Some years ago, I tried a VOIP phone system. It worked ok, but I had to discontinue it due to a couple of problems that I could not solve. The first was a very annoying echo on the line that callers would experience. I did a lot of research on this, and it seemed to be a universal VOIP problem. It had something to do with the interface of the digital to analog signals. The second problem was that my satellite box needed to be connected to a landline to update the program guide. I did a lot of research on this too, and apparently the digital VOIP line was not compatible with the modem inside the satellite box. Perhaps the problems have been addressed in the years since I had VOIP. Does anybody have the same experience? I have since gone to AT&T U-Verse, which bundles phone, TV and internet through one cable. It is a kind of VOIP system, but has none of the problems I had before. The AT&T system has so many features that you'd need to attend an all-day seminar to be able to use them all. It will do everything Vonage claims, and more. Paul McCloud San Diego ----- Original Message ----- From: Porritt, David To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: 04/15/2009 6:43:31 AM Subject: Re: [pianotech] 100% Cellular -- was On line YP When I switched my land line to a VOIP line (Vonage.com) I got the phone adaptor and they gave me a line with a new number. It took about a week to get the number switched from the land line to the VOIP line but they do the leg work. They contact your current phone company and make the arrangements to stop your land line service, and switch the number to your new service. Once it is changed you can do so much more since you can access the options on your line from any internet connected computer. You can forward your calls to anywhere, you can have it ring up to (I think) 8 different phones, I have my voice mail messages emailed to me as .WAV files. If you called my home phone now and left me a message Id get it attached to an email within 2 minutes. The cost is far less than any regular land line. Ive had this service since September of 2004 and Im very happy with it both the lower cost, and the additional features. dave David M. Porritt, RPT dporritt at smu.edu From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 8:04 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] 100% Cellular -- was On line YP How does that work exactly? David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Porritt, David Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:41 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] 100% Cellular -- was On line YP Just switch your land line to a Vonage line (same number) its cheaper, better service, more features. You can forward that number to your cell phone or anything else. Its two generations better service and you can keep the same number. dp David M. Porritt, RPT dporritt at smu.edu From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:03 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] 100% Cellular -- was On line YP I do have some concern about that which is why Ive hesitated to give up my land line thus far. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of John Formsma Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 7:00 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] 100% Cellular -- was On line YP On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 8:20 PM, David Love <davidlovepianos at comcast.net> wrote: Im phasing out my yellow page ads and will also probably go 100% cellular in the next year or two (once Im sure everyone has the number). Don't be too sure they will have your cell number. I did this several years ago. But many people never figured out that I really meant that "my number is changing." Even in spite of my mentioning that on every postcard I sent out for two years prior. :-) Fortunately for me, they called my mother's number and got my cell number. (We are the only Formsmas in this area.) Last year I was able to get my old number back, and receive a number of calls still. (My home number was canceled in 2005, and then reconnected in 2008.) If you condition your customers to go to your website or PTG's site, you won't have this problem. I don't have a yellow page listing. Just word of mouth, and whatever may come from people looking at websites. I do occasionally look in the yellow page book, so I know other folks must also. -- JF -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090415/12be1391/attachment-0001.html>
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