Comments on: Fonality Scores $12M for Open Source PBX http://gigaom.com/2008/09/03/fonality-scores-12m-for-open-source-pbx/ Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:47:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Amit Pbx http://gigaom.com/2008/09/03/fonality-scores-12m-for-open-source-pbx/#comment-952382 Amit Pbx Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:11:51 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=19614#comment-952382 <p>You know what they say..: "You buy stocks when the blood is in the street". That is definitaely the time to start a business.</p> <p>As to the PBX, well we are always looking for something that is better is service and cheaper in cost.</p> You know what they say..: “You buy stocks when the blood is in the street”. That is definitaely the time to start a business.

As to the PBX, well we are always looking for something that is better is service and cheaper in cost.

]]> By: Fonality Takes Another $12 Million | Telecom Update http://gigaom.com/2008/09/03/fonality-scores-12m-for-open-source-pbx/#comment-902047 Fonality Takes Another $12 Million | Telecom Update Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:31:40 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=19614#comment-902047 <p>[...] to GigaOm’s Stacy Higginbothom, Fonality has secured another another round of financing, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth [...]</p> [...] to GigaOm’s Stacy Higginbothom, Fonality has secured another another round of financing, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth [...]

]]> By: Jeffrey Katz http://gigaom.com/2008/09/03/fonality-scores-12m-for-open-source-pbx/#comment-901401 Jeffrey Katz Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:05:37 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=19614#comment-901401 <p>Fonality is not all that it lets on... We purchased a system for our law firm and could never get it working. We spent hours on the phone with technical support, and despite their claims that it's simple to configure, it wasn't. We brought in outside tech support to configure our servers, at an additional cost.</p> <p>Bottom line-- for small firms without an in house IT person-- good luck! The system still needs an IT person to support it, fonality support wasn't what it claimed to be (Fonality runs a hybrid/hosted service, which requires a continuous internet connection to deliver the service (i.e. if your connection goes down, they can't access the server). Fonality sales reps are good at promises, but ultimately fail to deliver.</p> <p>PS-- If you attempt to return a system watch out for a couple of zingers-- Fonality charges a 15% restocking fee (which ran us over $1,500), and refused to accept a number of our telephones back on the return, even though one of the phones was DOA when it arrived at our office.</p> <p>PPS-- Fonality was sued in federal court in New York by Rates Technology ("Rates") in February, 2008 with a claimed patent infringement against it by Rates. The claim states that Fonality has violated patent rights held by Rates related to the least cost routing service Fonality builds into the PBX. Rates seeks an injunction against Fonality with respect to the infringement. Could this mean another blackberry style showdown? Only time will tell.....</p> <p>Jeffrey D. Katz</p> Fonality is not all that it lets on… We purchased a system for our law firm and could never get it working. We spent hours on the phone with technical support, and despite their claims that it’s simple to configure, it wasn’t. We brought in outside tech support to configure our servers, at an additional cost.

Bottom line– for small firms without an in house IT person– good luck! The system still needs an IT person to support it, fonality support wasn’t what it claimed to be (Fonality runs a hybrid/hosted service, which requires a continuous internet connection to deliver the service (i.e. if your connection goes down, they can’t access the server). Fonality sales reps are good at promises, but ultimately fail to deliver.

PS– If you attempt to return a system watch out for a couple of zingers– Fonality charges a 15% restocking fee (which ran us over $1,500), and refused to accept a number of our telephones back on the return, even though one of the phones was DOA when it arrived at our office.

PPS– Fonality was sued in federal court in New York by Rates Technology (“Rates”) in February, 2008 with a claimed patent infringement against it by Rates. The claim states that Fonality has violated patent rights held by Rates related to the least cost routing service Fonality builds into the PBX. Rates seeks an injunction against Fonality with respect to the infringement. Could this mean another blackberry style showdown? Only time will tell…..

Jeffrey D. Katz

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