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There has
been some debate recently on the state of Vonage. Will Vonage survive?
Will Verizon put Vonage out of business? A little bit of recent history
will let you know where these questions come from.
Shortly
after Vonage went public in mid 2006, Verizon sued Vonage for
infringement on seven patents Verizon own, technology for completing
phone calls between VoIP users and people using phones on the
traditional public switched network, authenticating VoIP callers,
validating VoIP callers' accounts, fraud protection, providing enhanced
features, using Wi-Fi handsets with VoIP services and monitoring VoIP
caller usage. Vonage obviously denies this and has defended it
vigorously, however so far the courts have swayed towards Verizon. Vonage
publically state they have workaounds in development or developed in the
event Verizon win.
So what does
this mean for you as a customer or a potential customer. The worst that
could happen is that Verizon win and Vonage have to spend millions of
dollars implementing workarounds they have developed. Alternatively
Vonage could go out of business and file for bankruptcy then immediately
come back into the VoIP market or Vonage could win and continue to be
the largest VoIP service provider out there. If you are a current Vonage
customer and you are happy with the service they are providing then
there is no real reason to move, however for new customers this law suit
is no doubt causing concern for Vonage. It is difficult to market with
the specter of patent infringements hanging over you.
Vonage are
by far the largest VoIP provider with 2.5 million subscribers, in terms of experience in the VoIP market no other provider can match
it. Vonage have a both residential plans and business plans boasting a
vast array of features from call waiting to Enhanced 911, from Fax to
toll free numbers and many more. Vonage certainly have enough features to keep the
average phone user happy regardless of whether it's for a small business
or for a residential phone.
If you are
in doubt read the Vonage reviews from current customers or
click here to see
providers that have at least the same features as Vonage. As you will
see there are not many providers competing with Vonage in terms of
features however their reviews are not the best.
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