TercelChick
join:2002-08-13
| reply to Greg_Z
Re: Why choose Voip !!!
Come on now. You don't have to be a "Bell Chauvinist" just because you work for one. I work for an ILEC too (guess which one), but I refuse to close my eyes to the fact that Bells *in general* charge more than they need to in order to maintain profitability and the quality of service we are accustomed to. A lot of money is wasted in big business, and I am sure you know this to be true as well.
Just because one VoIP provider has issues doesn't mean they all will, or that the one provider who needs to make changes can't change. It doesn't take a union and 10 layers of management to maintain a 99.5% uptime service (which is more than enough for the average home user). |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
 ·Comcast
| Sorry to say, but I do not work for one. These VoIP companies are just not going to get it right, until they realize that everytime the system goes down, the customer is looking at going elsewhere.
Why do you think that there is redundancy in the real world. VoIP is just another DotCom Fiasco, and most of these little companies will get ate up by the big boys like Vonage, or even better yet, you will see them sell out when they have to start charging normal Telecomm fees within the next 2-4 years.
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One man's customer loyalty is another man's miguided arrogance. |
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hailinfantry
Bizarro Quinn
Premium
join:2004-01-18
Brooklyn, NY | reply to TercelChick
I've used several VoIP providers. None have the uptime of my POTS. |
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Jmartz
join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ
| reply to TercelChick
said by TercelChick  :
Just because one VoIP provider has issues doesn't mean they all will...
Not surprisingly there was a pretty major outage on Cablevision's VOIP service this morning as well. It wasn't for 14 hours... but it was certainly longer than the POTS line I have in my house has ever been out in the last probably... 10 years..
So they all have their issues.
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[BetaNews | phpBB |MSN TerraServer |Space Imaging] |
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TercelChick
join:2002-08-13
| Well, my point is to say the sentiment that VoIP is necessarily inferior to POTS is misguided. It should go without saying that a 100+ year old system will be more reliable than one less than ten years old.
I like the idea of being able to go Bell-free, and hope all the issues with VoIP are resolved. If you went back in time to the 1900's, there was probably a great deal more outages then than there are now due to constant refinement of the system. |
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hailinfantry
Bizarro Quinn
Premium
join:2004-01-18
Brooklyn, NY
| "I like the idea of being able to go Bell-free"
I like the idea of being able to get a hold of emergency services and not wondering when my damn phone won't be functioning 
Even in 1900 Bell service was extremely reliable. There are plenty of bell history pages on the web. Western Union tried their darndest to get the bell system. |
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ib50MbSoon
Formerly TwoKDialup
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI
| From »www.indystar.com/library/factfil···ice.html
During the summer and fall of 2000 Indiana and four other Midwestern states served by Ameritech saw consumer complaints skyrocket, with some customers going weeks without service and others enduring constant static on their lines.
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The whole truth and nothing but the truth at »www.teletruth.org |
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hailinfantry
Bizarro Quinn
Premium
join:2004-01-18
Brooklyn, NY
| said by ib50MbSoon :
From »www.indystar.com/library/factfil···ice.html
During the summer and fall of 2000 Indiana and four other Midwestern states served by Ameritech saw consumer complaints skyrocket, with some customers going weeks without service and others enduring constant static on their lines.
Okay...that is one example of an unfortunate outage. I suppose you believe consistent variable outages is a plus for VoIP? |
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icecold976
join:2002-07-20
Orlando, FL
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| reply to hailinfantry
When I had a cell phone. I actually had more uptime with my VOIP than my Cell. I would drop calls almost everyday from my house. Man talk about reliablity issues. And god help me if I forgot to charge the battery. So my VOIP is very stable. I had one issue in my 10 months of having Vonage. People seem to blame outages on the service, when about 75% of the time is really could be the ISP or the router set up incorrectly. Its still very VERY young, and very complex compared to basic phone service, but I find it more reliable then my Cell phone.
Years of government regulation helped to make the RBOC's very stable. I used to service phone switching offices, and they have big generators and huge batteries.
But from time to time phone service does have issues. So will VOIP. Its a great idea when it works well, but as long as you KNOW and RESPECT its limitations and can live with those limitations, then it will work for you.
If you want a 99.9999% stable service and cheap calls to the rest of the world, and free to Canada and the US, you will pay out your BUTT for a plan from ATT or your Cell phone. Thats where VOIP cannot be beat period. I have my BellSouth phone line for what.. 16.45 a month. My 34 dollar Vonage bill and my 45 dollar DSL bill. For a similar plan without Vonage, I think its 37 for CID, VM, 3 way calling, call forwarding and all that. Now a good plan from the dial arounds or ATT will cost me xxx a month plus what... a nickel a minute..
I have my real 911, I have my VOIP, and my DSL... saves me money and is MUCH cheaper than POTS for LD and State to State and toll calls..
Different strokes for different folks... plus the virtual numbers kick ass too.. |
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digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana
| reply to hailinfantry
said by hailinfantry :
I've used several VoIP providers. None have the uptime of my POTS.
Same here... Packet8's uptime by far beats my BellSouth POTS uptime line that has been cancelled. Hell, BellSouth's caller ID would only work 25% of the time. I finally got tired of the technicians coming to my house and shrugging their shoulders and went with VOIP. |
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john1290
join:2003-12-06
Reynoldsburg, OH
| reply to TercelChick
said by TercelChick :
Come on now. You don't have to be a "Bell Chauvinist" just because you work for one. I work for an ILEC too (guess which one), but I refuse to close my eyes to the fact that Bells *in general* charge more than they need to in order to maintain profitability and the quality of service we are accustomed to. A lot of money is wasted in big business, and I am sure you know this to be true as well.
Your statement about "Bells *in general* charge more than they need to in order to maintain profitability and the quality of service we are accustomed to".... like VoIP doesn't? I think it's funny that providers like Vonage offer their "unlimited local" plan for $24.99(.95?)/month. I currently pay $29.99 for unlimited local from SBC. I think VoIP providers are getting fat off of us just like telcos. If VoIP wanted to make head way instead of sitting down and making their plans just a HAIR better priced than SBC, maybe trim THEIR fat and give us DEEP savings. No way in hell $25/mo is Vonage's best price. They have bean counters calculating this down to the last cent. I can almost hear their accounting dept. now... "Ok, to provide the same service as SBC it would cost us $12/month. We can maximize our profits by tacking on $12 more to get us closer to SBC but still come out cheaper....". |
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