John Bartow
john at winhaven.net
Sat Jan 28 12:57:39 CST 2006
Steve, Thanks for the info. I deal with a few of his type too. I always feel like I'm walking into museums or something. Huge houses with no one in them. Butte des Morts is getting that way too. -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Steve Erbach Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2006 12:16 PM To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] VOIP / Vonage John, Janet has a client over there on Lake Winneconne that uses Vonage. He's a retired executive and has called me a couple of times to get it working properly. He tells me that overseas per minute rates with Vonage are astoundingly low...for some countries as low as 2 cents a minute. He calls overseas frequently, so that's why he got the service. This fellow uses an HP OfficeJet for his faxing. That was the only problematical thing as far as I could tell. I don't know if he's using it much since we could get it to send but receiving was funny...I think it was because he didn't have a separate phone number for faxing. His electronic setup for his equipment is a treat: Laptop, USB keyboard and mouse, USB hub, OfficeJet, two Vonage phones, 5-port phone jack, Linksys RT31P2 router w/two phone ports, Linksys WRT54G wireless router, Netopia DSL modem, and a phone line splitter for his local phone and the IP line. My diagram of his setup is a work of art. Steve Erbach On 1/27/06, John Bartow <john at winhaven.net> wrote: > Thanks John, that's what I needed to hear! > > I'll definitely put you down as a referral. If there's anything I need > to know to do that please just send it to me at: > john at winhaven.net > > -----Original Message----- > From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of John Colby > > It saves me a TON of money for regular phone, which I give some back > to them in the fax and 800 number. It is $25+ for unlimited > local/long distance anywhere in the US and Canada. Also very low > rates to places like Mexico and Ireland. $25 for unlimited phone is > dirt cheap. Of course you have to have high speed internet, but since > I have to have that anyway for my business, I don't count that as a > "phone" expense. I talk to my clients for > 1 hour regularly, 3 hours often. At 10c / minute that is $6 / hour. > So it only takes a few hours to pay for the $25. Plus we call family > all over the country and talk as long as we wish. > > It is better quality than Cellular. > > As a result of having Vonage, I have no real use for the "unlimited > middle of the night and weekend (what were those hours again)" cell > phone crapola, and so I switched my Cellular to Virgin Mobile, where I > am now paying less than $5 per month for cell phone - I don't use cell > a lot, just a "pay phone in my pocket" kind of thing. My cell is "pay > as you go". It costs me 25c / minute for the first 10 minutes a day, > then 10c / min after that. It turns out for my usage patterns (I may > make / receive 1 call every few days) that is just incredibly cheap. > My wife is the same way. Not the plan for a teenager however. > > So with Virgin Mobile my wife and I both have a cell, and it costs us > a minimum of $5 / month apiece ($15 every 90 days to keep the number active). > Not bad for "a pay phone in your pocket" - and it uses the Sprint > network so the quality isn't too bad. I paid $20 apiece for the > phones, delivered to my door. Basic but with everything I need. No > camera or all that happy HS but who cares. It's a cell phone. > > I used to pay ATT $36 / month for ONE cell phone, and the "privilege" > of a two year contract, early termination fees, piss poor customer > service, and my wife and I were always having a discussion over who > would carry it when we went out. > > So if a client calls on my cell, then it costs me more, but then my > client pays a high enough hourly rate that the cost of the call is > buried in the noise of expenses. Plus, they really don't call me on > my cell all that much since I work from home most of the time, so they get me on my Vonage line. > > So there you have it. I do like Vonage, and I do like Virgin Mobile. > And if you decide to use either, let me know as I can get a referral > "bonus" if you give either company a code that says I sent you. > > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com