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VOIP Promise A Lot. So, Are We There Yet

Lingo - Won The Best Internet Telephony Excellence award!

A company you might have already heard of: Lingo, a provider for service
provider revenues increased 63% year-over-year. Lingo has over 700,000 lines in service at this moment and is daily adding 15,000 more lines per week in its network.

Lingo selected as "Editors' Pick

Lingo was selected by the editors of Wired magazine and won the 2008 Best VoIP Provider Award and Customer Service Leadership Award based on cost, features and quality of the call. There were a total of 8 voice over IP providers that were rated, they are: Packet8, AT&T, Comcast, SIPphone, Skype, Verizon. Lingo also won the 2006 Internet Telephony Excellence award.

Mr. Carrie Gray, director of business marketing for Verizon was quoted during an interview, "This recognition means we’re meeting customers’ need for advanced voice and broadband solutions so that they can look to one trusted provider. But what’s most important is that we’re delivering the right product to our small- and medium-sized business customers to help them grow their business." Mr. Carrie Gray is concerned that Verizon will be able to manage the growth rates of their customer base. "Right now we are taking a bit of a breather to make sure everything is all caught up. Our rate of resolving customer service issues on the first call is going to literally every week. So we're paying very close attention to that and were going through a big network expansion to make sure we have the capacity we need. It's given that everything will go to VOIP. The question is not if, it's only' how long will it take' and were 40 seeing the compression of this timeframe, because of the industry's growth rate. "

One of the components that Lingo high speed internet is working on his making its VOIP phones more integrated to their customer’s lifestyle. So it doesn't become odd, for folks to catch on to connecting their VOIP phones to their router. The VOIP industry estimate there will be one million people using VOIP which sends calls over the Internet instead of your regular phone line this year.

A Small Software Consulting Firm Evaluates 5 Voice over IP Services

My name is Trevor and I own a small software development company located in Santa Fe New Mexico. I have a handful of software engineers who a higher on a contract basis spread geographically all over the United States. Many of the cable TV companies such as: Lingo, Comcast and Time Warner cable, AT&T are moving into the VOIP long distance services. There is also voice over IP only providers such as Lingo or 8x8 Inc. In Fact, Lingo is becoming a household name brand. Many of the VOIP providers offers domestic calling for as little as $15 a month. For unlimited nationwide coast-to-coast calling into Canada and Puerto Rico; VOIP plans range between $25-$40 month. Whether you are considering VOIP for home use, calling internationally or for business, please read this article and judge whether or not VOIP is right for you. There are two ways that you can use VOIP. You can select to use either a cable connection or a DSL connection. I tried both. I found the voice over IP cable connection provided a higher level of voice quality, consistency and reliability.

In order for me to assess whether my company could use voice over IP services, I decided to compare five different voice over IP providers.

			Time Warner Cable
Installation	Simple, do-it-yourself, connect router to cable modem or switch	Simple, do-it-yourself, connect router to cable modem or switch	None, They do it, they come out and change around your phone line	Simple, do-it-yourself, connect router to cable modem or switch	Simple, do-it-yourself, connect router to cable modem or switch
Pricing ( basic )	$24.95 USD per month for unlimited local and long distance calling in US	$22 USD per month for unlimited local and long distance calling in 22 countries. Lingo can save you over 50% off your traditional home phone service. Sign up today and get 1 month free, click here	$39.95 USD per month for unlimited local and long distance calling in US	$16.58 USD per month for unlimited local and long distance calling in US(including Canada)	$24.95 USD per month for unlimited local and long distance calling in US
Does 911 Work	No	Yes, Enhanced 911 Service	Yes, Enhanced 911 Service	Yes, Enhanced 911 service	Wait til VoIP E911 are equal to land lines
BroadBand Type	Cable or DSL	Cable	Cable	Cable or DSL	Cable or DSL
Termination Fee	$19.99 ( If You cancel within your contract period )	None	None	No (If you return ViaTalk-provided equipment is returned within 30 days)	No
Availability	Nationwide	Optimum customers in areas of Conn., N.J,N.Y	Time Warner Cable customers in 30 cities	Nationwide	Nationwide
Contract required	Yes, 1 year	No	No	No	Yes, 1 Year
Sound quality	Good sound quality	Very good consistent	Good, sometimes flaky	Very good consistent	Good, sometimes flaky
Activation fee	$19.95 Click here to waive the setup fee	No fee - Click here to sign up now	No fee	$9.95 - Sign Up Now!	No Fee - Sign up now - First month free

I'm very keen on wireless data, low-cost long-distance voice over IP and net access. With so many people buying voice over IP equipment and services, it makes sense before you decided on a voice over IP provider to take the following 4 factors into consideration. You don't want to cause yourself unnecessary grief by subscribing to a provider who sends you a do it yourself installation kit and find that it takes you over four hours to set up your voice over IP equipment.

• Voice Quality Will Fade or Dip
  

  For the most part, the voice quality was okay. However when I made my regular weekly call to my vice president, Kobe Crawford in New Jersey, I noticed that quite often his voice would fade or dip. Normally, the calls last for around 45 minutes. Occasionally, Kobe would say that the VOIP call had a hollow or echo quality to it.

• The Incoming Calls Were Not Coming through Regularly
  

  There was an occasion where I tried to call the same number eight times and it didn't go through. Sometimes what would happen is; the call would come through in 60 seconds and later it would drop. Another test I did was I asked three different suppliers to call me from three different cities on the same day five minutes apart. All three of the calls didn't come through.

• Installation Was Not Always Very Easy
  

  Although on the web site, some of the VOIP providers claim that the installation was easy and simple to set up. This was not the case for my friend Vincent who also is a small-business owner. Since I went with Vonage, they sent me a telephone adapter and set up instructions. All I did was connect the router to my cable modem and I was off and running. In Vincent's case, says he did not go with a voice over IP provider where they sent technicians to his location, he had to install the VOIP equipment himself. He had a terrible time. In fact he had to call his VOIP provider and was on the phone for literally three hours and a half with a technician in order to get his equipment up and running. He was so frustrated that at the end of the process, he almost pulled the plug out and wanted to call another voice over IP provider who would send a technician out to his office. Vincent is not a handyman. In fact, his wife is the one who does most of the repairs around the house. Kobe, my vice president opted for a Time Warner cable voice over IP service for his home. He had the technician come out to his house and it only took the technician less than one hour to set up all of Kobe's voice over IP phone, router, and equipment.

• What Works for You May Not Work for Someone Else - Voice Over IP Is Very Personal
  

  Where your voice over IP adapter is will influence where your main telephone system will be located at. If you have broadband cable voice over IP, the central router will be where your main phone needs to be connected to. If this VOIP router is not in a convenient location, one option is to purchase a multiple remote cordless phone system and connect the main phone panel to the central voice over IP router. Whenever your multiple cordless phones need charging, simply place it in one of the charging units on the main phone panel. If you would like to configure your multiple voice over IP lines with the existing extensions, you may need to hire a professional telephone network technician to configure it for you. Optimum voice, a voice over IP cable service provider offers professional installation for multiple existing lines for free.

If your company spends more than $60 a month for local long-distance, then seriously consider VOIP. Remember that if you do not already have broadband cable connection will need to pay for that. Typically, I pay $50 a month for my cable connection to access the Internet. Voice over IP rates does not include the cost of the broadband or DSL connection. You simply have to pay the monthly voice over IP calling plan if you already have broadband cable connection hooked up.

Whether you are a small business, work-at-home professional or traveling professional - ask yourself if VOIP is suitable for your calling needs

• Small Businesses
  

  One feature that I really enjoyed about Verizon voice wing web-based administration is the ability to track my calls. My company provides software development for many work-at-home professionals. Once my software designers goes on site to the clients location to install the software that they purchased, phone support is needed to train them to get them comfortable with the software. Instead of relying on the software developer to manually make a note of the duration of the call so it can be sent to the accounting department, Lingo's web-based administrator automatically does it for me. Lingo's web-based administrator is able to track the number of minutes spent per client for each job. At the end of the month, my bookkeeper is able to go into Lingo's web-based administrator to generate invoices which are then faxed out the same day to my clients. This is much more seamless way of knowing compared to how we use to bill our clients the old way. I'm very concerned with the image and professionalism that I want to convey to my international clients. Therefore, relying 100% on voice over IP long distance calling is not a viable option for me. I would have to wait until the technology becomes more reliable, because I have experience dropped calls with my voice over IP provider. I have installed a voice over IP equipment in my branch offices in New Jersey, Hawaii and Arizona. Many of my associates need to communicate with me on day-to-day basis, and I find the overall quality to be acceptable using voice over IP services. If you are considering voice over IP, and need to get a brand new telephone number; consider how that Is going to affect your customer base. Will you need to make new business cards? If you feel Uneasy about getting a new phone number because you're getting a new voice over IP line, weigh the pros and cons. When dealing with new clients, they may feel nervous about the fact that you changing your phone number. They may have second thoughts about doing business with you.

• Work-At-Home Professionals
  

  The advantage of getting second line when you install a voice over IP router when you work-at-home is very convenient. Your main residential line could be your home line. By adding a second line which is your voice over IP number, it could be used as a fax line. As well, program your voice over IP line to have a distinct ring tone different from your residential ring tone. This way you'll know when the phone rings, if it is a business or personal call.

• Frequent Travelers
  

  I'm setting up a portable low-cost voice over IP system to allow me to call from any city in United States. You're probably asking, is it possible to roam in the public with my laptop and Vonage voice over IP phone. Whether I'm in a café, hotel room, restaurant, or conference center outside my city I am able to connect to the Internet through my laptop and make calls anywhere within the US and Canada by just paying my monthly access fee to Vonage voice over IP provider. I'm a big fan of wireless data access as well as voice over IP wireless access.

Verizon is trying to bring in more customers and they are succeeding. With advertising media in huge city billboards, radio ads, Internet banner ads and affiliate marketing; they are gaining very large market share in record time. I hope you found this article to be useful in your decision-making process whether voice over IP is for you are not.

Source: Daily Wireless, Wired Magazine Test Consumer Reports Vol.70, No.2. 2005, Backbone Business Technology Lifestyle July/August 2005