Creative suggestions for utilizing Vonage and regular phone

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jul 28, 2006 Posts: 5

There are a lot of reasons I love Vonage. The service is super-cheap (our phone used to be over $200 a month pre-Vonage), extra phone lines are super-cheap, and features are free. I can't get rid of it.

However, I would say that 50% of our calls are "bad" as far as static on the line, problems with calls getting through, etc. We've troubleshot the issue for over a year and I'm ready to throw in the towel. However, before I do, I've been mulling over the idea of how to work around the Vonage issues as it's still so much cheaper than what we had. . .

If we kept Vonage and also got a very basic SBC line (for roughly $25.00), we could have all incoming calls forwarded to the SBC line which would avoid quality issues on all incoming calls, no? There would also be no additional SBC costs as incoming calls don't get charged a per minute rate. We would still also be able to use all of our free features (voicemail, call waiting, etc.).

The problems with calls getting through may also be avoided as the calls are typically automatically routed to the "alternate" number (i.e., the SBC line). If the issues are not avoided they will still likely be lessened.

That just leaves the quality issues with outgoing calls, which would be lessened because if I make a call and it's bad, I could call the person right back on the SBC line if it's important or the person on the other end of the line could just call me back and I would pick it up on the SBC line.

Anyone got any other ways to make this work?

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:32 pm Post subject:

Not all of your features would be available if your number was forwarded. Specifically I don't believe call waiting would work. Vonage would be told that your POTS line is busy and direct the second call to voicemail

Additionally you would lose some features you probably don't use. Conference calling and call transfer come to mind.

In my opinion it wouldn't take many months at $25/month to find someone who could fix my Vonage problems. You obviously recognize Vonage's value. Essentially you are willing to pay a $300/year premium to live with a bad Internet connection, bad adapter or bad wiring. If you live in an area with certified Vonage installers I would see about getting professional help.

I would also recommend posting a more detailed description of your issues, your steps taken to resolve them, your setup and the results of a speed test and see if we can't make some suggestions for resolving your quality issues.

Posts: 400 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: May 05, 2005 Posts: 400

kellystee wrote:

There are a lot of reasons I love Vonage. The service is super-cheap (our phone used to be over $200 a month pre-Vonage), extra phone lines are super-cheap, and features are free. I can't get rid of it.

However, I would say that 50% of our calls are "bad" as far as static on the line, problems with calls getting through, etc. We've troubleshot the issue for over a year and I'm ready to throw in the towel. However, before I do, I've been mulling over the idea of how to work around the Vonage issues as it's still so much cheaper than what we had. . .

If we kept Vonage and also got a very basic SBC line (for roughly $25.00), we could have all incoming calls forwarded to the SBC line which would avoid quality issues on all incoming calls, no? There would also be no additional SBC costs as incoming calls don't get charged a per minute rate. We would still also be able to use all of our free features (voicemail, call waiting, etc.).

The problems with calls getting through may also be avoided as the calls are typically automatically routed to the "alternate" number (i.e., the SBC line). If the issues are not avoided they will still likely be lessened.

That just leaves the quality issues with outgoing calls, which would be lessened because if I make a call and it's bad, I could call the person right back on the SBC line if it's important or the person on the other end of the line could just call me back and I would pick it up on the SBC line.

Anyone got any other ways to make this work?

Why are so many user willing to throw in the towel when problems arise with Vonage. Believe it or not all Voip providers services are not the same. I switched to another Voip provider and my service has been fantastic. My Vonage service was excellent too but they are obviously not willing to invest in features that current customers want."Listen to your customers" so, I went where I got the services I wanted and a lower price with excellent service. Most if not all issues of call quality can be traced back to your ISP and your connection speeds. So, shop around before throwing in the towel.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jul 28, 2006 Posts: 5

That's interesting that you think our issues can be resolved. I've heard of other complaining and eventually just giving up so I assumed that for some people, the problems couldn't be resolved. We've talked with Vonage several times about call quality and they give us suggestions but those never seem to help.

Our two main problems are:
1. We can here the other personal clearly, but they can't hear us (they claim we're often "cutting in and out") and,
2. That the phone just won't ring (even though we seem to have internet as I'll be working from home and don't really notice a drop). I'll check the voicemail messages later on to find we have 6 messages and the phone never even rang that day.

Posts: 400 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: May 05, 2005 Posts: 400

I PM'd you.