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story category Weekend Woes
Packet8 VoIP service issues, with no support
(old news - 05:13PM Sunday May 09 2004)
tags: VoIP
Users of the Packet8 VoIP service have reported sporadic service related issues this weekend. We have previously discussed similar issues with Packet8 service on multiple occasions. The connectivity problems have been occurring during times when no customer support is available. Packet8 customer service telephone support is only offered Monday through Friday from 8 am until 5 pm Pacific Time as per their web site, this is a growing concern for many of their customers.

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Forums » Weekend Woes
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Post a:
11337845
Live free or die
Premium
join:2002-12-20
Seattle, WA

1 edit

Vonage owns you

Switch to Vonage. They have 24/7 support, if I remember correctly. Of course, I could be wrong, since I've had no problems with their service that necessitated a call!

rsa0

join:2003-01-25
Birmingham, AL

Re: First Post

BroadVoice is one good example. Called them today, and the customer service rep, answered at the 2nd ring ! I don't want to talk bad about P8, but this is not good for them.
11337845
Live free or die
Premium
join:2002-12-20
Seattle, WA

Re: First Post

When I got Vonage, I was choosing between Vonage and Packet 8.

I saw Packet 8's prices, and they looked alluring, but Vonage just seemed more professional, and I'm glad I made the right decision.

Moral of the story boys and girls: You get what you pay for.

Wejo

@attbi.co

1 edit

P8 - Customer non service

Why don't they just shut it down any way ? This is worst than having a overseas calling center.
Test99
Premium
join:2003-04-24
San Jose, CA
·DSL EXTREME
·InPhonex

Redundancy

> this is a growing concern for many of their customers.

But not to all of them. Back when Packet8 had an all-night outage that was fixed about 20 minutes after the start of the next business day, many of us protested vigorously about their inability to monitor their systems and to respond to customer complaints outside business hours.

Packet8 reassured us that in future they would monitor both their systems and their voice mail outside business hours. And in fact there have been no further long outages. Major problems obviously get fixed even when no one is available to answer the phones. The latest outage may have been the result of scheduled overnight maintenance that did not go well.

I think the real concern is that there isn't enough redundancy in Packet8's systems to prevent a system-wide shutdown when problems occur. For something as vital as telephone service, there should be no single point of failure that can shut down the whole network. Without that redundancy, the best even the most vigilant technicians can do is try to minimize the time to repair.

Over the last year, Packet8 has made great progress in solving their technical and customer support problems. But until adequate redundancy is in place, customers will continue to defect. The $75 cancellation penalty may discourage some customers from leaving, but it will also discourage some prospective customers from signing up. When customers expect 24x7 reliability, nothing less than fully redundant systems will keep them happy.
--
Welcome to the 21st century. You'll do fine here. Just don't expect anything to work quite the way it is supposed to...

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

Saturday morning outage

The Sat AM outage was a planned outage probably to add more bandwidth for more users. I never even noticed the outage and wouldn't have known about it unless I had come here.

Sounds to me like the news editor that keeps posting news on VOIP is simply one of the typical "I hate VOIP" types. Anytime a little outage pops up, they are quick to say "I told you so!". Open your eyes, it will be here for quite some time.
--
Also find me at: Techware Labs & Sveasoft Forums

72276539
Premium
join:2001-01-19
Atlanta, GA

Re: Saturday morning outage

said by digiblur See Profile:
The Sat AM outage was a planned outage probably to add more bandwidth for more users. I never even noticed the outage and wouldn't have known about it unless I had come here.

Sounds to me like the news editor that keeps posting news on VOIP is simply one of the typical "I hate VOIP" types. Anytime a little outage pops up, they are quick to say "I told you so!". Open your eyes, it will be here for quite some time.

This is not about an outage, its about outages with no customer support. Reading the whole thing would be good mmmmm kay?
--
some people believe in astrology others believe in technology some people believe in all those -ologies but i believe in swordfish

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

Re: Saturday morning outage

mmmmm kay, I did read it...even probably before you did.

But apparently you have no idea what you are talking about.

The Beer
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Premium
join:2001-07-24
Omaha, NE
clubs:
·ViaTalk

Re: Saturday morning outage

I have to agree with Anubis however I do like Ra better

The fact you can't call them on a Saturday is not good!

It seems all the work at P8 gets done over the weekend, when nobody is there to answer the phone when something breaks.

This includes the billing blunder 2 weeks ago that happened on Friday however was reversed on Saturday when they just disconnected everyone who's credit card declined (Or some that just errored)
clecrupt9

join:2002-01-22
GA

1 edit
P8 isnt the only one who likes bankers hours. I'm sure those with RBOC lines can attest.
ParanoiaInc

join:2002-08-28
Tucker, GA

Re: Saturday morning outage

Now wait one second, clecrupt. While you will rarely see me defend RBOC's (LEC's) I will have to offer that one time my DSL went out on a Saturday late afternoon. I got a ticket put in that evening for a truck roll and at 7:30AM the next morning (Sunday) in the fog a Bellsouth employee was changing ONU cards on my front lawn. It didn't cost me a dime, and I went into shock at the response-time, especially considering he had it fixed bfore 8AM Sunday morning.

Now, this was a couple of years ago and all big-business has gone to hell. So, these days its most appropriate to offer YMMV.

copperdoctor
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Palatine, IL

Simply complicated

Gee..a need for tech support for pretend plain old telephone service. Way to complicate things.

SlickEnW
Premium
join:2003-01-21
Seattle, WA
clubs:

considering this sunday..

is it like this around all holidays?

jmkraft
Essayons
Premium
join:2002-04-11
Paris, IL
·Packet8

No problems here...

I still have not had billing problems (maybe because I updated my CC a couple weeks before it expired after P8 reminded me it was about to expire) and only one time in the last 3 or 4 weeks where I did not get a dial tone (then I just rebooted the DTA and got dial tone). I am still happy with Packet8
--
"US Army Engineer" Dual 2.8 Ghz Xeon Server, 512 MB Ram, Extigy, WinXP-Pro, AP-PRO/AB-Pro Wireless Gaming/Local File Share Network (for 10 Unit Appt Complex)
stevenkuai

join:2003-02-12
Staten Island, NY

Re: No problems here...

add broadvoice to the list of companies having voip problems....i come home tonite and i cant access my voicemail!
stevenkuai

join:2003-02-12
Staten Island, NY

Re: No problems here...

and now when i call customer support all i get is THEIR voicemail!!!! I thought they had great customer support!?!?!
stevenkuai

join:2003-02-12
Staten Island, NY

Re: No problems here...

anyone else having the same problem with broadvoice? no voicemail? i tried dialing *86 and it connects me to my voice mail but after hitting my pw +# and then hitting 1 to access my voicemail all i get is this function could not be completed at this time!

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

Isn't there any positive news on the "news" anymore?

Seems like we always just hear the negative.... I guess you don't find many people running to the forums to post "Hey! My XYZVoip.com service has been running great for 6 months straight!"
--
Also find me at: Techware Labs & Sveasoft Forums

potrox

@optonline.net

Re: No problems here...

My Verizon land line has been rock solid for over a decade now, I never had an outage yet! Now how can you tell me that VOIP that has been running good for 6 months is good? Something as critical as a phone line I would never go with some company that only the geeks have mainly been using. Until it get's more reliable, and they can guarantee 99.9%, along with my ISP I'll switch. Until then, it's POTS for me!

-Happy Verizon User

"My POT Rocks!"

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

Re: No problems here...

said by potrox:
My Verizon land line has been rock solid for over a decade now, I never had an outage yet! Now how can you tell me that VOIP that has been running good for 6 months is good? Something as critical as a phone line I would never go with some company that only the geeks have mainly been using. Until it get's more reliable, and they can guarantee 99.9%, along with my ISP I'll switch. Until then, it's POTS for me!

-Happy Verizon User

"My POT Rocks!"

I was saying the same thing as you.... but after playing with VOIP for a bit it was an awesome feeling getting rid of POTS! VOIP has features and options that the MaBell's never even dreamed of having! All for a lower price!

Do me a favor... do some research and let me know which POTS provider will allow unlimited calling to the 4 surrounding area codes, caller ID, 3 way, callwaiting, and I'll be nice and stop at voicemail. All for $15.44 a month, thats after fees and taxes by the way. Feel free to IM the info to me, I'll be happy to switch.
--
Also find me at: Techware Labs & Sveasoft Forums

cmcgilton

join:2001-03-14
Stow, OH

Anyone Providing Voice Service Needs To Be 24 X 7

Doesn't matter how it's provided POTS, PRI, BRI, ISDN, VoIP, DSL, etc... repair service needs to be 24 X 7. Stay away from any company not providing 24 X 7 repair service.

copperdoctor
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Palatine, IL

Heres a cure

Want a cure to all of this? Call your local telephone company and sign up with them. If you dont want to because you think it's too expensive, remember you get what you pay for. I have still yet to figure out the advantage of putting something as important as your telephone line on the back of the single most unstable invention we have ever come up with- the internet. If you have to cross your fingers every time you go to pick up the phone, you arent saving $$, your taking years off your sanity.
Forums » Weekend Woes


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