Telephones... then and now

mark02tj · Sep 29, 2016

3930dave said:
That is one thing that will get me ranting too..... new tech that is less reliable than what it replaces. Not easy to replace CO battery banks in most houses.

I was thinking the same thing reading these posts. The old copper was super reliable. I went to VOIP (via Vonage) around 2004 or 2005. Reduced my AmeriTech phone bill from roughly $220/mo to $75/mo (including internet costs). Voice quality was pretty good, but not as good as the old copper. Every now and then I have to reboot the Vonage router.

Now most of my clients are also on some sort of commercial VOIP and the call quality is often pretty bad. Dropped calls, fuzzy/underwater voice quality, etc. But now people have come to expect it.

One thing I like about VOIP/Vonage - I ported my AmeriTech number when I switched all those years ago. Have moved my office a couple of times but still have the same number that I've had since 1992 - even though I'm 15 or so miles from the original exchange area. I can be across the country and still keep the number.

coldsteelva · Sep 29, 2016

Drop Vonage and port your number to OOMA - You buy the hardware and then only pay the monthly federal taxes and 911 charge, no monthly bill. My phone bill has been $4-$5/month for years.

TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark · Sep 29, 2016

mark02tj said:
I went to VOIP (via Vonage) around 2004 or 2005. ... Voice quality was pretty good, but not as good as the old copper. Every now and then I have to reboot the Vonage router.

Now most of my clients are also on some sort of commercial VOIP and the call quality is often pretty bad. Dropped calls, fuzzy/underwater voice quality, etc. But now people have come to expect it.

This is it. This is our future. VoIP only. Packet-switched telephony (VoIP) is so vastly more efficient than circuit-switched telephony (plain old telephone service) that we cannot afford NOT to.

It will never be as good, but it will come, and we as customers won't have any choice at some point.

kcflhrc · Sep 29, 2016

Yep, it's true, VOIP is the future and nothing we can say or do will change that. I would argue the fact that it is more efficient though. Not sure I buy that. Being in Telecom for 37+ years I have seen a lot. VOIP by far is the most painful change we have seen. It is a nightmare to try and troubleshoot. Everyone pointing their finger at the other guy. The VOIP products are only as good as your network. People used to complain about a little static, now they just accept the crappy service just like their cell phones.

k0ua · Sep 29, 2016

We rarely talk about hearing pins drop anymore.

I started in telephony in 1979 and got out finally last year. I saw a lot of things come and go.

GLyford · Sep 29, 2016

k0ua said:
Of course we have a "modem" inside the house which is battery backed up for about 8 hours by its internal batteries.

Our cable comapany stopped supplying batteries with its modems...said they caused too many service calls, now if you want one you have to buy your own, troubleshoot it yourself, and replace it your self if it dies.

GLyford · Sep 29, 2016

ultrarunner said:
It's been 4 years since the last payphone was removed from the hospital lobby.

We had payphones at work, and I used to chuckle, because right in the middle of the row was a house phone with outside access if you knew to dial 9 first. Now just the house phone is left and no-one uses it, everyone has a cell.

hawkeye08 · Sep 29, 2016

We have Skype for Business at work, 99+% of calls are crystal clear, perfect. That 1% can drive you crazy, especially if you are on with a customer solving an escalation. WiFi can cause issues that are hard to root cause (I gave up when I started having issues and ran a lan cable across the floor). I'm on a call right now with 50 people and all are crystal clear, one person is doing a presentation, another is recording (both presentation and audio).

While we all loved the stability of the old copper based landlines of years ago, the truth is, they were very limited. In my case, the landline was so bad in the last 5-10 years it became unusable most of the time (Centurylink could not find problem). We are on ATT wireless home phone now and have no problems.