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ViaTalk Stops VoIP Special to Keep QoS
April 26, 2006 By Scott Sowle
ViaTalk was running a 3 day, buy one year get one free special, became so swamped with orders they suspended their special 1 day early.
ViaTalk stated on dslreports.com "Due to the overwhelming response to the offer, we have decided to end it tonight at midnight (April 25th) to help our staff get caught back up with support and shipment requests. We are doing this to ensure that we are able to maintain the same level of service that our customers have grown to expect, and that our new customers are looking forward to."
I'm sure some would be VoIP consumers were disappointed with the early withdrawal of the special, but this actually took some quick and on their toes thinking to help keep their QoS for the consumer. Many companies would have kept the medicine ball rolling and ended up crushing their service, consumer confidence and a chance to compete in the VoIP market.
I take my hat off to those who made the decision and those who took the heat for it. This type of move tells me that they actually care about the consumer and their employees. I say "Awesome", if only other VoIP providers would follow their outlook towards the consumer instead of number hunting.
I don't expect to see this type of offer from any of the other major VoIP players or even from ViaTalk. If you missed the once in a VoIP time offer, don't panic because the savings using VoIP service over tradition phone still will save you a bundle.
ViaTalk Giving 1 Year Free VoIP Service
April 24, 2006 by Scott Sowle
Yes that is right, VoIP provider ViaTalk is giving away 1 year of Free VoIP service when a subscriber orders their 1 year annual unlimited plan at $199. The special was announced last night and will last until April 26th.
The announcement of this special coincides with the end of ViaTalk's official 'beta' period, and the introduction of two new plans for customers.
The new plans include a BYOD (Bring Your Own Devise) and a VoiceMail plan, both will be in addition to their now standard Unlimited 12 and 24 month plans and a 500 minute plan.
ViaTalk stated in a press release today that, "While our 'beta' period was not a 'beta test' in the traditional sense of the word as the phone service itself has been exceptional, it was a period of time during which we as a company paid extra attention to the wishes of our customers, tailoring our product to meet their exact expectations and requirements. Although the beta is over, this is something we will always continue to do well into the future. The three day sale is our way of saying thanks to our current customers, as well as welcoming in new ones along the way."
The 12 months of free ViaTalk VoIP service would bring the monthly cost to less than $8.30 for 24 months. The good news for those who are already subscribers is that they also can receive a reduced price of $99 for a 12 month extension of their existing annual plan.
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VoIP and IP Services Grabbing Up Landline Consumers
April 24, 2006 by Scott Sowle
According to a recent survey released by eMarketer, VoIP is luring customers in with their low prices, and 32.6 million US households will be service by VoIP in 2010. That would be around 40 percent of those who currently have high-speed internet.
"Consumers are not in the least interested in the technology of VoIP but rather the potential cost savings it offers," says eMarketer senior analyst Ben Macklin. "With most VoIP offers ranging from $20 to $40 per month for unlimited local and long distance calls across the US and Canada, price will be the primary driver for the VoIP industry in the short term."
We all know that most are paying the average POTS (plain old telephone service) residential bill of $51 per month. If you have a broadband high speed Internet service using VoIP is a no-brainer.
Currently POTS subscriber's numbers are falling. In 2005, 194.5 million people subscribed to cellular phones, while just 172.1 million signed up for POTS. You can expect it to take a sharper drop in the next 5 years as businesses and residential consumers replace landlines with broadband services which include a variety of service including Internet, data, video and voice.
With the falling costs for high speed Internet many businesses are switching over to a T1 line or VPN service which allow them to also take advantage of the lower voice costs through business VoIP. Communication equipment costs may also be lowered by going to hosted IP PBX and hosted IVR systems for their offices. Future costs of business communications will drop with these types of IP services.
The future of communications through IP services is here to stay and grow. If you're just starting a new business or looking to improve your communication lines, business VoIP and hosted IP services should be analyzed to help cut costs.
Skype Netgear WiFi Phone Pre Order
April 20, 2006 by Scott Sowle
Netgear and Skype have hooked up exclusively with Amazon.com (What happened with eBay and Skype?) for pre-orders of their new wifi phone. The new phone will allow you to access Skype service where ever there is a WiFi hotspot without any needed hook-ups or software.
Many have awaited for this moment but they also may not be so eager to purchase as it is starting out at an astounding high price of $249.00 if you order now (don't expect shipment until June 30th), the regular price is stated to be $299.00. This price is not what most had expected from the Peer-to-Peer phone service leader Skype.
I believe this is a marketing ploy to test the waters and see if there is going to be a high demand. In fact, I do expect this price to drop down so they can better compete with Vonage and BroadVoice, who both sell a VoIP WiFi phone for less than 100 bucks. I will be one who waits for the price to drop. In the mean time if you feel the need go to Amazon.com
Sprint Nextel VoIP Pass 1 Million
April 10, 2006 by Scott Sowle
A joint effort through Sprint Nextel Corp and cable companies has given them more than 1 million Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) customers.
Sprint Nextel said that its VoIP customers had increased by over four fold in the last year.
Sprint Nextel currently has contracts with the cable industries largest players, Time Warner Cable and Comcast . They also stated in a release that they have inked deals with three small cable operators, WEHCO, NPG Cable Inc, and Shrewsbury Electric and Cable Operators.
EarthLink, Google Providing San Francisco WiFi
April 10, 2006 by Scott Sowle
A recent announcement from the city of San Francisco acknowledges that a joint bid by Google and EarthLink to provide free wireless access throughout the city was accepted.
EarthLink has also been selected to build city wide WiFi network for Philadelphia. The recent addition of San Francisco will be the largest city wide WiFi free service in the US.
Google will be providing the free service through, of course, ad base sites. EarthLink will be selling the service at 20 dollars a pop, and hopes to be up and running by the end of this year.
Sprint Taking EV-DO To WiFi
April 6, 2006 by Scott Sowle
Sprint is going to make high speed wireless more flexible via EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimize). They will be introducing a EV-DO-to-WiFi router and USB EV-DO dongle.
Sprint will begin selling the router during the last half of this year which can turn any Sprint EV-DO card connection into an 802.11g LAN (local area network). The router will cost close to $200 and won't require any changes in subscriber service plans, which are currently cost $59.99/Mo. for unlimited high speed access, or $79.99/Mo. for people without a Sprint voice plan.
Airlines Accept Bids On WiFi
April 5, 2006
The move toward high-speed Internet access on airplanes took another step today as the FCC accepted five bids for its May 10 sale of airwaves necessary to provide the service. The FCC ruled that an application by Verizon Airfone was incomplete. The agency accepted applications from AC BidCo, which is associated with private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, and four other firms: AMTS Consortium, Intelligent Transportation & Monitoring Wireless, Unison Spectrum and WorldCell. Verizon Airfone, a unit of Verizon Communications, and LiveTV, owned by JetBlue Airways. are among the seven bidders with incomplete applications. The companies have until April 17 to correct deficiencies.
BlackBerry Vo-WLAN Capable
April 4, 2006 by Scott Sowle
Meru Networks, a leader in Wirless VoIP infrastructure, announced a new solution for on-premise wirless voice and data applications with support for BlackBerry Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) solution form Research In Motion.
The BlackBerry 7270 handheld, which connects to BlackBerry Enterprise Server(TM) to enable secure wireless access to email, IM, organizer, Internet and other corporate applications, and you can make and receive VoIP calls through your enterprise telephony systems such as IP-PBX, wia the industry standard SIP. For enterprise customers on premise, high-performance wirless voice and data applications are now available from the BlackBerry WLAN solution.
Wireless VoIP and data are rapidly becoming crucial enterprise applications that reduce communication costs and improves productivity. The Meru and BlackBerry WLAN solution will make this possible.
Vonage Looking To Sell Out?
April 4, 2006 by Scott Sowle
Vonage might be marketing itself into a buy-out, is what many analysts and researched are thinking. The king of marketing VoIP via television ads with the "Woo Hoo!" song, resently filed for an IPO but has yet to follow through.
Is their cash cow running out of green? Are they shopping themselves to a large telecom firm?
Vonage has grown rapidly in the last year due to their marketing. But marketing expenses are drastically outweighing profits. In fact they reported a huge loss for the first three quarters of 2005.
During the first nine months of 2005 they spent $176.3 million on marketing compared to $31.3 million the first nine months of 2004.
If Vonage wants to keep growing at it's current rate, they will need huge piles of cash. The IPO is one way to possibly raise it, but many feel the delay to finish the foot work for the IPO is a sign they are interested more in a buy-out.
Competition in the VoIP market is fierce, and Vonage is pushing it. Companies such as VoIP pioneer Packet8 and Bottom-Line pricing (no taxes, no hidden fees, one flat rate) SunRocket providers have limited their marketing capital and worked at the basics of improving quality of service and customer satisfaction. Vonage may also find itself lowering its current rates so they can compete with both Packet8 and SunRocket.
Its the wait and see game with Vonage. I expect to see a name telecom company to step up soon and that the IPO will never unfold.
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