's sip address.
Test all outgoing calls against the Enum database, so that if somebody has his pstn number registered there, the call will be automatically routed via sip-to-sip. This is mainly to give Enum a boost; it's a good idea but needs subscribers. This also makes voicestick a little different from the rest of the pack, as I don't know of anyone that does this.
You said:
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. I was one of the people in the abuser database, but can't complain about being charged for incoming. I don't know of anybody who allows free incoming calls. Callcentric, which has a good reputation, charges 1.5 cents per minute for incoming and about 2 cents per minute for outgoing, and it isn't hurting them.
But if you can undercut them and still make a profit, great.
One thing I notice is that callcentric charges 3.95 as a setup fee for DIDs plus 1.95/month. Maybe you could undercut them a bit on those.
I can't recall the extent of your DIDs, but having lots of them, including Canadian ones, would be an attraction.
Let users set up a whitelist, so that the only people allowed to get through on their DID are the numbers they specify, up to 10 numbers, say.
I have 6 or 7 people I want to hear from. The rest can be blocked or go to voicemail. Right now, I hesitate to give out my voip number in case it gets into the hands of telemarketers or cranks. This would let me give it out to anyone I'm doing business with, and remove it when the business is finished.
By the way, is callcentric in the sipbroker database, with its own *xxx number? It should be, since sipbroker has pstn gateway numbers all over the world which allow calls to be made from pstn to the vosp's userid.
So, if voicestick had a sipbroker id of *999, and a user had a voicestick userid of 17771234567, somebody could dial a sipbroker pstn gateway number in London, and then type in: *99917771234567, and be connected.
Sipbroker also allows an alias to be mapped to the userid, so I could specify an alias of 1234 at my sipbroker account and have it point to 17771234567@sip.voicestick.com, and whenever someone dialed the sipbroker gateway number, they would follow it up with *01111234 and be connected.
In this case, *0111 is the sipbroker access, so that it knows that 1234 maps to my voicestick account. It's almost short enough to give out as an extension.
Would it be worth selling an *unlocked* ata that is pre-programmed for some voicestick userid and password, and has $10 of credit?
The idea would be that even the most computer-fearing granny could be connected to voip by buying one of these and plugging it into the router (that somebody had set up for her).
'Voicestick - the friendly gateway to the voip world - so simple to use, even granny can do it'.
Is voicestick reliable nowadays? It had several outages but I haven't heard here of anything lately. If something does go wrong, put a notice on the website and keep it current until things are fixed. | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Glurg WOW!!!! Thanks for the long input. I am spinning a bit on your ideas. I will get Mark and Travis to look at it.
With the new switch and billing coming they are maxed out for maybe the next 6 weeks, BUT all of this is going to allow us to add new and more modern features.
Mark Hewitt is the guru behind all of this. He is one of the fathers of SIP and is our C level guy on the network side. I will also show him this entire thread we he gets up here to Atlanta. | |
| Quattrohead
join:2005-02-09
·VOIPo
| Welcome back Bruce, you are the most respected VP on DSLR 
i2bridge is the best feature you have. It allowed me to call abroad from my cell phone so simply, loved it.
Stabilize the situation and just provide good honest service and I am sure all of us here will support you.
Come up with a plan and I will likely sign up again. | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Hey thanks!!!
IM me I want you to take a sneak peek at something. It is for cell phone use, and VOIP | |
| tomb9992003
join:2007-12-28
Friendswood, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
1 edit | Welcome back, Bruce, I was one of the Sunrocket "castaways" who went to Voicestick largely due to your postings on this forum last year in your other tour at Voicestick. I'm just a basic residential customer originally using my unlocked Sunrocket SPA2102 and then switched to the Grandstream device provided by Voicestick. I'm on the annual "unlimited" plan and I haven't been impacted by the price changes that upset so many people.
I've been very happy with the service, and the only outage in six months was just a couple of weeks ago for about an hour. My only real complaint is the limited voicemail system. Seems like you can't access it from a phone to change settings, so I can't change the greeting. Also, you're stuck with 4 rings before voicemail picks up. One other minor complaint is that using the softphone causes it to take over the line from the ATA for some period of time after you shut it down, so all of your calls go to voicemail.
EDIT - You should also do something about the website, get rid of those cheesy photos! | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick HI!!!
Well I should make you real happy. Web site, yeah photos are terrible!!!!
There is a new site in the works. It is being done with a VERY talented bunch out of Calif. I have seen a lot of their work, and we should have first class!
It all ties in with the new Telco Switch and billing platform.
I will IM you a link to another site they just built for us. It is not ready for prime time but this will give you a strong hint.
ALSO with the new switch we will have a much larger feature package. The current voice mail runs on a very old ersion of software. It is all going to be brand new.
Projected date is 30 days (So figure 45 Days)
Thanks for the input (BTW the annual program was the last thing I did before I left)
Bruce | |
| 
N9MD
Premium
join:2005-10-08
Wayne, NJ
·VOIPo
·ViaTalk
·PHONE POWER
·Callcentric
2 edits | Bruce --
Not to demean those techies who love their *Asterisk, I would venture to say that the vast majority of your potential "new customer" base are just looking for a less expensive telephone service.
The erudite and technically gifted BBR posters offering all sorts of advice here are in actuality greedy, ego-centric gnomes (not necessarily a bad thing ) -- each looking to get a lot of fun things to play with at little or no cost to them -- and caring little for VoiceStick's (or anyone else's) ability to make a profit. And I am one of them!
Most of the "helpful" posters already have three or more providers being used with * or on a combination of ATAs or SoftPhones.
I would venture to guess that most folks who signed up with VS a few years back chose the N2N Plan (and delighted in the ability to pick their DID from a truly enormous list of locations throughout the US) --- and proceeded to use the DID for free incoming calls and little or no outbound calling. Hence, no profit for VS.
My "guess" is easy to prove. Just look at the numbers of VS moochers ... er-r-r customers ... who abandoned the service when you (Bruce) left and the pricing structure was revised drastically. I was one of them!
So, you ask, just what road should VS travel?
Well, if you are targeting people who already have VoIP service, you have a tough job ahead:
• You will have to beat the "cheap" pricing that already exists with Unlimited, Limited and PAYG Per Minute Plans.
• You will need to compete with BOGO-Year Free offerings (which as we know contributed in part to SunRocket's demise -- and which many of us believe is a current source of fiscal concern for at least one other "popular" vender).
• You may need to offer "special" features not available with other providers: Bridging, Virtual Numbers with Independent CallForwarding and VoiceMail (not tied to the main number).
• You will need to determine if VS can "survive" without resorting to adding "extra" fees, charges, tariffs, tolls, penalties (E911, USF, etc.) -- that tend to tick people off. And if you do add such fees, at least clearly state in advance -- in large boldface type -- which ones are mandated and which ones are just to boost VS's bottom line.
• Decide if you want to return the ability for a new customer to choose his or her DID from your previously displayed lengthy Availability listing. This can be a good or bad thing -- depending mostly on your pricing structure. In the past I am sure that a lot of "nice" number xxx-xxx-x000 and xxx-xxx-xx00 hording went on, especially with the N2N Plan. But many of us truly appreciated this DID selection feature when SR and VS were in their heyday.
• In the past, VS could only be used with the proprietary SJSoftPhone (as I recall). You must determine if allowing use of non-proprietary SoftPhones and permitting BYOD ATAs (PAP2s and others) will entice "techies" to sign up.
• Customer Service has been a thorn in the side for many VoIP veterans -- for providers and customers alike. So you best give this area of your operation a good going over.
Then there are the folks thinking about entering the VoIP world for the first time:
• Newcomers to VoIP will make their provider selection by comparing pricing and features -- with very little thought given to customer service performance and system outages -- since they have nothing to compare except PSTN.
• Newcomers will want to just pick up a "real" telephone handset and simply make or receive calls using "real" phone numbers (DIDs). So SoftPhones and Sticks may be a turn off rather than a turn on --- except in Iraq, apparently.
• A small number of potential newcomers to VoIP may be niche users who would benefit from a "Stick" gimick or from an on-screen SoftPhone --- which require that their computers be turned on. But ultimately, this setup discourages outbound calling (because one will soon tire of having to actually wait for the computer to boot up before a call can be made).
• As with the oldtimers, you may find that newcomers are enticed by Virtual Numbers with independent VoiceMail and CallForwarding. CallCentric, for example, offers truly inexpensive DIDs at $1.95 per month with low per minute incoming and outgoing charges actually encourage a customer to sign up for a second or third separate account to get "cheap" but full-feature additional DIDs with independent CallForwarding and Free VoiceMail -- and pay only per minute charges for the additional DIDs when and if they are used. To me, that's value!
And whether you want to attract newbies or techies, think long and hard as to what equipment your customers will use. If I were only interested in the bottom line, profit-wise, I would only allow use of a VoiceStick supplied ATA (locked) or a proprietary SoftPhone or a proprietary USB Memory Stick -- to minimize the headaches encountered with customer service when users are permitted to use a host of poorly supported BYODs. -- Oh, that's already how several of the currently successful VoIP providers operate. So I guess it all boils down to price, price, price and customer service and maybe one or two gimick features not available with other providers. | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick N9MD ---- WOW do you write well. The content of your note does not scare me, it is the fantastic way you write that concerns me. I will now and forever feel like a rank armature when I type
Yeah, God bless America (or is it God bless this mess). I have spent my entire life in highly competitive industries. I did 20 plus years in the Appliance industry, ranging from working for a major manufacturer to owning a couple of my own companies. From there I was at the start of the internet selling online computer parts and systems. I also owned a quality online auction (Sold them both and they were driven into the ground)
And because I could not get enough pain, I even started a 3 star restaurant in a small resort town at the same time. (That put me in intensive care for 4 days
So what does this all mean? It means I am too stupid to find an easy industry where the gross margins are great, and the competition is light.
(Well I did try doing a trouble shooting job after VS and dang near got murdered in MSP airport --- Made the newspapers --- had to quit !)
Yes, you are right. Too many players, too few gross profit dollars, and too many mooch and abusive customers.
I think there are two answers. Land lines are dead, cell phones and VOIP are the future and they will merge. (This is step two in my plan, more on it later)
The longer term answer is service.
You will never win on price as the mooch will always find your price too high, and will leave at the drop of a penny. It is going to take the mix of a unique set of products that WORK and customer service that is top notch.
The normal customer just wants value and service (I hope my cable company reads this)
If I can deliver on that then I am a winner.
I might as well do this job. I always love a good rat race.
Thanks for taking the time to write such a great letter.
I am in AWE. Bruce | |
| | | | | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick I think I am banned now in about 8 states to never touch a club. My ex boss for decades ago tried often to teach me. No luck!!
Come here to Georgia again and I will caddy ! | |
| | | mazilo
From Mazilo
Premium
join:2002-05-30
Lilburn, GA
| said by BruceN :(Well I did try doing a trouble shooting job after VS and dang near got murdered in MSP airport --- Made the newspapers --- had to quit !) When I saw your statement above, I just LOL. You just reminded of an old accident happened to me when I tried to catch a leaving bus (public transportation) and felt off the sidewalk skidding through the back wheels of that bus (nearly ran over me).
Yes, you are right. Too many players, too few gross profit dollars, and too many mooch and abusive customers. Unfortunately, these are all facts.
I think there are two answers. Land lines are dead, cell phones and VOIP are the future and they will merge. (This is step two in my plan, more on it later) I reckon this is already happening and pioneered by SIPBroker. SIPPhone/GizmoProject seems to have been promoting itself with this feature and called it a VoIP Backdoor Dialing.
The longer term answer is service. Here is one for you: Add the SMS capability and let end users choose an option to have the incoming messages forwarded to their e-mail addresses.
--
Mazilo
US Phone: +1-678-601-0907
UK Phone: +44-703-194-2574 | |
| | | | | hoolahoous
join:2004-08-25
Red Valley, AZ
1 edit | I think first goal of VS would be to get the VS brand 'out' in public.
One approach would be to have a media blitz like vonage. But that would need some really serious money.
Other strategy of voicestick could be word of mouth. (Just like Sunrocket). VS can gain the confidence of 'tech' people (read : people on this board ). For voip, people usually talk to 'tech guy' they know to find out how it works and what company is 'good'.. Lot of my colleagues and relatives have asked me about voip and which provider they should be choosing. What do you think I will recommend ?
I recommended Sunrocket (because of their superior service, technical and customer service) to several of them and they signed up. I can't do same for viatalk since their service is not reliable, customer service is subpar. Point is not which company is better. Point is, that people trust the 'tech guy' to make decision for them.
So though I have selfish interest in having asterisk trunk, I will recommend VS if I find the service to be reliable and easy to deal with.
edit: fixed typo..  | |
| | | | | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick No kidding.... Mr. Ed died | |
| soitgoes2
Premium
join:2005-01-14
·Future Nine Corpor..
2 edits | Bruce,
Although I am not an active poster, I do read these forums regularly. As a current VoiceStick account holder and former VoiceStick customer (in the sense that since the no-notice changes I have not topped up my account or really used the service), I was extremely pleased to see you return to VoiceStick and to this forum: it was your active involvement in resolving customer issues that had led me to try out VoiceStick last year.
I'm going to expound on two issues that have come to mind. Please bear with me.
What is abuse?
A user who used VoiceStick primarily to receive incoming calls should not be characterized as an abusive user. This usage pattern was a flaw in the VoiceStick pricing and marketing model, and in most cases was likely not an attempt on the part of your customers to abuse the system. Also, you have to put yourselves in the mind of a consumer who is used to paying Ma Bell only for outgoing calls who does not understand the intricacies of the telephone fees that VoiceStick might have to pay to its carriers. Indeed, there are termination fees that are paid to carriers for calls made to DIDs--even if i2Telecom doesn't see that money, someone does get paid. Lastly, the new MyGlobalTalk service that i2Telecom is releasing will encourage consumers to take advantage of myFaves, Sprint-to-Home, and Alltel's myCircle in order to circumvent charges for wireless minute charges. While that is simply institutionalizing the functionality of i2bridge that already exists, it represents a different marketing attempt.
My take-home message: provide clear, sustainable pricing utilize marketing that is consistent with your cost structure
Information is power
The most serious problem with VoiceStick was not the increase in fees per se; rather, it was the concomitant lack of notice or information that frustrated me and many other customers. It goes without saying that the party that sets the terms of the contract (VoiceStick) should be expected to abide by its terms without fail. That did not happen.
I would have stayed an active VoiceStick user if I had had any confidence that my costs were going to be stable for even a little while. The FAQs and advertising on the website were not updated to keep up with changes in VoiceStick practices, and, for a time, the most reliable information was found not on voicestick.com but on this very forum, and it's still unclear to me exactly what fees apply to the various plans and/or DIDs. Rates have changed without any notice--one of my destinations jumped 800% (yes you read that right), the cost of domestic calls has almost doubled, and the cost to call toll-free numbers jumped by more than a factor of 10.
My take-home message:
Customers want a bargain, but what they want even more is stability, fairness, predictability, and information
Sorry for writing so much, but thank you for reading. | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick I so much agree with you. The powers that took control should have issed out emails telling people of rate/program changes. No one likes a Gotcha ! It makes for all kinds of bad feelings.
I always tell people, give me the bad news as I can take it. Don't hide it, cloud it i smoke or withhold it.
As to abusers. We NEVER figured a user with a few hundred min. as an abuser. There are many services that do not measure in bound, but pack the cost into say a $8.95 a month DID fee. And they have a cap on what is normal.
What I am talking about is a person (typically out of country)that runs hundreds of calls with thousands of minutes. He has a box on his end and is reselling termination to the USA! Now that is abuse. And I have seen WAY too many of these guys.
I am sure that all you can eat restaurants have stories of people carting out food in bags, coats and pockets. There will always be the sneak theif!
Thanks for your comments, and taking the time to write some good ones.
Bruce
| |
| artisticcheese
join:2004-11-09
Carrollton, TX
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VoiceStick
1 edit | Hello Bruce,
I went through P8-->Broadvox Direct-->Sunrocket-->Voicestick.
So I have experience with different VOIP offerings, so far what I like in voicestick is low international rates and i2bridge.
What I hate is completly rudimentary website (can not even customize time zone when displaying call logs for example) and rudimentary basic VOIP service options.
I really miss some basic VOIP service I was getting from other providers
* Selecttive incoming call blocking
* Ability to dial US numbers without requiring to dial 1 first
* Anonymous call rejection
* Webbased voicemail access
And especially I dearly miss feature which is was very unique to Sunrocket - Signature Message Screener, i.e. ability to screen calls coming to your VOIP line and redirect them to local phone number if you wanted to take them.
Are there any plans to bring Voicestick on par with competition in terms of basic VOIP services? | |
| |
See 7 replies to this post | |
celtic
join:2001-02-08
USA
| It all sounds good but I don't have the patience to play a what if posting game. Bring the cost of outbound back to $.012 and I'll start making calls. If calls work as before I'll make additional deposits. I haven't used VS since you raised the rate in mid September. As I successfully use your service I'll get interested in discussions and additional services. | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick I recall the rate being briefly 1.3 cent, don't recall the 1.2 cent. Our current termination company is costing right around 1 cent, so with a margin we can't hit 1.2.
But with the new switch we will also be looking at new outbound carriers.
Telco is very competitive. Some people live for the cheapest rate as they make tons of calls, others desire great features.
We have got to do both!
Thanks for the input. It is a great help!! | |
| | | celtic
join:2001-02-08
USA
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick said by BruceN :I recall the rate being briefly 1.3 cent, don't recall the 1.2 cent. ... Below are a few sample calls from my 8-07 history.
Min - Cost
02 - 0.02
46 - 0.55
37 - 0.44
01 - 0.01
20 - 0.24
18 - 0.22
02 - 0.02
28 - 0.34
01 - 0.01
27 - 0.32
10 - 0.12
14 - 0.17
I billed over $10 that month ... $0 now. Voicestick went from being a great value to loosing each category in 60 days, all without notice. I assume your back because these changes did not work. What can you do? | |
| | | | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA
·Future Nine Corpor..
·AT&T U-Verse
·Comcast
| Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Just goes to show you that I don't know everything.
Problem at this point is our cost for outbound termination. We need to shop around hard for a better deal. 1.2 is just not possible at this point, but we do need to get a better deal, no doubt!
Thanks for the input! | |
| slow mo
join:2002-03-19
USA
2 edits | Bruce,
The concept behind GlobalTalk is good and very useful for cell phone users. But, why do I need 2 separate accounts, 1 for at home (VS) and 1 for traveling (GT), for my calls? I would not use GT at home because it has higher rates.
You mentioned you have PRI in Atlanta without incurring inbound charges. This would be perfect for cell phone users, no charges and/or no minutes (carrier dependent). A reduced inbound charge + outbound rate should do it. You get to keep inbound charges (PRI in Atlanta). Just enable the bridge between my cell #, or any # for that matter, and my VS account when calling the Atlanta #. This can be managed via web. GT and Voipbuster have this capability.
slow | |
| | BruceN
Hi
join:2006-11-17
Roswell, GA | Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick Slo Mo, yeah I agree about the Atlanta PRI. I just need to convince the network guys. They have WAY too many projects and I think if I brought that up right now they would go into melt down.
I even have a url I reserved I will IM you with it | |
| gimp55
join:2003-08-16
Ironton, OH
2 edits | I stopped using VS when the ibridge stopped showing my VS number caller id on my cell.
I am using alltel prepaid with 1 my favorite number and now have my grandcentral number set as it.
The only way to call out is if someone leaves a message and i use the return call feature.i would love to go back to VS the way it was before they made that change.
also not even using the account shows i have a -$15.13 bill.
Glad to see you back BruceN if you can remember i was the one helping with the ata186 configs some.
VS sure went downhill when you left | |
| | | | | |
|
Re: [VoiceStick] Well I am back and in charge of VoiceStick