I don't always complain, but...
Dear readers,
Many of my posts here on the Burris Blog are rants, such as this one from last week about United Healthcare and my company's health insurance. One anonymous reader told me I should send the link to 1,000 friends. (I guess she knows how small my blogging audience is.)
I rant on others' sites, too, including answering a call for feedback on VoIP services. Go here to see what I told BusinessWeek about Vonage. Actually, I like my Vonage service. I appreciate the record of all incoming and outgoing phone calls. I have grown addicted to receiving voice mail files via email. I like being able to call forward, and Vonage's "SimulRing" feature, which allows me to have a call ring at up to five different phones, is especially helpful.
Most of our VoIP issues seem to come from sharing an internet connection. In the office, whenever more than two people are using their Vonage phones, there's a risk a call will be dropped. And at home when our DSL-based connection is stretched with a normal phone call and internet usage AND a Vonage call, the DSL router's status light goes green to orange, and that's a sure sign that an expletive will be uttered or screamed somewhere in the house.
Here's the other side of the coin, however. Not too long ago, we had 12 or more different phone numbers at work, one for each employee and work station (conference room, kitchen), and each of them had a voice mail box, a second line for incoming while making an outgoing...all of that stuff. Those were the bad old days when phone numbers were attached to places, not people. And the phone company, by the way, was getting rich.
Now our phone numbers are attached to people, not places (kind of makes sense, doesn't it?), and the phone companies, well, they're getting theirs.
Many of my posts here on the Burris Blog are rants, such as this one from last week about United Healthcare and my company's health insurance. One anonymous reader told me I should send the link to 1,000 friends. (I guess she knows how small my blogging audience is.)
I rant on others' sites, too, including answering a call for feedback on VoIP services. Go here to see what I told BusinessWeek about Vonage. Actually, I like my Vonage service. I appreciate the record of all incoming and outgoing phone calls. I have grown addicted to receiving voice mail files via email. I like being able to call forward, and Vonage's "SimulRing" feature, which allows me to have a call ring at up to five different phones, is especially helpful.
Most of our VoIP issues seem to come from sharing an internet connection. In the office, whenever more than two people are using their Vonage phones, there's a risk a call will be dropped. And at home when our DSL-based connection is stretched with a normal phone call and internet usage AND a Vonage call, the DSL router's status light goes green to orange, and that's a sure sign that an expletive will be uttered or screamed somewhere in the house.
Here's the other side of the coin, however. Not too long ago, we had 12 or more different phone numbers at work, one for each employee and work station (conference room, kitchen), and each of them had a voice mail box, a second line for incoming while making an outgoing...all of that stuff. Those were the bad old days when phone numbers were attached to places, not people. And the phone company, by the way, was getting rich.
Now our phone numbers are attached to people, not places (kind of makes sense, doesn't it?), and the phone companies, well, they're getting theirs.
posted by Mark Burris - BURRIS at 12/17/2005 07:49:00 AM
1 Comments:
I was thinking a bit more about this Vonage and VoIP thing, and I found myself reflecting on the Apple Computer approach of marrying hardware and much of the software - especially the OS - and, as a result, providing a smooth, dependable experience.
Could this mean that when the cable companies really get into VoIP and bundle the phone with the broadband connection from a single provider (and brand) that service will be remarkably better? In other words, when Time Warner's Road Runner service includes VoIP, will it be better than Vonage (or some other service) on our Time Warner Road Runner line?
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