Business 2.0 On VoIP

Business 2.0 (Subscription required) has a nice profile on both Vonage and AT&T's CallVantage offering.

The last few paragraphs are indeed interesting thoughts about Vonage future. IPO or will they be acquired, that is the question. Their founder, Louis Holder is on the speaking circuit, talking at the Morgan Stanley conference soon. Those types of appearances usually are reserved for "public company" executives, not private ones. Sounds like someone is wooing someone.....

Comments

[Andy Abramson]

Chatterbox:

Nice AD for Packet8. It would be nice if you used a real email address and linked to your own site or address.

Given the anonnymous nature of your post, I'm half tempted to remove it, but since the facts seem so well laid out, I'm content to leave it up, but would hope you reveal yourself to me, at the very least.

First name, last name and real email address.

Thanks,

Andy

[Chatterbox]

Vonage is not such a good deal. There is a cheaper alternative to Vonage. Checkout www.packet8.net which also offers US and Canada unlimited calling, but for $15 lower than Vonage. Packet8's VOIP plan is $20 for unlimited calling between US and Canada. When I was looking to lower my phone bill, I tried both Vonage and Packet8 and settled for Packet8 for several reasons.

1) Packet8 is cheaper by $15 for the unlimited calling plan for US and Canada. Packet8 unlimited US and Canada costs $20, while Vonage costs $35

2) When you sign up for Packet8, if you type "bestdeal" as the promotion code, you get a $29 discount, bringing your total down to around $32 for signing up for the service.

3) My girlfriend lives outside the US and I call her a lot, making my international calling VERY expensive. With Packet8, you can buy the hardware and the Freedom plan for $75 one time fee and no monthly charges, and call between Packet8 phones as long as you want for free. So, I got her one of these and the $20 montly version for me and now we talk for free. With Vonage, I would have have signed up for the $15 montly plan, which only gives you 500 minutes.

4) Packet8 has international calling plans, such as unlimited Eurpoe calling for $29 more. One of my friends signed up for this as he calls Europe a lot.

5) Settng up Packet8 was a LOT easier than Vonage... just plug and play and even works behind firewalls. With Vonage, I had to change router settings.

6) Vonage has more bells and whistles, and 911 service, but none of those are important to me.

7) voice quality is the same