On 2007-08-11, Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> claimed:
> ____/ AB on Friday 10 August 2007 19:24 : \____
>
>> On 2007-08-10, Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> claimed:
>>> Vonage "working around" Verizon patents
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>>| Vonage was sued by Verizon on five counts of nicking technology in its
>>>| Voice-over-IP operations. A jury found the company guilty of breaching
>>>| three Verizon patents and fined the company $58 million.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41599
>>
>> I dropped them because of this. At the time their CEO said he doubted
>> they could recover even if the verdict was turned around the following
>> day, or if they had a workaround they could put in place immediately. I
>> don't see that anything has changed.
>>
>> Sprint and some others are suing them for patent infringment, too. So
>> they'll be nicled and dimed to death even if they eventually win
>> everything.
>>
>> The bad news for me was that I went with SunRocket because Vonage was
>> sunk. Last month SunRocket went out of business without warning. Now
>> I'm with another company (I can't even remember the name) so I could
>> keep my number while I look for another (hopefully) stable company. I
>> still have no long term hope that Vonage will recover. The nobody
>> company I transferred to had a deal with SunRocket to transfer
>> everything without interrupting service and using the same equipment.
>> The line is noisy at the beginning of calls, but I still have the
>> number.
>>
>> If Skype did 911 I'd be tempted. But I figured out the costs of their
>> service and it isn't as cheap as it seems at first glance (ring-in
>> number, unlimited outgoing, cost of equipment that I can use with
>> multiple phones, etc). Without 911 it's not worth it to me.
>>
>> I'm trying to figure a way to get outgoing local (wired) calls, and
>> other outside of the internet calls without the phone wires. As cheap
>> as possible.
>
> What about that startup which makes Ooma (?)? It needs some hacking, but it
> gives you free calls for a lifetime. Or so they say...
I looked them over before, back when they first started selling
advanced stuff. I just saw this, though, at the bottom of the following
page:
http://www.ooma.com/ooma_faq.php
*Your one-time purchase of the ooma Hub? device means you won?t owe
monthly charges to ooma for unlimited calls in the United States
for at least three years. Should you want the assurance of a basic
landline as an integrated backup (in the event of an internet or
power outage), you can reduce your monthly bills by slimming down
to low-cost, bare-bones service. OR you can cut the cord from the
local phone company and quit paying monthly phone bills altogether!
Use of ooma?s service is subject to the ooma User Agreement.
It's about $400 now, and that's temporary. That would cost me $133 per
year right up front. I don't pay that now, albeit the quality of calls
isn't great at the beginning. I didn't pay that much with SunRocket
(may they rest in peace). There are others selling unlimited for
$199 a year, and they provide the hardware, and they're established.
I see a couple of mentions of a User Agreement that the purchaser is
subject to on that page. But I can't find a copy of that agreement
anywhere on the site.
They have lots of links to articles on the News page that state things
will be free forever. I don't see them saying that, though. I see them
saying as above, 3 years' worth with *maybe* more.
I'll pass on them for the time being. I may look again when they've
been doing business for awhile and they're forced to put their terms
and conditions out in the open. Or when they've instituted whatever
their charges are going to be, so I have something to compare them
with. If they're still totally free, or fairly inexpensive, 5 years out
and I haven't found something I think is suitable, I'd be inetested.
In the meantime I'm going to try to find out the direct number into the
exchange that will allow me to connect myself to 911 locally (if I'm
allowed to do that, some of our guys at work will know about it because
they maintain the systems used in the PD for all of that stuff) and
consider Skype or others as possible longer-range alternatives.
--
Death is just nature's way of killing you.
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