Vonage to take VoIP on the road

Grok Headline matches for Vonage to take VoIP on the road

Vonage VoIP Stops Working

Vonage VoIP Stops Working 08/02/2004 03:18 PM
One of the few remaining hurdles for most users concerning any plan to ditch a traditional landline and go completely VoIP is the reliability of the service. If your power goes out: no VoIP. If your broadband connection goes down: no VoIP. Now, Vonage, the leader of the independent VoIP providers just convinced a bunch of people to hold off a little longer by having their own internal problems, so that many users couldn't make outgoing phone calls for an hour and a half this morning. There are plenty worse things in the world that could happen, but people are used to being able to pick up their phone and dial without having to worry about whether or not a dialtone exists. Update: Turns out Vonage wasn't the only VoIP provider having problems. Over in Hong Kong, two independent VoIP providers are accusing broadband provider PCCW of disrupting their VoIP connections on purpose -- to keep people using PCCW's landlines. It seems unlikely that the same thing happened with Vonage, but it does raise that issue of network neutrality again.

Vonage Making VoIP For Dummies?

Vonage Making VoIP For Dummies? 01/09/2004 09:50 PM
For years, VoIP systems were slow to catch on for two very big reasons: (1) the quality really wasn't that great and (2) they were a pain to set up. The quality issue has pretty much gone away, and Vonage should get some credit for creating a popular solution that solves the second problem. Setting up a Vonage line is painfully easy, and makes many people think it's just an alternative phone line - rather than having them think about the fact that it's actually VoIP. Now, they're going one step further. They've teamed up with TI to build a single chip that will basically include Vonage's software features - making it much easier for companies to build hardware that will act as a Vonage phone. While, on the face of it, this may seem like a boring technology partnership, Om Malik points out that this is another step in the "Vonage Everywhere strategy, where they expand the possibilities of where and how you use the Vonage system. This is, indeed, big news. In fact, one of my issues with Vonage was that, in making it seem exactly like a standard phone system, they were actually losing some of the advantages that VoIP provided them. This partnership suggests that the "looks like a phone, acts like a phone" strategy got them out into the market, but they know they now need to take that and expand it beyond what traditional phones can do.

Leo's Tips: VoIP it up with Vonage

Leo's Tips: VoIP it up with Vonage 07/17/2004 07:29 PM
G4 Tech TV Jul 17 2004 11:10PM GMT

Vonage to Uncle Sam: Hands off VoIP

Vonage to Uncle Sam: Hands off VoIP 02/12/2004 02:18 PM
With debate over future of VoIP heating up, Vonage Holdings CEO Jeffrey Citron weighs in on the debate.

Vonage Says It's Ready for Fight Over
VoIP

Vonage Says It's Ready for Fight Over
VoIP 12/30/2004 04:55 PM
Internet News Dec 30 2004 8:02PM GMT

Vonage VOIP Phone to Run Over Wi-Fi
Networks

Vonage VOIP Phone to Run Over Wi-Fi
Networks 08/30/2004 06:31 AM
Small businesses mapping out WLAN strategies will soon have another alternative to consider.

Vonage says Clearwire interfered with
VoIP calls

Vonage says Clearwire interfered with
VoIP calls 04/06/2005 05:53 PM
As competition heats up Net-phone providers and traditional telecoms, blocked calls are becoming common.

NYT Reviews VoIP: Vonage, Packet8,
VoicePulse

NYT Reviews VoIP: Vonage, Packet8,
VoicePulse 12/23/2003 07:16 AM

Vonage offers VoIP mobile phone

Vonage offers VoIP mobile phone 01/05/2005 01:12 AM
The Register Jan 5 2005 5:09AM GMT

Vonage VoIP hits RadioShack stores

Vonage VoIP hits RadioShack stores 05/13/2004 12:41 PM
The consumer electronics retailer is selling Net telephony packages in nearly 4,000 of its stores.

Vonage prepares for VoIP battle via
alliance

Vonage prepares for VoIP battle via
alliance 12/22/2003 04:10 PM
The VoIP provider strikes a deal with a consortium of independent telephone companies to help it bulk up its customer base before biggies AT&T and Time Warner Cable enter the fray.

Vonage UTStarcom F1000 VoIP Phone

Vonage UTStarcom F1000 VoIP Phone 01/04/2005 01:43 PM

Vonage is dropping some killer gear on us today, with product announcements that include this new Wi-Fi Voice-Over-IP handset from UTStarcom that will let Vonage subscribers make calls anywhere they can log onto a Wi-Fi connection. With an 80-hour standby time and three to four hour talk time, the F1000 looks practical enough to use as your primary phone, not to mention extremely handy to have around as a secondary communications sidearm. Plus, you're sort of getting a Wi-Fi location device for free.

The UTStarcom F1000 is a standard SIP phone, as well, meaning it can be used with other Voice-Over-IP platforms besides Vonage.

Press Release [UTStar]

Vonage drops Cisco VoIP adapter

Vonage drops Cisco VoIP adapter 12/08/2003 06:04 PM
The broadband telephone service provider replaces Cisco Systems with Motorola as its exclusive telephone adapter supplier.

VoIP provider Vonage suffers outage

VoIP provider Vonage suffers outage 08/02/2004 01:35 PM
Some customers can't place calls for about an hour, underscoring risk of switching from a landline phone network.

Vonage® VoIP Forum Adds Two XML RSS 2.0
News Feeds

Vonage® VoIP Forum Adds Two XML RSS 2.0
News Feeds 01/07/2005 04:14 AM
The Vonage® VoIP Forum - The only online forum solely dedicated to news, reviews, faq’s and discussion about Vonage® - The Broadband Phone Company®. [PRWEB Jan 7, 2005]

Vonage previews wireless VoIP phone,
service

Vonage previews wireless VoIP phone,
service 01/04/2005 08:58 AM

Vonage® VoIP Forum Exceeds 10,000
Registered Members

Vonage® VoIP Forum Exceeds 10,000
Registered Members 04/19/2005 02:36 AM
The Vonage® VoIP Forum - The only online forum solely dedicated to news, reviews, FAQ's and discussion about Vonage® - The Broadband Phone Company® has exceeded 10,000 registered members. [PRWEB Apr 19, 2005]

VoIP on the road in Guatemala

VoIP on the road in Guatemala 01/16/2004 11:35 AM
My sister and I run an online office furniture company. She's traveling in Central America for a while, but since there's still a business to run back home -- we've had to explore a number of ways to stay connected.

Guatemala doesn't exactly have the world's most advanced telephone networks... rates to and from the country via POTS are prohibitively high, and our calls are often dropped because of poor connection quality. The solution? Ubiquitous 'Net cafes, which are more common than we'd expected in larger Guatemalan cities like Antigua and Guatemala City. Per-hour broadband access for IM and email is really cheap, and a surprisingly high percentage of those cafes offer voice-over-internet phone calls for very cheap per-minute rates (about ten or twenty US cents a minute for outgoing calls to the US, compared to the "here's our best offer" business rate we got from Sprint -- $1.50 per-call initiation fee, then nearly a buck a minute for Guatemala-to-US calls).

Toting your own VoIP phone when you travel is a great idea, but isn't practical when you're way out in the boonies and you're not packing your own bandwidth (satellite or whatever). If the only connectivity you can scare up is dial-up access at someone's home or a small B+B, that's just not gonna work. This Net cafe thing, however, seems to be working really well instead. I'm amazed at how common and cheap the 'Net cafe access and pay-as-you-go VoIP stations are in Guatemala. The other interesting thing to consider is that VoIP isn't just for tourists like my sister -- it's not uncommon for households in Antigua not to have running water, let alone phone access, let alone affordable international phone service. So, VoIP cafes are definitely for local users.

She VoIPped me a few minutes ago to say that she can see a smoking volcano outside the window of the 'Net cafe where she is right now in Antigua.... beyond the broadband, above the cobblestone streets and the smell of fresh corn tortillas, there is smoke and lava.

CyberTuesday Final: Vonage Launches
Canadian VoIP Service; Google Gambit:
Stop Limiting Trademark Sales; Ex-B-

CyberTuesday Final: Vonage Launches
Canadian VoIP Service; Google Gambit:
Stop Limiting Trademark Sales; Ex-B- 04/13/2004 09:02 PM
AVN Online Apr 14 2004 0:43AM GMT

Broadband Surf Report: Vonage and more
Vonage

Broadband Surf Report: Vonage and more
Vonage 03/30/2005 04:55 PM
Blog: Our daily look at telecom news around the Web: Vonage defends manually activated 911 calling--eWeek ...

Texas Vonage suit: here's what Vonage is
'guilty' of

Texas Vonage suit: here's what Vonage is
'guilty' of 03/23/2005 02:29 AM
ZDNet Mar 23 2005 6:18AM GMT

INGATE® DELIVERS THE SKINNY ON VOIP AT
ABP’S “VOIP SIZZLES!” EVENT IN
DALLASEvent Educates Resellers on
Turning Today’s Heightened VoIP Interest
into Sales

INGATE® DELIVERS THE SKINNY ON VOIP AT
ABP’S “VOIP SIZZLES!” EVENT IN
DALLASEvent Educates Resellers on
Turning Today’s Heightened VoIP Interest
into Sales 07/10/2004 03:16 AM
Ingate® Systems (www.ingate.com), which produces and sells the world’s only fully Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-capable enterprise firewalls, will be participating in “VoIP Sizzles,” held in Dallas from July 22-23, 2004. Hosted by ABP Technology, this event for resellers will focus on the specific opportunities and challenges for traditional data VARs and telecom dealers who are moving into the Voice over IP (VoIP) market. [PRWEB Jul 10, 2004]

3WTel’s Superior VoIP - Lightyears Ahead
in VoIP Security and Dial-Up Capability

3WTel’s Superior VoIP - Lightyears Ahead
in VoIP Security and Dial-Up Capability 02/01/2005 08:48 PM
Hackers can easily access confidential information from customers of VoIP services that utilize open and interpretable industry standard codec and industry standard protocol. VoIP services offering secure lines hosted on proprietary patented technology are reaping the benefits because of the optimal security it creates. [PRWEB Jan 31, 2005]

HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911™ Voice
Over IP (VoIP) Solution for VoIP
Providers and the Emergency Services
Industry

HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911™ Voice
Over IP (VoIP) Solution for VoIP
Providers and the Emergency Services
Industry 06/14/2004 02:24 AM
i-911 addresses the deficiencies in other commercially VoIP 911 available solutions by providing a 911 emergency calling service that is deployable immediately , requires little or no change to the public safety answering points (PSAPs). i-911 offers a significant improvement over other VoIP solutions as it delivers accurate call back and location information from a 9-1-1 call in real-time. [PRWEB Jun 14, 2004]

VoIP Signs Agreement with VOIP-4U;
Lucent Announces Contract with Verizon
Wireless and AT&T to Launch Internet

VoIP Signs Agreement with VOIP-4U;
Lucent Announces Contract with Verizon
Wireless and AT&T to Launch Internet 07/16/2004 03:44 PM
Financial News USA Jul 16 2004 5:58PM GMT

Pure VoIP Won't Be Regulated, Phone-Like
VoIP Might Be

Pure VoIP Won't Be Regulated, Phone-Like
VoIP Might Be 02/12/2004 02:16 PM
As expected, the FCC ruled on the Pulver VoIP petition today, and gave something of a split decision. They claim that "pure" VoIP systems shouldn't be regulated, since they're just like email or any other internet application. However, they're reserving judgment on VoIP systems that more resemble regular phone service, such as Vonage that touch on the PSTN. This seems like something of a cop out, and may be difficult to sustain over time. Most of the "pure" VoIP systems are offering (or planning to offer) gateways that let them connect to the telephone system. Where do they fall along the regulatory spectrum? This would take away the incentive of VoIP providers to connect to regular phone service, creating two different levels of phone service, rather than connecting the two and leading to a more orderly migration. Of course, it still remains to be seen what sorts of regulations they will include for PSTN-connected VoIP. Chances are, they're talking about adding in 911 service and phone-tapping abilities.

3WTel’s Superior VoIP Adds Newest
Features Including Call Transfer to Cell
Phones/Telephones Plus Accessibility to
Personal VoIP Account Anywhere in World
When Travelling

3WTel’s Superior VoIP Adds Newest
Features Including Call Transfer to Cell
Phones/Telephones Plus Accessibility to
Personal VoIP Account Anywhere in World
When Travelling 02/05/2005 09:23 PM
Lightyears ahead in VoIP security and ability to be used on dial-up, broadband, wireless or satellite connections, 3WTel’s Superior VoIP now rocks the VoIP industry by offering its customers additional free features such as call transfer, worldwide login capability, group folders, audio devices, and proxy support. [PRWEB Feb 3, 2005]

Why Vonage is Just a Fad

Why Vonage is Just a Fad 05/20/2004 08:33 PM
ZDNet May 21 2004 0:40AM GMT

Vonage

Vonage 07/28/2004 03:08 PM

Start-up finds talk is cheap with Vonage: I've heard a lot about Vonage and seen their ads, but I was never able to pin down exactly what they did. Turns it its commercial Skype with hardware.

Its service is simple. Vonage sends customers an Internet phone box, which looks like a small cable TV box. The box plugs into most high-speed Internet connections. Almost any telephone plugs into the box.

The phone works like any other phone, but Vonage is routing the calls over the Web. (If the person on the other end of the line is not a Vonage user, the call will hop onto a regular phone line for the very last leg of its journey.)

This is the future.

Cl ick here to comment on this entry

New: Vonage SoftPhone for Mac OS X

New: Vonage SoftPhone for Mac OS X 06/28/2004 09:54 AM
Vonage released a Mac OS X version of its SoftPhone software for use with its Voice Over IP telephone service.

Vonage: Strike One

Vonage: Strike One 08/06/2004 03:25 PM
I was scheduled for a phone call with a VIP today, and when he got on the line (my office Vonage phone), it was unusable, multi-second delays on each voice round-trip. Damnably, I didn’t have my cellphone with me, so we had to reschedule. I called up Vonage, had to punch through two levels of slow menu (could be worse I suppose) to get to the tech support queue where I waited for five minutes listening to vasty echoing silence to talk to someone who put me on the tech support queue (“I thought this was tech support?” “No, I’m a general-purpose service representative.”) Which picked up after only a minute or two, and he made a vague attempt to blame my ISP and said he’d sent a couple of downloads to the phone that should address the problem. So, if it’s a known problem with a known fix, why don’t I already have it? I don’t have to do this kind of thing for either my land-lines or mobile. All in all, I’ve been fairly happy with Vonage so far, but much more of this could sour the relationship quickly.

Vonage-Click2Call-0.10

Vonage-Click2Call-0.10 09/21/2004 07:05 PM

Vonage arrives

Vonage arrives 03/06/2004 01:59 AM
My Vonage phone arrive yesterday afternoon. I followed the simple instructions for plugging it into my cable modem and now I'm making calls to anywhere in the US or Canada - 500 minutes/month for $15. So far, the sonic quality has been as good as a "real" phone. Yep, them Voice over IP bits can hold their own. And the plain ol' telephone company, the one with the network that's too smart for it's own good, ought to be worried....

Vonage softphone

Vonage softphone 12/19/2003 04:58 PM
Have been trying out the Vonage softphone with some success. My Laptop (IBM T40), like most, has built in speakers...

Vonage Goes Portable

Vonage Goes Portable 12/18/2003 03:38 PM
Om Malik breaks the news that Vonage will soon have laptop and PDA-based software client for its service: It's not news that Vonage has tens of thousands of subscribers, nor that they offer a high-quality, full-featured hardware-based broadband voice-over-IP service that allows you to map multiple incoming real phone numbers to your virtual line. It also not news that you can get high-quality software VoIP clients; I'm personally enamored of Xten's suite, which work with Windows, Mac OS X, LindowsOS, and Linux. They're beautiful and come in free and paid flavors, including a multi-line conference version. The Xten clients can interface with any standard SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server, and many of the VoIP providers who offer long-distance over the Internet use standard SIP gateways. But getting from Xten outbound to the VoIP provider is a pain: I had to have the CEO of Xten provide me the details for a couple of VoIP services; those details aren't on the VoIP long-distance service sites. Then there's the question of inbound service. Even though you can use Xten as the default client with Addaline.com, it's unclear whether you can receive inbound calls via their service. Most of the VoIP in software is focused on making calls to the PSTN and receiving calls from other folks using services like Free World Dial-up, which provides you with a free non-PSTN VoIP number and SIP gateway. Om's scoop is certainly that Vonage is going to package the software and PSTN offering into a no-configuration package that will be as easy to use as their hardware service. Vonage's hardware solution is pretty simple: open the box, plug it in, wait a minute. You're done. Voice mail calls can be alerted via email, and other features can be enabled through the Web site's dashboard for your account. Because Vonage works over broadband, a Pocket PC or a laptop equipped with their soft client in turn connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot or access point means free phone service everywhere -- it's another incentive to lower cell phone plans (for roaming purposes) and increase the number of hot spot locations. I'm a recent Vonage convert. I use my cell phone as my office and roaming line, and although I'd switched to a $130/month plan from Cingular because of their rollover minutes, I had $250 and $450 bills in September and October during particularly intense work periods. Yes, that's...

Vonage, 2nd try for IP telephony

Vonage, 2nd try for IP telephony 12/17/2004 06:36 PM

Last summer I switched to lingo.com, an IP phone service that proved to be cheap but unreliable.  Starting last week Lingo failed altogether and their tech support folks (available only by phone, which is kind of irksome) failed to call back, so I ordered Vonage, which is the same $25/month but does not include Western Europe in its unlimited calling region and has higher international rates.

Here's how Vonage has worked...

• Vonage sends you a brand-new Linksys broadband router with included IP phone jacks and three Ethernet jacks; if you were relying on your old router for 802.11b or to use as an 8-port hub you may have to buy some new networking gear
• the customer service Web site is very slow and about 25% of the time page requests produce an error page with a "try again later" instruction
• tech support is available through a form on their Web site; this form asks for your name, phone number, account number, etc., even though you've already logged in and it should have all of his info as part of your account profile
• tech support via phone results in a "we're experiencing an unsually high volume of calls; try again later"; customer service (billing, etc.) can be reached after a 15-minute wait in queue
• they say that they never received my FAXed letter of authorization to transfer my old number from Lingo and want it refaxed
• when set to simultaneously ring my cell phone Vonage does ring the cell but I can't hear callers (they can hear me though)

They say that it will take two months for them to transfer the phone number from Lingo, so I'll have to pay $25/month to Lingo for forwarding until that happens.

[Update:  I believe that I unfairly maligned Vonage in regards to not being able to hear callers on calls simultaneously rung to my cell phone.  It turns out that it is my PalmOne Treo flaking out on the very day that I installed Vonage!  This makes Treo #10 that has failed, I think.  It lasted about two months, just like the others.  Anyone have a suggestion for a GSM phone that will do a calendar and contacts sync with Microsoft Outlook?]

[Dec 3 Update:  When voicemail is pending, the Vonage system fails to change the dial tone.  A second try to reach technical support (at 1:30 pm Eastern time) resulted in the same "we're too busy to talk to anyone" recording.  The voice quality of calls is somewhat low, with some constant static.]

Vonage goes wireless

Vonage goes wireless 12/18/2003 11:57 AM
Getting the scoop once again, Om Malik reveals that Vonage is working on software that would let you use their broadband Voice over IP telephone...

Vonage goes to Canada

Vonage goes to Canada 04/13/2004 04:52 AM
Bell tolls for telcos

NY Wants To Regulate Vonage

NY Wants To Regulate Vonage 05/20/2004 01:09 AM
Add New York to the list of greedy states along with California, Florida and Minnesota that want to get as much money out of VoIP providers as possible by declaring them phone companies. New York has become the latest state to declare Vonage a phone company that they can now regulate. This is a backwards step that is likely to slow down the acceptance of VoIP. While it may mean that the NY state government can suck a few extra taxes out of people, it will mean slower adoption, which means slower economic growth. Even worse, they're doing this while the FCC has made it clear that they're still reviewing this issue and had told states to leave VoIP providers alone while they come up with a position at the federal level. This is merely a short-term grab at extra tax revenue.
Grok Description matches for Vonage to take VoIP on the road
GrokA matches for Vonage to take VoIP on the road

Vonage to take VoIP on the road

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