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http://www.vonage.com/personal...

Looks like $9.99/month with some 12 month contract or $24.99/mon no contract.

Google has already monetized Voice by charging for international calling. I buy credit occasionally. I don't know how meaningful it is in terms of total revenue, but it *should* be a pretty healthy business. The calling card industry is pretty big. Apparently 20% of international calls are made with calling cards.

Google has another opportunity to make money by letting Voice act as a pure voip service over a data connection on cell phones. If it worked well over data connections as low as "Edge" quality I'd at least attempt to get a cheaper data-only plan and use Google Voice for all my calls. I'd pay maybe up to 1/10 cent per minute though a flat rate like $10/year would be nicer.

You might want to check out my current VoIP provider, Vonage. They're offering a plan that includes unlimited calls to over 60 countries when you sign up for a one year contract for $24.99 a month. I believe China is included in the 60 countries, but I can't link it since there seems to be something wrong with their website at the moment. Anyway, seems like it would be a good deal for you.

Only because Vonage is there providing competition at a lower price. If Vonage didn't exist do you really think the telecoms would supply voip at that price? No they would supply it at a similar price to their wired offerings so they dont undercut themselves.

Ok, your one anecdotal point disproves every fucking thing else in the world. I get it, because of vonage nothing else is true unless you somehow magically will it to be.

And to note, you are still paying the Regulatory and Compliance Fee for each phone number plus the Federal Program Fee and 911 fees on top of your vonage bill as I already stated. They didn't take a hit in profits, they just passed it along to the consumer as I already stated. Now please show me where I am wrong.

The phone number aggregation thing is not exactly new. If you have a Vonage account, you can already do that. Vonage calls this feature 'SimulRing'. When someone calls your Vonage phone, it will simultaneously ring up to 5 phone numbers of your choosing (home, work, cell, etc.).

What I want to know is, is GrandCentral/Google Voice better?

For example, one problem I have with SimulRing is that if my cell phone is turned off (dead battery, just turned it off, whatever), Sprint's voicemail will grab the call, preventing it from ringing into Vonage, which also means that voicemails intended for my Vonage voicemail end up in my Sprint voicemail.

Furthermore, is there any way to customize where calls get routed, which phone numbers get routed and which ones don't, etc.?

It is my understanding that in Europe you pay nothing for incoming calls, but twice as much for outgoing calls as in the US.

What I believe happens is that the airtime is assessed to the caller. Since metered service is typical even for a call to the house next door, all they have to do is increase the per-minute rate.

For an example, take a look at Vonage's international rates from the US to the UK:

http://www.vonage.com/intrates.php?keyword=united+kingdom#list

To the UK, it's normally 4 cents a minute (free if you have an unlimited plan). But, if you are calling a mobile phone in the UK, it's 34 cents a minute.

In France, it's 4 cents a minute vs. 21 cents a minute.
In Germany, it's 4 cents a minute vs. 31 cents a minute.

You can check the rates in other countries if you like, but I think you get the idea.

Didn't someone say that "Prior Art" was discovered in a "VoIP 'standard' " or something, a white-paper or something like that PRIOR to the filing of patents on the issue? If so, wouldn't Vonage have been able to use prior art to defeat the patents?

One of Vonage's defenses was that the Sprint patents were anticipated by or obvious in light of prior art. One set of proposed jury instructions proposed telling jurors that:

Vonage asserts that the Asserted Patents are invalid over the following prior art:

U.S. Pat No. 4,991,172
Priority Date: October 28, 1988
"Cidon"
Entitled: "Design of a high speed packet switching node"

U.S. Pat No. 4,491,945
Priority Date:
June 25, 1982
"Turner"
Entitled: "Fast packet switch"

U.S. Pat No. 5,115,426
Priority Date: March 30, 1990
"Spanke"
Entitled: "Broadband ISDN packet switching arrangements"

U.S. Pat No. 5,440,563
Priority Date: October 12, 1993
"Isidoro"
Entitled: "Service circuit allocation in large networks"

U.S. Pat No. 5,339,318
Priority Date: October 22, 1992
"Tanaka"
Entitled: "VPI and VCI assignment system in ATM system"

U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,163
Priority Date: March 8, 1994
"Madonna"
Entitled: "Expandable telecommunications system"

IBM Redbooks: IBM International Technical Support Organization Network Broadband Services (NBBS) Architecture Tutorial Publication
Date: June 30, 1995
"NBBS"
Entitled: "Network Broadband Services (NBBS) Architecture Tutorial"

That list did not make it into the final jury instructions. The final jury instructions also did not discuss obviousness (it seems odd that Vonage would argue that the Sprint patents were anticipated by prior art, but not obvious in light of prior art).

The final jury instructions also said that Vonage had to prove anticipation by clear and convincing evidence. At least one scholar has argued that this should be the wrong standard when a defense is based on prior art not considered by the USPTO during patent prosecution---that prior art that was not considered by the USPTO should be allowed to invalidate patent claims if the less-stringent preponderance of evidence standard is met.

Back in April Techdirt claimed that it found applicable prior art from 1996 and 1997. These references were not cited though because most of the patents based their priority on patent applications filed before 1996 and 1997. They did not add new material to the continuation patents; they persuaded the USPTO that the original disclosures contained enough novel, non-obvious material for different sets of claims.

Interestingly enough, there doesn't seem to be a lot of discussion going on about how Vonage is playing the patent game too. In 2006, Vonage purchased three patents from Digital Packet Licensing, Inc.. One of those patents, the '485 patent, was already the subject of law suits against MCI, Time Warner, Qwest, Level 3 Communications, Speakeasy, Globalphone, IPN Communications, Sentito Networks, AT&T, SBC, Sprint, and Verizon, although I do not know what the status of these lawsuits was when Vonage purchased the patents or what the status of these lawsuits now.

So I can imagine there's a more than a few people having fun with Fax vs. Lossy VOIP.

let me restate.

For non-network important 'stuff', it's all pretty much best effort.

Things that are important to the day to day opperation of the network (route updates, SNMP/Managment traffic) have to have priority over 'customer' traffic. But so what. That is such a tiny amount of bandwidth compared to the multi-meg service people get...

A real question for vonage : Why dont you have a bandwidth tester on your network that your customers can hit? Better yet, something that produces latency and jitter stats?

That would settle this whole argument once and for all. the closest I could find on their site was this:

http://www.vonage.com/help.php?article=497&categor y=46&nav=102

which is weak. It shows my 10M ethernet internet access with a D/L speed of 2.74M and and upload speed of 4.76 Mbs...

Vonage Receives Temporary Stay In Verizon Patent Litigation, Continues to Sell Service

HOLMDEL, N.J., April 6, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Vonage today secured a temporary stay from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC. The stay enables Vonage to continue to sign up new customers until the Appellate court can hear Vonage's request for a permanent stay. The Court's ruling allows Vonage to continue to provide phone service to existing customers.

Earlier today the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. indicated it would enter an injunction against Vonage effective April 12, 2007 in connection with certain Verizon technology on which it was found to be infringing. The Court indicated that Vonage would be barred from acquiring new customers during its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. In response, Vonage filed for and received an emergency stay of the injunction from the Federal Circuit.

About Vonage

Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of broadband telephone services with over 2.2 million subscriber lines. Our award-winning technology enables anyone to make and receive phone calls with a touch tone telephone almost anywhere a broadband Internet connection is available. We offer feature-rich and cost-effective communication services that offer users an experience similar to traditional telephone services.

Our Residential Premium Unlimited and Small Business Unlimited calling plans offer consumers unlimited local and long distance calling, and popular features like call waiting, call forwarding and voicemail -- for one low, flat monthly rate. Vonage's service is sold on the web and through national retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target and is available to customers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information about Vonage's products and services, please visit http://www.vonage.com./

Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. Vonage(tm) is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp.

Vg-f

SOURCE Vonage

Brooke Schulz of Vonage, +1-732-528-2627, brooke.schulz@vonage.com; or Nick Kalm of
Reputation Partners, +1-312-222- 9888, nick@reputationpartners.com

http://www.vonage.com/

Vonage Receives Temporary Stay In Verizon Patent Litigation, Continues to Sell Service

HOLMDEL, N.J., April 6, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Vonage today secured a temporary stay from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC. The stay enables Vonage to continue to sign up new customers until the Appellate court can hear Vonage's request for a permanent stay. The Court's ruling allows Vonage to continue to provide phone service to existing customers.

Earlier today the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. indicated it would enter an injunction against Vonage effective April 12, 2007 in connection with certain Verizon technology on which it was found to be infringing. The Court indicated that Vonage would be barred from acquiring new customers during its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. In response, Vonage filed for and received an emergency stay of the injunction from the Federal Circuit.

About Vonage

Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of broadband telephone services with over 2.2 million subscriber lines. Our award-winning technology enables anyone to make and receive phone calls with a touch tone telephone almost anywhere a broadband Internet connection is available. We offer feature-rich and cost-effective communication services that offer users an experience similar to traditional telephone services.

Our Residential Premium Unlimited and Small Business Unlimited calling plans offer consumers unlimited local and long distance calling, and popular features like call waiting, call forwarding and voicemail -- for one low, flat monthly rate. Vonage's service is sold on the web and through national retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target and is available to customers in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information about Vonage's products and services, please visit http://www.vonage.com./

Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. Vonage(tm) is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp.

Vg-f

SOURCE Vonage

Brooke Schulz of Vonage, +1-732-528-2627, brooke.schulz@vonage.com; or Nick Kalm of
Reputation Partners, +1-312-222- 9888, nick@reputationpartners.com

http://www.vonage.com/

FTA: "The judge has basically stopped Vonage from accepting new customers."

But I can still go to their website and sign-up

I just went to http://www.vonage.com/ and it seems they are still taking orders. I went all the way to where they asked for my info. Maybe it would have bombed at that point.

The only Wi-Fi device that I know of that Vonage supports is the WiFi UTStarcom F1000, of which Vonage sells a locked-down version, but the same phone is used as a general SIP client for other VoIP services... how is it that selling that device could possibly constitute a violation of a patent about VoIP over WiFi? Also, what's different about VoIP over WiFi than VoIP over Ethernet?

Also, Vonage provides SoftPhone accounts, where you run SIP software on your PC using Vonage SIP credentials... If I use that software on my laptop while I'm plugged into a wired network, then I go wireless and use the same software over WiFi, did I just start violating their patent?

"We are confident Vonage customers will not experience service interruptions or other changes as a result of this litigation," said Mike Snyder, Vonage's chief executive officer.
.
.
"Our appeal centers on erroneous patent claim construction, and we remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon's patents - a position we will continue to vigorously assert in federal appeals court," said Sharon O'Leary, Vonage's executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. "Vonage relied on open-standard, off-the-shelf technology when developing its service. In fact, evidence introduced in court failed to prove that Vonage relied on Verizon's VoIP technology, and instead showed that in 2003 Verizon began exploring ways to copy Vonage's technology," she added.

How ironic that this story appeared today.

Just last night, I was considering submitting a Ask Slashdot question on how other users deal with otherwise trustworthy sites that serve obtrusive popup/under ads. For example Merriam Webster's dictionary pages http://www.m-w.com/ which I was directed to following a link in a ./ post. But I figured....popups? So 2001. Why bother the friendly folks with such a ancient topic?

For those thinking I don't know how to manage my unwanted ad exposure, keep in mind I am running Firefox 2.0 with Pop-up blocking; typically a solid solution. The MW website, however, delivered 2 ads that broke past FF's utility. It left me with my old tactic: A good-old-fashioned "You just lost a customer" email. I have a text template to make the process quicker, so here's last nights email to the House of Definitions:

To Whom it may concern:

Please be advised that I will no longer be visiting your website nor advising it to my children or students. I visited your website today and was confronted with not one, but 2 popup ads on the definitions result page. One led me directly to http://www.vonage.com/startsavingnow/ and the other was a kmart ad served by tribalfusion. Bear in mind that I use the Mozilla Firefox browser with Popup blocking active, and your website contains malicious code that defeats the pop-up window feature.

The computer I use and the programs that I run belong to me, not to you. I have no issues with your Privacy Policy, and your cookie policy. I simply request that you communicate with your third-party providers to prevent them from displaying code on your website that hijacks your customer's browser in this manner. While you are not responsible for the advertising content in said ads, you are reponsible for the user experience when visiting your site. At the present, it is not an enjoyable experience for someone who does not wish to be deluged in advertising. In addition, by continuing to host code which overrides a core browser component makes your site a possible vector for virus/malware transmission, should either your server or the servers of one of your advertisers ever be compromised.

I realize that advertising income supports your website, and more importantly your bottom line. The days when your core business was selling hardback dictionaries are over, and business models change.

However, upon the visit to your page, I am confronted with 8 total ads; the two popup/popunder ads mentioned previously, one for Hostgator, 2 Google ads for a Scooby-Doo DVD, one large graphical ad for Qwest, and two tolerable text links to your affiliate partners. All I wanted was a definition...not a great deal on DSL service!

As before, I will no longer be visiting or recommending your website or your products. There are other sources for the information you provide. In order for me to return, simple changes in your advertising strategy are requested, including the removal of popup/popunder advertising.

Sincerely,
Terry Hall

We shall see what kind of response I get. The message has worked in the past with some smaller sites, including my local bank's website. Why they needed pop-ups for revenue, I'll never know.

And when I compare our VOIP service with Vongage, I use the following facts.
You have a different definition of "fact" from me.

"Vonage requires an internet connection, we do not"
Fine, Vonage requires an internet hookup. If you don't have one, Vonage isn't for you. Next!

"Vonage routes their calls over the public internet, which may result in poorer quality or dropped calls, we route calls over our private cable network"
Never had a dropped call on Vonage. Never had bad line quality. I've been using it for 2 years now, it's been more reliable than my old POTS line.

"Vonage has a national 911 call center, we route 911 locally in your county"
False. In almost all cases 911 calls are routed automatically to your local emergency center, the Vonage center is used only in exceptional cases where this is impossible. What do YOU do when you can't route to the county? Do you even HAVE a call centre to handle that? Stop spreading FUD.

"We are a local call center, where with Vonage, you may get routed to a call center in East India"
I've called Vonage once, and the person I spoke to didn't sound Indian. But then I'm not a racist ass who thinks only Americans are capable of telling me to restart my router.

...have anything to say about it. This effectively proposes enough bandwidth to eliminate the need for a traditional cellphone. Instead, you'd be able to carry around a Voice over IP phone that gets you the same coverage everywhere, with no "per minute" fees. The likely extension of this would be that a new telephone network would emerge that wouldn't even bother with POTS compatibility. Just assign your phone a DNS name, and you can start calling "l33tdude.myphone.net" instead of a horribly abstract phone number.

Give it enough time, and the POTS system (as well as all those expensive cell towers) would go away permenently. The result would be a network with communications that are as free as instant messaging from your computer. Certainly an attractive world for the consumer, but can we really expect to get there without interference? Not to mention that this would mean the end to phones subsidized by cell phone connectivity. Net phones would sell for what they're actually worth as opposed to being "free" or "discounted" with service.

Not that this isn't without its advantages. I don't know about anyone else, but my cell phone never truly feels like it's "mine". Its linkage with my phone carrier makes it feel more like a device I've rented. Especially when carriers like Verizon go out of their way to disable features like the USB connectivity on the Razrs. Sure, in theory you can pop in a new SIM card. But because of network differences and technology changes, it usually ends up being easier to get a new phone and throw your old one in a landfill. What a waste.

Try dialing *99 before dialing the fax number through vonage. While some VOIP modems are supposed to recognize a fax, not all of them do. My faxes never went through until I started using the *99 prefix. See this vonage help page for more.

http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_releases.php ?PR=2006_05_08_0 They are going IPO and they are reserving stock for customers. www.vonageipo.com may not be legit, but there is, in fact, mention of it on their site.

It wasn't a phishing scheme. Check out the Vonage Corporate website for the press release:

http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_releases.php ?PR=2006_05_08_0

This was all over the AP news feeds too.

I guess your post was tongue-in-cheek, but the domains are registered to the same physical address and the IPO is discussed in their press room on vonage.com.

http://whois.domaintools.com/vonageipo.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/vonage.com
http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_releases.php ?PR=2006_05_08_0

Vonage To Reserve A Portion Of Common Stock For Customers

Holmdel, NJ, May 8, 2006 - Vonage Holdings Corp. today announced the launch of a Directed Share Program as part of its proposed initial public offering (IPO) of common stock, which will allow eligible customers to purchase shares at the IPO price.

To be eligible to purchase common stock at the IPO price in the Vonage IPO, customers must meet strict eligibility criteria. Vonage customers may be eligible to participate if they meet all of the following criteria:

they opened accounts with Vonage America on or prior to December 15, 2005, and

maintained their accounts in good standing through February 1, 2006, and

are a U.S. citizen, and

reside in the U.S. when the offering closes, and

have a valid social security number

Customers do not need to continue to be Vonage account holders to participate in the program.

Vonage employees can not answer any questions on this subject.

A registration statement relating to our common stock has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. The common stock may not be sold nor offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration becomes effective. A copy of the prospectus for the proposed offering may be obtained from:

Cindy Capone
Re: Prospectus Request
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733

I can't belive after 40+ comments already, nobody took the time to check the "real" Vonage web site. See press release here:
http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_releases.php ?PR=2006_05_08_0

Or use the one that Vonage provides. http://www.vonage.com/help.php?article=497&categor y=102&nav=102

1. Vonage does not require contracts

See their Terms of Service. See Section 2.1 for their termination fee. There's an implicit 12-month contract.

2. Myth: Vonage has lost of dropped calls or calls that do not connect. This is false. If you do experience these problems, then it is likly cause by a problem with A: Your network set up. B: Your cable line.

No, not false. Many subscribers have no problems at all, but many do -- so commonly that one has to question the maturity of the technology. Vonage service is marketed as a replacement for a POTS line, and it's nowhere near as reliable. More on that in a moment...

3. Myth: The call quality is horrible. Again, I have had Vonage for over a year. People cannot tell I use VOIP.

I worked for Vonage for longer than that. I could tell I used VoIP. I got a Vonage box at home (but didn't transfer my POTS line: wanted to be sure of emergency calling capability if the power grid went down). I returned it after months of face-to-face discussions with the top tier of tech support, service reconfigurations, equipment replacements -- and multiple service visits from my cable company -- failed to clear up my line quality issues.

Vonage couldn't even keep their internal IP phone system up all the time, and it randomly (or not-so-randomly) featured echo, noise, failure to connect calls, dead connections...that's got to tell you something.

Then again, a friend of mine has had a Vonage line in his house for at least a year now and is delighted with it. Absolutely, 100% satisfied. Sounds just like POTS when I talk with him.

My point being that Joe Consumer (or even Joe Slashdot) can't rely on plugging it in and having it work right. It really seems to be hit-or-miss. But it's marketed as a replacement phone line. In my opinion, the technology is still too immature to merit that claim. It can't adequately (much less automatically) handle sub-optimal conditions.

When the technology is smart enough, if Vonage stays as big as they are, they might have the upper hand (with exclusive deals with the phone adapter manufacturers) and really-and-for-true "lead the Internet phone revolution" in getting better technology -- and better service -- to market first. That might be worth investing in.

Customers may be eligible for shares too! http://ipoinfo.vonage.com/

No link to Vonage?

Seriously, I'm really impressed by their success so far. Many of my non-geek friends and family are starting to use Vonage - it beats the heck out of SBC.

Something that frustrates me, though, is the apparent lack of VOIP for small businesses. I have a small company where my partner and I work from our home offices and on the road, about an hour away from each other. Every call is long distance. We're paying through the nose for our cell phones, which barely work in our houses anyway. Looking around, I've only found a handful of VOIP companies that are affordable, and most of them don't seem to be very helpful for my situation. We were talking about how cool it would be to set up an Asterisk box so we could have the voicemail, forwarding, etc. It's just not something I have time for.

The Vonage business service doesn't seem like much more than a residential+fax line. Another place I saw sent you a box you had to set up but it was pricy. It's like there's no in-between.

Anyone have a suggestion?

311 Dialing, 911 Dialing, and Vonage Service DO NOT function during an electrical power or broadband provider outage. While you cannot control a power outage that actually disrupts the broadband Internet service, one method Vonage has found is to use an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)to continue to provide AC power to the cable/DSL modem, phone adapter and the cordless phone base station. A Uninterruptible Power Supply can be purchased at an electronics store near you.

Vonage also offers the free option of having a Network Availability Number. Now you don't have to be inconvenienced if your Internet connection fails. Your calls will be automatically forwarded to the phone number of your choice in the event your Internet connection is disrupted or your telephone adapter is disconnected. To set up your Network Availability Number, log in to your web account, and click on the "Features" tab on your Dashboard.

Vonage customers who are developers can make use of a feature called Third Party Call Control to roll their own click-to-call service to let anyone ring their Vonage line.

http://www.vonage.com/features.php?feature=911/

This press release talks about the 933 service.
http://www.vonage.com/corporate/press_index.php?PR =2005_09_22_0

I am a vonage customer but haven't tried 933 yet.

According to this they have 911 support (which sounds like it may not route as well as land line 911), but they don't have E911 service which "automatically associates the physical address with the calling party's telephone number." Notice the article posted on Slashdot is talking specifically about E911 service.

From Vonage's own site
http://www.vonage.com./features.php?feature=911

We have completed 911 Dialing activation for your Vonage line...

Now when you dial 911, Vonage will route your call to a general number at your nearest emergency response center, based on the address below:

If this address is incorrect, simply click on the following link to login to your web account https://secure.vonage.com/vonage-web/features/inde x.htm and edit your information from the 911 Dialing feature box.

Please note if you move your device you must reactivate 911 Dialing with your new address. If you add a line to your account you will need to activate 911 Dialing for that line as well.

If you would like more information about Vonage's 911 Dialing service, please visit the 911 Feature page at http://www.vonage.com./ If you have any questions please reply to this email, or call us Toll Free at: 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We appreciate your business. ...

So what gives?

We have completed 911 Dialing activation for your Vonage line...

Now when you dial 911, Vonage will route your call to a general number at your nearest emergency response center, based on the address below:

If this address is incorrect, simply click on the following link to login to your web account https://secure.vonage.com/vonage-web/features/inde x.htm and edit your information from the 911 Dialing feature box.

Please note if you move your device you must reactivate 911 Dialing with your new address. If you add a line to your account you will need to activate 911 Dialing for that line as well.

If you would like more information about Vonage's 911 Dialing service, please visit the 911 Feature page at http://www.vonage.com./ If you have any questions please reply to this email, or call us Toll Free at: 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We appreciate your business. ...

So what gives?

Honestly, no conrete idea which company they might be partnering w/ but maybe the click to call thing is a hint. Vonage currently offers a feature called Click-2-call which they have as a registered service mark. They also are the biggest VOIP provider and have a lot of infrastructure in place to support this (not that Time Warner and AOL don't... but ehh...).

The other possability I could see, which is a strech could be ebay who just recently accquired Skype, they might be a pretty good contender particuarlly as they have more of an international audience which is probably closer to Google's view of the world (again, not like AOL doesn't).

Just a thought.

No, this is just some lame tech that's been around for a couple of years on some yellow pages-type sites. Almost nobody uses it. I'm not sure which companies offer this, but I do know it's available. Vonage's Click 2 Call is the exact same technology, although I'm not sure if it's available for this use or not (http://www.vonage.com/features.php?feature=click_ 2_call).

Quit heaping the praise on Google when they don't deserve it. They've done enough cool things that they don't need to get credit when they don't do anything.

The biggest innovation here is that this can be used for a generic web ad, while AFAIK all implementations have been for paid business listings on business directory sites or on corporate sites to make it easier to call.

Before you are serious to start a company, make sure you've the right mantra and willing to endure a lot of hardship. I'm not going to lecture you too much as you've to experience it anyway...

Location:Paul Graham's advice on this.

If you're looking for a regular office, try to find a place that you can pay by month-to-month. Yes this kind of stuff does exist. Signing a one year contract is not so nice. If you can afford, please find a work-live space or a loft.

Phone: If you need a landline, don't do it. We pay SBC $135 USD just to get a line into the building, and then another $135 USD for "inside wiring", which is just connecting the line from the building phone box to the room. @#$#@ing rip off. Even if you choose the most basic plan for just a dial tone for $7 USD, they'll still end up giving you $15 USD a month bill. Ah yes, if for some reason you use the phone to dial a long distance call, prepared to get shafted heavily.... They charged me $69 USD for 6 minutes call to Asia (because somebody used the wrong phone !!) Instead, go get Vonage. $25 USD unlimited is so nice. You will thank me for telling you this.

Furniture: if you're in Bay Area, IKEA's tables are good enough especially you can dismantle the legs quickly and MOVE. If you happen to catch good price, you can get one for around $21 USD. Don't go to OfficeMax or Office Depot to buy those rip off tables.

Also, we got A LOT OF IKEA stuff free on Craigslist: one Ikea table worth $30 USD, a cloth hanger, halogen lamps plus a sofa. (It's good to be near a big university with many rich kids too. So watch out Craigslist on around 15th and 30th each month. Move out time!)

Computers and software: I don't see the point on using a specific platform. As long as it does the job well you need to learn it. We have Powerbooks and Mac mini running MacOS X, a lot of PCs running Debian, OpenBSD, Solaris and a SGI O2 plus Indy (picked up free from Craigslist too) running Irix.

And most important of all, focus. There are so many possibilities but you only have that much time. Good luck.

http://www.vonage.com/search_results.php?search_st ring=tftp

First I tried iconnecthere and after following their directions I had no service. I was thankful the first month was free so I could cancel before I was charged.

Next I tried Vonage whom I thought would be better. I had trouble signing up (I have no home phone and couldn't remember what number I gave the bank) and after trying three times to correct the information by following a link they gave me that didn't take me to the information I needed to change emailed them. Which I was invited to do in their email to me as I couldn't call the 800 number.
I emailed them three times.

Then I signed up with Lingo. The sign up went well (I remembered the number I gave the bank). The phone adapter arrived and I followed the directions. And it worked!

So then I pondered who I should call first.
Should I order pizza?
No! I should call Vonage and cancel my order. So I did.
After talking to three people and getting transfered the first two times I got this guy who had only been told I had problems signing up. I made it clear to him that I wanted to cancel because Vonage couldn't answer my emails so I went with a competitor.
Then he said "So you're talking to me..."
Me: "On my new VOIP service and it works GREAT!"

So I got Vonage to cancel my pending service and 911 is a little funky with my service right now. Basically when I dial 911 it will go my VOIP providers operators who will take the call and then call 911. So I had to verify that my living address was correct.

But I am not worried, I survived a collapsed lung without medical attention so I believe I can make my own way to the hospital if anything serious goes wrong. (Please don't bother replying how dumb this thinking is; I don't care)

Vonage is running a promotion in preparation for welcoming their 1 millionth line / customer / whatever. It looks like you can play only once a day, but it might be something to put on your list of things to do when you get in or out of work...

I doubt that they really even reuse these things. It would be more likely that they use it as another way to milk $40 from a customer before they drop the service. Kinda shady, but I guess we have to read the fine print.

http://vonage.com/features_terms_service.php?lid=f ooter_terms

Seems to be noted under: "2.10 Return of Device (Does Not Apply to Business Plus Customers)"

Yes and no.

http://www.vonage.com/features.php?feature=911&lid =footer_911

According to a user on Vonage Forum, Vonage has requested that Zyxel not provide assistance to owners seeking to use this phone with Vonage's SoftPhone service.

See Vonage restricting use of ZyXEL P2000

This is probably because of Vonage's investment in the competing product from UTStarcom.

Having to tell them the adress you were at means there is a problem not a difference.

It's not a problem if I know that beforehand, which I do.

There were several times where I was at her home alone, had there been an emergency, I'd have been near useless - because I don't have her adress memorized.

We rarely have visitors at our apartment. Those who do come over aren't there when we aren't. Any who might stay there while we are gone are close family, who know our address.

Had we been in an auto accident

Had you been in a car accident, you wouldn't be using any VoIP phone service, you would be using a cell phone to call 911. If I had witnessed an accident, again, I know my adress, and it isn't a problem.

There are less honest about telling you that it's not really 911, but an imitation that doesn't behave like every other 911 service.

From Voange's site, the very first paragraph of this page is linked to from their front page:

Vonage offers 911 Dialing to all our customers . When you dial 911, your call is routed from the Vonage network to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for your area. (What is a PSAP?) There are several important differences between our Emergency Services dialing and traditional 911 Dialing that you need to know:
* Vonage 911 Dialing must be activated
* You must tell us where you are
* Vonage 911 Dialing connects you with general emergency services


How does that not make clear that their 911 service is different from traditional 911 service?

Vonage might not be what you want, but it is exactly what I want in a phone service. If you don't like it, don't get it. Don't try to have legislation passed that affects my service.

You're confusing smugness with irritation about people who refuse to accept the consequences of their own stupidity.

And you're wrong. I DO understand that the 911 service provided by Vonage is not the same as traditional 911 service, and that my calls are not routed to a traditional 911 center, but rather a regional center.

Why do I understand this? Because it is not "hidden" in small print, it is prominently displayed in all the FAQs tha their service is not the same as a traditional 911 service, at the top of web pages, etc. I don't have a problem with it.

Even so the fact remains - the lady in question set up 911 service in accordance with Vonage's procedures. Yet, when she used the 911 function she was *not* routed to a PSAP, but to a nonfunctional number.

I believe they already offer real E911 in one US state and are going to add many more very soon. Here is a link to the press release.

• http://www.voip-news.com/1/voipwifi.htm
• http://www.zyxel.com/product/P2000W.php
• http://www.vonage.com/
• http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2005/ voIP_WiFi.asp
• http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?se ction=platforms&id=1761
• http://www.voipsupply.com/home.php
• http://www.voipuser.org/forum_topic_1072.html
• http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index.php

Vonage - The Broadband Phone Company"

True, they do [not] provide the same level of service. But either regulation to provide 911, or regulation to inform/disclaim customers about the 911 limitations is probably needed. Without regulation, we wouldn't have universal 911 on the regular landlines. Bell and the subsequent Baby Bells would have screwed it up badly, if we had it at all.

Vonage, TimeWarner, Cox all provide pretty good info about their 911 connectivity and its limitations. Other 'phone companies' might not.