Vonage looking for a lot of good...people!

VoIP industry innovator Vonage is apparently stunned with the uptake in their subscriptions, and they are scrambling to keep up with demand. Users have complained that when calling the company for support they are often shuttled to busy signals or must endure long waits. We tried a call to support today and waited 45 minutes before anyone finally came on!

Well, it would seem that even they have been surprised by the demand for services. We have learned from a company insider that they are making plans to hire 600 new support people to staff their over-worked call centers.

Bottom line is that the service is great and works, as long as you don't need to talk to anyone there to ask questions. Let's hope they get this fixed, because, folks, they are on a roll!

Beware cancellation fees!!!

One little known issue can come back to bite you if you decide to test a VoIP service then later cancel it - the cancellation fees. Some of the services do charge a fee if you cancel in less than a year. If you got the adapter for free, this is somewhat to be expected, however if there are unresolved technical issues which cause you to decide to cancel, you need to protest and escalate the issue to a customer advocate. So, a word to the wise...don't just click "yes" when the agreement flashes on the screen. Read it and understand your liability before proceeding.

New VoIP Service in UK?

According to The Times (British version, of course), there are rumors of a new Google-powered service in the UK which will combine traditional VoIP with Google's renowned search facilities and provide some neat new services.

Read more...

Unified Messaging - Redefined?

With the advent of the Internet, the lines between the telephone industry and the computer and networking industries began to merge, producing a class of services known as Unified Messaging (UM). Companies such as U-Reach, AccessLine and even J2 Communications (formerly known as JFax) along with their subsidiary eFax have over the years defined these services. The basic offerings include internet fax and voice mail, some of which are completely advertising-supported. The most robust services start with voice mail and notification, progressing to "smart" services such as follow-me roaming and functionality based on location or time. In these cases faxes are still offered, but more as an afterthought.

UM services have long appealed to a core group of professionals who want to be more available than their competitors, having the ability to be in almost constant touch with their clients. And, they are good. We have used them successfully for years to deliver messages to us wherever in the world we happen to be on a timely basis. But, our take is that this business model is about to change.

Enter the VoIP companies. When the current offerings of companies such as Vonage, Lingo, VoicePulse and others are reviewed and compared to typical UM services, it becomes apparent that these folks are on a collision course. Problem is, it is not apparent that they have noticed!

The best VoIP providers have lots of extra features included with the service as standard. They are trying to compete with the premium Telco offerings providing Caller ID, Distinctive Ring, etc., so they realised long ago that these things must be a part of the service. But in addition, they are all offering free voice mail, most are offering call diversion (some even based on time of day!), call forwarding, 3-way calling and other call controls. In a word, they are moving into the UM space quite quickly.

Most of the services also offer a 2nd number using their primary adapter. This second line brings in more service possibilities, such as call hunting or call distribution. Some of them allow this number to be a fax line, which would connect to a physical fax machine in the customer's office. How simple would it be to make that a virtual fax, instead? Why limit the offering on the adapter to a physical machine? Is this simply because the VoIP companies have so much on their plate that they just aren't thinking about it yet? But this kind of thinking out of the box will make for a more robust service.

OK, maybe the VoIP supplier does not have the time or inclination to do this, but J2/eFax or one of their competitors certainly should be interested, so why not simply put the products together in a way that is seamless to the end user? Fax machines are great for sending - everyone should have one - but, I haven't received a fax on a physical machine in my office for years. I use a J2 number because it is simple and convenient. And, because I can get my faxes anywhere, even re-directing them to a physical machine close by if necessary.

And, don't forget virtual numbers. One of the moneymakers for the VoIP folks is that they can get you virtual numbers in lots of different places which point to your phone. In the old days with the now-gone Bell System, we used to refer to these as "Remote Call Forward" or "Remote Exchange" services. A business in New York would take out a number in Los Angeles with no physical phone but the ability to point all incoming calls to his New York location. We would charge them from $15-20/month for this priveledge, plus the costs of calls, but with these VoIP offerings you can have them for as little as $2/month, depending on the service, and there is generally no fee for incoming calls. You can even get an overseas number from some of the services - we have a London number on our Vonage account.

Once again, these features sound suspiciously like what we have come to know as UM. Or at least a component thereof. This is why we believe that convergence between these two kinds of services must eventually take place. In the long run, it may be the only way the traditional UM companies will survive. And in the VoIP game, it will be a way to enhance service offerings to keep a step ahead of the competition. Now let's see if anyone picks up on it!

Voice over IP Tutorial

What is Voice over IP?

Maybe you are asking yourself what IP is, since we all understand voice, don't we? Simply put, IP is "Internet Protocol", the language which computers use to communicate with each other. By computers, we also encompass all those devices in between which are used to facilitate this communication. These include products you have probably heard of and may even own, such as modems, routers, gateways and even network cards. All these products and product categories are designed to do only one thing - pass IP communications back and forth between you and someone else.

"So, why is the voice over the IP?", you ask. This is where it gets tricky, but suffice it to say that the voice signals transmitted by even a lowly standard telephone set can be converted to digital signals carried within these internet protocols. This enables your voice to be sent along to someone else with or without an IP phone in the same way that your e-mail message travels through the internet.

As eluded to above, the enabling technology, which had to be in place to make this happen, is the increasingly growing presence of broadband connectivity. More and more people are signing on to the high speed internet access services offered by telephone companies through DSL cable services internet offerings. And, why now? The promise of streaming video, swift file downloads and even video messaging is an alluring image being sold regularly on TV and in in print advertising.

But all these great applications pale in comparison to where VoIP is quickly going!

The Product Life Cycle

Before we begin, it's time to digress for a minute into some basic marketing. You can skip this section and move to the "main event" if you want, but it provides some background into what has been happening to this technology up to now, so we thought it important to include.

It is a bit surprising, considering how technical a subject this has been considered, that the technology is beginning to get into the mainstream so quickly. It's acceptance, we believe, is a tribute to the emerging potential and technical strength of the products and services being brought to the marketplace. But, there are some important historical reasons as well.

Products, especially "high-tech" ones, go through a life cycle that begins with their acceptance by "early adopters" and continues through stages of broader and less technical audiences. These early adopters are often more concerned about technology and the "nifty" factor of the products and services than about overall market suitability. (Trust me...I know because I'm one of them!) Each level of market acceptance brings in people who are less interested in technology and more interested in the intrinsic value of the product to them - a new way to do something, a way to save money, etc. Along with this comes an increasing resistance against things that go wrong. This not only includes flaws in the product, but extends to the implementation and support of the services offered. Each of us lies somewhere within this spectrum, and it is up to the reader to assess his own needs to determine where to buy into the technology.

Moving forward, at some point in the life cycle the acceptance peaks and remains on a plateau for some time. The length of this plateau depends on both the strength of the product itself and the strength of the next product - the one "waiting in the wings" to take over. Pricing, of course, plays an important role throughout this cycle.

As a familiar example, consider the VCR. The early adopters were looking for the best technical solution, and many chose Sony's Betamax, which was in many ways superior to the more highly-touted VHS standard which finally became so ubiquitous. This resulted in a "standards war", but as time moved forward, the better marketed VHS standard began to enjoy wider acceptance to a point that manufacturing costs dropped. That settled, the VHS version of the VCR has enjoyed a solid multi-year run. It is only now finally being ousted by the DVD, when a similar standards war was resolved by creating recorders that simply read and write all the available DVD types. (Everyone seemed to just agree not to agree and moved on!)

An important factor in the life cycle of VoIP is that there never was really any standards war. The other factor is that the really early adopters occurred a couple of years ago in the business marketplace, where VoIP has been building steadily. (A little known fact is that Cisco recently shipped its 2,000,000th IP phone!) This business acceptance has enabled the technology to grow in a most orderly fashion, mirroring the growth of broadband internet capability and services across the world.

Today's consumer and small business VoIP services are back at an early-adopter stage only because the idea is new to the consumer side and most of the companies introducing them are also new. But, we predict this will be a quickly growing trend - one which can benefit many home users and small businesses as well as investors hoping to catch a new technology at the early stages.

What do I need for VoIP?

In order to use VoIP, you must have a high-speed internet connection, often referred to as broadband. (Check back for our upcoming section on broadband.) These services are provided by most cable companies and local telephone companies. A more limited version is also offered by some satellite providers, although that is beyond the scope of this article.

DSL and cable broadband are generally at least 1.5Mbps or more in the US now and often reach speeds over 3Mbps. We have tested services on cable in the US and behind a basic 512kbps DSL service service in the UK. Our experience has been uniformly positive, although with the lower rate UK DSL service, we had to be a bit careful about surfing and talking at the same time. We recommend that if you are in the UK or Europe, you should spring for the higher speed DSL of at least 1Mbps to assure complete satisfaction. And, if you paln to do a lot of talking, be careful about those capacity-limited servces being offered by some carriers.

US users don't have to contend with this...yet! But, some UK/Euro providers are offering lower priced broadband access with a monthly download limit and an extra fee for overages. Sort of like leasing a car and going over the base milage -- it can get expensive.

Your installation will include a cable or DSL modem, much like a dial-up modem, that takes your computer's signals and "modulates" (an old analog term - it really doesn't modulate any more, but the analogy still works) them for the longer haul. You may also have a router or gateway which allows you to use multiple computers or wireless devices on your network.

What comprises a typical VoIP installation?

That's an easy one...an adapter and a telephone. It's usually about a 5 minute installation. The adapter is a little box supplied by your service provider that does that translation of the analog voice signal from the telephone into the digital signal understood by the Internet. It comes with a power supply and usually a network cable and a telephone cable. The network cable plugs into your router or gateway, or into your cable modem, depending on your configuration. The telephone cable plugs into a standard phone. I like to use a portable phone for this, as it is easy to remember that I should use it for my long distance calling, and it goes anywhere around the house.

There are obviously many possible variations on the above theme, but that is the basic service, and all the VoIP providers work this way. Most providers charge for the adapter separately from the service, so you may want to look for a special with an instant rebate on the adapter or at the least a rebate after some months of continuous service.

What services are provided?

Lots! More than just inexpensive long distance calling, these services rival or best some of the premium offerings by local telphone companies. At the very least, expect to find voice mail and call transfer. Federal law now mandates 911 Emergency dialing capability is mandated by law, so all services must include this feature. But wait, there's more! Did you know that you are no longer bound to a local number? Yep, you can have a number in any location where your provider has set up arrangements, and these are usually quite a wide variation. One company, Lingo, even offers US users numbers in London for a small premium. But remember, if someone local wants to call you on the VoIP number, the call will be billed as a call to whatever place you set up your number, so be careful.

An alternative is a service called "virtual numbers", offered by most if not all the VoIP providers, which lets you buy an additional number in a 2nd, 3rd, etc. location that rings to your main number. When I was with the old Bell System, we referred to this as a "remote exchange" service, which I suppose you can still find, however I'd have to bet the price is more than the typical $5/month charged by the VoIP providers. Many of them also offer "800" or other toll-free numbers for a similar price. The benefits to these options are obvious to the small business owner, or even to the individual with a need to provide a number in a remote location -- such as for a college student to dial home!

Of course, voice mail is standard (in all the plans I have seen to date), and most providers offer a range of other features such as call waiting, call forward, simultaneous ringing, call hunting, and others. In fact, they are getting so close to the real model of "Unified Messaging" that we believe the traditional UM providers need to take notice. (We'll be reporting on this later in more detail.)

One important feature is what happens in the case of a network outage. This includes not only your own local internet connection, but outages that may affect the traffic along the way. All the companies will provide in some way for calls to be handled in these cases...either forwarding to a second number, often referred to as a "network availablity number", or directly to voice mail. A good option, for example, might be to have calls forward to your mobile phone in case of network outages.

Bottom line is that there is a plethora of services bundled with most of these packages, so it pays to take a good look at what is available before making your choice.

Can I keep my existing number?

Yes, in most cases. This depends more on your local telephone service provider than on your VoIP provider, but local number portability, highly publicized in the mobile phone market, is generally available for VoIP numbers, as well. The process is simple: There is a form, usually downloadable, to sign and fax back. If your number is not available, you can usually tell immediately. Otherwise, the VoIP provider takes care of all the rest, and you will get a notice when the process is about to be completed. You are given a temporary number to use immediately upon sign-up, and it usually is continued gratis for a week or so. Of course, if you grow to love the temporary number during the waiting period, it is always possible to keep it as well by simply converting it to one of the virtual numbers referred to above.

This all sounds too good to be true. Come on, there have to be some drawbacks!

You've heard the addage: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Well, that really doesn't hold up for VoIP, but there are some considerations. As mentioned above, you must first have a high speed, or broadband internet connection. (If you haven't gotten there yet and want to learn more, watch for our upcoming section about broadband.)

Reliability is, of course, the most important concern and the only real potential drawback. That is affected mainly by the strength of your ISP/broadband provider, so remember that whenever your broadband connection is down, your phone is down, too. (That's where the network availability number discussed above comes in.) I have to say, that although the frequency of outages is continually improving, they do occasionally occur, so keep a close mental track of what is going on for a month or so before deciding how to move forward. My personal experience is that I have probably a 1% downtown from Comcast Cable in Atlanta and a bit less (surprisingly!) from Adelphia Cable in South Florida and Pipex DSL in the UK. But these things do occasionally go down. Of course, the other old addage is that things always go wrong at the worst possible time, so if you are concerned about this you may want to use it as a 2nd line.

If I had written this even six months ago, certainly a year ago, I would have listed the other potential drawback as the voice quality. But just over the last few months this has dramatically improved! As we mentioned earlier, if you have a lower speed DSL this can become a bit of an issue, but at the normal speeds quality should be at least as good as that of your mobile phone and often as good as or better than your existing telephone line. Hard to believe, I know, but this stuff actually works!

OK, I'm interested - what's it going to cost me?

Ready for the bottom line, eh? Probably less than you think. Most VoIP services are from around $15 to $30 per month, depending on the service structure. Business accounts, which are all unlimited calling and usually include a fax line, run $10 to $15 more. Services vary, so check each prospective provider's website for details. The really good news is that as of this time the tax structure on VoIP services is much, much less burdensome than on regular land lines. This is a big area of contention with your local phone company, but for now at least, the FCC seems to be on the side of innovation and fostering competition in this new industry. We'll look into how this all works in the UK later, as the industry is still quite in it's infancy there, but in the US this presents a considerable opportunity to save money. (We'll be adding a section with industry news which aims to keep track of the tax rules and other issues affecting VoIP.)

For example, Vonage offers a limited service with 500 free minutes of calling for $14.99 per month. With all the taxes and fees added, it still totals under $17 per month. This includes the number and all the afore-mentioned features as well as the 500 free minutes. One caveat though: calls across the street use the free minutes, too, and this is the case with all the services. So if you plan to talk a bit, the unlimited services are your best choice.

These range from around $20 to $30 per month, depending on provider. The Vonage unlimited service is less than $25 per month plus fees, for a total still in the range of $27 per month. Compare that with an unlimited calling plan from your local telco. Find out what the taxes and additional fees are on that, then compare the two, and you should see a pretty significant savings.

If you are replacing a line, especially an additional line, the savings are even more. For instance, in my markets a local line goes for anywhere from $25 to $30 per month with all the premium features, voice mail costs another $3 to $5 per month, and the taxes and fees add on as much as another 20%! And, that still doesn't include the unlimited calling plan! We plan to provide more detailed cost justifications at a later date, along with comparisons of some of the major providers.

In summary...

One of the most exciting things I can find is a product that quickly breaks out of the early adopter stage and begins to find fast market acceptance. But when it also provides a usable service with such a large potential base and great cost-savings potential, it becomes a real winner! VoIP certainly falls into this category, and we urge you to take a close look.

We hope this short tutorial has been of help. We will continue to add more information in detail, along with comparisons of services and breaking news about VoIP, so please come back often.