Wireless IP phones with Vonage?

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 11, 2004 Posts: 17

I’m just wondering if anybody has inquired about compatibility of Wireless IP phones and Vonage? My proposed configuration is this: Pulver WISIP phone – 802.11b AP – DSL “modem” – Internet – [Vonage]. The configuration would not use the Motorola at all or it could be used in addition to it. (Another Wireless IP phone is the Cisco 7920)
Broadvoice <www.broadvoice.com> offers this phone as an addition to its service.
Other VoIP service providers such as Voicepulse allow the subscriber to use their own SIP enabled devices.

KrautDog

Posts: 110 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 06, 2004 Posts: 110

At this point Vonage does not allow the use of true VOIP phones -- i.e. you either use their soft phone (software on PC) or you get an ATA.

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 11, 2004 Posts: 17

Thanks for the info. I sure hope Vonage is working on adding that functionality soon. Companies like BroadVoice may soon start to get a bigger market share because they offer that as well as allowing customers to use their own phone adapter. I contacted Vonage via e-mail about this subject but have not heard back yet.

Posts: 183 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: May 05, 2004 Posts: 183

I'd bet that the percentage of users who opt for IP phones will be WAY less than 1% of the total residential and small business market, at least for the next few years. I'd bet Vonage will concentrate on further penetrating the huge core market with analog equipment for the short and medium term.

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 11, 2004 Posts: 17

Check out this link: http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-5181617.html
They are already working on it! They must be reading my mind!
I think it's a great idea. An even better idea is to have regular cell phones that have the option of connecting to a wireless network.[/url]

Posts: 61 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 29, 2004 Posts: 61

kruatdog...what bonus are you getting from the IP phone that makes it a draw for you. Just courious. I would lean toward garys on this but would like to know.

thanks

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 11, 2004 Posts: 17

k5, The ability to roam the building instead of being tied to wires. Yes, you could use a typical wireless analog phone system, but the IP phones might just simplify things from a network point of view. Also, tunneling your VoIP traffic through the corporate VPN would increase security.

krautdog

Posts: 183 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: May 05, 2004 Posts: 183

KrautDog wrote:

Check out this link: http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-5181617.html
They are already working on it! They must be reading my mind!
I think it's a great idea. An even better idea is to have regular cell phones that have the option of connecting to a wireless network.

I stand corrected! Thanks -- I usually overestimate the amount of time markets take to adopt technologies, perhaps there will be WiFi phones all over the place in a year or two.

Posts: 183 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: May 05, 2004 Posts: 183

Further reasearch shows that Jeff Pulver is a Vonage founder. LINK

That being the case, it's easy to see why Vonage is looking at integrating those devices.

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 11, 2004 Posts: 17

Now I wonder if their is some 3-way connection between Pulver, Vonage and BroadVoice. Could BroadVoice be the testbed company for the IP phones before Vonage implements that service? Have you noticed how similar the Broadvoice and Vonage web sites look? Hmmmmmm

IIT students recently did a lab using IP phones. See: http://ewh.ieee.org/r4/chicago/recent.html

krautdog[/url]