Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
VoIP
How To Cancel Vonage Phone Service
Jan 26th
Over the years, I’ve had various Vonage Voice Over IP (VoIP) telephone lines for different business ventures. I’ve ported numbers from landlines to the Vonage account. Vonage service has been a good alternative to the phone company.
However, now, it is time to let them go. Other alternatives like Phone.com do the same thing for less and even offer neat features like iPhone apps where I can make and receive calls right on my iPhone 4.
So today, I went to Vonage.com and tried to disconnect my service. Lo and behold! You can’t do it online — you have to call into their customer service department and speak with a live agent to cancel the service. Of course, you know why, right? Because they want to pass you along to their “retention department” and pitch you on staying a customer longer.
The specific number to call in order to cancel service is buried within their FAQ’s.
Here’s the Vonage Cancel Service Telephone Number: +1-866-243-4357
Be warned though that there are certain terms where you might be charged a disconnection fee. How crazy is that? That’s like a gym membership termination fee. You have to PAY to stop doing business with them.
This specific line was with Vonage for over 6 years. They hate to see me go, and offered me an extra 1 month’s free service to think it over.
When you do a quick comparison, it’s a very easy decision. Check out this chart comparing Phone.com, Vonage, Time Warner, and Cablevision VoiP telephone services . . .
How To Make Free Calls on Skype (including Skype for iPhone)
Apr 17th
If you’re too cheap to shell out the $3/month for outbound calls on Skype, you’re limited to free Skype-to-Skype calling.
That’s pretty good as it is since the entire world is waking up to Skype and millions of people are now on Skype. As the network effect grows, I wonder what Skype is going to do after it obtains total world domination (but that’s a different blog post in itself).
It’s catching on so much that eBay, the owner of Skype is spinning off the business as a separate sustainable entity. Sypke for Business is even a legitimate consideration for small business owners or consultants on the road.
But the fact remains that you’re a cheapskate, looking for a way to make completely free long distance calls through your computer to non-pc phones like cell phones, or landlines.
Perhaps you just need outbound calling capability for the rare occasion that your cell phone is not with you, out of batteries, or if you’re not in the USA (and trying to call back home).
Here’s the tip of the day for Skype – which also works on the iPhone as well by the way . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Is 46% Taxes Reasonable?
Jan 10th
VoIP is one of the best things that the Internet era has brought to the world, even if Vonage is having trouble right now staying afloat.
While it’s here, you surely should look at Vonage and other VoIP providers for cheaper long distance for your home or business. That’s one of the main reasons why you get a broadband phone line – save money.
But after looking at your bill, you may not think that VoIP is really there to save you money. Take a look at one of my VoIP line bills that I received from Vonage recently:
How To Make WiFi VOIP Calls On Your Cell Phone
Sep 17th
Convergence is hitting the cell phone.
Walt Mossberg just wrote about T-Mobile’s launch of the wifi/cellphone that automatically switches from one to the other whenever you enter/leave a hotspot. If you start a call on wifi and leave the hotspot coverage area, it automatically switches the call over to the cellular network and vice versa. But what if you don’t want T-mobile? Or want to make voip calls on your own smartphone? Here’s how. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Vonage Deal: Unlimited International Calling to 17 Countries for $6/month
Sep 12th
Talk is cheap these days. You don’t really even care about switching to save money on Long Distance within the USA anymore.
But for international callers, it’s still worth it to look around and find the best deals to pay less and talk more.
Especially for those with family overseas, this is a great time to try VoIP calling plans that offer rates like UNLIMITED talk time to various countries for less than a quarter a day. . .
AT&T Wireless Legally Prohibits the Apple iPhone Users from using VoIP, Steaming Video and more?
Aug 28th
SkypeforIphone.com and other neat services are now starting to emerge that aim to really supercharge the abilities of the Apple iPhone on AT&T Wireless. But user-beware. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems that the AT&T Wireless Terms of Service for the wireless data services portion prohibits a lot of things you may not be aware of — including the fact that AT&T can kill your service without notice if they suspect you are using the iPhone for no-no activities.
Here are some of the interesting snippets that outline what you’re NOT allowed to do with your Apple iPhone: Read the rest of this entry »
SunRocket is Dead. Celebrate with Free Unlimited Calls via Voip.com
Aug 8th
Everyone had their eyes on Vonage to see if they would go kerplunk with the patent issues.
But in the meantime, Sunrocket VOIP provider suddenly shut their doors in the last weeks. Too bad for their customers, especially those that shelled out $199 for their pre-paid 1-year unlimited calling plan.
But what other Voip provider will you go to? Although there are differences, most require you to shell out money up front for hardware or even the shipping cost to test them out.
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!