Vonage VoIP Forum Digest - July 25, 2005

July 25, 2005

By Daniel Connor

Welcome to today's edition of the Vonage Voip Forum Digest.

Today, we'll look at PC Magazine's article about how Vonage, and other Voip providers, are preparing for this Friday's FCC deadline in which they have to tell their customers about the lack of enhanced 911 services, and for customers to get back to them indicating they understand what's up with that. You'll read about Vonage's new - and I'm not making this up- "Pimp That Phone" contest. Another article we will spotlight talks about Vonage-configured Wi-Fi Voip handsets- what's here, and what's coming. We'll read about how Vonage coming into Australia will help boost the popularity of Voip there. We'll also look at a Vonage Voip Forum thread about a popular topic - headsets. And finally, we'll meet our latest Vonage Voip Forum Member of the Week.

In The Headlines

Vonage Explains How They Have Been Trying To Reach You About E911

By now, you should have received an email from Vonage describing the temporary limitations of their E911 service. You should have responded to this email as well. If not, you really need to do this by Friday. That is the Federal Communications Commission's deadline for you to do so. There's more about this in last Thursday's Vonage VoIP Forum Digest.

On the eWeek website, Vonage spokesperson Brooke Schulz explains to Robyn Weisman just how hard Vonage has been trying to reach you about this important matter. Weisman writes that Schulz said "the first level of notification Vonage is using is a special Web page that pops up when a customer logs into his or her account online. The page requests that users read the information and acknowledge their receipt of that information before continuing on to their account page, where users may check their bills and change features, among other things."

Schulz also says that if you haven't responded so far, Vonage may try other ways to reach you about this important matter. If Vonage start doing that, you'll read about it here - and, I am betting, in Vonage Voip Forum threads, too.

These Folks Are Designing Their Own Vonage Phone

Vonage, has pitted four celebrity technology contestants against each other to compete to see who can express their artistic abilities the best and can modify, or as Vonage puts it, "Pimp That Phone" with the greatest success. The winner will then be crowned the ultimate "Pimp Supreme" walking away with an array of cash and prizes.

Hey, we didn't name the contest. Vonage did. But we did think you would want the scoop:

The four contestants will have 60 days to turn a landline phone with Vonage service, into their own individual creation. In the meantime, the site will continually monitor their progress over the entire 60-day period while viewers may log on to http://www.pimpthatphone.com/ , watch their progress and cast their vote for their favorite pimped out phone.

The four contestants each have their own abilities. Joshua Drigghas already won numerous awards from Tech TV for past projects. Quinn Cherney is an expert in graphic design and sculpture. which she claims may give her a slight advantage. Bonzangeo modifies PC external designs for fun. Christopher Dol says he mods "on a feeling." In other words, he lets the artist inside him take over.

Get Ready For More Vonage Handsets

Last week,Vonage and VTech announced a cordless broadband phone system called the IP-8100-2. It went on sale yesterday for $149.99, with a $50 rebate.

The IP-8100-2 is pre-configured with Vonage service. And, as it has already been reported, it includes a phone base that plugs into an existing broadband connection, so you won't need an additional router or stand-alone adapter to connect to your PC.

Now, Vonage spokesperson Mitchell Slepian tells EnterpriseVoIPPlanet that the IP-8100-2 won't be Vonage's only handset. He says that Vonage is "device agnostic" (marketing talk for not being proprietary to only one device), and is looking forward to releasing more products. "Vonage anticipates releasing a Wi-Fi phone in the fall of 2005, as it recognizes that its residential and small business customers will utilize it to make their communications methods easier," Slepian said.

Vonage Will Be There For Aussie Voip Boom

In an article in Sunday's editions of the Sydney, Australia Morning Herald, tech reporter Daniel Dasey quotes Aussie telecom analyst saying that in five to eight years, some 80 percent of households will use VoIP. Budde expects a big rush to subscribe next year.

"The majority of people who are using (VoIP) are doing it as a bit of fun as a sideline on their computers," Budde told Dasey. "The big change will start in 2006."

By then, Vonage will probably have started their Australia service. In fact, the Morning Herald says, "Vonage has begun establishing a presence in Australia."

Well, I guess that means will have to start a Vonage Australia Forum to go along with Vonage UK, Vonage Canada, and of course, our main Vonage VIP Forum.

Speaking of...

On The Vonage Voip Forum

On the Vonage Voip Forum, new Forum member gburg started a thread today which he named, Ready for a headset-now the work begins.

To kick the thread off, gburg (but you can also call him "Doug") writes that he is up and running Vonage with no problems. Now, he wants to add a headset to his system but wants to know if he can I use a Voip / USB headset instead of his regular phone, and whether or not he can use click-2-call & dial out of Outlook or just enter the number.

Plenty of you have already responded with some suggestions about headsets.

Vonage Voip Forum Member trowski writes that he "has a Plantronics box that plugs into where the handset (corded phone) and then the receiver plugs into the Plantronics box. There is a mute button and a button to switch between the headset and the handset."

Another Forum Member, VonageTPA, sure knows his way around headsets- both pricey and economical. Yet unlike at least one or two other experienced audiophiles we know, VonageTPA doesn't have an attitude about it. He writes:

"Sennheiser HMD-25's are my preferred headset, but they're out of most people's budgets and require quite a bit of equipment to interface to a POTS line. Beyerdynamic also makes some great headsets, but again the same probs as the Sennheisers (expensive and require even more expensive equipment to connect to a phone line)

"On more practical terms," VonageTPA continues, "the Plantronics stuff is good. I used one of their voice tube headsets for a few years with no major complaints. Sound quality's acceptable. The voice tubes appear to be fragile, but I never broke one. I don't think I'd be willing to go any cheaper than Plantronics. I've also seen telecom headsets from Hello Direct (www.hellodirect.com) in a few offices. I think they're cheaper than the Plantronics, but didn't seem like toys either."

Occasionally, older Vonage Voip Forum threads get some interesting new posts. I think this is sometimes due to the fact that our posts are searchable, and some of your folks find something in an older post that might shed light on a problem or issue you are having.

Also, Vonage Forum Member Pepperoni (great name, by the way) has another suggestion for Doug- that he consider signing up for Vonage SoftPhone, and then use a regular PC headset for outgoing calls.

A little earlier in the Digest, I mentioned Forum Member trowski's answer to gburg's question about headsets. Reading his answer, and seeing how quickly he posted his reply to gburg's question, reminded me that I have been impressed with many of trowski's more than 275 posts since he joined just a little over two months ago. The quantity, but more important, the quality of these posts earns trowski our nod for Vonage Voip Forum Member of the Week. If you look through trowski's posts, you'll see he's knowledgeable and helpful about everything from routers and headsets to voice mail and service issues. He's from Stuart, Florida. If you click on his profile, you'll be able to tell right away that his favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox.

That's what's hot about Vonage today. Check with us Tuesday morning for the next edition of the Vonage Voip Forum Digest!!