Let’s face it, you are probably smarter than your last Comcast technician—at least, you probably think you are.
voip
By 8.20.07
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Last week’s two-day Skype outage was due to millions of users across the globe restarting their computers after a Windows Security update. [Skype]
Free Calls From Telemarketers With Digital Voice Service Activation!
By 8.13.07
Subscribers to Comcast Digital Voice service get more than just digital phone service installed when they sign up. They also get the pleasure of Comcast selling their phone number to telemarketers, fresh out of the box!
Making Cheaper Phone Calls (Some Assembly Required)
By 8.3.07
If you have a landline telephone and a cable modem, then you’re in the perfect position to take advantage of cheap (sometimes free) phone calls–provided you’re willing to try one of the many oddball companies reviewed by tech columnist David Pogue in this week’s Circuits section of the New York Times.
SunRocket Tells Customers KTHXBAI, Thanks For The Money
By 7.20.07
SunRocket customers received a Dear John letter last night informing them SunRocket was kaputsville.
By 7.18.07
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SunRocket financier says he “doesn’t know” whether customers will be able to get back their advance payments after creditors purchase the company’s remaining assets. [NYT]
SunRocket Postmortem: Virtual Everything Means No One Really Gives A Damn
By 7.17.07
Start-ups like SunRocket and Vonage, the largest and best known of the group, tend to offer only phone service, and they do not have the ability of the larger companies to ensure quality of service because they do not operate their own telecommunications lines, said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst at Pali Research in New York. “They only have one product and they can’t control quality,” Mr. Greenfield said, adding that the business is “extremely challenging.”
So they leased their lines, outsourced their call center, and except for an office in Vienna, VA, were for all intents and purposes, a virtual operation.
SunRocket VoIP Is Dead, Run Away While You Still Can
By 7.17.07
As of last night, Sunrocket VoIP is unplugged, and they didn’t warn any of their 200,000+ customers, who had been attracted to the service by deals which offered $99 buy-one-year, get-one-year-free unlimited calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Now they’re experiencing spotty service, full outages, and a feeling of panic.
By 7.17.07
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Without warning, Sunrocket’s VoIP service is dead. Subscribers better start porting their phone numbers. [Reuters]
Vonage Changes Your E911 Information To A Different Address, City
By 6.19.07
Each time Andru updates his address for his Vonage E911 profile, Vonage responds with a confirmation email listing the wrong address in the wrong city. Andru updated his address for the fifth time just days before needing an ambulance for his 3-year old. Thankfully, the 911 operator had the correct address, but Andru had an email waiting for him when he returned from the hospital.
Yup, confirmation from Vonage that they accepted our E-911 address settings, again, set to the wrong address. Basically, this means that if we had to dial 911 one day later, paramedics would have had to have been rerouted from the address they were provided when we called in, which is over 10 minutes away, to our home – all thanks to Vonage and their incompetence in designing a fool-proof E-911 system.
VOIP still has a long way to go before it can be relied on for 911 service. In an emergency, the best way to get ahold of 911 is through an old fashioned landline. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Vonage Is Like, "We Are Totally Working Around Those Verizon Patents, OK?"
By 5.16.07
We’re not sure if it’s hip to be on Team Vonage, but to hell with it. We are. At least, we’d like them to stay in business so they can worry about things like improving their crap customer service and not “Oh God, are we going to be able to feed Tiny Tim this Christmas?” We’re pro-capitalism like that. Anyhow, we’re pleased to announce that Vonage claims to be able to work around Verizon’s parents.
AT&T Disconnecting CallVantage Subscribers That Can't Access E911
By 5.6.07
AT&T is firing VoIP customers who live in areas not served by E911. The letters to CallVantage subscribers were sent over the past two weeks and read, “All customers who currently have A911 service must be moved to E911 service (where available) or their AT&T CallVantage service will be disconnected.” If E911 is unavailable, service is suspended effective May 21.
Vonage Calls Customer "Stupid" After They Signed Her Up For An Account She Didn't Want
By 2.27.07
This one sounds like fraud to us…A potential Vonage customer called in response to a advertisement, but after giving her name and address and other info, decided that since she didn’t even use email, maybe VOIP wasn’t right for her. Several months later, she unexpectedly bounced a check. What happened?
Skype-Out Will Cost $30/Year On Jan 31
By 12.13.06
Starting January 31st, 2007, Skype users placing calls to domestic numbers will pay an annual fee of $30 for unlimited usage.
WhiteFence.com’s Tainted Ties
By 10.23.06
A few weeks ago, we posted about WhiteFence.com, a site that lets you compare and contrast service providers, which could be especially good for when you’re moving.
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