Get The Hint Yet? Long Distance Isn't Worth Squat
from the going-nowhere-fast dept
Okay, for those who missed the first two memos, it should be clear right now that the long distance telco business is not the business to be in right now. First AT&T, and then Sprint made it clear that traditional residential long distance was a big time loser, and now MCI (who was supposed to have all that post-bankruptcy no-more-debt-here ability to rise above everything) is writing down $3.5 billion in assets thanks to trouble all over the place. Now, the question for all three, is figuring out what business they’re really in — and doing it before more trouble sets in. Both AT&T and Sprint seem to be placing bets, but it’s not entirely clear where MCI’s future lies.
Comments on “Get The Hint Yet? Long Distance Isn't Worth Squat”
Still
Land lines do offer better sound quality than cell phones or VoIP, and that is necessary for important phone calls. And land lines still offer better rates on international calls; cell phones charge ridiculous rates, e.g. $1.25 per minute. Having a net-based conversation internationally, the audio quality is hopeless.
Re: Still
you obviously have not used Skype. Try it. I make dozens of international calls daily and quality is certainly adequate for business.
Re: Still
I make regular VOIP calls from Japan back home to the UK, a traceroute reveals that the connection goes via the US (the long way round the world) and it is still comparable to landline connections.
Re: Re: Still
I am moving to Japan in July. I need a cheap way for me to call back to America and for me to call America. I want to use Lingo, http://www.lingo.com and bring the VoIP adaptor with me. I can get a US phone number that everyone can make local calls to or use their cell phone with free long distance. Has anyone tried this?
Re: Still
Er… international calls are much cheaper via VoIP, and the quality is just as good — sometimes better than traditional landlines.
The only downside right now is reliability, but the argument that VoIP can’t do international calls is totally clueless. What VoIP system were you using?
Re: Re: Still
Fact is, Japanese versions of software behave quite differently from the US version — the menus are often all different. I’ve tried guiding computer-illiterate people over the phone, to get them to do the right commands, but if everything is written in a foreign language and the menus are put together differently, it’s hopeless. If you force U.S. software to be installed on a foreign-language windows machine, it may destroy the machine permanently — I speak from experience. Re-installing the OS still won’t fix it. If you want to talk over the computer, you still have to coordinate getting the other person to turn on their machine, so it requires a phone call anyway. I’ve had msn messenger-based conversations, and netmeeting-based video conversations, but the quality was awful, and I’m not about to ask the other person to invest in software that may destroy their machine, and they may not know how to install it anyway.
Re: Re: Re: Still
Okay, you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about. While there are softphones for VoIP, most business users are using regular phones on a VoIP network. That’s what we’re talking about. Are you living in 1996 or something?
We’re not talking about MSN voice or netmeeting voice. We’re talking about dedicated VoIP systems like Vonage or even (on the software side) skype.
Re: Re: Re:2 Still
>Okay, you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about. While there are softphones for VoIP, most business users are using regular phones on a VoIP network. That’s what we’re talking about.
And I’m talking about using VoIP at home. Japanese phone lines use different carrier signals, so American telephones don’t work. What VoIP is there that is guaranteed to run on a machine running Japanese Windows Millenium (not XP, not English) over a Japanese DSL?
>We’re not talking about MSN voice or netmeeting voice. We’re talking about dedicated VoIP systems like Vonage or even (on the software side) skype.
Exactly, do these things work on the configuration above? Is there a guarantee that it will not destroy the machine, as other software installs have? What is the cost effectiveness of having to call home first via POTS and waiting five minutes for them to boot up their machine? Both of us would have to buy upgraded microphones as well, which do not echo from the speakers. That was a severe problem when using MSN voice, and I the physics for VoIP are the same. If both of us have to pay for skype/Vonage and a new microphone, which may echo anyway, then it is not worth it.