[Asterisk-biz] Considering VoipJet (was: VOIPJET is in violation)

[Roderick Montgomery]

According to Paul Rodan:
> Why is everybody so hard on VoipJet? I understand they broke the rules on
> that one, and they'll probably make it right, but it seems like everybody is
> taking a stab at them even though they're just like the rest of us,
> competing in this growing market. 

I'm relatively new to VoIP (only four or five years), but I've got over ten
years of data-side internetworking behind me, so I've seen this sort of
reaction before. I can't speak for the actual people that are 'taking a
stab' at VoipJet, but generally speaking, low-price vendors always cause
a little instability and churn in the market.

By example, I'm sure that Nufone has lost a few customers that want to try
VoipJet's low rates (a few on this list have claimed they're 'impossibly
low' rates). I'm also sure that Nufone and others have gained or regained
customers that are unhappy with VoipJet for one reason or another.

Nearly all customers get wowed by low price, and it's increasingly difficult
for vendors to compete on a basis other than price. So when a player like
VoipJet comes on the scene, they cause a strong reaction from the folks that
have really put effort (and yes, financial investment) into building a
quality-first, low-price later sort of network model.



> I for one would be a little upset if they increase their prices as a
> result of this. But I would be even more upset if all this
> arguing/fighting/bickering caused VoipJet to say "Screw it" and pull out
> completely.

If they change their prices or pull out of the market, it won't be (just)
because of bickering on this list. It'll be a business decision. If the
claims against VoipJet are true -- that their pricing is impossibly low --
then it's just a matter of time before their pricing changes. If not, and
they're managing their business in a way that confounds this list's armchair
MBAs, then they might just stay the same. Remember, VoipJet haven't
published their balance sheet; parts of their business may be more
profitable than others, keeping a seemingly 'impossible' pricing structure
afloat to attract more customers. Who knows? Time will tell.



> I don't want to start a flame-war, seen that kill too many groups, but I'm
> just curious why everybody seems to have something personally against
> them. I haven't seen much stabbing at any other company BUT them. Maybe
> I'm missing something big, in which case, I'd like to know what that is,
> as my company is about to rely on them as their primary LD carrier, with
> NuFone as backup and a dedicated (but overpriced) LD T1/PRI as a Tertiary
> backup.

Others can offer their own opinions experiences, but only you can decide
which vendors suit your own network and needs. Personally, I use a CLEC's
PRI trunk for local and toll-free calls, I've used Nufone on and off for LD,
and I recently tried VoipJet's free trial. For me, VoipJet's audio quality
was good, but latency was noticable and jitter reared its ugly head, too. I
can't tell whether the jitter problem is actually worse that I think and
they're already buffering some of it out, causing the latency, or if some
internet transit between my asterisk box and theirs has trouble, or even
whether my experience is atypical. I'll try VoipJet again in a few months to
see if things have improved from my network's perspective, but they may work
much better for you.

Remember, Voice over IP over local ethernet or even over a well-run campus
WAN can be bulletproof, but Voice over IP over the internet is still a
hit-or-miss proposition. You really must experiment to see what works best
for you.

rm
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 Roderick Montgomery   rod at thecomplex.com   <URL:http://thecomplex.com/>
the fool stands only to fall, but the wise trip on grace... [Sarah Masen]
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