I was talking to Pepper about Vonage and similar services, she had been to a seminar dealing with them. She said the biggest drawback is the lack of 911 capabilities.
Vonage has 911 sevice.. it is an option that has to be enabled. When the electricity goes, so goe sthe phone too but you can set your options to forward calls to ur mobile.
Have had vonage for a year now and :love: the service.
If you don't fight for what you deserve, you deserve what you get.
We are > Fossil Fuels --- Bill McKibben 350.org
I CANNOT wait for the day I can get an alternative phone service! would love to hear about Vonnage, could Bink or someone tell me more? I have the absolute worst phone service in the world it seems, it is as bad or worse then Cable & Wirtless....
IM why cant u get Vonage? Are they not in your area?
If u have cable modem service (high speed data) or dsl, you should be able to get the service .. and take your existing number with you (we did [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ) to Vonage.
If you don't fight for what you deserve, you deserve what you get.
We are > Fossil Fuels --- Bill McKibben 350.org
thanks, kia. good to hear. i am definitely going to switch. their prices and service options are amazing.
sbc service has been okay, but they cannot keep their billing straight. i get these outrageous phone bills (well over 100 dollars) and then they send me refund checks or give me credits. i have been fighting this for over six months and i am done!!
im, as kia says you have to have broadband internet service to use Vonage (cable or dsl).
They did start offering DSL in my neck of the woods not too long ago, I tried to have it connected and it was a nightmare from hell and couldn't happen...
:verymad:
So far, as far as telephone service goes, I am relagated to one service only, and all it is, is a Crap service from Louisiana and a little building in the middle of nowhere with equipment and no people working in it. A year ago I was without phone service more than I was with it. So far, I have had my entire house rewired, the outdoors, and all the way down to the road. Do I still have problems?????
I'll look into this Vonnage though! maybe it can turn my [img]/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] into a [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
PHILADELPHIA - Comcast Corp. is joining the crowd of major cable TV and telephone companies venturing into Internet-based phone service, but with a higher price and extra features which the nation's largest cable provider hopes will set its product apart.
The company — which plans to charge $40 per month, or $5 to $20 more than most of Internet phone services — said Monday it believes customers will pay more for features such as battery backup to keep the phone line running during power outages.
The new Digital Voice service won't be immediately available beyond the three markets where Comcast has been testing it. The company plans to offer the service in 20 of its markets by the end of this year, and the rest of its territory during 2006.
That delay that could prove costly in a young market already marred by price wars among AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., Vonage Holdings Co., and a growing list of no-name rivals.
But despite the apparent disadvantage, Comcast said it hopes to sign up about 8 million phone customers, or a 20 percent share of the markets it serves, within five years.
For existing Comcast cable subscribers, part of the appeal may be the ability to get phone, cable and Internet service from a single provider and pay for them on a single bill.
And unlike other Internet phone providers, Comcast promises battery backup that would maintain service for at least 16 hours in the event of a power failure.
Comcast tested the technology, known as Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, in its home base of Philadelphia as well as Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass.
VoIP transmits a phone call by converting a person's voice into packets of computer data not unlike an e-mail or a Web page, scattering them across the Internet, and then reassembling them back into the sound of a voice on the other end. The service generally requires a high-speed Internet connection to avoid poor sound quality.
Like many telecommunications companies, Comcast is looking to new products such as VoIP to generate new revenues and to fend off competition from new providers of cable TV service.
For Comcast, digital cable, video-on-demand and other new services have helped push the average customer's bill from $42 a month in 1998 to $75 in the last quarter.
"We really do believe that this is the next engine of growth," chief executive officer Brian Roberts told investors Monday at a conference in Phoenix.
The monthly charge for Digital Voice includes unlimited local and domestic calls, as well as caller ID, voice mail and call waiting service.
But several rivals offer many of the same features at cheaper prices.
Vonage, which offers unlimited calls for $25 a month, has parlayed its headstart into a customer base of 400,000 subscribers. Verizon is charging $35 for its Voice Wing service. AT&T charges $30 per month for CallVantage, and some smaller rivals sell VoIP service for $20 per month and less.
Consumers Union, the consumer watchdog group, has been pushing for more competition for local telephone service, but isn't sure Digital Voice is the answer.
Internet-based telephone service requires a computer and broadband hookup, and thereby remains off-limits to many lower-income consumers or technophobes, said Susanna Montezemolo, a telecom policy analyst with the group.
Montezemolo also asserted that Internet phone users should be made to pay the same universal service fees and other taxes as traditional phone customers. Those fees are used to ensure phone service to poor and rural areas, and a decrease in the number of people paying the surcharges might force an increase in the fees to make up the difference.
I suspect comcast has less features than vonage (the time warner product did not have as many features) & the battery backup may be a big seller for those who fear to be without service.
but
there are issues:
1) A battery backup device can be purchased separately & connected to the cable modem & VoIP MTA.
2) The battery backup is a mute issue when the cable service is out. Will Comcast guarantee a service level agreement with its customers comparable to what is available with traditional landline customers?
So far I am not impressed with the exras offered for almost 2x the price I pay for Vonage.
If you don't fight for what you deserve, you deserve what you get.
We are > Fossil Fuels --- Bill McKibben 350.org
I have DSL service. But I am required to have phone service in order to have DSL service... So I would still be paying the phone company for phone service to get to my phone service???
Correct me if I'm wrong, but...
Seems like a Catch-22 to me.
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