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Mass hysteria?

Started by FreeServiceForLife, May 16, 2014, 05:34:49 AM

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FreeServiceForLife

Google Voice on OBi still up and running - glad I didn't bite,,,

Z

dircom

#1
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.

vtsnaab

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 ??

searchformission

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.

nitzan

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...
Nitzan Kon, CEO
Future Nine Corporation
http://www.future-nine.com/

jcrouch

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?

jcrouch

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.

aopisa

#7
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"?

Crow550

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


ceg3

#9
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

Rick

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.

vtsnaab

#11
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.

Rick

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.

nkolodij

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.

Taoman

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.

mo832

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.

nitzan

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...
Nitzan Kon, CEO
Future Nine Corporation
http://www.future-nine.com/

mo832

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.

TonyTib

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).

Rick