 NY Tel
Premium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
 ·VOIPo
 ·Verizon FIOS
| It is About time VoIP while suffering the slings and arrows of power and connectivity issues is the next natural, logical progression in "wired" telephony. It gives the users absolute flexibility and allows the Telco's to eventually save billions on plant upkeep etc. They already deliver VoIP and Pots services over their broadband connections which are subject to the same power interruptions etc.
Gone will be the days of dedicated copper to a Central office. Soon there won't be central offices in the sense that we know them.
I'm in tune to it and welcome voip. | |
|  | 
KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Verizon FIOS
| What About Rotary Phones?? Rotary Phone Support??
Only as long as it can still accommodate Pulse Dialing.
It would suck if my Antique Phone Collection became my answer only phone collection.
Can they teach the VoIP box some Binary Code??
Pulse Dialing is real only ones and zeros...
Touch-Tone is a more complex Mixed-Analog Audio Tone converted to Digital.
--
"Lithium is no longer available on credit" | |
| | | | | | 
Dream Killer
Graveyard Shift
Premium
join:2002-08-09
Forest Hills, NY
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: What About Rotary Phones?? said by KA3SGM  :Rotary Phone Support?? Only as long as it can still accommodate Pulse Dialing. Time Warner's digital phone service supports pulse dialing. I set my phone (accidentally) to pulse before and it worked normally. It was painful to hear long numbers dial though. | |
| | | | 
chex
@rogers.com | Re: What About Rotary Phones?? setup asterisk + zaptel cards and it can do it fine and dandy with rotary phones.. | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: What About Rotary Phones?? I have quite a few phones that date back to the WWII era, and yes I would not mind paying any additional cost(within reason) to keep them working for another 60 years.
Maybe it's a Bell System thing, but no one makes telephones like Western Electric did.
--
"Lithium is no longer available on credit" | |
| | | | | Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
| Re: What About Rotary Phones?? said by KA3SGM :I have quite a few phones that date back to the WWII era, and yes I would not mind paying any additional cost(within reason) to keep them working for another 60 years. Maybe it's a Bell System thing, but no one makes telephones like Western Electric did. thats because they where rentals from the bell system. Ma Bell wanted something that they wouldnt have to replace or service but still charge a lease on and make lots of profit. the result was phones made from used tank armor....
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
| | 
supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL
·Cox HSI
·magicjack.com
·Skype
 ·AT&T Southeast
| Re: It is About time Actually, I've read eventually phone service will be virtually free since the other things will pay for the cost of it. Like this guy, I thought he was stoned too.
No, when cellphones can call from wherever they are instead of where they like, mobile phones will kill off the landline. And, of course, they sound like a real phone call from everywhere. If you pay like $80 for unlimited with AT&T, why not $100 for unlimited with mobile? That price war is going to happen. Why did Alltel dump the landline division? Same goes for Sprint.
Exactly why do you think VZ and AT&T are getting in the TV business? Because their old model, landlines, is dying off. I'm sure VZ has figured out a way to eliminate copper while keeping some houses on copper. Qwest is thinking, "We'll just be a broadband provider eventually."
And, you might consider that thieves are gonna steal the copper anyway.
--
Saving the world keeps me busy. However, I find Earth very primitive from my home planet of Krypton.
-Supergirl | |
| | 
jimbo48
join:2000-11-17
Hayward, CA
·EarthLink
| Until EVERY home, apt or other living arrangements can be serviced/supplied with an internet connection that can support VOIP with the same quality of service, reliability and compatibility of POTS the POTS phone connections will be around. I have VOIP for a business line but it sucks most of the time because the miserable DSL service I get. VOIP will be a force (if not the de facto standard of delivery) to reckon with when reliable Internet service is actually available and not just the statistical reports created to mask the failures of the various Internet providers. When one has to reset their VOIP Router every day in order to receive calls, it doesn't generate warm "fuzzies" about the service being provided. In the big scheme of things I do agree with you; continued development of VOIP will eventually create a much different landscape for voice communications. | |
| 
TransitMan
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-05
Dayton, OH
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
·Time Warner VOIP
·Earthlink TrueVoice
·Earthlink Cable Mo..
·AT&T Midwest
| Well, Maybe It Will Or Won't Those who live in the rural areas that still do not have broadband access, save for Satellite, will still use the regular old telephone system, as that is all that is available to them.
VoIP may help kill off traditional telephone services in densely populated areas, but traditional telephone services will continue in one form or another.
Besides, to get DSL, ADSL2+ you need the twisted wire (yes, I know about the fiber, but let's get real) to deliver the last mile to the homes that cannot get FTTH/FTTP/FTTC services.
VoIP has definitely made an impact, and those that are doing the business correctly will be the ones who will thrive and survive and continue to grow.
--
PROUD TO BE THE DIRECTOR OF THE CRUNCHENSTEIN ASSOCIATION AND THE HOST OF CRUNCHENSTEIN #2 | |
|
AnonName
@comcast.net | "VoIP to Kill Off Traditional Telephony" Well duh...
Eventually every line will be a data line, digital instead of analogue.
As has been said, that could take quite some time to spread to the back-country. | |
| 
tater_gunz
Shoot to kill
Premium
join:2003-08-22
Toledo, OH
·buckeye cable
| Bring it! I can't wait to be done with TDM voice and data services. I hate them both with such a passion, and I have no idea why the world has been so slow to adopt IP solutions instead.
And yes, I work for a primarily TDM oriented telco. Thank God we're finally moving into the 21st century by updating to SIP!
- Tate
--
Happiness is an OC-768 in your basement... | |
|
POTS User
@rr.com
 from:
Maccawolf
| Not Very Likely Traditional Telephony, meaning copper-based POTS service, is not going to die. It will get repriced and rebundled, but it will not be killed off. Its far too reliable compared to all other technology.
When VOIP providers learn what "reliable" actually means, and start providing hardware and network connections that live up to LEC service levels, and they start charging the same taxes as LECs are required, I don't think there will be so much enthusiasm for them.
Try running a small business, with published phone numbers, on non-LEC lines. Be prepared to close your doors. | |
| | | | |
POTS User
@rr.com
| Re: Not Very Likely said by knightmb :said by POTS User :
Try running a small business, with published phone numbers, on non-LEC lines. Be prepared to close your doors.
Have been for 3 years now, see my reviews if you like. I also had a POTS line and it's downtime was more than the VoIP lines, but the whole "POTS lines are invincible" urban myth was dispelled long ago here.  Just pray your VOIP provider doesn't go BK overnight and take your DID's with them.
POTS lines are not invincible, and telco is quite fallable.
I've spent plenty of time dealing with ILEC issues. I'm all too familiar with POTS outages. But there is always a fast workaround, no one is ever out of service completely, and credits are always applied
Those relying on cable-modems for VOIP, well... good luck.
I've never had telco steal a phone number, assign it to someone else, stop paying the rent on the number, or go out of business and take the numbers with them.
I've had plenty of rescue calls from foolish businessmen who bought 100% VOIP based on price, and were shocked when their phones would not ring, and they found out they didn't own their phone numbers. Old-school businessmen treat their phone numbers (with a $5K yellow pages bill) like gold. Some of the new folks have to learn the hard way.
VOIP has some advantages, and may be practical when used in conjunction with POTS, but it is a complementary service, not a replacement.
If yours is working rock-solid for three years, that's great. I've never encountered anything near that level of reliability amongst the major small-scale VOIP vendors. I will certainly look at your reviews. | |
| | | 
tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
·Comcast
·WOW Internet and C..
·VoiceEclipse
| said by knightmb :said by POTS User :
Try running a small business, with published phone numbers, on non-LEC lines. Be prepared to close your doors.
Have been for 3 years now, see my reviews if you like. I also had a POTS line and it's downtime was more than the VoIP lines, but the whole "POTS lines are invincible" urban myth was dispelled long ago here. WOW.. you are one lucky SOB. I had (tried) 2 different VoIP providers and in simple terms or lack for better words.. THEY SUCKED! Outages, noisy connections, echo, misdirected calls, customer support.. You name it, it was there. See MY reviews.. Oh, did I mention the outages? Went back to POTS. I didn't mind paying a little more for something that was MUCH MORE reliable. Power outages? Please.. 8 hrs later, your running around the house looking for you cell, provided your near a golden site that has a genset for backup. Your around the 1 percentile that has better luck with VoIP then POTS users. Now, step away from the med's.. | |
| 
love2bowl300
Premium
join:2003-12-13
Hamburg, PA
·Vonage
·Comcast
| I have VOIP I have never been so glad I changed in my life. I pay $24.95 a month with all of the options I would have with POTS and I have no disconects or other issues with Vonage that some others have complained about. As a matter of fact last year the POTS service went down here and everyone lost their phone service except us. I had all of my neighbors coming to my house so that they could make phone calls which I found to be hysterical to say the least.
--
Life is like a bowl of cherries. Some Sweet, Some Sour, or just the PITS! | |
| |
Plattsburgh NY
@charter.com
| Re: I have VOIP I've had VOIP for about a year and a half now. When I was with Vonage for a little over a year I think I lost my phone maybe twice for an hour or so. I've been with Phone Power for a couple of months with no outages at all, and perfect voice quality. I don't even have the vonage problems of echo and other people not hearing me when I was running something else on the net while on the phone. And it's cheaper with no contract, sweeeet!!! | |
| Desdinova
join:2003-01-26
Gaithersburg, MD | Hmmm... I dunno, I don't see why it has to be either-or. I have Skype In, AT&T Medianet service for my cell and Verizon Unlimited for my POTS. Though it's true I use my cell more than any of the others, each has their niche use and I use them all. | |
| | | wahoospa
join:2006-03-23
Charleston, SC
| Re: That's what happens... "$7.50 for caller ID"!
Heck, AT&T charges me $9.00 for caller ID. When I first got caller ID it was $5.95. I don't think that the AT&T computer program that sends caller ID information cost $9.00 a month to furnish. I read on many places on the net that caller ID cost the phone companies only 1/2 of 1 penny to furnish caller ID to anyones home for the whole month. | |
| Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
·Comcast
edit:
April 27th, @04:24PM
| What reliability?  Whenever my Cable TV and or Broadband Service craps out I use my land line to call the Cable Company. When cable service is out at least I can place a voice call. The other advantage of analog voice service is that the service is regulated. The state public service commission sets standards which must be met by the telephone companies. In 1994 it cost a BellSouth about $2,500.00 to process a complaint by a subscriber to the Public Service Commission. Cable TV companies can do whatever they want since they are not regulated.
Adelphia CATV and Broadband Service was very unreliable at my old residence. Service was so unreliable that I could not depend on it for VoIP. | |
| 
Mercurybird
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Hooks, TX | Well maybe... VOIP kills Ma Bell... MagicJack kills VOIP... | |
| battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000 | Dialup Days all over again. The Telcos will sit on their asses while companies spring up right and left to offer VoIP service. Then they will finally realize this is something to make money on so they will start lobbying and sueing everyone they can out of business. | |
| | 
Maccawolf
Premium
join:2001-02-20
Hillsdale, NJ | Re: Dialup Days all over again. During MAJOR disasters and power outages and such, the LAND LINE is the only thing that hasn't gone down. I'll keep it thanks! | |
| | | Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
·Comcast
| Re: Dialup Days all over again. I lost power for over four days after a hurricane passed through our area. I had two telephone lines. One was routed through a Subscriber Line Carrier System. That line failed after about Eight Hours because the backup batteries discharged. The second line was routed on copper directly to the Central Office. I never lost dial tone on that line. If you have one landline and DSL Service your telephone line is probably routed through a Subscriber Line Carrier System. If that is the case the up time on your telephone line during an extended power outage will be limited. | |
| | | | Corydon
Cultivant son jardin
Premium
join:2008-02-18
Denver, CO
clubs:
·Comcast
| Re: Dialup Days all over again. This is the Achilles' heel of VoIP. Most providers are giving you backup batteries along with your MTA, but that's usually only good for a few hours worth of service. If your power goes out for any longer than that, then you're pretty much SOL. Even a UPS will only give you at most a few hours of time.
That applies to cell phones too, although with my larger battery I can usually get my cell phone to go about three days between charges.
On the other hand, with POTS, your telephone's power comes from phone company's central office. I don't know how long of an outage they can handle, but they can certainly bring a lot more to bear (like backup generators to go with their storage batteries) in the event of an extended power outage.
Of course none of that does you any good at all if you've only got cordless phones at home that need AC power to work.
--
My opinions are my own. No-one else would want them! | |
| | | | | Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
·Comcast
edit:
April 28th, @04:50PM
| Re: Dialup Days all over again. In the old days the subscriber line was served directly from the frame in the central office on a copper cable pair. About Twenty Five Years ago the cost of pair gain devices, particularly Subscriber Line Carrier Systems dropped to the point where they were less than the cost of installing new cable. At that time a Subscriber Line Carrier System could serve up to 96 Subscribers over Eight Cable Pairs. Those Beige Cabinets seen along a street near you are usually SLC Systems. SLC Systems are typically AC Line powered and have batteries designed to bridge an Eight to Twelve Hour power outage. Unfortunately unless you are lucky enough to be served by a copper pair directly from the frame at the Central Office your telephone service up time will be limited to Eight to Twelve hours. | |
| BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| Cell has been landlines already The only thing keeping copper alive is the old folks. Those over 50 especially those over 65 are afraid of new technology. As time goes on and as their numbers decline copper will eventually die. As it is 1/4 of those under 30 have cell only. VoiP is certainly helping killing of copper, but it's not the main reason nor did it start the process. | |
| | neil0311
join:2005-07-24
Marietta, GA
| Re: Cell has been landlines already said by BF69 :The only thing keeping copper alive is the old folks. Those over 50 especially those over 65 are afraid of new technology. As time goes on and as their numbers decline copper will eventually die. As it is 1/4 of those under 30 have cell only. VoiP is certainly helping killing of copper, but it's not the main reason nor did it start the process. One thing you need to consider is that cell works fine if you are single and the only one at the residence or married without kids. It also assumes that cell coverage is adequate at your house.
If you don't live alone, have kids, travel and others need phone service while your gone, have poor cell coverage, etc., then having cell only doesn't work.
I had VoIP in my previous house, but now I have a centrally monitored alarm in my new home...and VoIP doesn't work with it. I have a POTS line and it works with no problems, no E911 issues, no hardware to configure, no configuration at all. So VoIP is better.... why? | |
| | | BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| Re: Cell has been landlines already said by neil0311 :said by BF69 :The only thing keeping copper alive is the old folks. Those over 50 especially those over 65 are afraid of new technology. As time goes on and as their numbers decline copper will eventually die. As it is 1/4 of those under 30 have cell only. VoiP is certainly helping killing of copper, but it's not the main reason nor did it start the process. One thing you need to consider is that cell works fine if you are single and the only one at the residence or married without kids. It also assumes that cell coverage is adequate at your house. If you don't live alone, have kids, travel and others need phone service while your gone, have poor cell coverage, etc., then having cell only doesn't work. I had VoIP in my previous house, but now I have a centrally monitored alarm in my new home...and VoIP doesn't work with it. I have a POTS line and it works with no problems, no E911 issues, no hardware to configure, no configuration at all. So VoIP is better.... why? I never said it was better or worse. I was stating facts. how many MILLIONS of people have phone service through VoIP, that would be copper customers if VoIP didn't exist. How many MILLIONS have cell service only? If cell phones didn't exist these people would be copper customers. Now cell doesn't hurt the telecos as much since they also sell cell service. In fact at&t would probably rather a customers have cell only over copper only if that customer was going to only have one. I'm merely stating that copper is in trouble. It will still be here in 10 years though. | |
| |
jimbo48
join:2000-11-17
Hayward, CA
·EarthLink
| LMAO- "old folks" those over 50!!! WTF, you think old is 50 and older?? I'm not afraid of VOIP-I have it as well as Cellphone service, DirectTV, Multiple iPods, A Windows Home Server and other technological "wonders". Don't be so sure that "old folks" are afraid of technology- that's another stereotype conjured up by the American businesses as they hype their crappy products- cell phone services that drop calls their even crappier phones along with all the other "gotta have it" products on you younger ones so that you can "feel good" about yourself. "Look at me I must be important, I've got my Bluetooth headset on" so I can be a complete ass by talking so loud that everyone within 50 ft can hear me. It 's not the old folks keeping copper alive, its lack of an alternative that offers the same or better QOS that POTS lines have supplied for a LONG time. copper is needed because there is still some regulation of the services and a requirement to deliver services and not the one-sided TOS agreements that these "paragons of virtue" foist on the public. | |
| |
Old Folker
@rr.com
| said by BF69 :The only thing keeping copper alive is the old folks. Those over 50 especially those over 65 are afraid of new technology. As time goes on and as their numbers decline copper will eventually die. As it is 1/4 of those under 30 have cell only. VoiP is certainly helping killing of copper, but it's not the main reason nor did it start the process. Not exactly.
Youngsters who grow up from the age of 7 with their own cellphone, who expect that all communication occurs in shorthand amongst static and dropped calls, are the least likely to buy a traditional landline... until the time they're on their own and realize that "triple play" plus a cellphone costs $200 / month. Then they discover LifeLine service, basic DSL, and prepaid cellular.
Business uses lots of copper. When you have a four lines in hunt or more, and you've been around the block (hmmm, is that "old folks" again?), you aren't going to turn over your phone service to some fly-by-night VOIP or cable company. Yes, its expensive to keep 4 lines on POTS - about $250 a month with LD. But that's nothing compared to what we pay in rent, utilities, worker's comp, payroll and taxes. | |
| | | | |
Alarmed One
@rr.com
| said by bthornhill :The whole issue of VOIP being a problem with things such as security systems is really just FUD. Anyone who is tech saavy enough to migrate to VOIP is also going to want to have IP alarm monitoring which is completely independent of the phone link. All major mfgrs have it now. Bull. Broadband is not reliable enough to run an alarm, unless the alarm exists to tell you that your cable modem is down.
Everyone has their risk-tolerance level. Ours isn't very high. We use traditional alarm circuits (dry loop), with dial-line seizure backup, as well as two other proprietary backup communication links. The dial line has never failed, though the main circuit has. The other two links have always worked as well.
There is no FUD here. We monitor our links 24x7x365. Cable and DSL have proven themselves unreliable on a daily basis since 1998. They're useful and cheap, but I would never bet my life on them, even with three independent feeds. | |
| 
quetwo
That VoIP Guy
Premium
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI
·TDS
| It's all in the price, my dear friend... It's not about the technology, it's because of the price. People are sick of paying in the upwords of $50 for a standard landline. Since LD has become a commodity, the telcos started looking for new revenues, and that turned to the standard line charge. Now a days, you have to ask really hard to get the $12/month line that you are able to order (depending on your PSC). Call up Bell and see what the rep offers you... $40 for the "el-grande plan"? $50 for the "ulti-mo plan"? I bet they won't mention anything cheaper.
The VoIP providers are simply turning this market into a commodity market like LD has become. They are able to do this because they can get around Bell's infrastructure (hence, 'regulated' fees). Consumer's don't care about quality anymore. Cell phones have taught us that. No longer do you hear Sprint claiming to hear a pin-drop in an empty room. Nobody does. | |
| | ImaDuffer264
join:2003-11-05
Mercer, PA
·Verizon Online DSL
·Armstrong Zoom In..
| Re: It's all in the price, my dear friend... said by quetwo :It's not about the technology, it's because of the price. People are sick of paying in the upwords of $50 for a standard landline. I just pulled last months bills out. We pay $15.97/month to have a phone in the house. Now granted I can't make any long distant calls on it but that is why we are paying $83.92/month for our cell phones. I have absolutely no use for VOIP and I really don't understand all the hype unless it is possibly for business use. My wife and I use our cell phones to call all of our kids and relatives, everyone of which is long distant. And of course they all call us on our cell phones. Why would I pay $30.00 a month for VOIP????????????
There are times when our landline phone doesn't get picked up off the hook for 2 to 3 weeks maybe more. The only reason we have it is so if someone call us at night and our cell phones are downstairs.
I would be be surprised if everyone here doesn't have a cell phone and if you do give me a good reason why you also need VOIP at a residence??? | |
| | | RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| Re: It's all in the price, my dear friend... said by ImaDuffer264 :I would be be surprised if everyone here doesn't have a cell phone and if you do give me a good reason why you also need VOIP at a residence??? What is this cell phone you are talking about?
While I would be willing to bet most people have at least one cell phone per family, and sometimes one for each person in the family, there are still a lot of people that do not have a cell phone. I can not feature paying $40 to $100+ for something that I might use about 20 minutes a week, although there are occasions once or twice during the year where I might go for a couple of hours.
And there are several people at work (engineer types, not non-technical folks) that do not have one, so I am not unique.
--
I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
| | | | slyphoxj
join:2002-06-23
Brook Park, OH
| Re: It's all in the price, my dear friend... You use your cell only about 20 minutes a week? You don't need to pay $40+ a month! Go with a no-contract prepaid service, such as Net10 (10 cents a minute, $30 every 60 days), T-Mobile To Go (10 cents/minute with the $100 card, good for 1 year), Virgin Mobile (20 cents/minute, $20 every 90 days minimum), or Page Plus Cellular (less than 6 cents/minute with the $80 card that is good for 120 days).
Do some research on www.cellguru.net. Click on "Prepaid Comparison". Also look on www.howardforums.com. | |
| | | | | RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| Re: It's all in the price, my dear friend... said by slyphoxj :You use your cell only about 20 minutes a week? You don't need to pay $40+ a month! Go with a no-contract prepaid service, such as Net10 (10 cents a minute, $30 every 60 days), T-Mobile To Go (10 cents/minute with the $100 card, good for 1 year), Virgin Mobile (20 cents/minute, $20 every 90 days minimum), or Page Plus Cellular (less than 6 cents/minute with the $80 card that is good for 120 days). Do some research on www.cellguru.net. Click on "Prepaid Comparison". Also look on www.howardforums.com. No I do not use my cell, I do not have one. I was replying to Duffer who thought everyone has one, even though a lot of people (a minority, granted) still do not.
Thanks for the link, I am going to need one for my teen. Although I have a feeling based on your briefs that those are not much better.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
| erikthebean
join:2007-06-25
Manchester, NH | POTS Still Needed What I've been noticing is the fact that if their is no pots, their cant be any VoIP. The matter of the fact is that voip feeds off of pots. Without pots their cant be voip. | |
| ace1974
join:2007-06-09
Goldsboro, NC
| Yeah Right Dont Hold Your Breath Ha Ha Ha!! Yeah right. Trust me guys Telco's aren't going anywhere in any of your lifetimes. Look cable companies just cannot handle the capacity nor do they have the facilities like telco companies. Can you imaging major banking corporations using a freaking cable company for their phone systems Lol!!! Thats gotta be the joke of the day. if the government made the cable companies pass every single dwelling with their plant system like telco's do they would fall on their asses in a matter of minutes... Yes telco's will shrink a bit but you will never in your lifetime see the end of them | |
| | 
Akademiks
I rather die enormous than live dormant
join:2001-04-19
Plainfield, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Yeah Right Dont Hold Your Breath said by ace1974 :Ha Ha Ha!! Yeah right. Trust me guys Telco's aren't going anywhere in any of your lifetimes. Look cable companies just cannot handle the capacity nor do they have the facilities like telco companies. Can you imaging major banking corporations using a freaking cable company for their phone systems Lol!!! Thats gotta be the joke of the day. if the government made the cable companies pass every single dwelling with their plant system like telco's do they would fall on their asses in a matter of minutes... Yes telco's will shrink a bit but you will never in your lifetime see the end of them The government and some major companies are already using VoIP, it's usually not Vonage or Packet 8 but their own custom built VoIP system.
Case and point next time you go into a Verizon Wireless store look behind the counter to see what phone they use to make and receive in-store calls... its a Cisco 7960.
--
This ain't no tall order, this is nothing to me
Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week
I'll do this in my sleep... | |
|
Mercurybird
Premium
join:2004-06-24
Hooks, TX
·Allegiance Communi..
·CableOne
| Heh - heh... »magicjack.com. Good bye monthly bill. Whatever VOIP offers above the magicjack is not worth $30 a month. What could you do with that money?
I have magicjack. Absolutely no difference from VOIP. $30 a month? I've never had a VOIP like Vonage, but what could they offer that magicjack can not? $30? Not if you have to...
--
You're an American. You get a free pass, but nobody rides for free. | |
|
tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
·Comcast
·WOW Internet and C..
·VoiceEclipse
| The Price.. hello.. can't you hear me now? Back when VoIP first hit the streets, the likes of Sunrocket, Vonage, Packet8... all had pretty much the SAME service, some cheaper, some better. As we bask in the glory of "sticking it to the man (in this case, the woman, MaBell)", what does it REALLY get us. Go to Comcast, as for the same services you get from AT&T for a pots line. The cost is NOT that great. In my area, without special deals, Comcast digital voice is about the same as AT&T's local/ld unlimited package. The big difference is, after 24 hrs of NO power, which one is still going to be up, which one is going to be down? Go to the cheaper providers, those like the now defunked Sunrocket and you get what you pay for.. crap. Been there x2.5, done that 2.5 times.  It's just CHEAPER for telco and cable who want to bypass that last mile of twisted pair cable but the savings isn't being passed on.  | |
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fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Atlanta, GA
·Comcast
·EarthLink
| Re: The Price.. hello.. can't you hear me now? said by tc1uscg In my area, without special deals, Comcast digital voice is about the same as AT&T's local/ld unlimited package. The big difference is, after 24 hrs of NO power, which one is still going to be up, which one is going to be down?
[/BQUOTE :I recently dropped AT&T (BellSouth) because I was paying upwards of $72 a month for unlimited and tons of features I never use. I also thought that the landline never goes down. One day, I was shocked to pick up my phone and it was dead...and for a couple of days, too. Now that I am on Comcast Phone Service, I cannot tell the difference. I get a dial tone, I can fax over it, I get just as many features, if not more, as I did with AT&T and it is activated on all of my phone jacks. Also, my home alarm system runs over it. Comcast has stabalized in my area and I am very happy with what I have for the price - $19.99 a month for the first year. --
The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
·Comcast
·WOW Internet and C..
·VoiceEclipse
| Re: The Price.. hello.. can't you hear me now? That's my point. You get that carrot for the 1st year, then you start paying the "regular" charge. Then, you back to paying pretty much the same price for what? The ability to have a battery back up for 4-6 hrs (unless your using the phone). I've lived all over the place (Hawaii, California, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky...) Had pots in all those places. Never had a problem that wasn't fixed (due to storms or earthquakes) in less then 24. I had a problem with POTS here in Michigan that lasted for 1 week. Thanks to, of all people, the cable guy. Hooking up my cable, he "hooked" my drop from the pole to my house and "st reached" the line just enough to cause lots of static and then an outage. I even pin pointed the problem for AT&T but thanks to the high winds, the below zero temps, they didn't get out to fix it right away. However, they did forward my number to my cell phone for free that week. I too was paying 70 bucks for 1 unlimited line and 1 call 50 line (for inbound calls only (wife's work line)). Before that, after taxes/fees/more fees, it was like 56 bucks or so. I still have the call 50 line but have comcast's phone. I don't see any difference either. However, having been a WideOpenWest customer, I got a deal of 72.00 a month for HSI/Phone/Cable w/dvr service 1st year, 99.00 after that. Guess I'm getting the phone for next to nothing so I have the best of both worlds. I also have 4 cell phones running around the house too.  | |
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fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Atlanta, GA
·Comcast
·EarthLink
| Re: The Price.. hello.. can't you hear me now? said by tc1uscg :That's my point. You get that carrot for the 1st year, then you start paying the "regular" charge. Then, you back to paying pretty much the same price for what? The ability to have a battery back up for 4-6 hrs (unless your using the phone). In my area, Comcast phone even with regular pricing is still $30+ less than traditional phone service through AT&T.
Also, by having a cell phone, I use the home phone much less. I am probably not on my home phone more than an hour total a week. So, now, the value of having an AT&T POTS line is not what it use to be.
I can get the same results via Comcast Phone including faxing and home alarm monitoring(important for me) and when it "jumps" to regular pricing, it will still be much less than AT&T's POTS service.
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The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. | |
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Technogeez
Misanthropic curmudgeon
Premium
join:2007-01-20
Brandon, FL
edit:
April 28th, @11:34AM
| I'll wait Until there's guaranteed QoS instead of best effort.
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Read your contract and TOS before signing anything. | |
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VoIP to Kill Off Traditional Telephony
Re: Alarm Systems