Comments on: Skype, Not Vonage Synonymous with VoIP in Blogsphere

By: Keith Zimmerman

Keith Zimmerman — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:32:20 +0000

I think Vonage has gone over the edge with respect to the effort put into their advertising vs. the effort placed in their services. I’ve been a Vonage customer for about a half year and have been satisified with the service. I also happen to be a hater of junk e-mail. I figure that any company that markets its services by randomly sending their junk over the internet is wasting a lot of people’s time and is a company of very low morals… The people that resort to sending junk e-mail belong in jail. About a month ago, I started to receive junk e-mail from a company that calls itself Vonage in their return e-mail address, but ID’s itself as “Rewards Overdrive” at the bottom of their e-mail. It is trying to sell me Vonage service which I already have. I tried to unsubscribe but continue to receive these junk e-mails. (and seemingly more) I attempted to get Vonage to contact Rewards Overdrive to have my e-mail address removed, but I quickly found that Vonage is not equipped to handle any service calls that don’t fall into one of the standard catagories that you can select after making several automated selections on their automated support system. The Bottom Line is: 1) Don’t buy Vonage services thru “Rewards Overdrive” – They are a sleezy outfit. 2) Be cautious selecting Vonage services. They’ve obviously dropped into a lower catagory of company that resorts to low marketing tactics and is not equipped to handle questions / problems that don’t fall into common, precise catagories.

By: Skype Journal

Skype Journal — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 20:40:07 +0000

Vonage Spending Not Working Apparently

A pointer in Om's blog took me to karnellKNOWLEDGE. It's a great rant on how Vonage strategy for customer aquisition just doesn't stack up. Maybe Vonage should offer a free softphone? It looks at Skype mentions in the blogosphere and contrasts the i...

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 21:35:03 +0000

What telephone number do you give out? Your cell phone number or your SkypeIn number? Is your SkypeIn number a new number - or could you port your landline number to it?

Don't misjudge this: I think Skype is a fine application that works in a way that complements other activities of bloggers. And, for that reason, I think it gets hyped among bloggers more than Vonage (similar, in fact, to Apple). However, I think Vonage and Skype are different animals.

I think Vonage has done a very job at being synonymous with broadband telephony.

By: Scott Wilkinson

Scott Wilkinson — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 21:07:25 +0000

I personally use both Skype and Vonage for different and distinct purposes.

When I wanted a VoIP service that looked, smelled, and quacked like POTS, I chose Vonage. My family can use it, it works in every room in the house, and 911 should work.

When I'm travelling - especially internationally - I use Skype. It's just me in one room with a high speed connection and a computer, so a USB headset makes sense.

Skype appeals to people who live next to or near their computer, understand the technology, and can live with one phone. Bloggers are these people.

Vonage is attempting to appeal to part of America, who can generally set up the VCR, has several phones in the house, turns off the computer when it's not in use, and doesn't have the time to fiddle with technology. Those people are not bloggers - at least not usually very good ones.

By: Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 17:53:04 +0000

Vonage may not need a PC, but it needs a high-speed connection, which is usually pretty close to the PC. I have a Skype phone plugged into my USB hub. It works like a phone. It looks like a phone. It rings like a phone. I get voice mail. I can dial a landline phone (with my SkypeOut account) and people with a POTS phone can call me on a landline number (with my SkypeIn account). Pretty darned close to a telephone replacement for me. In fact, I’m dumping my landline account and going 100% Skype and cell phone.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 17:06:05 +0000

Skype and Vonage are two different animals.

Skype is a PC communicator: Voice, Text, File Transfers. It makes sense for the blabosphere to be enamored with it: pajama wearing, PC typing people would communicate this way.

Vonage is a telephone replacement. It is marketed (heavily, I'd agree) as a means to reduce the monthly nut you dish out to your phone company. It works a lot like an enhanced telephone service and is available and used without a PC.

By: saul

saul — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 19:47:32 +0000

couldn’t agree more with the blogpulse analysis of buzziness – see http://localglobe.blogspot.com/2005/06/skype-tracks-voip-in-blog-buzz.html