Smith On VoIP

Vonage VDV 21 Yet Another Marketing Gimmick

If someone asked me if adding a LCD screen to a dual FXS ATA would increase activations for a VoIP service provider I would probably laugh.

That is precisely what happened tonight when I read about Vonage’s latest marketing gimmick, the Vonage VDV 21 telephone adaptor. The Vonage VDV 21, which is currently in beta testing, features an industrial design uniquely developed for Vonage - a cool and sleek, yet simplistic and approachable design that will inspire consumers to proudly display their Vonage router rather than hide it under their desk. The VDV 21 also includes:

• Two lines of VoIP (2 RJ-11 FXS Ports)
• Voice-over-data prioritization - talk on the phone while using the Internet with no reduction in voice quality
• T.38 Fax Support
• Ringer Equivalency Number (REN) of 5 - in laymen’s terms, can support 3 or 4 telephony devices in each port
• GR-909 Line Testing - will self-diagnose if your telephone/home wiring has problems
• Built in Single Port Router (RJ-45 LAN Ethernet 10/100 Port) - will support a user’s PC (or home network connection)
• User friendly, built-in Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) with Caller ID and call timer
• Call Logs (Missed/Received/Dialed) - up to 50 entries each
• Voicemail waiting indication
• Brightness control - individual settings for normal conditions as well as when there is voicemail waiting
• Built-in upstream bandwidth tester
• Network status information (LAN/WAN) such as IP Address, Subnet Mask, etc.
• Error messages plus suggestions on what to do to fix the problem - for example, it can detect when your Internet connection is down, one of your cables accidentally becomes loose or disconnected, or if you’re a DSL user and you need to set up PPPoE
• Secure web-based User Interface for Configuration
• Improved User Interface, with built-in FAQs and Contextual Help to assist non-technical users with setting up their router (setting up a network, PPPoE, parental controls, etc.)

Vonage, You Can Do Better Than This!

Outside of the error messages with suggestions on how to fix the error, this is just a telephone adaptor from an unknown manufacturer with a “cool” lcd screen. Heck, it doesn’t even have a second RJ45 port for LAN connectivity! Vonage you must do something more innovative than this…consumers do not care about hardware. Hardware not sexy. If you want to drive activations, then you need to deliver new service features and functions, not an ata with an LCD screen.

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