analog sunset & 911 access

SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in
news:q%AXj.4704$nW2.26@nlpi064.nbdc.sbc.com:

> Todd Allcock wrote:
>
>> On the downside, their international rates are higher than their
>> competitors, often higher than just using a calling card or
>> dial-around service. Their system is non-standard, requiring either
>> a PC to run, a proprietary phone, or their software to be installed
>> on a portable device. They aren't E911- compliant (and I STILL
>> haven't figured out how they offer US phone numbers without being
>> forced to be E911 compliant.)
>
> They have convinced the FCC that they are not a landline or cell phone
> replacement, but something of an auxiliary service, because a computer
> is required to use it (unlike something like Vonage which can use an
> adapter to RJ11). It's not a specious argument that Skype is using.
> There are very, very, few people that use Skype as their primary phone
> service.

Your omnipotent view of the FCC and USA Bureaucrats is flawed. Skype is
NOT a USA company, so is NOT subject to its laws/flaws. When you make
payment to your Skype account, you are making payments to Luxembourg.
Skype has no presence in the United States so is not subject to its laws
just because a majority of its users are US Citizens living in the USA.

I bought MP3 Catalog Pro from the Russians at wizetech.com. They aren't
subject to the FCC or US Government, either. Same reason. There is no
law that says if I run Russian or Luxembourgian (is that a word??)
software it subjects the foreign country with no offices whatsoever in
the USA to USA laws/regulations/taxes/etc.

The only people paying taxes on Skype are residents of the EU because
Luxembourg is an EU state and signor to those agreements. It's why you
see the VAT prices on their overseas services and see Skype's special
services for EU residence different from ours.

The USA doesn't....YET....control the whole world. I don't want to be
here when it does, do you?

On 2008-05-15, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> My SELLphone is my Skype phone because I have my Skype In number
> FORWARDED to my SEllphone number if I don't answer Skype calls....even
> Skype-to-Skype calls! So, if a friend in Japan, for instance, wants to
> call me, he calls me on Skype-to-Skype, my SELLphone rings and I talk to
> him....from anywhere I happen to be, without a Skype phone, by just using
> airtime if he calls me from Japan at 3AM in the morning! If he calls me
> on Skype-to-Skype at NOON in Japan, I'm on free N/W airtime on Alltel and
> that call costs both of us NOTHING! My bill has LOTS of evening
> "Unknown" calls from the Skype-to-Skype callers.....long winded calls...

If you are using Skype call forwarding to forward inbound calls to
your cell phone the calls aren't free, they're 2.1 cents/minute
plus the 4 cent connection charge. Unlike other VoIP operators,
Skype's flat rate plans only cover calls you dial. Forwarded calls
are charged at normal per-minute rates.

This is one of the reasons why comparing Skype charges to other
companies on an apples-to-apples basis is so difficult. Skype
isn't usually feature-for-feature equivalent.

Dennis Ferguson

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message news:W8pXj.253$og1.240@fe117.usenetserver.com...
> At 16 May 2008 15:12:30 -0700 Ness-Net wrote:
>
>> > I _AM_, however, anti-Fanboy. Replace "Skype" with "iPhone" an your
> posts
>> > read just like Oxford's or Vic's.
>>
>> Question (or consensus)...
>>
>> Is Vic = Oxford, toned down or maybe back on his meds?
>> Seems to be the same message, just a little bit more lucid.
>> Certainly not as blindly rabid.
>>
>> Or, did Oxford actually go away - to be replaced by Vic...?
>> Nutboy Oxford seemed to be from Minneapolis, Comcast if I remember.
>> Vic seems to be on Charter down south somewhere... (Smyrna, GA?)
>
> I've always worked on the assumption that Ox and Vic aren't the same guy.
> Besides the geophraphical difference, while Oxford did change nyms often,
> he never actually replied to himself to pretend he was someone else
> supporting his crazed rantings, while Vic HAS replied to Oxford's posts
> before Ox disappeared.
>
>
> Vic is certainly a fanboy, but is a lot more reasonable than Oxford ever was.
> He has even, on rare occasions, taken issue with some of the iPhone's flaws.
> Vic seems to Believe that the iPhone is an amazing device that can still
> be improved upon (which I have no quarrel with. It IS an amazing chunk of
> silicon, IMO.) Oxford, on the other hand, treated it as if were created by
> the hand of God (or Jobs- same thing) and any flaw was somehow actually an
> advantage ("flash eats batteries") and we mere mortals were simply unable
> to comprehend the "mysterious ways" in which it's creator worked!
> Vic is actually fun to have around and posts the occasional nugget of
> interesting info among his PR fluff pieces. Oxford was just a delusional
> waste of bandwidth.
>
> Of course, if the "Vic=a relocated Oxford on meds" theory is true, let's
> hope he doesn't let his Blue Cross payments lapse! ;-)

Maybe it's the mean streak in me, or just a bit of neener-neener...
I just wish I could rub Oxy's nose in the demise of muni WiFi.

And, then there were those flippant 3G comments in the past.....

On 2008-05-17, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote in
> news:g0l1dc$7ag$2@reader2.panix.com:
>> Just wondering... does skype interconnect to
>> the Cuban, North Korean, and PSTNs ("regular phones")
>> in the other countries the US pretends don't exist?
>
> http://skype.com/prices/callrates/
> These are rates w/o VAT (US)
> Cuba is $1.025 to phones.
> Korea Dem People's Rep $ 0.684
> Check the huge list for rates to other places, many of whom most never
> heard of. Skype is not limited by any US bureaucracy because it is not a
> US company.

If you want to phone one of these countries, however, you might be
better off using Rebtel, another European company, at $0.989 to
Cuba and $0.410 to North Korea for both mobiles and landlines
(Skype adds on an extra, gratuitous 10 or 20 cents per minute for
mobiles in these countries). Or as good is all-American Voicestick
at $0.984 to Cuba and $0.426 to North Korea, again the same for mobiles
and landlines.

In real life it takes real infrastructure like telephone switches
and transmission facilities to deliver phone calls in a country, so
in every country there are usually only a small number of players who
will service VoIP operators (in those particular countries there's
probably only one). All VoIP operators deal with the same small
set of carriers, perhaps through the same small set of wholesalers,
so all VoIP operators will have about the same connectivity. It is
also no surprise that Rebtel and Voicestick are charging about the
same amount to call countries with monopoly carriers since they're
probably being charged about the same amount by those carriers, and
both those companies seem to operate on fairly small margins.

Skype's costs are probably, if anything, lower than those other
two companies since Skype's volumes are a lot higher, but Skype
is a money-making operation and buy-low-sell-high is a good way
to make money. Charging differential rates for mobiles in countries
which don't seem to actually charge differential rates to call
mobiles is a particularly nice touch.

Skype has a few nice things on their price list, if you can stick
to those and avoid the other stuff, and Skype's free stuff is
always good if you can make use of it. Skype is not a particularly
cheap way to make overseas calls to phones, however.

Dennis Ferguson

On Thu, 15 May 2008 14:45:26 -0600, Todd Allcock
<elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote:

>and ask Bruce
>Nicklin (the VS VP) if they'll be implementing those features

A summary of what Bruce said:

>The prior upgrade got scrapped as the vendor was full of it.
>They made great claims as to what they could do.
>
>We pulled out of this plan 3 or 4 weeks ago.
>
>The new plan is to rewrite our internal portal from Windows
>(it sucks) to Linux. We are 50% of the way there now. Next
>will be a rewrite of the billing package. We are on the to do
>list right now. Expected finish is late July.
>
>The next step is to move off of our feature limited switch onto
>a large more powerful OPEN SOURCE switch sometime in August.
>
>This new switch will allow us to have all of the bells and whistles.

So, I'm guessing it will be sometime this fall before all is
implemented. I'll probably hold off on doing anything until then.

Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
news:slrng2uags.4t.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com:

> If you are using Skype call forwarding to forward inbound calls to
> your cell phone the calls aren't free, they're 2.1 cents/minute
> plus the 4 cent connection charge. Unlike other VoIP operators,
> Skype's flat rate plans only cover calls you dial. Forwarded calls
> are charged at normal per-minute rates.

Not if you have Skype Out Unlimited, then they're free.

Forwarding to my cell costs me nothing extra....about $2.08/month
unlimited.

>
> This is one of the reasons why comparing Skype charges to other
> companies on an apples-to-apples basis is so difficult. Skype
> isn't usually feature-for-feature equivalent.
>
> Dennis Ferguson
>

Skype is terrible and should be avoided at all costs....

At 17 May 2008 17:02:04 -0400 The Ghost of General Lee wrote:

> > ask Bruce
> >Nicklin (the VS VP) if they'll be implementing those features
>
> A summary of what Bruce said:
>
> >The prior upgrade got scrapped as the vendor was full of it.
> >They made great claims as to what they could do.
> >
> >We pulled out of this plan 3 or 4 weeks ago.
> >
> >The new plan is to rewrite our internal portal from Windows
> >(it sucks) to Linux. We are 50% of the way there now. Next
> >will be a rewrite of the billing package. We are on the to do
> >list right now. Expected finish is late July.
> >
> >The next step is to move off of our feature limited switch onto
> >a large more powerful OPEN SOURCE switch sometime in August.
> >
> >This new switch will allow us to have all of the bells and whistles.
>
> So, I'm guessing it will be sometime this fall before all is
> implemented. I'll probably hold off on doing anything until then.



Sorry about that- another interesting VoIP with very low cost and a
crapload of features is a small operation who's owner also hangs around the
forum is www.future-9.com. He seems more like a techie than a business
person which is great from a support angle , but casts doubt on longevity-
I wouldn't port my home number there in fear of losing it if he throws a
seven.

At 17 May 2008 15:00:14 +0000 Larry wrote:

> Your omnipotent view of the FCC and USA Bureaucrats is flawed. Skype is
> NOT a USA company, so is NOT subject to its laws/flaws.

It is when it starts selling US phone numbers. A little Googling shows
that they talked to the Feds to get an exemption from E911. The Feds seem
to have classified them as a voice IM system like GoogleTalk, rather than a
true VoIP, which protects them from the 911 rules.

> When you make
> payment to your Skype account, you are making payments to Luxembourg.
> Skype has no presence in the United States so is not subject to its laws
> just because a majority of its users are US Citizens living in the USA.


Again, they sell US numbers, so they probably have to comply, else they
wouldn't have had to seek an exemption..

On 2008-05-17, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> Dennis Ferguson <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in
> news:slrng2uags.4t.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com:
>
>> If you are using Skype call forwarding to forward inbound calls to
>> your cell phone the calls aren't free, they're 2.1 cents/minute
>> plus the 4 cent connection charge. Unlike other VoIP operators,
>> Skype's flat rate plans only cover calls you dial. Forwarded calls
>> are charged at normal per-minute rates.
>
> Not if you have Skype Out Unlimited, then they're free.
>
> Forwarding to my cell costs me nothing extra....about $2.08/month
> unlimited.

Ah, you're right. It wasn't included with Skype Pro or the
old US & Canada unlimited, but it is now. Now it is like
the other operators.

Dennis Ferguson

Todd Allcock <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
news:A6NXj.1334$ZB5.603@fe087.usenetserver.com:

> It is when it starts selling US phone numbers. A little Googling
> shows that they talked to the Feds to get an exemption from E911. The
> Feds seem to have classified them as a voice IM system like
> GoogleTalk, rather than a true VoIP, which protects them from the 911
> rules.
>
>> When you make
>> payment to your Skype account, you are making payments to Luxembourg.
>> Skype has no presence in the United States so is not subject to its
>> laws just because a majority of its users are US Citizens living in
>> the USA.
>
>
> Again, they sell US numbers, so they probably have to comply, else
> they wouldn't have had to seek an exemption..
>
>

But, as someone said earlier, Skype In has no calling from those numbers so
cannot initiate a 911 call on an incoming-only line. Skype Out goes
through the internet to Luxembourg where the call is internet distributed
to a regional interconnect center even the Mossad may not be able to listen
in on.

The split system, sold in pieces may have been a very good political move.