Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Vonage

Vonage Broadband VoIP service provider

Vonage Mobile Adds Video Calls

April 18, 2013

FCC Now Requires VoIP Outage Reporting

February 15, 2012

The Federal Communications Commission today voted and passed a requirement that interconnected VoIP service providers report significant network outages that meet specific criteria and thresholds. The goal is to ensure 911 system reliability and perhaps customer awareness of fly-by-night VoIP operations that are just trying to make a buck. The FCC will use outage reports to "track and analyze information on interconnected VoIP outages affecting 9-1-1 service and determine if action is needed to prevent future outages." In other words you might be looking at fines if you don't have a reliable VoIP network.

According to Chairman Julius Genachowski, "With today’s action, the FCC is helping ensure that our communications infrastructure is more resilient. 

Vonage Attacks Skype with 30% Price Cut and Free App-to-App Calling & Texts

February 8, 2012



Vonage today launched new versions of their mobile app for both iOS and Android phones that feature free app-to-app calling and international calling rates that on average are 70 percent less than major mobile carriers and 30 percent less than Skype according to their release notes on iTunes. What's nice about their mobile app is it lets you talk and text worldwide for FREE with anyone else who has the app. It's also wideband HD audio for better audio quality.

Another nice feature is that you simply use your existing address book and there is no need to leave the app. It works on both Wi-Fi and 3G/4G.





Vonage Time to Call iPhone App Makes Cheap International Calls

August 3, 2011

Vonage today launched Time to Call for the iPhone, a new mobile VoIP app that aims to deliver low-cost international calling. Vonage claims Time to Call is the first downloadable app that allows pay-per-call international dialing to more than 190 countries.  The app, designed for iPhones, lets consumers make 15-minute international calls and it features payment directly through iTunes, which will no doubt improve the adoption rate.

For a limited time, Vonage will provide a free international call, up to 15 minutes, to 100 countries. 

Google Promotes $.0007 VoIP Access Rate to FCC

June 17, 2011


Google recently weighed in on the Universal Service Fund (USF) and carrier access charges, which will affect the future of both broadband and VoIP. Over the past few years, there have been past court skirmishes over whether VoIP service providers must contribute to the FCC. VoIP has changed the landscape of telecom regulation and the FCC is scrambling to keep up, while not killing innovation or slowing the fast growing VoIP industry in the process.

With Google offering the popular Google Voice offering, which technically isn't VoIP, but could head in that direction, Google is leery over having to pay into the USF or pay carrier access charges. After all, if Google carries the voice call over IP, why should they have to pay into the USF, which was designed to help rural areas have subsidized access to the PSTN network?


Top 20 VoIP Innovators of All Time

June 13, 2011


VoIP has come a long way since it was first popularized by VocalTec in the mid 1990s. Here is a slideshow of the Top 20 VoIP Innovators of all time with photo captions explaining why they merit this top 20 ranking. Most innovators are companies, but not all. Two important VoIP standards make the list, which cannot be attributed to a single individual or company.

Infonetics Research - "Breakout year for SIP trunking"

March 31, 2011

Infonetics Research put out a report stating that the VoIP services market is nearing the $50 billion mark and called it a "breakout year for SIP trunking."     

According to the report, “The VoIP service market weathered the economic turmoil of the last couple of years, and, with increasing customer adoption, reached $49.8 billion in 2010 (compared to $34.8 billion in 2008). While the residential services segment remains the largest of the market at 69% of total revenue, business VoIP services are growing at faster rates; a notable example: SIP trunking had a breakout year with 143% revenue growth in 2010,” notes Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research.

VoIP SERVICES MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
  • Infonetics Research forecasts the combined business and residential/SOHO VoIP services market to grow to $74.5 billion in 2015
  • Managed IP PBX business VoIP service revenue is expected to more than double from 2010 to 2015
  • NTT of Japan retains its leadership as the world's largest residential VoIP service provider, followed by Comcast and France Télécom
  • The fastest growing segments of the VoIP services market are SIP trunking and hosted UC telephony
  • The number of residential VoIP subscribers increased 19% in 2010 to 157 million worldwide
  • Based on healthy demand for cloud-based services, the number of seats for IP Centrex and hosted UC services grew 20% in 2010

Infonetics' VoIP and UC Services and Subscribers report, published twice per year, features an IP Centrex Provider Tracker and provides worldwide and regional market size, forecasts, and analysis of residential/SOHO (small office, home office) VoIP services, business VoIP and UC services, and VoIP subscribers. Business voice services tracked include managed IP PBX services, hosted VoIP and unified communication (UC) services (IP Centrex by business size, UC applications, UC telephony), and IP connectivity services (VoIP VPN/IP access, SIP trunking, IP integrated access). Regions tracked include North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia Pacific, and Central and Latin America (CALA).





Axvoice Offers Unlimited VoIP for $8.25/month

January 3, 2011

The race to zero/free calling continues with Axvoice dropping their unlimited calling to the U.S. & Canada to just $8.25/month or $99/year - under the psychological $100 barrier. They also offer a US/Canada 200 minute Calling plan costs for $5.99/month. For the really cheap, they offer Pay As You Go for $4.99 with outgoing calls costing 1.5c per minute and incoming calls are free.

Counterpath Granted Patent Covering Single Number Identity

September 28, 2010


Today CounterPath announced that it has been granted a key patent to assigning single-number identity across multiple devices and networks. Patent number 7,804,821 granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office enables CounterPath customers the ability to use the same identity across wireline and wireless networks. Wonder if this patent affects single number identity services such as Google Voice?

Vonage Mobile app for Facebook Launches

August 4, 2010


Today, Vonage launched Vonage Mobile application for Facebook: A new service which allows users to make free mobile calls to all of their Facebook friends who have the app as well. That's a bit of a stumbling block since your friends need the app installed to make VoIP calls. Although, you can IM them from within the free app regardless of whether they have the Vonage app installed. But once installed by both parties, it can be convenient to make free calls to any of your Facebook friends, especially since you can see when they are "online" (presence).
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