Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NYT Reviews VoIP: Vonage, Packet8, VoicePulse

Posted by timothy on from the can-you-hear-me-now dept.

securitas writes "The New York Times Technology section reviews VoIP services Vonage, VoicePulse and Packet8. A second article rounds up the competition including VoIP start-ups, cable companies and traditional telcos. The review primarily focuses on Vonage and it's an enlightening review particularly because the reporter isn't a techie. Most interesting is the comment from Vonage's CEO Jeffrey Citron: 'We're not that happy with the level of service today.' The outcome of the review and CEO's comments really do indicate that VoIP is still at the bleeding edge - and not for the average consumer - but the technology is maturing quickly. It will be interesting to see if the telcos do any better with their QoS (quality of service) - which has historically been a critical differentiating factor and competitive advantage - when they introduce their VoIP services in 2004."

2 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. First hand expereince by harryk · · Score: 5, Informative

    As a Vonage subscriber, I'd like to mention my experiences thus far.

    Excellent!

    Although, the service did take over a month to get turned on, now that it is, I haven't had any problems. The one or two occasions that the Vonage VM had to pick up, was while I was dinking with my router, and was blocking everything by mistake. I'm still working on getting QoS to work on my side, and thus improve performance, but so far the only drawk back is that I cannot be uploading at the same time, else it sounds muted when not speaking.

    I can download all day long and still recieve excellent quality voice.

    The other drawback I see, however, is the ATA. I would perfer a better way to incorporate it into the existing phone wiring, but no good. I've since purhcased a dual handset cordless phone, and no problems since, going forward, it'll be easy to take with me whereever I go. Just get the broadband access connection, and walla.

    Thinking ahead, I'm sure I can incorporate it into my home phone wiring, as soon as I get a home, currently living in an apartment, but again, minor.

    my 2 cents.

    harryk

    --
    think before you write, it'll save me moderator points.
  2. Re:Don't support Vonage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    Vonage has sold out and are owned partially by the Canopy Group. We all know the Canopy Group is also involved in the whole SCO mess. If you use Vonage, you're supporting Canopy (some money goes to them) and therefore are supporting SCO.

    thats not interesting or informative, its a troll. check your facts before modding posts like this up.