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Bob Engelhardt
Guest
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 Posted:
Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:13 pm Post subject:
Some (minor) negatives about Vonage |
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I poked around this NG when I was trying to decide to use VOIP/Vonage.
I was specifically looking for the disadvantages of VOIP/Vonage. I
didn't find enough to stop me, so I signed up for Vonage and have
transferred my POTS number to it.
It is a terrific bargain and I don't regret doing it, but I have
discovered a couple of things that I thought I'd pass along. They
aren't big deals and wouldn't have changed my decision, but I thought
others might find the info useful.
- you have to register for 911 and then those calls go to some operator,
not directly to your local emergency service (NBD)
- 411 calls are $.99 each
- Caller id blocking is on a per-call basis only (you cannot do a
permanent block) (NBD)
- you a=cannot make or receive collect calls (this might actually be an
advantage)
Here is a tip: the 500 minutes you get with the basic service is a lot
more than you might think. First, the minutes are only on outgoing
calls, incoming are free, and calls to another Vonage number are free.
Second, minutes beyond 500 are only $.04 each - this means that all use
below 750 minutes is cheaper than the $25 unlimited service (750 = 500 +
250, 250 * $.04 = $10, $15 + $10 = $25). We are currently using about 7
minutes a day (210/mo). We are a retired couple - other domestic
situations might have different usage.
Bob |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:51 am Post subject:
Re: Some (minor) negatives about Vonage |
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I'm not sure if you have experienced this at all, but I've heard some
horror stories about their customer service. I signed up with
SunRocket because everyone I spoke to there was really friendly and
helpful. I didn't get that feeling with the Vonage folks. |
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John R. Levine
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:56 am Post subject:
Re: Some (minor) negatives about Vonage |
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| Quote: | I'm not sure if you have experienced this at all, but I've heard some
horror stories about their customer service.
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My experience of their customer service is that it doesn't exist any more,
which is the main reason I recently switched to Lingo.
After nearly two years Vonage voice quality deteriorated to the point
where more often than not I couldn't hear the other party, althogh they
always said they could hear me fine. None of the self-help on the Vonage
web site applies to me, and I was utterly unable to raise a live person
by e-mail or phone.
Until then it was fine. If the voice quality hadn't collapsed, I'd
probably still be using it. |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:22 pm Post subject:
Re: Some (minor) negatives about Vonage |
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Yeah, stories like that scared me away from them originally. I really
did decide to go with SunRocket b/c of how helpful the people there
were. I didn't know much about VoIP, and they really made me feel good
about getting into it. |
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BradReeseCom
Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 283
Location: Asheville, NC - Dallas, TX - Tallahassee, FL
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| Posted:
Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:03 am Post subject:
Re: Some (minor) negatives about Vonage |
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Bob,
When you need to speak to a LIVE person at Vonage always call between
1:00AM and 6:00AM EST.
732-650-6699
You will get a LIVE person immediately between those times.
Sincerely,
Brad Reese
BradReese.Com Cisco Repair Worldwide
United Kingdom: 44-20-70784294
U.S. Toll Free: 877-549-2680
International: 828-277-7272
Fax: 775-254-3558
Website: http://www.bradreese.com/cisco-big-iron-repair.htm |
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Wes Groleau
Guest
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| Posted:
Sun Nov 20, 2005 5:39 am Post subject:
Re: Some (minor) negatives about Vonage |
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John R. Levine wrote:
| Quote: | I'm not sure if you have experienced this at all, but I've heard some
horror stories about their customer service.
My experience of their customer service is that it doesn't exist any more,
which is the main reason I recently switched to Lingo.
|
Nov. 2005 update: I am a new Vonage customer. I was advised
by a "satisfied customer of over a year" to never expect any
support by e-mail, but that phone support was OK.
One day after installation, I have to disagree.
I DO get a live person every time. These people
DO speak English fairly well. However, their accents
are just strong enough that when you mix them with the
ABYSMAL quality of their help-desk phone service, they
are very difficult to understand. Now I have heard that
audio quality of Vonage is excellent. But their help
desk people sound like they are using a five-dollar
speaker phone with a defective interference cancel.
Also, it always takes several tries to persuade them
that I am not using Windows. And even after that, they
still use standard Windows troubleshooting techniques.
(In other words, the first thing to try is to reboot
the computer and the second is to cycle power on the
entire network.)
And WHY am I calling the help desk? Because exactly
one hour after booting the computer and getting an IP
address from the Motorola VT1005V adapter, the adapter
cuts off all IP (including a ping direct to its admin IP)
--
Wes Groleau
------
"The reason most women would rather have beauty than brains is
they know that most men can see better than they can think."
-- James Dobson |
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