Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,
Z
I am glad I did. I did VestaLink for 3 bucks and change per month
unlimited calls & Caller ID that works
Hopefully it will last. If not there are other carriers.
Hi Dircom:
Quote from: dircom on May 16, 2014, 07:19:08 AM
I am glad I did. 3 bucks and change for unlimited calls & Caller ID that works
Which provider did you go with ??
Quote from: vtsnaab on May 16, 2014, 09:47:51 AM
Hi Dircom:
Quote from: dircom on May 16, 2014, 07:19:08 AM
I am glad I did. 3 bucks and change for unlimited calls & Caller ID that works
Which provider did you go with ??
He/she mentioned Vestalink.
I went with this company also when they were Obivoice. Except for a few problems, I am happy so far. I paid around $3/month for 2 years also on their 2000 minutes plan.
You get what you pay for, so don't expect it to be 99.9999% reliable.
I'm really hoping for all you guys that VestaLink actually exists in two years. Their entire userbase paid for 1-2 years upfront which means starting today they have no revenue coming in, at all. A year is a long time having to pay your carriers (and yourself) without getting revenue. I'm sure they'll get some signups through word-of-mouth, and they did increase their prices 2-3 times, but still - a handful of signups is not going to support a company for a year. The only way they may last is if Ryan Tilton is investing this money rather than blowing it away on DJ gear, lol...
Quote from: nitzan on May 16, 2014, 11:00:50 AM
I'm really hoping for all you guys that VestaLink actually exists in two years. Their entire userbase paid for 1-2 years upfront which means starting today they have no revenue coming in, at all. A year is a long time having to pay your carriers (and yourself) without getting revenue. I'm sure they'll get some signups through word-of-mouth, and they did increase their prices 2-3 times, but still - a handful of signups is not going to support a company for a year. The only way they may last is if Ryan Tilton is investing this money rather than blowing it away on DJ gear, lol...
I would love to know roughly how many VoIP users some of these companies have. I signed up with Phone Power and paid the 59.99 for 1 year up front. Each 1000 people you sign up for that is only $60k. You would need several thousand signups to keep going.
Maybe they are making a decent income on small business users?
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on May 16, 2014, 05:34:49 AM
Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,
Z
Oh, and are you naive enough to believe a company like Google would just change its mind like that and not tell anyone about it? Shutting down a service like this isn't just flipping a switch or keying in a command somewhere. There is a team of people somewhere handling this shutdown. And they have to be very careful to only shut down certain parts of it and not disrupt there other GV services. So lots of testing at each step I would imagine.
Give them some time, it will be gone soon enough.
Quote from: jcrouch on May 16, 2014, 11:19:07 AM
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on May 16, 2014, 05:34:49 AM
Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,
Z
Oh, and are you naive enough to believe a company like Google would just change its mind like that and not tell anyone about it? Shutting down a service like this isn't just flipping a switch or keying in a command somewhere. There is a team of people somewhere handling this shutdown. And they have to be very careful to only shut down certain parts of it and not disrupt there other GV services. So lots of testing at each step I would imagine.
Give them some time, it will be gone soon enough.
As one who jumped ship due to the cutoff hive mentality, I have yet to find ANY official evidence that GOOGLE said they would be shutting down XMPP support based on a May 15 deadline. They said they would not support it at some point, but they did not specifically set a date. In a Google+ blog post there was statement that app developers were to stop using unauthorized use of GV and to transition users by May 15, 2014.
Could it be that somewhere along the line along with Obi's announcement that these two facts were combined? Sorry for the pun, but perhaps this is an example of the old "telephone game"?
Perhaps they are allowing 3rd Parties to use there new API for G-Voice they recently released before closing XMPP entirely: http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=8092.0
Quote from: nitzan on May 16, 2014, 11:00:50 AM
I'm really hoping for all you guys that VestaLink actually exists in two years. Their entire userbase paid for 1-2 years upfront which means starting today they have no revenue coming in, at all. A year is a long time having to pay your carriers (and yourself) without getting revenue. I'm sure they'll get some signups through word-of-mouth, and they did increase their prices 2-3 times, but still - a handful of signups is not going to support a company for a year. The only way they may last is if Ryan Tilton is investing this money rather than blowing it away on DJ gear, lol...
Ah, no end to the Vestalink hating. :D According to their blog they are doing very well during this period of GV change over and if they shutdown tomorrow nobody would lose a huge amount of money. They are saying they have grown 30 times from what they were doing before all this started. http://www.vestalink.com/blog/ Let's hope they will be serving some fresh crow in two years to all their doubters. ;D
Quote from: nitzan on May 16, 2014, 11:00:50 AM
I'm really hoping for all you guys that VestaLink actually exists in two years. Their entire userbase paid for 1-2 years upfront which means starting today they have no revenue coming in, at all. A year is a long time having to pay your carriers (and yourself) without getting revenue. I'm sure they'll get some signups through word-of-mouth, and they did increase their prices 2-3 times, but still - a handful of signups is not going to support a company for a year. The only way they may last is if Ryan Tilton is investing this money rather than blowing it away on DJ gear, lol...
Wow, the CEO of one company bashing another company on the forum. Classy!
I decided not to go with any of these a) created yesterday b) pay up front for a year or more or c) ask me something in the forum and I'll fix it companies. Note one of them gave me any comfort factor.
I simply forwarded my phone to Callcentric for now, $1.50 a month for the E911. Outbound on my cell or use the PC to call the house line and make the call.
Speaking just for myself & my own choices here...I specifically did NOT choose VestaLink because I have watched so many complaints about it appear at this very forum - and have read many facts about it which make me have sincere doubts about it.
I specifically decided to go with Future Nine because it was very clearly NOT created yesterday - and it has a terrific value offered in its F5 plan which does NOT require users pay up front for a long term thing at all ($30 to start is what I put in and I'm good with that).
I'm also using Callcentric for free as I don't care about the 911 stuff.
I also signed up to try Localphone for use via Wifi on a cellular and thus far that has been a spectacular failure for me as even LP's own Android softphone app doesn't seem to work with it - and their 'support' is a sad joke (or even a parody) upon the concept which has offered ZERO HELP.
I must add that I have been very impressed with the attentiveness and helpfulness of some providers who post here - and very high on my 'impressed' list is Sam from CircleNet.
These folks are brandy-dandy new and obviously very determined to do good and even make a great free trial offer on top of their superb rates=> so, young though they are I am giving them a spin too.
Nitzan's points regarding how companies that offer yearly things tend to go flat are very well made in my opinion.
As an older man & long-time business owner/operator I've seen a great many places that were based upon such ideas just croak when they could no longer finance their overhead after their membership ceased to grow dramatically; and I do mean actual places seen on the streets.
Fitness clubs are the best & most visible examples for this; as for internet things that fail this way - hosting providers who offer great yearly deals dry up and disappear DAILY.
Some things simply don't make ANY business sense - and long-term memberships for things with regular overhead commitments that keep them going is one such type of thing for certain.
Lastly=>
I have no affiliation with ANY of these providers - I am simply a user who is seeking good service and these are my observations and opinions - nothing more than that.
To me, it's irrelevant if Nitzan's points are valid or invalid. Companies win business by showing their features and benefits as compared to the competition (Us / Them chart for example). Going on a forum and bashing a competitor is not called for, even if the comments are 100% correct.
Quote from: Rick on May 20, 2014, 05:46:09 AM
To me, it's irrelevant if Nitzan's points are valid or invalid. Companies win business by showing their features and benefits as compared to the competition (Us / Them chart for example). Going on a forum and bashing a competitor is not called for, even if the comments are 100% correct.
I agree, even though nitzan helped me with a problem I will not get his service because he is unprofessional. Also I would not give my opinion on something unless I had experience with it
NOT "have read many facts about it", speaking just for myself of course.
Quote from: Rick on May 20, 2014, 05:46:09 AM
To me, it's irrelevant if Nitzan's points are valid or invalid. Companies win business by showing their features and benefits as compared to the competition (Us / Them chart for example). Going on a forum and bashing a competitor is not called for, even if the comments are 100% correct.
I have to agree. The point isn't if the comments were "well made." The point is who is making the comments.
I sure haven't seen Sam_from_CircleNet make any disparaging comments about any other provider. Why? Could it be professionalism?
The comments may be well intentioned and they may even be correct but they are still improper.
I can't help but wonder how Nitzan would react if Ryan Tilton (from Vestalink) posted similarly negative comments in his Future9 thread.
My personal opinion:
Some of you guys are getting too worked up over something trivial. There is nothing wrong with pointing out your competitor's weaknesses. If it is done in a tasteful and factual way, it is done all the time. Being "ugly", "nasty", or "mudslinging" is probably taking it too far. But I don't see Nitzan doing that.
As an example, Microsoft runs commercials making fun of Google/Gmail in their "Scroogled" campaign. They criticize that Google scans your email to show you ads. Is that out of bounds? What about the ones that make fun of Chromebooks, saying you can't do "real work" with them?
Another example: Who remembers all those Mac vs. PC commercials where Justin Long made fun of Windows left and right?
What about State Farm commercials that bash the "fly by night" cheaper insurance companies? They imply that anyone who isn't a household name is financially unstable.
Get off your high horses, this stuff isn't that life-changing :) If you don't want to do business with someone, then simply don't do business with them.
Just MY OWN OPINION of course, please don't flame me.
Quote from: Taoman on May 20, 2014, 09:03:55 AMI can't help but wonder how Nitzan would react if Ryan Tilton (from Vestalink) posted similarly negative comments in his Future9 thread.
I'd probably laugh pretty hard, considering who is making the comments.
Now for some fun:
http://seattle.djrt.com/djvideos/
And you'll be glad to know Ryan is still DJing events! you can hire him for your next wedding or birthday in the Seattle area! A couple of events he DJed in March and April:
http://www.tbcs.org/cf_enotify/view.cfm?n=2158
http://blog.beccablevins.com/
He actually seems like a good DJ judging by the reviews...
Oh, and one more comment I might add:
If you ever watch CNBC, Bloomberg, or Fox Business Channel, CEOs come on there every day for interviews, and they OFTEN point out weaknesses of their competitors, sometimes by name. Again, there is a way to do it in a dignified way, but it is a very normal and accepted practice.
You don't have to like it or respect it or do business with those people, but the practice itself is not unheard of.
Well, I only see one company posting negative comments about others, and it gives me a negative impression about them. These are user forums, not TV advertising. And based on what I've seen here, VL has been about average; it's worked well for many, but not for all. Other issues are also very debatable (such as pre-pay vs monthly; note that many of the larger companies like pre-pay).
Quote from: TonyTib on May 20, 2014, 01:48:52 PM
These are user forums, not TV advertising.
This ^^^^
There was a well-known company who trained their salesmen to never disparage their competition. If on a sales call they were asked questions about the competition they were to only compare the companies and products.
The understanding I got was that if you had to cut down the competition to make a sale, that shows that your product cannot stand on its own and the only way you think you can make a sale is to make the competition look worse so your side looks better.
IBM. I worked for them many years ago.
Quote from: Rick on May 20, 2014, 05:46:09 AM
To me, it's irrelevant if Nitzan's points are valid or invalid. Companies win business by showing their features and benefits as compared to the competition (Us / Them chart for example). Going on a forum and bashing a competitor is not called for, even if the comments are 100% correct.
That's certainly so true which makes this tactic rather damaging than helping . Which in a strange way shows honesty- the smart way would be to do what others do, deploy shills and get your positive or negative messages over this effective and fashionable way.
And for Vestalink, one cannot be negative enough about the "" OBItalk"".
Plus bashing a competitor on an open forum risks crossing a line at some point that gets you into legal trouble (whether what you had to say was correct or not). It's like the danger of having a company Twitter account - you never know when an emotional tweet can con notate the wrong impression and land you in a pot of hot water.
Moral of the story: Stick with extoling the virtues of your own service, be helpful and forthcoming to your customers and let your competitors true nature cause them to eventually foist themselves on their own petard.
Quote from: Usetheforceobiwan on May 22, 2014, 04:21:44 AMPlus bashing a competitor on an open forum risks crossing a line at some point that gets you into legal trouble (whether what you had to say was correct or not).
I don't think anything I said crosses into legal territory. Hell it's not even bashing - I was just voicing my opinion on the danger of having your entire userbase as yearly customers. But you guys are right about one thing - it's none of my business and Ryan Tilton can run his business as he sees fit.
QuoteMoral of the story: Stick with extoling the virtues of your own service, be helpful and forthcoming to your customers and let your competitors true nature cause them to eventually foist themselves on their own petard.
Good advice - will do.
Quote from: mo832 on May 20, 2014, 12:07:13 PM
My personal opinion:
Some of you guys are getting too worked up over something trivial. There is nothing wrong with pointing out your competitor's weaknesses. If it is done in a tasteful and factual way, it is done all the time. Being "ugly", "nasty", or "mudslinging" is probably taking it too far. But I don't see Nitzan doing that.
As an example, Microsoft runs commercials making fun of Google/Gmail in their "Scroogled" campaign. They criticize that Google scans your email to show you ads. Is that out of bounds? What about the ones that make fun of Chromebooks, saying you can't do "real work" with them?
Another example: Who remembers all those Mac vs. PC commercials where Justin Long made fun of Windows left and right?
What about State Farm commercials that bash the "fly by night" cheaper insurance companies? They imply that anyone who isn't a household name is financially unstable.
Get off your high horses, this stuff isn't that life-changing :) If you don't want to do business with someone, then simply don't do business with them.
Just MY OWN OPINION of course, please don't flame me.
Couldn't agree more.
I personally enjoy reading nitzan's posts. So what if he's opinionated. Aren't we all?
You say that he's not being professional by making his remarks? I for one want to hear his opinion of the competitors. I can make up my own mind as to whether or not I agree with his assessment of the competition.
Please don't try to stifle people from posting their opinions on here, whether it be service providers or just us regular folk.
We should all be so lucky that nitzan and Sam and a few others actually take the time to share their knowledge with us. Please don't try to dissuade them.
I wish other service providers would join the party and give us their opinions and thoughts as well.
Talk about hiney kissin".......... ;D
This is off topic but every time I read the thread Title I think of Ghostbusters:
"Dogs and Cats living together. Mass hysteria!" -Peter.
Anywho....
Has anyone heard any official word from Obihai? They do have a Twitter page.
Mo and Johnny have the right ideas IMO.
I calls 'em like I sees 'em - and hold Nitzan and others who speak openly in high regard because they appear to do the same.
All this P.C. foolishness is for the birds - along with the further nonsense of flaming folks for crossing some sorts of imagined 'netiquette' values.
To all of that silliness I just say=>
Un-puh-fesh-uh-nal mah hiney !!!
SO:If some young kid is running a VOIP service
part-time out of his attic,
by himself - charging for it - and passing it off as a dependable company with a long-term commitment=> I'd rather hear that from
ANYBODY than to be fooled into paying for something that will be gone in a few months.
Aside of that I did put my money where I found the best combination of pre-existing longevity AND good pricing - and that just happens to be Future Five.
By the same token I do very much believe in giving eager start-ups a chance, so I am also using Circlenet.
Speaking of which, just today I used public Wifi for some calls I am still very impressed with their service and their rates.
As to these companies offering yearly plans with ZERO concrete commitments to keep recurring discounts at renewal=> no thanks.
After all the hoopla - as of 5/22/14 I am still getting & making calls via GV & Obi anyhow - so:
What, me worry ?!?
Quote from: Crow550 on May 22, 2014, 01:23:34 PM
This is off topic but every time I read the thread Title I think of Ghostbusters:
"Dogs and Cats living together. Mass hysteria!" -Peter.
Anywho....
Has anyone heard any official word from Obihai? They do have a Twitter page.
I'm not sure what they can add.
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on May 16, 2014, 05:34:49 AM
Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,
Z
Day 30 ... As they say, all good things to those that wait.
Or, think long, think wrong.
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on June 15, 2014, 05:29:54 PM
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on May 16, 2014, 05:34:49 AM
Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,
Z
Day 30 ... As they say, all good things to those that wait.
I know almost nothing about this complicated phone crap. I was barely able to make Google Voice work. Then OBi says it was going to go dead. I did nothing. My phone still works. I'll tell ya one thing: I ain't gonna do nothing until it stops working. When or if it does, I'm going to toss the Obi 110 into the trash can. I don't trust anything that company says. I think I'll just start over and buy an Ooma box. Nothing is more complicated than these Obi devices.
so, can somebody summarize this whole situation, please? What's happening with Google voice? is Google still planning to cut off service soon?
Quote from: et_phone_home on June 18, 2014, 06:23:21 PM
so, can somebody summarize this whole situation, please? What's happening with Google voice? is Google still planning to cut off service soon?
The only people who might know are Google. Anyone else's guess is no better than your own.
Quote from: BillCarson on June 18, 2014, 04:46:48 PM
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on June 15, 2014, 05:29:54 PM
Quote from: FreeServiceForLife on May 16, 2014, 05:34:49 AM
Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,
Z
Day 30 ... As they say, all good things to those that wait.
I know almost nothing about this complicated phone crap. I was barely able to make Google Voice work. Then OBi says it was going to go dead. I did nothing. My phone still works. I'll tell ya one thing: I ain't gonna do nothing until it stops working. When or if it does, I'm going to toss the Obi 110 into the trash can. I don't trust anything that company says. I think I'll just start over and buy an Ooma box. Nothing is more complicated than these Obi devices.
I'm sure previous owners of the Ooma hub (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/1253140/) feel the same way. ;)
nice to see obi got their facts completely wrong and GV wasn't actually shut down ::)
oh well i've already switched to localphone. pay $2/month to rent a number and get 800mins, which is more than enough for me. also no contract. can't complain.
Doesnt look like Google is looking to close GV down very soon. Saw this on my voice home page today.
Help us improve voicemail transcription!
Google would like your help in making voicemail transcriptions better. With your permission, our automated systems will remove your account information from your voicemail messages and analyze them to improve our language models. This use of your voicemails to improve our language models is fully automated, and no humans read or listen to your voicemail messages in order to do this. You can opt out at any time, and we'll stop using your messages in the future. Learn more.
Quote from: jimq51 on July 11, 2014, 03:36:19 PM
Doesnt look like Google is looking to close GV down very soon. Saw this on my voice home page today.
Help us improve voicemail transcription!
Google would like your help in making voicemail transcriptions better. With your permission, our automated systems will remove your account information from your voicemail messages and analyze them to improve our language models. This use of your voicemails to improve our language models is fully automated, and no humans read or listen to your voicemail messages in order to do this. You can opt out at any time, and we'll stop using your messages in the future. Learn more.
There was never any threatened
closedown of GoogleVoice. There were rumblings of XMPP being turned off on 15 May. That is one of the protocols available to interact with the GV servers. If that had happened (or if it will happen at some point) then OBi devices cease to work with GV. Unless/until Google make more dramatic changes to GV, it will still be available by other non-Obi methods.