This was brought to my attention from a few helpful users posting their comments about Vonics on our VoIP Providers page. It would appear that Vonics has pulled a Harry Houdini with their website and service disappearing into thin air. Here are some recent comments and reviews of Vonics services:

From The Roadkill: Does anyone know what is going on with Vonics? They told me 2 days ago they were having Switch issues "Due to recent changes made at our switch level, one of our CLEC’s has run into problems with a very small number of Vonics subscriber phone numbers pointing to the right equipment"

Now all of a sudden I have no phone service, no way to reach them (emails have gone un-answered) any number I can find for them all seem to come up disconnected. Even the website has gone dark. (ie can't connect) Oddly I reached them yesterday and logged into the account and website yesterday. Help!!!

From Freddy: "Same problem here - no service. Website gone. Can't ping any of their addresses. Looks like they vanished. Good Luck. They suck big time. Luckily I only have 2 months left."

From Russell: "Vonics has vanished... Yesterday my phone died. For the last 2 months I have been unable to reach them via phone or email. Their website is gone too. Now I am left with 15 months of service and no phone."

Overall just looking at users comments on Vonics it would appear this companies service has been very hit or miss and usually a miss. You can read all the users comments and reviews posted on our VoIP Providers page.

AOL introduces Open Voice APIs to provide third-party developers and VoIP device manufacturers with open standards protocols that will enable them to easily integrate the AIM Call Out service into softphones, as well as SIP-enabled hardware and cell phones with wi-fi connectivity. AIM Call Out integration will enable users to make low cost voice calls from anywhere in the world using the Internet to relay these calls. The Open Voice APIs can be found at http://dev.aol.com/aimcall.

AIM Call Out is a pay-as-you-go outbound voice calling service built right into AIM that lets users make calls to landline and cell phones in more than 200 countries. This service complements the existing AIM Talk service, a free PC-to-PC voice calling service available to AIM users.

A word from our sponsor IP PBX Guides:

IP-PBX can change the way your company communicates and save you money. Our Vendor Comparison and Buyer's Guides tell you how!

How can PBX-Guide help your business?

• Tell us a little about your company, like whether you currently use a PBX and how many employees you have.
• Provide your contact information so we can deliver your PBX Vendor Comparison and Buyer's Guide and allow you to speak with one of our analysts.
• Download your free Guides that analyze the key requirements, pricing data, and vendor offerings essential to making an informed decision for your business needs.

Get your vendor and comparison IP PBX guide today!

VoIP Logic announces the availability of its Support Portal Knowledge Base. VoIP Logic’s Knowledge Base will serve as an invaluable, self-service resource for the company’s customers and partners by providing full transparency to the latest solutions and scripts , addressing more than 500 hundred engineering issues on all VoIP Logic-supported systems, including NextPoint (NexTone), Sylantro, Iperia, Acme, Talking SIP, as well as general tools and tutorials for effective VoIP network management.

“Prompt response time and a strong sense of partnership with our customers begin with sharing engineering knowledge. It is essential that service providers have all resources at their disposal so that they may ensure the best possible end-user experience,” said VoIP Logic Vice President, Engineering, Roberto Rojas. He continued, “VoIP Logic not only takes great pride in simplifying VoIP rollouts for carriers and service providers but we also continue to invest heavily in personnel and systems that ensure our customers have access to tools that enable prompt resolution of critical issues.”

MobileVoIPReview.com announced its initial launch. MobileVoIPReview.com features Mobile VoIP reviews generated by consumers as well as news, interviews and analysis of the industry. This is the first phase in a planned three phase site feature role out.

The Mobile VoIP industry is currently experiencing explosive growth. Many analysts predict that 2008 is set to be the year that Mobile VoIP moves to the forefront of communications technologies disrupting the status quo. According to a November Far Point Group survey, over 25% of the respondents stated that mobile VoIP was the application that they are most likely to add in 2008. In fact a November 2007 Distruptive Analysis report stated that VoIPo3G (VoIP over 3G networks or Mobile VoIP) will be more important than VoWLAN (Voice over Wireless networks), for operators and 3rd parties over the next four years.

VoIP Supply announces the launch of their new three-year, no-questions-asked, guaranteed replacement warranty, Go3. The new Go3 Guaranteed Replacement Warranty gives customers a no hassle way to protect their VoIP hardware purchases. The new warranty program is based off of VoIP Supply's existing warranty program and was redesigned with feedback from existing customers.

"Our customer service is VoIP Supply's number one priority," said Benjamin P. Sayers, CEO of VoIP Supply. "We have been successful due to our wonderful customer's trust and support. The Go3 Guaranteed Replacement Warranty is just another way that we can bring our clients needs to the forefront."

More after the jump and I'd like to give a shout out to one of our sponsors IP Camera Supply a sister site of VoIP Supply.

Traditional medical alert units, often worn by seniors around their neck or wrist to call for help in case of a fall or other adverse event, were designed to communicate by way of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). After placing a telephone call, the emergency unit sends information from the home to the monitoring center to determine which emergency unit is calling and what type of help is needed. When consumers switch to digital phone service, the data can be distorted or omitted as the bandwidth of the internet service provider fluctuates, resulting in missed or inaccurate emergency reporting at the monitoring center.

Streamcore published a list of key considerations for successfully deploying VoIP. Streamcore issues these tips to inform organizations that VoIP phones are not to blame for dropped or delayed calls, but rather the organization needs to ensure their network can handle the congestion from other traffic as well as properly prioritizing VoIP traffic.

As more organizations deploy VoIP, it is important to have quality calls that are not disrupted by other business-critical applications sharing bandwidth such as video conferencing, file transfers, Citrix or email which also take up bandwidth and compete with VoIP. If VoIP does not get the bandwidth needed to run properly, calls will become noticeably patchy and delayed, and will affect the organization’s day to day business. Organizations need to allot the necessary bandwidth to handle applications, especially when there are various applications running on the network

T-Mobile is rolling out a new system that allows you to use a cellphone account with any corded or cordless home phone. The system works well and is extremely simple to set up and use, but there are some drawbacks. Walt Mossberg shares his findings.

Bandwidth.com improved their online VoIP Test at http://www.bandwidth.com/tools/voipTest. The free test measures critical factors of your Internet connection such as throughput, latency, and SIP port tests to see if your connection can handle VoIP calls.

A critical factor in deciding whether your connection can handle VoIP is upload speed. While connections supplied by cable companies and traditional telecom companies have fast download speed, the upload speed is usually much slower, such as 400 Kbps for ADSL and 400-600 Kbps for cable. Using such a connection for both Internet and VoIP applications may result in poor call quality. A T1 connection from Bandwidth.com provides 1.54 Mbps of upload speed.

Javvin Technologies has just published the VOIP Technology Quick Guide. Designed for networking and telecom engineers, IT admins and communication technology educators and students, this VOIP technology quick guide covers all related technologies: the VOIP Protocols, the network architecture based on all major signaling technologies: SIP, H.323 and xGCP, VOIP transport and QoS technologies, and video and audio codecs. A comprehensive VOIP Glossary is also included for quick reference.

Raketu releases its VoIP calling web application for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. The new web-based application allows Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users to make international calls totally free or at Raketu’s ultra-low cost VoIP calling rates. Additionally, users can send SMS Text Messages globally, and send email all from within the Raketu iPhone Application.

Raketu’s iPhone Application Features

Raketu’s new iPhone Application is entirely web-based and does not require consumers to download any software. Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users can sign up and access the service via their iPhone or iPod Touch web browser at iphone.raketu.com

Yet another reason to steer clear of Sun Rise Phone VoIP service, which appears more and more to be a spin off of old VoIP Provider BlueSky Phone. I'd previously tried to bring this to every one's attention in my "BlueSky Phone Renamed to SunRise Phone STAY Away" post. A comment yesterday by cblankin brought this back to my attention and I'd like to thank him for doing so.

The comment reads: "I went on to sunrisephone.com and was able to use my old login and password. I was able to check my account and it showed they had been charging my credit card for the last 4 months. I called their contact number and got hold of some type answering service and explain I would sue them if the didn't close my account. He seem surprised that somebody and figured out bluesky phone had become sunshine phone.com. (think he meant sunrise phone) Today I am no longer able to log onto their web site and use my old login and password. I recommend you log and check for yourselves."

Some might remember BlueSky phone for simply closing it's doors and leaving it's customers in the dark without notice. It now appears that BlueSky Phone is still charging customers just under a new name! I'm not sure how this would appear on a credit card bill as either being billed from BlueSky Phone or SunRise Phone service. I'd suggest if you were a previous customer of either service to check your bills to make sure you aren't still being taken to the cleaners.

I'd also like to point out that sunrise phone attempted to contact me about possibly advertising here on VoIP Monitor. I never responded to either of their emails because of how they treated customers and I wouldn't want anything to do with promoting a wolf in sheeps clothes.

You can find more user comments here on BlueSky Phone VoIP provider

RNK has expedited expansion of its recently launched Phone Number Bank service into 80 additional markets nationwide. Phone Number Bank is a solution that enables consumers to keep or “bank” their phone numbers for as long as they want. In response to questions about how consumers can maintain more ownership of their phone numbers, which prior to PNB were never really “their” numbers, Richard Koch, President and CEO of RNK Communications, states, “Until now, your phone number never really belonged to you. It was part of the phone network and was just a routing mechanism to make your land line or cell phone ring when someone called what they believed to be “your” number.

VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is plausibly one of the most radical advances in the telecom industry. It permits you to speak to another person on the other side of the world by employing a digital network connection precisely the same way that you get e-mail or surf internet sites. Due to the fact that your voice is changed into a digital signal, it can be transmitted around the block, on the other side of the country, or around the world for exactly the same price. For VOIP telephone calls, the idea of long distance does not exist. A single basic benefit is its low-price. If you have a fast Internet connection (DSL or cable), you can make computer-to-computer telephone calls anyplace on the globe FREE. Computer-to-phone telephone calls normally have a fee, but are usually still less expensive than typical telephone service. Perks like call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail, caller ID and 3way-calling, are packaged with VOIP telephone service at no additional fee. At the same time you are speaking on the telephone, you can transmit graphics and documents.