Re: [DDN] VOIP for nonprofits
Thanks for the feedback Dan and Jim. Unfortunatly the 'bad news' as Dan described is a deal killer for the non-profit I work for now. They live on the phone and do A LOT of community outreach to volunteer tutors. Lossing ANY call could be very bad for our group. I'm going to continue to stay on top of this tech though. These problems will be solved soon I think. -Brian Brian; I would concur with caveats. I'm currently using VOIP for my fledging home-based business and would agree that you will save (in the long-run). I was fortunate to already have the basic equipment (router and cabling) and the broadband service (DSL). Switching in my case seemed like a no brainer. The good news is that my LD expenses were hoving close to $300.00 a month. My first real telephone bill is now less than $100.00. Now for the bad news. The real costs, in terms of lost of service, service degredation, and just plain service headaches have been huge. Even now, my wife is not convinced that we made a wise choice and is demanding that we switch back. I promised to do so, if we're still having issues by the next billing period. I won't go into all the issues, but when all the technical stars are aligned and sun spots are not flaring, everything works like a charm. By charm, I mean, you are not even aware that you are not using a traditional POTS line. Unfortunately, the first billing period was marked with only about a 40 percent charm time. In other words, we had issues with six out of every 10 calls. I will admint, however, that the quality of service has started to rise dramatically toward the end to the period. In short, I'm not sure that VOIP is quite ready for prime time, but I'm still impressed with the technogy and the potential savings. You might want to take a look at the Broadband Reports site, http://www.broadbandreports.com, to get other opinions on the technology and service. There is a link to Voice over IP in the user forum that might provide additional insight. Cheers; -Dan On 8/10/05, Jim Vines [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Brian: Generally you can expect VoIP to be cost effective. I could come right out and say yes it is, but I'd feel better if you would fax a copy of ALL pages from a recent phone bill. (I'll get the fax # for the local Kinko's so you can send.) The other issue is the vendor's infrastructural support. Since there are so many me-too vendors, it is imperative to know what kind of infrastructural support they provide - so you get a dialtone immediately and so that the voice quality both ways is clear. Using the VoIP service that I now sell, I call the Philippines and Nigeria with superior connection quality. Calls to cellphones overseas are still somewhat garbled as there appears to be a latency problem on the other end. However, as broadband access becomes widespread even in Third World countries, then VoIP2VoIP calling will yield excellent connections either way. I am currently arranging a meeting between a longtime Nigerian colleague and his associates in a telco venture back home and top management of a leading VoIP provider here in the USA. This company is presently deploying 4,000 VoIP adapters in businesses in Dubai. With this compamy's VoIP equipment, VoIP2VoIP calling is free worldwide, regardless which party calls whom. Here, my VoIP line costs $24.99 ($29.99 shortly as E911 is added). That includes unlimited calling across the USA and Canada. Another thing that I like: Audio from the other end is an estimated 6 to 12 dB louder than with POTS. Not to mention clearer. It's even clearer going VoIP2VoIP. My VoIP # is 708-279-4329. I'll get back to you if you leave a message. (This # as well as two computers are connceted to a router, and the router is connected to the cable modem. Next I'll connect a hub, and have two VoIP lines connected to it. We will kiss POTS good-bye.) I'm also cc-ing to my colleague and retired 33 year Bell System veteran. My background is in satellite coms. I have US and Canadian patents in sat antenna design. Sincerely, Jim Vines Brian Russell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Is anyone in the US using VoIP services to save money on phone bills for small to medium size nonprofits? If so is it cost effective for you? Where you able to use the phone equipment you had already? Did this service provide long distance and local phone calls? I'm doing research on phone tech for the nonprofit I'm serving at. Thanks! -Brian R. p.s. My email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you'd like to respond to me directly. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
Re: [DDN] VOIP for nonprofits
Brian; I would concur with caveats. I'm currently using VOIP for my fledging home-based business and would agree that you will save (in the long-run). I was fortunate to already have the basic equipment (router and cabling) and the broadband service (DSL). Switching in my case seemed like a no brainer. The good news is that my LD expenses were hoving close to $300.00 a month. My first real telephone bill is now less than $100.00. Now for the bad news. The real costs, in terms of lost of service, service degredation, and just plain service headaches have been huge. Even now, my wife is not convinced that we made a wise choice and is demanding that we switch back. I promised to do so, if we're still having issues by the next billing period. I won't go into all the issues, but when all the technical stars are aligned and sun spots are not flaring, everything works like a charm. By charm, I mean, you are not even aware that you are not using a traditional POTS line. Unfortunately, the first billing period was marked with only about a 40 percent charm time. In other words, we had issues with six out of every 10 calls. I will admint, however, that the quality of service has started to rise dramatically toward the end to the period. In short, I'm not sure that VOIP is quite ready for prime time, but I'm still impressed with the technogy and the potential savings. You might want to take a look at the Broadband Reports site, http://www.broadbandreports.com, to get other opinions on the technology and service. There is a link to Voice over IP in the user forum that might provide additional insight. Cheers; -Dan On 8/10/05, Jim Vines [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Brian: Generally you can expect VoIP to be cost effective. I could come right out and say yes it is, but I'd feel better if you would fax a copy of ALL pages from a recent phone bill. (I'll get the fax # for the local Kinko's so you can send.) The other issue is the vendor's infrastructural support. Since there are so many me-too vendors, it is imperative to know what kind of infrastructural support they provide - so you get a dialtone immediately and so that the voice quality both ways is clear. Using the VoIP service that I now sell, I call the Philippines and Nigeria with superior connection quality. Calls to cellphones overseas are still somewhat garbled as there appears to be a latency problem on the other end. However, as broadband access becomes widespread even in Third World countries, then VoIP2VoIP calling will yield excellent connections either way. I am currently arranging a meeting between a longtime Nigerian colleague and his associates in a telco venture back home and top management of a leading VoIP provider here in the USA. This company is presently deploying 4,000 VoIP adapters in businesses in Dubai. With this compamy's VoIP equipment, VoIP2VoIP calling is free worldwide, regardless which party calls whom. Here, my VoIP line costs $24.99 ($29.99 shortly as E911 is added). That includes unlimited calling across the USA and Canada. Another thing that I like: Audio from the other end is an estimated 6 to 12 dB louder than with POTS. Not to mention clearer. It's even clearer going VoIP2VoIP. My VoIP # is 708-279-4329. I'll get back to you if you leave a message. (This # as well as two computers are connceted to a router, and the router is connected to the cable modem. Next I'll connect a hub, and have two VoIP lines connected to it. We will kiss POTS good-bye.) I'm also cc-ing to my colleague and retired 33 year Bell System veteran. My background is in satellite coms. I have US and Canadian patents in sat antenna design. Sincerely, Jim Vines Brian Russell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Is anyone in the US using VoIP services to save money on phone bills for small to medium size nonprofits? If so is it cost effective for you? Where you able to use the phone equipment you had already? Did this service provide long distance and local phone calls? I'm doing research on phone tech for the nonprofit I'm serving at. Thanks! -Brian R. p.s. My email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you'd like to respond to me directly. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the
