Chapter 5 - Vonage and Other Broadband Phone Carriers
Broadband Phone Carriers
What You Get With a Broadband Phone
Standard Features
Advanced Features
Optional ($$) Features
9-1-1 Support
Comparing Providers
Before You Sign Up
What You Need
What it Costs
Decision Checklist for New Users
Signing Up
After You Sign Up
Monitoring Your Account
Vonage's Dashboard
Voicemail Management
Managing Other Features
Monitoring Costs
Billing Information Online
Account Information
What Vonage Forgets to Tell You
Technical Details They Don't Mention
Business Details They Don't Mention
Troubleshooting
Vonage Help Pages
Top Troubleshooting Tips
Reboot
Redial
Opening to Chapter 5:
Vonage leads the Phone-centric pack of companies and has done the most marketing and advertising to create and expand broadband phone awareness among consumers. They deserve to be listed first, ahead of all their competitors, and so they are.
But remember that in many cases the features from one company closely match the features of their competitors. There are differences, and I will point some of them out when appropriate. But many times, when I say “Vonage” I could just as well say one of their competitors.
Watch this market attract more competitors as more consumers see the value of switching from traditional telephones to broadband phones. Thousands of consumers per week switch in the United States , and that trend will continue. In fact, that trend will accelerate as competition drives prices down and features ever forward.
Companies aren't generic enough to lump them all into the “broadband phone company” bag and be done with it. Vonage does lead in consumer awareness and number of phone lines in use by those consumers, so they get more attention in this chapter. But Vonage can't look back, because something is gaining on them—their competitors. Those competitors range from new companies offering one service in the broadband phone market to all the Ma Bell descendants themselves moving into the broadband phone market to keep Vonage et al from stealing all their customers.
Hang on, because it's going to be a bumpy market for the next few years.
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