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story category Help! No Incoming Calls, No Support
Packet8 customers had calls routed directly to voice mail
(old news - 09:17PM Saturday Mar 27 2004)
tags: trouble · VoIP
On Thursday, Packet8 VoIP customers experienced service problems in which they could not receive incoming phone calls for over 14 hours. This was first noticed by members of our VoIP Forum in this thread. Unfortunately, Packet8 only offers telephone support Monday through Friday from 8 am until 5 pm Pacific Time as per their website. Customers were upset that their calls to Packet8 went unanswered and e-mails to the address listed on the website received no replies. Incoming call service was restored after 8 am Pacific Time on Friday. Broadband Reports just recently reported a separate Packet8 service related outage on February 22nd.

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  5. VoIP Blamed in Death of Canadian Child
  6. Skype Takes Heat For Chinese Censorship
  7. Packet 8 Suffers DNS Related Outage
  8. CallCentric Suffers National VoIP Outage
Forums » Help! No Incoming Calls, No Support
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LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI


1 edit

24/7 support

I just don't understand any Internet Business only having 8-5 support. The whole point of the net is "Always Open 24/7"

So how can you only support your product or service for a third of the day, and not at all on weekends!
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies

Morac

join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ
·Comcast

Re: 24/7 support

Maybe they should get some tech support guys in India for the "night" shift. (half jk)

I can understand people who offer Email not having 24 hours free support since Email isn't guaranteed to be an instant communication, but phone service is another matter.
--
"snmp: the standard e-mail protocol on the Internet" - LinkSys user manual (page 17)

Optimized
Premium,Mod
join:2001-05-03
Pompton Lakes, NJ
clubs:

Host:
RCN
Patriot Media
Cellphones, Provid..
Other Manufacturers
said by LBDSL See Profile:
I just don't understand any Internet Business only having 8-5 support. The whole point of the net is "Always Open 24/7"

So how can you only support your product or service for a third of the day, and not at all on weekends!

I wonder how many other VoIP providers have less than adequate tech support? Imagine if this happened on Friday night instead, could have been much worse.
--
Chilly likes it

dellsweig
Extreme Aerobatics
Premium,MVM
join:2003-12-10
Campbell Hall, NY

you get what you pay for

P8 costs about 10$ less than the other major players in the VOIP area - that 10$ per subscriber is your 24x7 support.....

benjamin
All propositions are of equal value

join:2000-12-20
New York, NY
clubs:
·BroadVoice
·RCN CABLE

Re: you get what you pay for

said by dellsweig See Profile:
P8 costs about 10$ less than the other major players in the VOIP area - that 10$ per subscriber is your 24x7 support.....

Check out BroadVoice.com - same prices as P8, and 24-h support, which has been top notch so far.

Dude
What Happens When I Do This
Premium
join:2000-11-20
Chicago, IL
clubs:

this is why

this is why i havent chose to move to voip yet

jose3030
Premium
join:1999-08-17
Manassas, VA

Re: this is why

Just cuz one provider?

Come on now.
Open your eyes.

Dude
What Happens When I Do This
Premium
join:2000-11-20
Chicago, IL
clubs:
if you seen my avatar they are open

lakino
Premium
join:2003-04-03
Campbell, CA

Re: this is why

said by Dude See Profile:
if you seen my avatar they are open

LOL... great comeback... I think we're back in fifth grade again.

I think VoIP is dead on arrival as well. Totally bullcrap service if I have to pay a penny. If it's free like Skype--for now anyways--then I'll use it. If it costs a penny over what I have to pay for DSL, then NO THANKS.
--

In an uncertain world, there is absolutely no security in banding together. -- Robert X. Cringely

Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
·Comcast

Why choose Voip !!!

And this is why VoIP will never take off, unless the Bells take over. Who wants some company that is trying to restart the DotCom fiasco to be in charge of telephone calls.
--
One man's customer loyalty is another man's miguided arrogance.
TercelChick

join:2002-08-13

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).

Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
·Comcast

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

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.
--
One man's customer loyalty is another man's miguided arrogance.

hailinfantry
Bizarro Quinn
Premium
join:2004-01-18
Brooklyn, NY
I've used several VoIP providers. None have the uptime of my POTS.

digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

said by hailinfantry See Profile:
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.

Jmartz

join:2000-07-20
Tenafly, NJ

said by TercelChick See Profile:
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.
--
[BetaNews | phpBB |MSN TerraServer |Space Imaging]
TercelChick

join:2002-08-13

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

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.

hailinfantry
Bizarro Quinn
Premium
join:2004-01-18
Brooklyn, NY

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

"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.

ib50MbSoon
Formerly TwoKDialup
Premium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

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.
--
The whole truth and nothing but the truth at »www.teletruth.org

hailinfantry
Bizarro Quinn
Premium
join:2004-01-18
Brooklyn, NY

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

said by ib50MbSoon See Profile:
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?
icecold976

join:2002-07-20
Orlando, FL
·Sprint Mobile Broa..

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..
john1290

join:2003-12-06
Reynoldsburg, OH

said by TercelChick See Profile:
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....".

digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana

said by Greg_Z See Profile:
And this is why VoIP will never take off, unless the Bells take over. Who wants some company that is trying to restart the DotCom fiasco to be in charge of telephone calls.

Look around... it's already taken off.

mh720

join:2002-11-15
Carrollton, TX

Re: Why choose Voip !!!

When POTS technology was created, there were problems. They were fixed over time. VoIP has the advantage of many competitors from the start, which will drive the technology and force it to improve by competition. The companies that figure out how to do it reliably and offer customer service worth a damn will come out on top.

The cost of VoIP service versus POTS isn't the only consideration driving VoIP's popularity right now. There are the features, such as tying remote offices together on a single PBX or having a phone number that can ring you at home or the office - even on a wireless VoIP 802.11 phone that works with no reconfiguration when you take it places with wireless internet service. We don't even know the full potential of VoIP yet, there will likely be future 'killer app' services that VoIP devices will be capable of that nobody has yet dreamt up.
n8zuz

join:2004-02-24
Kalamazoo, MI

I choose VoIP because I live in a country that charged me $1.50 US per minute to call the US. Now I call all I want for $20.55 per month. Now I call friends and family whenever I feel like it instead of just for a few minutes on birthdays or holidays. I don't care if they are down 5% of the time because my phone is down that much here with the local phone company. Nice thing about Packet8 is that I don't have near the delay nor near the echo that our local telephone company has when I made calls to the US.

I would choose it when I live in the US just because of all those extra "fees" that are charged by the local phone companies.

Unhappy customer

@comcast.net

packet8 account-poor service

I have (hopefully) just had my last encounter with packet8. My phone service hasn't worked more than it has worked in the short time I have had it. The last time the company had a down time in April, my phone never came back on. When I called customer service we went through the typical "unplug and plug in" each device and never got it working. When I just called customer service this morning, I spoke to a first person who kept me on the line for about 10 minutes then said she would have to transfer my call. After waiting another 10 minutes for someone else, I was told "Is that all you've been waiting, it's 5:00 AM Sunday morning (it wasn't here!) you're lucky that's all you waited. This "customer service" rep was one of the rudest people I have ever spoken to. Anyway, just wanted to vent and let people know what they are in for with packet8.
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