Primis1
join:2005-06-13
Coldwater, MI
| Over-rated.
Why all the hype and fuss over VOIP when nobody I know actually has it, wants it, or cares?
It seems like making a mountain out of a molehill.
I have yet to hear a public cry of any sort from someone anywhere stating "I want/need VOIP!!". |
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CableGei
Premium
join:2004-05-27
Brookville, OH | It's not about wanting VoIP. It's about wanting another choice for telephone service. |
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rnikischer
join:2002-12-28
Ottawa, IL
 ·magicjack.com
·Vonage
| reply to Primis1
Over rated or underestimated?
Well I can appreciate that maybe your friends or family members haven't seen a need for VOIP and your probably right about any public cry for the technology but I have heard repeatedly a public outcry about the high costs and poor service associated with landlines.
This is a reasonable alternative, it has it's good points and bad points but it is a realistic alternative. |
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ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs:
·VOIPo
 ·Metrocast Communic..
 ·AT&T DSL Service
·ViaTalk
| reply to Primis1
Re: Over-rated.
Primis1,
Obviously the public cry has come, with the government getting involved with 911, etc...
Just becuase you close your eyes and put you fingers in your ears and say that the boogeyman is not there, that doesn't mean he isn't. The same for VOIP. The demand is there, whether you choose to aknowledge it or not. |
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stripes3
join:2002-10-22
Fairfax, VA
| reply to Primis1
Why all the hype and fuss over VOIP when nobody I know actually has it, wants it, or cares?
It is a lot cheaper then a normal landline. I pay $25/month (about $28 after taxes) for all the USA/Canada calls I care to make, a landline with unlimited local calling is like $48 after taxes. Not bad since I've moved to CA and my faimly/friends are in VA/MD. More importantly calls to the UK are $0.02/min which is a lot cheaper then $1.80 to $2.50 that was VZ's landline price when I dropped them to switch to VOIP, and it is better then Cingular's $0.25/min for calls to the UK. It is competitave with international calling card rates, and the quality is better (calling card rates were $0.01 to $0.10/min, with lots of little caviots like connection fees, minimum call durations, and weekly maintance charges).
A VOIP line is a little cheaper then a unlimited local landline. A VOIP gets a lot cheaper if you make a lot of long distace calls, and very very much cheaper if you make international calls.
It has a few other nifty features. Like if you travel internationally to places with high-speed internet connections it is like having international roaming for free (rather then $1/min). Voice mail notifications over email is nice. The "instant call log" is nice.
I don't see it as replacing a landline for everyone. Some people are happy to ditch landlines and just use cells and deal with the occasional large bill secure in the knolage that most months they pay less. Some people need a 100% reliable phone. Some people don't have high speed internet connections in their area. Some people don't have some other reason to get the high speed connection. Some people are worried about the E911 issues. All good points.
Me, I'm just a cheapskate  |
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garagerock
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Louisville, KY
| reply to Primis1
said by Primis1  :Why all the hype and fuss over VOIP when nobody I know actually has it, wants it, or cares? It seems like making a mountain out of a molehill. I have yet to hear a public cry of any sort from someone anywhere stating "I want/need VOIP!!". insert "automobile", "electricity", "running water", or "indoor plumbing" into this statement, and you could swear it's 1899. |
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Pierre25
join:2001-01-12
Appleton, WI
| This whole site is almost all about the service delivery method of telcos, ISP's and Cable Companes. None of it matters!!! Copper, Power Line, Coax, Fiber, Wireless....who cares???
It is the application that people buy (dial tone, high-speed Internet, TV access), not the service delivery method.
The previous post is 100% correct...VoIP is over-hyped. Residential users are not screaming for VoIP...they just want a bigger bang for their buck. I don't care how the Internet access gets to my house...just as long as it's fast and reliable. I don't care how I get my TV channels (Dish, Cable, IP), as long as it works and I get ESPN.
People buy products, not technology. |
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FrontierBlows
@az.frontiern
| reply to Primis1
Here in rural AZ, Frontier charges me about $40 a month just for the line. Long distance is 12 cents a minute, intrastate LD is 16 cents a minute. My second line is with Vonage, and it's $16 or so a month with the taxes, and includes 500 minutes of LD. Additional minutes are about 4 cents per minute. You can get unlimited for $25 a month I think if you make that many calls.
(If you haven't heard the cry for cheaper phone service, you've probably spent too much time in a big city!) |
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garagerock
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Louisville, KY
| reply to Pierre25
quote:
People buy products, not technology
That's impossible. All of the items you mentioned cannot be seperated from the technology that either delivers or displays what you speak of. So they do buy technology by default. Try putting your hand to your ear and receive a broadcast signal the next time you want to watch TV and see how well that works.
They may not care so much about the tech end of it-as any techie knows-but the two cannot be seperated. |
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