Contingecy plans - what if vonage goes down bad?

Posts: 193 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Feb 28, 2005 Posts: 193

scoosdad wrote:

sheezhot wrote:

Here's how:
Call forwarding thru Vonage Phone

Enable: Press *72
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Who said being Beautiful automatically means you're dumb?

Well I just read that for the first time and tried it, and I got the recorded message about entering the number, pressing #, got a confirmation, etc., then tried calling my Vonage line from another phone, and it doesn't transfer. I waited 5 minutes too, still the same.

Is this another useful but secret Vonage feature like the 800 number on V-Access that was a secret until someone published it here in the forum, then Vonage pulled the plug on it?

I have never tried forwarding on the V line but on SBC, if the number you forward calls to doesn't answer, then you have to do the forward process again within so many seconds and then it works.

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 06, 2007 Posts: 9

sheezhot wrote:

Well a lot of Vonage customers here including myself...was able to have call forwarding work using those codes.

Give it some time, if still it doesn't work call Tech Support 888-288-7434 (tier1) so they could do it for you if you are having trouble accessing your account online.

These forwarding system only work assuming that the Vonage system is available. In the recent outtages, Vonage was dropping the call, basically stating that the inbound number didn't exist. Forwarding would have no effect, and that is per a tier2 and tier 3 tech.

I'm a faithful Vonage customer, and will be riding this out to the end, but we must all face some hard truth, Vonage future is not looking bright, and regardless of the patent outcome, their business reputation is tarnished enough that attracting new customers will be a serious battle for them...

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 06, 2007 Posts: 9

As a side thought, and just to see what people think, I just found the following link:

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2005/oct/1189831.htm

Which discusses a similar patent lawsuit being brought against Vonage from Sprint Nextel, arguing basically the same thing that Verizon just won.

How do these play against/for each other?

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Apr 11, 2004 Posts: 43

I'm not certain how the Sprint patent infringement lawsuit will play out with all else going on with Vonage, but I just found out that Vonage notified the SEC in their latest filing that they might be filing for bankruptcy.

That would certainly hold off the patent legal problems for a short time, but it certainly does not bode well for us Vonage users.

Posts: 14 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Nov 30, 2006 Posts: 14

Yeah, I'm getting a bit worried. I don't want to go back to my local landline, and my cable company charges as much as a landline for their VOIP service. I like Vonage and its features, and don't want to switch. Verizon isn't my local phone company, either.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 18, 2007 Posts: 2

Why wouldn't Verizon be interested in buying Vonage? Sounds like they already have a $56 million down payment.

Posts: 233 · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Why wouldn't Verizon be interested in buying Vonage? Sounds like they already have a $56 million down payment.

I highly suspect Verizon hasn't won too many friends among the loyal Vonage customers. They would certainly lose a number of these customers. I know I would jump ship if Verizon bought Vonage. Verizon lost their customers because of Verizon and not because of VoIP or Vonage.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 12, 2007 Posts: 2

So if they do go bankrupt then where do we all go? From what I have been told numbers will be frozen and be unable to be transferred to another service provider....
So now the question is if I do jump ship where do I take my Vonage number... Is VErizon going to go after everyone in which case am I best signing up with the enemy?
Actually I am a bit curious if my current problems with my Vonage phone have anything to do with the Fios service I currently have through Verizon....

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 06, 2007 Posts: 9

beesknee wrote:

So if they do go bankrupt then where do we all go? From what I have been told numbers will be frozen and be unable to be transferred to another service provider....
So now the question is if I do jump ship where do I take my Vonage number... Is VErizon going to go after everyone in which case am I best signing up with the enemy?
Actually I am a bit curious if my current problems with my Vonage phone have anything to do with the Fios service I currently have through Verizon....

Number portability is a federal right, as opposed to something that Vonage (or any telco for that matter) has any control over. Your number belongs to you for as long as you want it.

In a worse case scenario, you'll be able to take it with you.

I would note that if Vonage does declare bankruptcy, it will most likely be the type that allows for restructuring, not necessarily the type that just throws there hands up and says 'oh well, better luck next time'

This is far from over, and I would encourage all of us to remain loyal to Vonage for as long as is allowable. I'm riding this out to the very end, if for no other reason that to say that I was part of a change.

Cheers,
joey

Posts: 170 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 05, 2004 Posts: 170

When/if they declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Verizon will probably put a takeover bid in for them. I'm hoping that they just come to some sort of settlement, even if it means a small surcharge for Vonage customers. If Verizon manages to take over all VoIP, they would pretty much have a monopoly and I don't think the courts would like that.

Vonage works great with my Verizon DSL. I'm dealing with 2 enemies I guess. I had Comcast in the past but got frustrated with downtime and inconsistent speeds.

As for number portability, if Vonage were to abruptly shut down, it would be difficult to port your number out, simply because it would require Vonage's participation. However, this is very unlikely to happen. In the event of a shutdown, they would probably continue service for a short period of time (30 days?) for people to find another provider. In fact, this may even be ordered by the court, being that people could potentially be without 911 service in the event of an abrupt shutdown.