Good experience but this forum is a buzz kill

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 08, 2005 Posts: 4

I've only been using Vonage for a month or so. The install took 15 minutes and telephone service has been exceptional. My router does not support QoS, but testyourvoip.com Golden Phone gives me a max rating of 4.4. The only complaint is some echoing on a call to a specific number in Belgium, this has not been the case on calls to London or US calls...my research would indicate that the Belgium echoing emanates from the European side and is most likely due to tolerance issues with VOIP latency and their echo cancellation implementation.

So with this good new in hand, why am I thinking of going back to POTS?...actually this forum has made me so gun shy of "what if's" regarding the potential customer service problems I am questioning whether a few dollars saved is worth the potential downside hassles. This is further aggravated by the apparent difficulties (or impossibility) of having Vonage transfer my number to another carrier (I've yet to transfer my main number) during this trial period.

So as good as Vonage service looks, I may try again is a year or so after the
support systems have a chance to mature.

Just one man's take,

Paul

Posts: 35 · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:51 pm Post subject:

Pbary,

Hate to see you leave. I installed the Vonage service to save on LD charges and it worked great straight out of the box (knock on head, er wood.)

In a perfect world there would be no need for Customer Service but technology is not perfect and I hope to have to never call Vonage.

The creator of this forum, probably out of a love of helping people, wanted to give people a place to turn to when the "party line" offered by (any) company's tech support wasn't enough. I enjoy helping people too which is why I'm here.

Other than trying to port your number it sounds like everything is working well so enjoy it now. If you have problems turn to the forum as a solution might be found quickly. If you have an extended problem no one here would blame you for cancelling.

My .02 worth. Please be assured I have no connection with Vonage or anything related to them other than being a customer.

Kevin

Posts: 482 · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject:

I think it's good to have a healthy skepticism about Vonage, as you now have from visiting here. It wouldn't be to your benefit if you simply had rose-colored glasses on and never considered the "what if's" involved in not just Vonage but VoIP at this early stage of adoption. But at the same time, I wouldn't assume the worst either.

It sounds like you're pretty satisfied so far, so just decide what the risks are and whether you can live with them, and then go from there.

Posts: 22 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Posts: 22

I've had Vonage for 3 months now and haven't had the first bit of trouble. Since we seem to all be chiming our 2 cents in, it seems to me that most problems are related to either an issue with the ISP (network congestion, modem issues, port blocking, etc), hardware problem with the end user, or a setup issue. I haven't had any luck with fax usage, but that isn't something I really need, and as someone else pointed out, this is "Voice" over IP, not Data Smile

Since most of us also have cell phones as a backup, I'm willing to live with any potential risk, especially given the money I've saved with this service in just 3 months, and all the extra services I have that I didn't have with my POTS service.
I suppose if I was using this for a business, I might be a little more concerned about availability/reliability of customer support, but since I'm using this for home service and haven't had the first bit of trouble, I have every intention of staying for a long time.

Posts: 79 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Dec 28, 2004 Posts: 79

Interesting arguments made...

I think Vonage has done well to grow out their customer base. There are a few factors that don't help Vonage with regards to ISP's and telcos..

The cases that have come about lately show that there will be little tolerance for illegal acts against Vonage. (Madison River Case etc)

I believe this is a sign of good things to come for Vonage. As far as the business market.. most ILECs, Bells, etc... run IP backbones and almost assuredly pump traffic via IP through some portion of the call. They have the advantage with more control. Where does this leave Vonage?

Well.. Vonage has a very attractive customer base to the open market... If they can flick the Customer Serivce/post sales switch, then they can become massive...Will Vonage sell?? Or continue to mature their company?? That remains to be seen, and I will let that debate be done by experts.

But the fact remains that Vonage provides a great product, no contract, and a decent to great ROI, based on usage and application. If you are thinking about a larger rollout, make sure you have all of the control factors in place, and partner will a solid group that can provide implentation, and pre/post sales support.

Overall Vonage works best when you are underpromised and overdelivered. For a residential user, expect some hickups... but for the business class service... expect only the best!!! Its possible if its done right!

Don

Posts: 91 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 08, 2005 Posts: 91

DarkBeer said:

Quote:

Since most of us also have cell phones as a backup, I'm willing to live with any potential risk, especially given the money I've saved with this service in just 3 months, and all the extra services I have that I didn't have with my POTS service

.

As with many general assumptions, this is generally wrong.

Cell phones, while ubiquitious, are not universal. They may be universal in the crowd he/she hangs with, but for me, perhaps others, there is great comfort being where "they cant get you".

pbary wrote:

Quote:

So with this good new in hand, why am I thinking of going back to POTS?...actually this forum has made me so gun shy of "what if's" regarding the potential customer service problems I am questioning whether a few dollars saved is worth the potential downside hassles. This is further aggravated by the apparent difficulties (or impossibility) of having Vonage transfer my number to another carrier (I've yet to transfer my main number) during this trial period.

So as good as Vonage service looks, I may try again is a year or so after the support systems have a chance to mature.

I have been with Vonage since January 2003. Despite my earlier rantings, I have been well-satisfied with Vonage. Yes, customer service wait times are horrific. However, the tier two techs are EXCELLENT.

All of CS is committed to resolve problems, and it IS frustrating to be without dial tone, as I was for 6 days. I freely admit to ranting, but I was desparate for help because my phone was DEAD without any reason.

Yet the bottom line is that I am now working, and talking. It took a bit of perserverance to get back on the phone.

However, you must know that it WAS THIS FORUM that got the job done. Therefore, I understand your dipping your toes into the water. Nevertheless, even our autos break down sometimes.

The alternative for me is to go back to Verison and pay over $75.00 per month, and about 1/3 of that is NYS taxes and other add-on fees.

Pay your money, take your choice. For me, it is Vonage.