On Fri, 02 May 2008 10:09:51 +0000, Gordon Henderson wrote:
[color=blue]
> As yet another VoIP/ITSP type of enterprise, I find that it's one of
> those business conundrums... I provide VoIP, PBXs, etc. to businesses,
> and I have a "hosted" system, but it's aimed at the small business
> rather than the residential market - however I do have a small number of
> people (Basically friends & family) using it in a residential manner.[/color]

It would be nice to think this earns you a some goodwill, and if any of
your residential users knows someone who's after a phone system, they'll
recommend you.
[color=blue]
> But could I support 100's or 1000's of residential customers? And do I
> want to when "Betamax" exists offering free calls? (Which I certainly
> won't do!)[/color]

What's the point in offering residential VoIP service? The main driver
for residential customers is price, and most people can get free evening
and weekend calls as part of a package that comes with their line rental.
Line rental that they'd have to pay for to get broadband to use a VoIP
service with anyway. The best residential VoIP service for Joe Bloggs is
Skype. All his mates use it, installing it is a matter of clicking 'next'
a few times, and he can even get it to work on his mobile when he's out
and about. The residential users who want the technical features that
come with VoIP know what they're worth and will be happy to pay for them.

<snip rundown of providers>
[color=blue]
> we're not exactly short on choice.[/color]

Exactly. It's a blood bath, stay the hell out.
[color=blue]
> And I have to say, the biggest issue I've faced with people working from
> home, etc. is that they're tight fisted b'stards who'll go for the
> cheapest and most rubbish ISP they can get their grubby paws on, and
> then whinge when their VoIP doesn't work...
>
> <grumpy-old-man> Bah! </grumpy-old-man>[/color]

Which probably explains why voip.co.uk withdrew their £20/year service
and don't have anything to replace it. It's just not worth the hassle
supporting people that you're making pennies from. Spend too long on the
phone supporting a particularly inept customer and you can kiss your
profit for the month goodbye!
[color=blue]
> So what would you want out of a residential VoIP service?[/color]

I think Sipgate's service pretty much covers what I'm after. The only
gripe I have is the per-minute rather than per-second billing, but other
than that I really can't complain given the cost.

--
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Convergence, n: The act of using separate DSL circuits for voice and data