Vonage VoiP Becoming Increasingly Popular
Market research firm Pew Internet has released a report which suggests that nearly a quarter of all internet users in America have made phone calls using VoIP services.
This is a dramatic shift from 2004, when the same number said they were merely aware it was possible to use the internet to make telephone calls, with the majority admitting that they had never tried to use a service likeVonage VoIP
Fast forward to this year, and Pew Internet’s 2011 report now suggests that as much as 19 per cent of the entire US adult population, or nearly a quarter of all adult internet users in America are making at least some of their calls over the internet.
The popularity of VoIP services like has surged for a number of reasons, the main one being that they are either completely free of charge, or at the very least, much cheaper than placing long distance calls on traditional phone company networks. Increasingly offices have begun to exploit VoIP for their phone and video conferencing requirements, and families have begun using VoIP providers such as they seek to reduce their monthly phone bill.
According to the study in 2011, on any given day, nearly five per cent of American internet users place phone calls using VoIP. Smart-phones are also playing a large part in the increase.
“In the current survey, we found that 7% of cell phone owners had participated in video calls or online chats with their handheld device,” said Pew.
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Vonage VoIP Expands Number Of Countries In New Unlimited Plan
Vonage VoIP has rolled out a World Premium Unlimited calling plan, that is predicated on the idea that customers who want to call family members living abroad, should not be limited by expensive fees or worried by time spent on the phone.
The new World Premium Unlimited plan builds on its existing World plan by expanding the number of countries eligible for unlimited calling from 60 to 80, including unlimited mobile phones in 42 countries.
Vonage subscribers are increasingly calling family on their mobile phones, however when calling mobiles in countries such as the UK, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Columbia, subscribers pay a very high cost.
The World Premium plan which is currently only available in to Vonage customers in the US, offers unlimited calling to either landline or mobile callers in 42 countries including Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, Australia, France, Spain and the UK for one flat price of US$54.99 a month.
Mike Tempora, senior vice president of product management for Vonage, said : “The great learning for us has been that more and more of the outbound calling volume is going to mobile phones in these destinations, which I think that’s a reality for most people. When they make a phone call they want to and reach a person so World Premium gives people the ability to call friends and family wherever they are at home or on their mobile, particularly in these key Hispanic markets including Mexico, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Brazil.”
What Vonage is banking on with the new offering is driving flexibility. “It appeals to people’s needs to have the freedom and ability to contact those individuals they want to talk to without having to schedule appointments,” Tempora said, adding that their international customers “can call them any time of day” on their mobile phone.
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Vonage Reports Record First Quarter Results
Vonage Holdings reported record first quarter profits after adding 3,345 subscriber lines to its estimated 2.4 million existing customers.
The company delivered net income of $21 million during the quarter, after having reported a $42 million loss during the previous quarter, and exceeding the $14 million the company earned during the same time frame in the previous year.
The additions to its subscriber base represents the second consecutive quarter of growth for a company that previously was struggling and now appears to be rebounding.
Marc Lefar, the company’s chief executive, says that over one million Vonage VoIP subscribers, or 43 percent of the company’s customer base, subscribe to Vonage World the plan that offers unlimited calling in the United States and Puerto Rico and across roughly 60 countries.
The company has undertaken a growth strategy designed to raise its market share of the international long distance market. The company is also seeking to increase its customer base outside of the US, and offer mobile products.
The strong quarter and the cash flow that was generated enabled the company to prepay roughly $20 million in debt. The company expects to prepay another $30 million by the end of the year, reducing annual interest expense by nearly $5 million
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VoIP Is The Future Of Business Telephony
Whilst it is difficult to argue that the landline desk phone has gone the way of the dinosaur, the old PBX (private branch exchange) technology is increasingly becoming a relic of the past, joining the office ashtray and typewriter.
Businesses instead are turning to VoIP powered telephony, which basically transmits phone conversations digitally over an internet connection. It is anticipated that by 2013 over 80 per cent of businesses will be using VoIP
VoIP is ideal for companies that have extensive telephone traffic where many calls are place across multiple people in various locations. Using the technology helps reduce the cost of long distance and conference calls.
Many VoIP services extend beyond voice to encompass instant messaging, virtual meetings, and videoconferencing.
Businesses which already have either a local or wide area network have already done the heavy lifting for implementing a VoIP solution. Once the LAN or WAN is in place all that needs to be insured is that there is sufficient bandwidth.
The kind of VoIP system required really depends on the size of the business and the number of locations. An individual working from home will not need much more than a consumer service such as Vonage VoIP. Vonage also provides business or enterprise level VoIP solutions.
Companies with multiple employees who need individual phone lines have the option of choosing either a hosted or on site VoIP service.
Frost & Sullivan a market research firm estimates that hosted VoIP solutions will grow by as much as a third in the coming five years, with on site solutions slated to increase by 12 per cent during the same time frame.
A hosted solution typically leaves the technology aspect to another company. Such services allow smaller businesses appear to be much bigger by offering PBX style features which include individual phone numbers for employees, call transfers, toll free numbers, and integration with email and faxing. The only requirements are to download the software, and to buy or lease IP phones.
Contrastingly on site VoIP offers all the features provided by a hosted service as well as the option of customization. For such solutions however companies are required to handle all the hardware requirements and calls, and will need to have the services of an IT professional.
Hosted services can lack the customization required, and can become expensive because they charge fees for adding features or users, plus should the vendor go bankrupt, clients could well be left out of pocket.
Clearly the drawback with an on site solution is the headache of managing technology equipment in house, and the large up front investment required.
Therefore before making the switch to VoIP, businesses should carefully examine the number, compare what is being current spent per used on the phone service, and the projected spend using VoIP provider. Businesses should also go through the fine print of the contract and be aware of any hidden fees. They should also do a costing of any hardware investment and maintenance, and include the cost of additional bandwidth if that required.
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Vonage Waives Calling Charges To Japan In Response To Earthquake And Tsunami
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, many people were left wondering how they could help people who have been deeply affected by the disaster, which has left thousands of people homeless or missing.
Vonage VoIP has stepped in to help people affected by the tragedy to reconnect with their loved ones and friends in Japan by offering free phone calls to Japan until April 10th and is waiving per minute calling fees.
“We care deeply about our customers and want to ensure they can reach their loved ones in the aftermath of this horrific natural disaster,” Vonage CEO Marc Lefar said in a release. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by the earthquake in Japan, and we hope this helps keep friends and family connected at this time of great need.”
Vonage joins a number of other U.S. operators providing free calls including AT&T and Time Warner Cable. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile are all waiving text message fees for SMS donation services to the relief effort.
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Limited Time Offer From Vonage For UK, Europe and Worldwide
Vonage VoIP is running a limited time only offer with unlimited calls to landlines in 25 countries, and unlimited calls to both mobiles and landlines in the US, Canada Singapore and Hong Kong. The V3 package for a very limited time costs just £4.99 a month for the first three months and then £10.99 thereafter. So hurry now and make sure you take advantage of this limited time offer today.
- £4.99 a month for the first three months and then £10.99 thereafter
- Unlimited1 calls to landlines in 25 countries
- Unlimited1 calls to mobiles (and landlines) in four countries: US, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong
- Cheap international rates for calls to landlines and mobiles outside V-Plan 3
- Unlimited Vonage-to-Vonage calls
- Calls to India, landlines & mobiles are chargeable at 2.5p /min on V-Plan 2, V-Plan 3, V-Plan 4 & V-Plan 5, 5p /min on all other call plans
- Calls to Pakistan landlines & mobiles are chargeable at 5.5p /min on V-Plan 2, V-Plan 3, V-Plan 4, V-Plan 4i & V-Plan 5, 11p /min on all other call plans
- Ship a Vonage phone adapter to friends and family anywhere in the world and eliminate international call charges back to the UK††
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Vonage Is Top VoIP Provider In UK
Vonage is one of the top VoIP providers in the UK for a number of reasons, for example Vonage VoIP allows its customers to use any normal home phone for making and receiving calls, in fact so long as you have a broadband internet connection, you don’t even need a computer, never mind worrying about whether it is switch on.
Most other VoIP providers require their customers to have specific hardware such as USB phones or a headset and microphone. Some providers require their customers to be sitting in front of their PC to make or receive calls.
Vonage is far more flexible than other VoIP providers, when a new customer signs up, the company sends them an adaptor which connects the customer’s existing telephone to their broadband modem or router, this then enables them to simply make calls to other landlines, and mobiles, in the UK and internationally.
If you are serious about saving money, and have a broadband internet connection you can replace your existing landline, with a low cost VoIP landline from Vonage, and based on the calling plan you choose, can even get unlimited calls to other landlines. You can also keep your existing telephone number. Vonage is also ideal as a second telephone line, or could be used as a small business phone line.
Vonage calls are also crystal clear, so clear in fact; that the person you are calling will probably have no idea that you are calling them using a VoIP provider.
Vonage also operates on a low cost monthly call plan rather than pay as you go, this means for a low monthly fee you can make unlimited calls to landlines and some mobiles in countries listed in your call plan, which you can change at any time you choose.
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Vonage Call Plans Offer Unlimited Calling
Once of the best features of a service like Vonage VoIP, is that is offers plans which allow you to make unlimited calls. One you know you have access to an unlimited calling plan, it changes everything. To begin with, no one need ever watch the clock when they are on the phone, and magically family arguments over the telephone bill at the end of the month are a thing of the past, because the monthly bill is now a flat fee.
Some Vonage call plans even include calls to mobiles as part of the unlimited package. As part of any given call plan, Vonage offers unlimited calls to landlines.
According to the UK telecoms regulator, the average person spends 700 minutes on the telephone. Whilst Vonage does offer unlimited calling plans, the company also wants to prevent misuse of the service and therefore has a fair usage policy, which is set at an extremely generous 2000 minutes a month, which allows Vonage to continue to be able to offer very low call plans, whilst protecting the vast majority of its customers against misuse of the service by a very small minority.
All Vonage-to-Vonage calls are completely inclusive and therefore don’t count towards the monthly talk-time limit either.
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Security Tips For Vonage Business Users
One way businesses and individuals can save money and trim costs is switching from traditional landlines to a less expensive Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service like Voange VoIP.
And whilst services like Vonage are extremely cost effective, they do present a unique set of security issues. Hacking has increased steadily, and the threat now included listening in on and recording phone conversations.
Now that might sound a little alarming, but the first thing that one needs to be aware off is there is very little money to be made from engaging in such behaviour, which keeps criminals at bay, and secondly there are a number of preventive measures one can take to ensure they stay safe.
Change the Default Password
Most users leave their default password intact, and if you are a business then the easiest measure to take is to reset the default password immediately.
Don’t Piggyback
Some business use the same router for both their VoIP and internet services, a practice known as piggy backing. This practice leaves businesses vulnerable to being hacked.
Unencrypted VoIP routers are criminals way of gaining access to networks that should otherwise be protected. VoIP should always have its own data line.
Beware of VoIP Phishing
Hackers do engage is phishing scams, sending emails with phone numbers to call that request the victim to enter their account information using the keyboard, which records the call and account information.
VoIP hacking is a real threat – so businesses need to plan accordingly.
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Using Vonage To Make Cheap Overseas Calls
If you want to make an international call using the internet, then you need a broadband telephone service like Vonage. Vonage VoIP makes use of your existing handset and broadband connection to make calls over the internet as opposed to the traditional telephone line. All that you need to do is make use of a Vonage adapter that the company provides which connects your phone to your modem or router, and you are ready to make low cost international calls.
Your traditional telecom provider will charge you for every minute you are on the phone. Vonage works differently, it allows you to sign up for a specific call plan of your choice, and there are several to choose from that include plans for just a few countries to plans that provide calls to up to 45 different countries globally. The plans enable users to pay a set affordable monthly fee whilst making unlimited free calls to landlines and some mobile in the countries included in your plan choice.
Occasionally you will need to make an international telephone call to a country that is not included in the plan you have chose. Those calls will attract a charge, however since the cost of using the internet to place a telephone call is so cheap Vonage is able to pass on huge savings to customers, and its international call rates are extremely competitive. Vonage customers can also upgrade their call plan or switch to one which has fewer countries whenever they feel like by simply logging on to their account.
So consumers no longer need to purchase international calling cards and pre load them with cash simply to place an overseas call. There is also no longer any need for people to remember to dial a code before the telephone number in order to take advantage of a tiny discount. Using the Internet to make international phone calls and calling someone abroad is no different to calling them locally. You can relax and talk for as long as you like!
These days having an internet phone means that users can simply pick up the handset and dial the number as they normally do. There is no reason to be tied to your computer, and in fact your computer need not even be on. So long as you have access to broadband, an internet telephone service can be used to make cheap international calls.
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