Moving back to POTS

[paulw2020]

I've been using Gradwells Centrex service for my main business line for around 2 years now.

However have decided to go back to the good old days when things worked!

Over the last 2 years my BT home line has never failed - not once.

Over the last 2 years my Gradwell VOIP failed I guess 50 times - about 20 days worth of lost phone time.

Sometimes it was just the Internet.

Sometimes my firewall decided to play silly buggers and had to be rebooted.

Around half the time Gradwell's service failed.

For example a few weeks ago when my customers tried to call they got:

"Sorry this number is unavailable"

You just imagine what new customers reaction to that would be!

Turned out to be just a temporary glitch in the Gradwell systems and righted itself a few hours later.

But these temporary glitches, which last anything from a few minutes to half a day are such a pain if you’re running a busy business like myself.

Often I don't even realise there's a problem unless an existing customer tells me - and of course most new customers don't tell you – if they get a dead tone they just assume I’ve gone bust!

I suspect these problems are not unique to Gradwell and I imagine I’d get no better deal if I moved elsewhere. Which is why I’ve moved back to POTS. Yes it’s old, yes it’s boring but at least it works!

VOIP is fine for friends and family who tend to be more understanding than customers. But for businesses it’s got to be POTS or at least a mix of POTS and VOIP.