Phone Service is Cheap

In about 2 weeks I’m going to be cancelling both my DSL and normal phone service. I’m going to be switching to cable and VoIP service. VoIP phone service is significantly cheaper than regular landline phone service. For my business I’m currently using SunRocket and will probably continue to use that service for my home line as well. All in all this will actually end up saving us money. And then let’s not forget there’s free SkypeOut. I’ve been testing it and the quality is good and it doesn’t get any better than free, unlimited outgoing calls. And since everyone in my family also has a cell phone our home line isn’t really that important.

Now about Vonage. Their IPO has tanked. From what I read they have never turned a profit and they’re struggling to maintain subscriber growth. They’re relatively more expensive than the other small VoIP shops, but still cheaper than what the telcos are offering. But there are plenty of small VoIP providers that have very good quality and lower prices (like SunRocket). Now Vonage is being sued by Verizon over patent infringement which is sure to drive their stock price even lower. I’m sure the institutional investors of Vonage are not very happy.

And what the hell? They’re spending their IPO money on things like crappy new logos and World Cup sponsorships?? How about improving infrastructure and marketing. FIFA sponsorship (in my opinion) is better suited if you’re a large established company trying to bolster branding. Not if you’re a relatively tiny firm competing against huge telcos and trying to grab market share. I’m sure the FIFA sponsorships I see on ESPN must cost a lot.

And their logo - wow, seriously what a POS. It looks horrible and way too forgettable. The V just doesnt jibe at all with the rest of the letters. The V has that edgy, kind of non-standard look and then the rest of the letters uses a serif font. The V is sans-serif and the rest is serif. DOES NOT MATCH. And what’s the point of the random blue dot? Might as well have left it the way it was, which was fine. And the blue/orange combo is getting so cliche. C’mon my simple little blog design uses the same color combination. By the way, my blog is due for redesign. Just got to get over designer’s block.