Area Code delays

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 37

I signed up just before April for Vonage because they would have my local area code in April. I noticed that Vonage has changed the page to push the area codes out until May.

They need to do a better job in this area because it looks bad when it is not delivered and the fact that they just pushed it out to May with no specific date or even put early or late May.

I will wait and see but this is dissapointing.

Dean

Posts: 14 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 03, 2003 Posts: 14

That is why it says "Estimated Availability" on the area code page. The time given is not set in stone as the negotiations make take longer than expected.

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 37

wilsonc wrote:

That is why it says "Estimated Availability" on the area code page. The time given is not set in stone as the negotiations make take longer than expected.

I understand but perhaps they should just have "available soon" with a link that they are negoiating for this area.

It always looks unpreofessional to have an estimated date and then just not deliver with no details.

Most people would just like to be kept up to date with the status. It is the lack of details on their web page which hurts.

Dean

Posts: 54 · Full Forum Member Joined: May 01, 2003 Posts: 54

Dean2900 wrote:

I understand but perhaps they should just have "available soon" with a link that they are negoiating for this area.

It always looks unpreofessional to have an estimated date and then just not deliver with no details.

I don't know, I think I would much rather have an "Estimated" date than just coming soon. I have seen websites that said "Coming Soon" for months and months and months, but when you have an Estimated date you can at lease guess that they are working on it.

Also, any time I see the word "Estimated" I know that it is not set in stone, and might change, otherwise they would say "WILL be available in..."

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 37

Again, I think the point is they need ot provide more information and update the available date. They knew before April 30th they were going to have the are a codes available.

I know of 2 people who went with Packet 8 over Vonage once Vonage delayed the dates and pulled some areas off the available in May.

So far I am very happy with Vonage. I am just pointing out you are going to lose customers when your estimations are off.

Posts: 24 · Posted: Sun May 04, 2003 7:51 pm Post subject:

Vonage has virtual numbers, Packet 8 has more city exchanges. It'll be interesting to see which company eliminates their disadvantage. Personally, I want phone numbers in 3 different cities. Packet 8 has the cities but no virtual numbers. Vonage has the virtual numbers but not the cities.

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 37

prestonlewis wrote:

Vonage has virtual numbers, Packet 8 has more city exchanges. It'll be interesting to see which company eliminates their disadvantage. Personally, I want phone numbers in 3 different cities. Packet 8 has the cities but no virtual numbers. Vonage has the virtual numbers but not the cities.

The startup cost for Packet 8 is much more expensive also.

Dean

Posts: 24 · Posted: Mon May 05, 2003 5:16 pm Post subject:

Not in my case. Packet 8 was $49.90 and I had a $20 sign up credit which left a total of $29.90 They also gave prorated my first month which resulted in a $13 credit on my first bill.

Vonage charged me $82.03 the first month, then $41.19 the second month.

From my point of view, Packet 8 is also cheaper intially.

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 37

prestonlewis wrote:

Not in my case. Packet 8 was $49.90 and I had a $20 sign up credit which left a total of $29.90 They also gave prorated my first month which resulted in a $13 credit on my first bill.

Vonage charged me $82.03 the first month, then $41.19 the second month.

From my point of view, Packet 8 is also cheaper intially.

So how do you rank the two side by side?

Dean

Posts: 24 · Posted: Mon May 05, 2003 11:27 pm Post subject:

Quote:

So how do you rank the two side by side?

1. Call quality is about the same. P8 might be just a tad bit better due to some echoing on my Vonage line. P8 never echos. I call Calif. a lot and somebody mentioned that perhaps that is why P8 works better for me since their servers are located in Calif.

2. I've noticed 2 very brief Vonage outages. Haven't noticed any P8 outages.

I think it's still a toss up at this point. Both Vonage and P8 has positives and negatives. Vonage is working hard at promoting themselves while I see P8 doing virtually nothing at all. Search Google for "ip telephony" and you'll see that Vonage is a "sponsored link". Search for P8 on the web and you come up with almost nothing except for their web page.

Vonage is in the news. They have a "buzz" right now and are mentioned in lots of media stories. P8 seems to be in the shadows in terms of media coverage.

Personally, I think Vonage has the advantage long term and has a great management team in place. P8 seems to be trying hard on the technical side but lacks the sales and advertising skills to beat Vonage.