VoIP landspace changing..........

Posts: 26 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Aug 11, 2005 Posts: 26

Interesting article on VoIP Magazine:

http://www.voip-magazine.com/content/view/2084/

Now that the 800lb gorillas (cable operators) have entered the field, it's going to be interesting to see how Vonage adapts to the new realities. They are definitely going to have to be a more nimble player in this environment.

I really hope Vonage can differentiate themselves on more than just price (read more features, and even simultaneous calling). Maybe some people like paying more, but offering price advantage isn't working so well in Time-Warner territory, with Comcast VoIP just now rolling out.

Posts: 4750 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4750

If the cost quoted by my cable provider is any indicator, Vonage is already a hands down winner there. I'm afraid the real discriminator for Vonage is going to be better customer service.

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 02, 2006 Posts: 81

When I called to get my comcast service moved from my old place to my new, they gave me their whole digital voice line. I kind of humored the guy as well, because I already checked whats available in my new home and while high speed internet is, digital voice isn't...but I let the guy talk.

So he tells me that it's much better then other Voip services. I ask for specifics, but he really can't nail anything down. Then he tries the old "well if you lose power then you lose your voip line". I asked him how the particulars of his digital voice worked, and what magical power it had to survive a power outage - guy didn't know. Then he said that it would work if my network went down....I told him if the network went down they would be getting from me anyways.

So after I played with him for a bit I worked my way to the price. He asked home much I was paying for my old telco line...I said 60. He said that digital voice costs only 35 dollars a month...saving me tons of money. I told him vonage costs only 25 dollars a month. Well, for comcast customers only, they will let you have digital voice for only 27 dollars a month for a year...and after that you have pay regular price. Sure, it's nice to save money for a year I told him...but I'd rather save money for longer. But just to egg him on even more, I had him start the paperwork on it. Lo and behold..not available in my new home. I told him it was nice talking to him either way.

Overall, I think the cable companies are going to make it a more competitive market. Hopefully more features will become available to us from this. Guess we'll wait and see.

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

I agree with you guys. If Vonage is to be a powerful player, customer service needs to be fixed, more features need to be introduced, and the price can't go too high to offer those things. If Vonage's prices exceed the competition, and offer less features, people will jump ship to an ISP offering, since an application on a native network just works better.

Posts: 18 · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:25 am Post subject: Installation Is The Key

Unfortunately I think that in the long run, the 8lbg's are going to win this battle. The following is from VOIP Magazine (http://www.voip-magazine.com/content/view/590/):

Quote:

In addition, the cable companies have the resources and staff to do installation in person, rather than leaving customers to the uncertainties of self-installation.

In the year since I signed up for Vonage I've "pitched" the benefits to at least a dozen people all of whom have been enthusiastic about the savings and feature and none of whom have signed up.

Even when I volunteer to do the install for them, they are just too leary of the issues involved with the responsibilities of owning and maintaining the hardware. IMHO, the average Jane/Joe doesn't want to have anything to do with the hardware and is willing to pay the price to not have to think about it as long as there is a savings over their Telco cost.

Posts: 18 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Apr 28, 2005 Posts: 18

I suppose... but Comcast is all about their "self-installation kits" you see plastered in kiosks all over electronic stores. And for traditional service, you end up paying through the nose for in-house service... Some may differ, but around here, the telecom's stuff stops at the house... once the telephone line or Coax comes in, its ALLLL you...

Some may rent a cable modem, but that's the extent of what most of those companies will deal with.

Posts: 4750 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4750

navydavy2001 wrote:

I agree with you guys. If Vonage is to be a powerful player, customer service needs to be fixed, more features need to be introduced, and the price can't go too high to offer those things. If Vonage's prices exceed the competition, and offer less features, people will jump ship to an ISP offering, since an application on a native network just works better.

What new features would you like to see? Personally, I wouldn't want to pay a dime for anything that isn't already included.

Posts: 476 · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:40 am Post subject:

Steve48 wrote:

navydavy2001 wrote:

I agree with you guys. If Vonage is to be a powerful player, customer service needs to be fixed, more features need to be introduced, and the price can't go too high to offer those things. If Vonage's prices exceed the competition, and offer less features, people will jump ship to an ISP offering, since an application on a native network just works better.

What new features would you like to see? Personally, I wouldn't want to pay a dime for anything that isn't already included.

ACR or ACB and working outgoing CID. We shouldn't have to pay extra for these as they should be native with any VOIP system.

Posts: 4750 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4750

Agreed, but I wouldn't want to pay for any of those even if Vonage proposed them at extra cost.

Posts: 476 · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:15 pm Post subject:

Steve48 wrote:

Agreed, but I wouldn't want to pay for any of those even if Vonage proposed them at extra cost.

If Vonage went to a pay per feature or increased fees for expanding feature set marketing strategy I think it would be the beginning of the end. Especially when other VOIP providers have these features as standard fare for their services. Since you've said it twice now, have you heard that Vonage won't expand the feature set without also increasing fees?