Section 2.1. Phone-Centric Providers
2.1. Phone-Centric ProvidersThe companies following the phone-centric method are the closest to the traditional telephone companies. For many people, the most important thing is that any phone using their service can call any traditional telephone and cell phone. Even more important for many is that any traditional telephone can call a user on these services just like they can call any other telephone. This type of service will appeal to many traditional telephone company users who are looking for more features, more savings, or both. Note: Old JokeThe old joke about "even your mother can handle this technology" is absolutely true. Phone-centric companies feel much like traditional telephone companies to the users. The major differences under the covers are:
The first point tells us that the traditional telephone company's pair of copper wires hanging from a pole behind the house and looped over to the roof is no longer necessary. In the past, there wasn't enough technology available to deliver more than basic voice service over a single pair of wires. Now technology allows companies to deliver telephone and TV services over a single coaxial cable installed by the cable company. Time and technology marches on, and the telephone companies are busy providing DSL broadband service (including TV in some test programs) over those same old copper wires that were able to provide only voice calls a few years ago. The second point tells us that the huge telephone network built by AT&T to handle voice traffic has become, in many cases, redundant, if not downright unnecessary. Our history lesson in Chapter 1 told us how the government granted AT&T a monopoly in order to pay the huge expense necessary to get telephone service to every household (called Universal Service, which you're still paying for every month). AT&T did a great job of building that huge wired network across the country. But Henry Ford did a great job building Model Ts, and we don't need those anymore, either. The old copper wires remain critical in reaching homes and businesses without broadband connections. Every phone still part of POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) connects to the rest of the world through those two copper wires strung by AT&T so many years ago. Of course, when everyone gets some type of broadband connection to their home or business, the old copper wires can be retired. Here are the good points about phone-centric service providers:
These items are separate from the advantages Internet Telephony provides by including all number of features called "advanced" by the traditional telephone companies (they charge "advanced" prices as well). Those appear in Chapter 3, with explanations and the amount of money you're saving by getting those features with a broadband phone rather than a traditional phone. Yet paradise has not been completely attained. There are some issues to consider when moving away from your traditional telephone service. These considerations include:
Can these situations be handled without undue hassle? Absolutely. For instance, the situation requiring electrical power that is provided by the traditional telephone company may sound difficult. However, this requirement is no different from using cordless phones, which need power, and millions and millions of people use those happily. But now Note: A Wide Enough PipeA most significant consideration is that you will need at least 90 kbps upstream bandwidth from your broadband connection to be happy with the voice quality (low-end DSL provides only 128 kbps upstream bandwidth), and that speed rating doesn't leave much capacity for other upstream traffic (outgoing email, peer-to-peer file-sharing applications, and so forth) during a call without compromising the voice quality. If you don't know what your upstream speed is, you should contact your broadband service provider. They will also be able to let you know how much it will cost to upgrade to a faster speedif you find that your Internet connections slow to a crawl when someone is using the phone, then it's likely you need a faster connection. you can buy a battery backup, just like for your computers, to power your broadband phone equipment. The situation with the phone extensions is a little more problematic. Most homes have telephone connections wired to nearly all the rooms, especially if the home was built in the last 15-20 years. Even many bathrooms have phone connections. If you work with a home entertainment consultant or broadband phone company catering to business users, you can tie a broadband telephone connection into the existing home wiring. That will cost more money than many people wish to spend, however. You can bang your head against this wall, or you can get a workaround. I suggest you save the wear and tear on your forehead and buy a new cordless phone with multiple wireless extensions. Put one extension in every room you have a phone today. Problem solved. Details await in Chapter 4. In fact, your problem's solution will improve your telephone life. Cordless phones are portable, intelligent (lots of memorized numbers and call-handling features), usually come with Caller ID support, and provide intercoms between rooms in many cases. You will spend somewhere between $100 and $400 depending on how many phones you want (you can buy up to eight extensions with many vendor's phones), but you will wind up with more control over your telephone than you have now. You can also choose phones from major vendors (such as Motorola) that connect extensions via your home's electrical wiring. Since you have to plug a cordless phone into the wall anyway (guess we should only call them half-cordless), take advantage of well-proven home-wiring networking if you prefer that over a cordless phone option. Another choice is to add your broadband phone as a second line at your desk by your computer and broadband network connection. This option keeps your existing phone and adds a broadband phone for all the long distance calls and other new features. 2.1.1. VonageTechnically called Vonage Holdings Corporation, Vonage (www.vonage.com) leads the phone-centric marketplace through three things: their early arrival in the market, well-greased wheels provided by venture capital money, and aggressive marketing. They remain privately held, well-funded, well-established, and they keep a high profile with constant media appearances by Jeffrey Citron, their CEO. How aggressive is Jeffrey? When I contacted Vonage about information for this book, Jeffrey made an appointment to talk to me before I could talk to any of their technical or marketing people. Vonage was founded in January 2001, in Edison, New Jersey. AT&T had their Bell Labs in New Jersey for decades, so new phone companies seem drawn to that area. Perhaps, as all roads led to Rome in the old days, all phone lines run mystically to New Jersey today. The company has over 600 employees, meaning they are substantial. That doesn't guarantee they will succeed, but it means they have some current traction. Over 400,000 phone lines are active with Vonage at the beginning of 2005, and they reached 500,000 users by springtime, meaning they have a large subscriber base and some regular revenue. Building revenue proved extremely difficult for some startups in the Internet space during the boom yearswhen the bubble burst in 2000, those companies disappeared. Vonage appears to be large enough not to disappear, but not large enough to fight off a takeover by some of the huge players in this marketplace. Vonage has over two dozen regional data center locations spread across the United States. They have a growing handful in other countries (two in Canada, one each in Mexico and England). There are well over 2,000 locations served by the full complement of Vonage phone services across the U.S. and a few other countries. Outbound calls from any Vonage customer can reach any traditional telephone in the world, whether Vonage has clients in that country or not. Executives in the company come from a variety of well-heeled former jobs, including a fair number of successful startups. This company is not a guerilla phone company; it is very corporate, and it hopes to become the next version of a modern telephone company while putting former AT&T companies out of business. Calling them "brash" fits, as does "so confident as to be almost arrogant." Since the company remains private at this writing, they don't have to admit how much venture capital money they have received (a lot, up into the $400 million range according to some estimates) or how much of that money they have burned through (much of it, according to detractors and/or jealous competitors). Vonage is high profile on purpose and enjoys the spotlight. I believe they have a good chance of remaining on top of this market. 2.1.2. Other Internet Telephone Service CompaniesThe complete broadband telephone service model requires some serious investment by the vendor, but that hasn't stopped nearly 50 companies from jumping into the market. The reason you have heard of only a handful of providers is because many are regional resellers of a national service. Of course, it also takes plenty of advertising and marketing dollars to become known, and fewer than a dozen have made any national market penetration at all. Do not take the list in Table 2-2 as definitive, because it will change on a regular basis. Prices will also change (mostly downward if the normal trend holds), so price lists will almost assuredly be out of date whenever you read this book. I will list company prices as low (under $20 a month), average ($20-$25 a month), or high (over $25 a month) as a point of comparison. Each of the companies listed in Table 2-2 include some type of telephone-to-broadband adapter to allow you to keep using your existing telephone. These companies give you a new telephone number or allow you to keep your current number, and anyone using a traditional telephone can call you.
This market is heating up considerably in 2005, and companies will add features and drop prices to respond to competition. Check carefully when looking to start your service. However, once you have a service, you won't gain much by switching every time a competitor drops their price a dollar or two. Saving money is a good thing, of course, but reliability, support, and an established track record of good service by your provider is worth a couple of dollars a month. Every time you switch a service, you have to relearn some of the procedures and run the risk of being without service for a couple of days (or more) during the transition. |
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 102
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