Still Holding On? Lets discuss

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 81

Quote:

The lawsuits filed by Verizon are laughable. They claim to own certain patents on VOIP technology. Right!! That's like Blockbuster saying they own certain patents on DVR technology.

Well TIVO is suing DirecTV and most of the Cable companies for IP infringement over DVR technology. Netflix is suing BlockBuster over rent by mail DVDs

Posts: 94 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jun 17, 2006 Posts: 94

xmeyer wrote:

Edge wrote:

I'll address some of the issues that you brought up regarding my analysis.

Cable companies can compete with Vonage based on price.

This is incorrect and you see it today. The cable companies can attract new customers based on customer service and prior relationships, but they can't compete on price.

Please support this claim. Clearly, as you note, they do not try to compete on price, but it does not follow necessarily that they can't. I think they just don't want to right now and that could change. If they really cannot, it's an important point, so I'd like to understand why you think this.

Almost all cable and telecom companies are public concerns. They are "value" companies that are priced at a multiple of earnings. They cannot (will not!) lose money in a new business with the hope of attracting enough customers for the long run. That is why most of the new product innovations and businesses start in new venture firms with venture capital funding. Public companies just cannot stomach the negative cash flow.

That is why when you look at the pricing of your cable company's VOIP, you'll probably see that it is high (compared to Vonage).

It will be even harder for new entrants to compete. There are significant cost operating advantages that Vonage has (now that it has nearly 2MM customers).

Posts: 94 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jun 17, 2006 Posts: 94

navydavy2001 wrote:

"Once a customer has high speed broadband, it is unclear if there is any loyalty to use the VOIP from their cable company."

Perhaps it's just the geek in me, but I'd sure as hell want a VoIP solution that was native to the network it traverses, rather than one that is provisoned from afar. It seems to me my cable provider's VoIP architecture had more structuring to it's backbone, than packets that have to cross multiple boundaries to authenticate, then communicate.

One other thought: Established customer service wil always win over better pricing. Why? Becuase if you can piss someone off enough with a support call, even just one time, it's enough to make them cancel.

I'm not a techie, but I have not expereienced or heard of a quality difference between Vonage VOIP and my cable company's VOIP.

I agree with your second statement. Customer service (like in any customer business) is critical and will always be a necessity.

I have not experienced Vonage customer service. I've never needed to talk to them. I have spoken many times to Time Warner's customer service. I will only say one thing. Time Warner's customer service is not a competitive advantage!

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

"I'm not a techie, but I have not expereienced or heard of a quality difference between Vonage VOIP and my cable company's VOIP."

I think I just feel, in a very generalized way, that an application running on a network that is optimized to run it, rather than running an application on disparate networks, usually will have better peformance. Usually.

I think the reason you might not be happy with TW customer service is because you HAD to call them. Vonage must be very careful in that. If you don't have to call for support, ever, and your service runs great, you'll be more than happy. That one time that CS makes you mad, it sours you for a long time. While you might not cancel, you're not exactly spreading the gospel.

Bottom Line: I think Vonage needs to fix customer service very quickly if they are to survive. When too many people get pissed off by CS, I think that's when the heat gets turned up on churn.

I just have a gut feeling of some very hard times ahead for them.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Sep 25, 2005 Posts: 11

ONLY one NUMBER

$5 --------------------> 3 months from now..

Posts: 243 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 18, 2004 Posts: 243

navydavy2001 wrote:

I think I just feel, in a very generalized way, that an application running on a network that is optimized to run it, rather than running an application on disparate networks, usually will have better peformance. Usually.

I've never had VOIP service through a cable company. Do the cable companies handle the switching from the data side to the PSTN or do they outsource this to the Telco or to their data provider?

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

According to my research, and at least the case with Cox, they handle their own switching. The way Cox does it is using existing wiring within the home, to their digital network that is separate from the cable node, logically. If a call needs to be routed and isn't local, it traverses their IP network out. It's not traditional VoIP from the consumer, but is in most respects in their network. And I think alot of people will latch on to that, since it will look like normal POTS to them.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Sep 25, 2005 Posts: 11

All those people who were disappointed. what do u think. it will be greater then GOOGLE or BIDU.

Fallow the link and u will know what i am talking.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/15/technology/pluggedin_fortune/index.htm

Posts: 14 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 14

gfoulks wrote:

navydavy2001 wrote:

I think I just feel, in a very generalized way, that an application running on a network that is optimized to run it, rather than running an application on disparate networks, usually will have better peformance. Usually.

I've never had VOIP service through a cable company. Do the cable companies handle the switching from the data side to the PSTN or do they outsource this to the Telco or to their data provider?

My parents and inlaws use Cox's VOIP. As far as they are concerned, it's just like PSTN except it goes over a dedicated portion of the Cable line. As far as I understand it, (I'm not a cable technician, just what I have read) your cable (and verizon's fios) run many different frequencies through their coax. One set up freqs are for cable channels, one set up freqs are for internet, one set for VOIP, and whatever other things they might want to set up. This is where Cox's VOIP might be a little better quality, as it has a dedicated freq, and you don't need to worry about QOS as much as with IP based VOIP such as Vonage.

The main reason I prefer vonage, is portability. As I travel, I can pick up my box and take it to my hotel, or relative's home with broadband, set up my box, and receive my calls wherever I am. My parent's Cox VOIP is hardwired. The cable line comes into a box, one line splits out around the corner and goes into the house as cable channels, with a splitter and filter for internet service, and one line goes into the telco box as VOIP telephone service.

Posts: 243 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 18, 2004 Posts: 243

okay and I'm sure those customers within the Cox footprint would find it better to use their service.

Is Cox's VOIP service portable? Do they offer virtual phone numbers? These are two features that I absolutely must have in a VOIP provider. I take my phone adapter whenever I travel and I have virtual numbers setup for my relatives who live out of state so that they can call me using a local number.

I've also introduced Vonage to the company that I work for. All of our sales members have phone adapters that they can take with them on the road. It has saved our company thousands of dollars a month. Does Cox have any kind of business offering?