VoIP

On my door step today is the "current" edition of the Qwest phone book. I find it interesting that this is even printed anymore.

Oh, I know that people use it. I know that some people actually don't have the internet. Not those in the circle I roll with, mind you, but I know they exist.

But still, I question the relevance of a phone book. I especially question the relevance of a phone book from one company. continue reading...

I received an email from another VoIP provider that found my post on Why Not Packet8. The message was from someone from the management team at Phone.com (how about that for a great url?)

What impressed me was the even though they found my email from my blog and could have launched into a sales pitch, it was more of, "Hey, I noticed you have a problem here... let me know what we can do to help." I liked that approach.

So, I commented that I didn't really understand why a softphone was such an issue. It doesn't make sense to me. I mean, I have used it on a locally hosted VoIP system, so why in the world would it be hard on an internet hosted system. Alon Cohen, one of the partners was kind enough to respond. It has some great information that I asked if he wouldn't mind letting me post. So, I have posted it at the end of my comments here... unedited. continue reading...

In my search for VoIP, I decided to check out Skype as an option for VoIP. I figured that I am always on Skype... it only made sense to use it as a soft phone.

I looked at their services and pricing and noticed that they have Skype Pro, Skype Credit and you can get a local number. What I couldn't tell was how all the pricing and services worked together. You can get a "personal online number" (which took a little to understand that it was likely a phone number) for $6 per month. But, I couldn't tell if I also needed to get Skype Pro for an additional $3 per month. Then, If I got those two services, would I then need to also buy Skype to add minutes?

Well, on their website, there is no way to really understand that as far as I could figure out. I think that I have a reasonable understanding, but not 100% clear. continue reading...

Get ready, this is a long one, but I think it will be worth the read.

I mentioned before that I am not interested in recommending Packet8.net. I have been a customer of theirs for three years have had some not-so-pleasant experiences.

I also have mentioned that I was giving them a second chance. I thought I would share the experience of the second chance.

During my initial conversation, I was told that to get the price to the $25 that I wanted, they couldn't help me given the structure of their system. However, a few hours after my post, I received a quote that indicated the pricing could be had.

Here is the quote as I received it. (You may need to save rather than open... it is a .xls file)

My first thought, "Okay, I thought we could come to an agreement!" continue reading...

Well, who'd thought getting a simple softphone for my computer would be such an adventure? I sure didn't. I was sure that it would be an easy process.

After my experience with Packet8.net (they still want a second chance... I'll let you know how that goes) and my experience with VoIP.com, I was getting a little frustrated. It was time to try Vonage. I figured that they must be good... after all, they sure tell me that on the TV all the time, and a message like that has got to be true? Right?

Learning about the service.

I sent a few emails back and forth through the day that had the normal questions... Can you do this, can you do that? How do I know it will work? Yada yada yada.

At first, I couldn't find anything, anywhere on their site about the softphone service, but I was sent to this link.Through all the emails, I received enough confidence that I should try them out on their trial program. continue reading...

So, I mentioned last week that I am not happy with Packet8.net. They have asked for a second chance. I'll let you know how that works out.

But, I know that I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket so I decided to look around for other services.

Voip.com has a softphone service that I signed up for. Here is my experience:

What Impressed Me.

Unlimited calling for $14.95 per month. With no set up cost.

I was also very pleased that the first month was free. Not a, "Pay for your first month, and if you don't like it, we'll give you a refund." It was a no payment up-front option.

Where it started to go downhill.

After I started the account, I clicked on the download button in my account and it was a broken link. I had to go out of my account page to find the download. Finally I got the softphone installed, received my phone number and got everything to work... or so I thought. continue reading...

So, I have been searching for the right VoIP connection for my home-based business. I am not interested in Qwest... not in the least. My Cable provider has an expensive service that doesn't really fit my needs.

My needs are simple. I want a softphone that can ring at the same time another phone rings. I don't need a fancy business system because everyone else I work with pays for their own phones... I don't have to transfer and I don't have to worry about business phone needs. I have been with Packet8.net for three years now, so I thought that I should start looking there.

The experience started about a week ago.

I spent some time on a chat session with someone at Packet8. This person told me that if I wanted to have a softphone to work, I would simply need to download and associate a calling plan with it. continue reading...