Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Vonage

Vonage Broadband VoIP service provider

Vonage NOT Saved by VoIP, Inc.

April 4, 2007

I'm still seeing tons of reports that VoIP, Inc. has "saved" Vonage from the current patent litigation lawsuit with Verizon. This is NOT true. The information I received from Ars Technica was not accurate. I immediately updated my post with a correction.

Vonage inks deal with VoIP Inc bypassing Verizon patent claim

April 3, 2007

Update 5pm 4/3/2007 - please see the update at the bottom of this post - Vonage has performed an end-around the Verizon patent by inking a deal with VoIP, Inc., a company that claims to hold several VoIP patents. I actually thought that Vonage could approach VoIP, Inc. since I knew they owned several VoIP patents, however, I second guessed myself when I thought "VoIP, Inc. is a direct competitor to Vonage. Although VoIP, Inc. is classified as a CLEC and Interexchange Carrier (IXC), they offer nation-wide termination and origination. Why would they want to do a deal with Vonage?" It didn't occur to me that Vonage would be stuck between a rock and a hard place and would have to negotiate with a pseudo-competitor in order to stay in business.

VoIP Patents run amok

April 2, 2007

We have all been following the various VoIP patent lawsuits. From the Rates Technology vs. Google Talk lawsuit, to Apple vs Cisco iPhone lawsuit, Verizon vs. Vonage patent infringement and many more.

Vonage shut down in 2 weeks?

March 23, 2007

Federal District Judge Claude Hilton has told Vonage to stop using Verizon patents, and has just two weeks to comply with the judge's order. As far as I can tell, without access to these patent rights, Vonage will be forced to shutdown. Vonage's stock tumbled after this news hitting just $3.00 ($-1.05) for a drop of -25.93%.

“They could not have been commercially successful if they had not taken these patents we have and put them into their technologies,” Dan Webb, an attorney for Verizon, said at Friday’s hearing on the injunction request.

So  what does this mean for Vonage's customers in 2 weeks?



VoIP Avoids State Regulation

March 21, 2007

A U.S. appeals court today upheld a decision that exempted VoIP telephone companies such as Vonage, Sunrocket, Packet8, and others from many state regulations and oversight.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit backed a 2004 decision by the FCC that exempted VoIP telephone companies from rate regulation and from being required to seek certification before offering service.

Vonage freefall video in 60 seconds

March 14, 2007

Vonage to pay $58 million to Verizon over patent dispute

March 8, 2007

BREAKING! Vonage has been ordered by a Virginia court to pay $58 million to Verizon Communications for infringing on three of the company's patents.  Vonage has vowed to appeal the decision. In addition to monetary compensation, Verizon is also asking the court for an injunction on Vonage's service.

On March 23, U.S.

New VoIP Call Recording Software for Mac OS X

February 12, 2007

Tomorrow, Arcosoft will release VONaLink SoloRecord, a new VoIP call recording software program for Mac OS X. VONaLink SoloRecord for Mac OS X works with any VoIP phone system utilizing the SIP standard to record calls and to provide screen pops. SIP-based IP-PBXs, such as Cisco Call Manager, or pbxnSIP or even home broadband VoIP services such as Vonage or Packet8 that utilize the SIP standard will work with this call recording software.

Also available is a separate ScreenPop product, if recording is not required. SoloRecord and ScreenPop were previously available only for Windows. The call is recorded as a stereo WAV or MP3.

Vonage-gram for Valentine's Day

February 8, 2007

This Valentine's Day, Vonage is enabling their customers the ability to surprise their loved ones with a poem and personalized “Vonage-gram” message. Vonage-grams give customers the ability to send a special recorded message (powered by Audible.com) as a memorable and fun way to say “I love you” on Valentine's Day.

You simply dial 1-700-Valentine, Vonage customers will be prompted to choose from a variety of love poems along with the option to add their own 30 second personalized message, which will then be sent on February 14. Vonage customers can send this voicemail greeting to any phone number in the US or Canada or have it emailed to their own account, where they can save it, download it or forward it to a loved one.

This Vonage-gram service launches on February 10 for US and Canadian customers.

Gee, this great enhanced (Voice 2.0?) feature is almost enough to make me want to un-cancel my Vonage service. Nah...





V-Global Communications Dialer uses PSTN-to-VoIP-to-PSTN

January 29, 2007

I just came across a VoIP product that is somewhat similar to the PhoneGnome product, called the V-Global Dialer from V-Global Communications. The V-Global Dialer offers a programable, least-cost call router that sends long distance calls over a standard phone line to its 100% VoIP network for termination.  The V-Global call router is offered commercially for $19.99 with $10.00 of talk time as a "Dialer".

Technically, the PhoneGnome analogy is a bit off, since the PhoneGnome can route over your existing PSTN (if local call) or use VoIP termination via it's Ethernet port (true Voice over IP). The V-Global Dialer doesn't sport an Ethernet port.

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