vonage_rep
join:2002-08-20
New York, NY
|  Vonage Slashes Price of Unlimited Business Plan
Hello Friends --
We have dropped the price of your Unlimited Business Plan by $20, it's now only $49.99 per month!
If you are an Unlimited Business subscriber, this change will take effect in your next billing cycle.
Please note the plan has ONLY changed in price. You still have all of the great features, including the dedicated fax line, for free.
As always, thank you for your support.
Ingrid Pettigrew
VP Vonage Customer Care |
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Cam
Premium
join:2003-01-25
Luther, OK
clubs: | Now THAT's cool!
Thanks Ingrid |
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tlpintpe
join:2002-09-13
Spicewood, TX
| said by Cam  :
Now THAT's cool!
Now, that's called competition. Welcome VoicePulse to the small business Voip party! |
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WhyADuck
Premium
join:2003-03-05
| reply to vonage_rep
This may be the first benefit of competition among VoIP providers... I note that the VoicePulse small business plan has been priced at $45.99 from when we first learned about their service, and they offer small business customers a conference bridge and user-to-user call transfer. I've never really understood why there should be a huge price disparity between residential and small business service, but especially in VoIP because it makes no sense to overchange business customers in order to subsidize residential service (which is essentially what the traditional phone companies have done, or at least that's always been their excuse for charging much higher rates on business lines).
I will grant that businesses DO generally make more calls than residential users (on average - if there are teenagers in a particular home, then all bets are off!)  but probably not enough to just about double the monthly rate, as many traditional phone companies do. To add insult to injury, not only do businesses get charged a higher rate by the old-line phone companies, but in many areas of the country they are dinged a fixed per-call charge for each outgoing local call they make.
Of course I know that some have protested that VoIP isn't reliable enough to be used in a business (the same folks who wring their hands over what might happen during a power failure), and for some large businesses that absolutely depend on their phones being available 100% of the time that may be a valid concern (depending on the reliability of the broadband connection), but since both VoicePulse and Vonage allow you to set up a number that calls will go to if your 'net connection to the ATA-186 is interrupted, many small business owners (with one or two lines) would find that by simply setting that number up to forward to their cell phones during an Internet outage, they may well get as good as, or better reliability than what the phone company provides.
(And for those who remain convinced that the big phone companies are always reliable, I would suggest you read this Detroit Free Press article from August 12, 2000:
»www.freep.com/money/business/pho···0812.htm
Or this one from August 18 of the same year:
»www.freep.com/money/business/pho···0818.htm
I will bet that had any of the VoIP companies been in business then, they could have signed up a large number of customers in the five former Ameritech states!). |
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ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Enola, PA
 ·Comcast
 ·Vonage
|  reply to vonage_rep
now let's see a similar cut on the residential plans. truth be told many of us don't even need land-lines anymore given the proliferation of cell plans w/ generous buckets of ld minutes; also, i use comcast for internet. i yield that vonage's $25.99 plan ain't bad -- but -- when it hits $19.99 then i'll think about it. in the interim, i'll stay w/ my verizon pots line. |
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ieee1394
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Washington
 ·TowerStream
| said by ebubman :
truth be told many of us don't even need land-lines anymore given the proliferation of cell plans w/ generous buckets of ld minutes;
For me, the need for a landline is partially dependent on building construction, location, and whether or not more than one person resides in a residence. If you have good signal quality in your home then ditching a landline and sticking with a cell phone only may make sense. In my current home, which is made out of concrete, I can't really use my cell phone at all. But even outside the signal level isn't that great. The other part is that it makes more sense to have one number where family type calls can come into otherwise we'd just end up with ("the bank called my cell phone today and I told them to call yours...").
Also, here's something else to think about: without a landline how are you going to use dialup if your broadband connection is down? For what I do, I absolutely need Internet connectivity. Unfortunately, dialup via cell phone is a service that still hasn't gone anywhere (e.g. 10MB = $20 at T-Mobile; Sprint says unlimited Vision is for cell phone browsing only, etc. etc.).
I wouldn't be so quick to write the trusty landline (although I'm trying not to have one in my next house). The fact of the matter is that broadband is not an essential service (AFAIK) and doesn't have to be restored within any specific time period if it goes out. |
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Vonage Lover
@216.199.x.x
| reply to ebubman
"but -- when it hits $19.99 then i'll think about it. in the interim, i'll stay w/ my verizon pots line."
Actually, if you were an early adopter like myself, my residential plan IS only $19.99 with Vonage. I am grandfathered in at that rate, for 500 minutes of anywhere calling. This plan is perfect for my household, since we all have cellphones and rarely use the home phone... |
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joshj
join:2001-10-30
Antelope, CA
| reply to vonage_rep
The $49.95 rate does seem a little more reasonable and attractive for businesses. The truth is that most businesses do use the telephone much more extensively than the average residential line and the costs should be higher.
My issues with using Vonage for business use are more about voice dropping out during conversations than necessarily with calls not coming through. It's pretty unprofessional to be speaking with customers (or worse yet - prospective customers) and suddenly go through the "hello... hello??? can you hear me now?" scenario. It may well be the local internet connection at my end, but it doesn't change the fact that a problem exists for me.
My cousin is using a Vonage line for her home office and it seems to be working pretty well, so everything is not bad. And I would switch my home phone to it in a heartbeat if they would offer local number portability for 916-727-xxxx, which they haven't done yet. Hint hint hint Vonage [it's a sure way to shut me up if you'd do LNP up here!!  ] |
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JasonZoom
join:2003-02-24
Fort Myers, FL | I think Vonage for business makes more sense when the business already has a RELIABLE high-speed Internet connection. Even small biz's buy T-1's today, and bandwidth and quality will only increase in the future... |
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tunes
join:2002-01-31
Grosse Ile, MI
·Vonage
| reply to WhyADuck
The reliability issues pertaining to Ameritech are very interesting. I was with Ameritech before switching to Vonage. I must say that I would have probably not tried Vonage had Ameritech been willing and able to fix a long term quality problem I was having with my phone service. It seems that every time it rained my my phone would develop a noisy "hash" that was difficult to hear through. Ameritech always agreed that the problem was on their end and not my house wiring, but they were never able to solve the problem. It would eventually solve itself once the rains stopped and everything had a few days to dry out. After three years of this I had finally had enough. Vonage has been wonderful and without similar problems. I have the service connected to my house wiring and the noise has never returned. I guess they were right, the problem WAS on their end!
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ANYTHING is possible |
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Guy Waters
join:2001-12-04
San Francisco, CA
| reply to vonage_rep
Re: Vonage Slashes Price of Unlimited Business Pla
This is terrific! Now it looks like an adjustment to residential prices may be in order.
Unlimited residential users who have the second port activated as a fax line would now be better off to have the unlimited small business plan. When you add the residential and fax line costs ($39.99 + $9.99) it is only a penny less than the unlimited business plan. The business plan includes 500 outgoing fax minutes, whereas the second fax line at $9.99 only includes 250 fax minutes.
So, for an extra penny a month one would receive 250 extra outgoing minutes on the fax line. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about making a few business calls on telecommute/home office days would violate their TOS.
To be really competitive, Vonage might consider a change in their basic business plan. Keeping the current price of $39.99, offer it in the current configuration of 1,500 minutes plus the 500 minute fax line or unlimited minutes without the fax line. |
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sreekumarv
Premium
join:2003-03-13
Florissant, MO | reply to vonage_rep
Re: Vonage Slashes Price of Unlimited Business Plan
Hi,
This is really cool.
I have 3 business lines from vonage.
And the quality is excellent.
Thanks,
Vasu |
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macdemex
Mac
join:2003-02-02
Cordova, TN | reply to vonage_rep
How unlimited is unlimited, is it like Vonage residential unlimited that is really 3000 minutes? |
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usa2k
Please PRAY for Rebekah
Premium,MVM
join:2003-01-26
Canton, MI
clubs:
·VOIPo
·WOW Internet and C..
·Broadvox Direct
| said by macdemex :
How unlimited is unlimited, is it like Vonage residential unlimited that is really 3000 minutes?
»Re: FAXLINE should I?
The fax line is still limited
[text was edited by author 2003-05-23 23:13:04] |
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ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Enola, PA
·Comcast
·Vonage
| reply to ieee1394
ieee..........good post; your points are well taken. landlines are pretty cheap @ approx $20/mo; the fabled five 9s landline reliability is not to be dismissed lightly either. i could not agree with you more also that broadband is NOT an essential service----------from my perspective, broadband is a nice-to-have. i have not used dialup in maybe 3 or so years; frankly though, for normal email/surfing, dialup is perfectly acceptible albeit & obviously slower than the fast-lane service.
as for the guy who has the $19.99 vonage service, good for you. wish i did. |
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blohner
join:2002-06-26
Cortlandt Manor, NY
clubs:
·Vonage
·Optimum Online
| reply to ieee1394
said by ieee1394 :
I wouldn't be so quick to write the trusty landline (although I'm trying not to have one in my next house). The fact of the matter is that broadband is not an essential service (AFAIK) and doesn't have to be restored within any specific time period if it goes out.
I hear you.. I am just wondering what that period of time is. Two recent examples from Verizon. Both residential customers - both the only phone line in the house... And I am afraid this is the norm...
Friend 1:
Thursday 3-4pm: Verizon Technician seen at the top of the pole two poles from the house doing something
Thursday 7pm: Noticed landline service is out
Thursday 7pm: Called Verizon (from Cellphone). They want to send someone on Wednesday next week!!!. After yelling and more they agree to look at it on Sturday.
Friday: Phone out all day
Saturday: 2pm Technican comes to Friends house - looks at inside wiring 'everything in here is ok' - Friend get's close to loosing it since he told them it's probably at the pole - technician 'we will send someone else in the next 3 days to look at the pole'. Friend is on the phone again - verizon agrees to send someone on Sunday
Sunday: verizon never shows up - phone out all day
Monday: verizon shows up around 4pm at the pole - fixes something - phone back in service
So this ordeal took 4 days and a lot of nerves...
I am not going to go in detail on the second case but second case is myself when I had verzion... I had an outage every 6-12 month and it took at least 4 days and a dozend phonecalls to get them off their behind to fix it.
--
I am addicted to speed --- OOL speed that is |
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs:
·Cox HSI
| reply to vonage_rep
Just to add to blohner's experience, we had a truck come by and rip the phone and cable lines off the pole coming to our house, Friday afternoon at 5:30pm (a year or so ago). We call Cox, they say a tech will be out in 30 minutes to fix it. Guy shows up in 20 minutes, runs a new line. Called Sprint (from cell phone), they said they'd have a tech out by 5:00pm on Monday. After a yelling match, they say Saturday, 5:00pm. Guy shows up 4:30pm, reattaches the run over lines, and leaves. 2/3 lines don't work. Sprint says Wednesday by 5:00pm. After another yelling match, they agree to Monday. The tech that came out that day said the pairs inside the line snapped, so he had to run a new line. My broadband was back up in less than hour and I could have been just fine had I had Vonage/Packet 8 vs. 3 days with Sprint. Any wonder why Vonage/Packet8/Cell Phone companies are experiencing such growth?
--
"This is it, a few bumps and we're hauling the mail." |
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joshj
join:2001-10-30
Antelope, CA
| reply to JasonZoom
said by JasonZoom :
I think Vonage for business makes more sense when the business already has a RELIABLE high-speed Internet connection. Even small biz's buy T-1's today, and bandwidth and quality will only increase in the future...
Actually it's kind of unusual for a small business to buy a T-1 if DSL is available to them. DSL is generally much cheaper and can be equally fast. There are some attractive packages out there for a T-1 with voice and data together (I saw one for $500/mo for 12 voice lines and data), but if someone did that why would they need Vonage? |
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clecrupt9
join:2002-01-22
GA
| said by joshj :
Actually it's kind of unusual for a small business to buy a T-1 if DSL is available to them.
Depends on what they do. I know many people with a t-1 in their house. Many have t-1 with DSL or BRI backup. BRI is IMHO a just a payday to the phone company, they prefer you have it. |
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oliphant5
Got Identity?
Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA | reply to blohner
I was in a similar boat, static filled lines (couldn't fax 1/2 the time), way overpriced (junk fees, taxes, overpriced calling features). Vonage didn't as much draw me to them as Verizon pushed me. |
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