Another Reason VoIP is Not Ready for Prime Time

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The unexpected and devistating snow storm that hit my home town of Buffalo, NY on Thursday is just another reason why VoIP is not ready for prime time mass adoption. As heavy snow-fall tore down trees, power, and cable lines hundreds of thousands were left without gas, electric, water, internet, and for those using VoIP no phone lines. I was lucky and had power when I returned home from the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo on Saturday. But over 240,000 Western New Yorkers will be without utilities for the next week.

One consistent, throughout most of this storm, has been the ability to make phone calls over cellular and PSTN lines. But as cellular phones lost power, they too became useless and the only form of communication left standing was the good ‘ole PSTN line. I caution all of you who are considering making the switch to VoIP to consider keeping a PSTN “life-line” - you never know when a freak natural disaster may require one.