VoIP

Ooma Expands Premiere Services

VoIP service provider Ooma is expanding their “Premiere” service today to include several new features. While call logs and voicemail-as-email-attachments are probably overdue (compared to say a Vonage), the virtual numbers, multi-ring forwarding, multiple voicemail boxes, and blacklists truly expand the value of Ooma’s offering. As an Ooma owner, I’ve just enabled multi-ring forwarding. Though … Read more

Just Say No to Mile-High VoIP.

Flight Day continues… Finally, we’re starting to see some reasonable alternatives to the prematurely killed Boeing Connexion in-flight Internet offering. AirCell is the company behind JetBlue’s testing, Virgin America’s promised network, and the now active American Airlines “GoGo” WiFi service. And early reports are positive. Mostly. Not only did the FCC rule there’s no place … Read more

Hands On with Ooma

Upon joining Dash, I gave up the seemingly unlimited supply of phones and service provided by Sling. Plus, I had dumped Vonage in Feburary after two and a half years – the call quality/connectivity had simply deteriorated to the point of being unusable. So, of course, I’ve burned through all my iPhone minutes (and rollover … Read more

Deal of the Day: Logitech USB Headset @ $23

As much as I attempt to minimize cable clutter, I rely on wired headsets over Bluetooth for VoIP. A wired model provides equal if not better audio fidelity, without worrying about connectivity issues and a charged battery. My current work-provided headset got pretty banged up in my backpack recently and the mic’s become flaky. So, … Read more

Fring: First iPhone VoIP Client?

As I mentioned a few days ago, I was stationed next to the Fring gang at CTIA. And I found the iPhone hidden in the BizDev guy’s pocket a little suspicious given they didn’t support the platform. Well, as of today they do! Fring is a mobile multi-IM client, and one of the few multi-IM … Read more

CTIA Goodies

In my old age, I’ve become much more selective in the conference schwag I choose to fly home with… At the Sprint press event featuring Samsung, I performed a Rock Band guitar duet with NPD analyst Ross Rubin and all attendees left with a stereo Bluetooth headset (MSRP $80). I’m not sure how MagicJack makes … Read more

Life and Death of the Ojo Video Phone

Ah, the Ojo Video Phone. Engadget posted the rumor that the phone and service have now gone kaput. And I can confirm it. After two plus years, the Ojo in my living room has finally reached the end of its run. Because I work for Motorola, I became the proud owner of two Ojos back … Read more

Dave Dumps Vonage, Acquires M-Card

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I had assumed the lawsuits would ultimately kill Vonage… And while they still might, as part of our moving prep, I made the decision to proactively kill service. My 2.5 years with them has been somewhat rocky, including poor customer service and call quality issues. Complaints from folks on the other end of the line is what finally led me to this decision.

In Vonage’s defense, I’ve really appreciated the voicemail->email feature and their pricing was extremely competitive. However, our multiple cell phones and SkypeOut should be sufficient going forward. If not, for the first time in years, we’ll consider going back to a reliable Verizon landline.

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