My Vonage Lies Over The Ocean and I.M. For Idiots and Dummies

This Week On Twitter

If you’re not following me on Twitter, here’s a sample of what you’re missing (from this week’s entries):

1. Free online Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer – just enter the headline text for instant results http://is.gd/3KGBH.
2. Great YouTube video: “More sales training tips to get customers excited” http://is.gd/3LaNK
3. Cool – yet useful – website: “The Business Channel” http://is.gd/3LbP5.
4. Article: “21 Must-follow Tips for Optimizing Your Time in Social Media” http://is.gd/3Npju.
5. Article: “How to Monitor Your FaceBook Page Insights to Improve Content” http://is.gd/3Npdh
6. “Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.” -  Mark Twain
7. Article: “10 social media strategies from top brands” http://is.gd/3Np9q.
8. Article: “Advertising Agencies And Social Media: A Culture Clash” http://is.gd/3Np4g.
9. Article: “Windows 7 Review” http://is.gd/3NoIO.
10. Free webinar replay “Attracting clients for your professional practice or coaching business” http://is.gd/3OWTO.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://tinyurl.com/naqnv8.  I normally follow everyone back within 24 hours.  The noted exceptions are folks who unfollow me and other noted exceptions (I.E. – escort services, porn stuff, etc.).

Interesting exercise.  Plug in the long running, National Enquirer Ad headline – “Corns Gone in Five days or money back” at  http://is.gd/3KGBH.  In case you wonder, it’s from one of the best cash guzzling ads of all time. What does the online heading analyzer says?

Internet Marketing for Dummies and Idiots

If you’re into Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, viral marketing, or any related endeavor – this may be for you!  There’s a series of books entitled the Dummies and Idiots guides.  If you live in the U.S., the local public library can usually obtain a copy.  If they don’t have it, they try to obtain it from another library.  Here are three I’m obtaining:

1. Web Marketing for Dummies by Jan Zimmerman
2. Search Engine Optimization For Dummies by Peter Kent
3. The Complete Idiots Guide To Search Engine Optimization by Michael Miller

Don’t be fooled by the words “idiot” or “dummy”.  These are excellent books and I’ll share more, as they cross my paths.  Descriptions and user reviews can be found at http://www.amazon.com.

The Long and Winding Road of VOIP

In the past couple of weeks, I made the transition to all VOIP.  An article entitled  “How Does VoIP Work?” is found at http://is.gd/3OQzz.  I was a solid ATT person before the switch.

• ATT land line
• ATT DSL
• ATT cell phone

But the ATT taxi meter kept ticking.  I was paying around $50 a month for cell phone usage.  Then I found a solution at WalMart.

A phone company produces a pay-as-you-use plan.  It’s a South American phone company subsidiary named Tracfone, with their prepaid cell phone plan.

Great!  Now I have a solid back up plan, in case VOIP fails (i.e. – power outage, Internet connection failure, etc.).   Couple this with already using Skype to connect to US phones for business.  As Sponge Bob Square Pants says, “I’m ready.”

Not exactly!

I wanted to keep my ATT DSL and ditch the phone line.  Small problem!  ATT would charge me $200 for some “rewiring”.  So what to do?  I’ve already ordered Vonage world plan.

The solution?

Comcast was handling my Cable TV, so I elected them for my Internet provider.  It’s not smooth sailing.

The Drop Problem

Sometimes I would lose parts of conversations.  It’s almost like hearing voice for 5 seconds, followed by a pause.  This necessitated a few calls to Vonage.  The tech support was very good – yet some technicians were more knowledgeable than others.  One cool site I learned about was http://is.gd/3OSJo.  You can run a speed test (i.e. with Java installed) and it provides data on VOIP capacity.

After a few tweaks by Vonage technicians, along with a few packet loses of over 10% (as shown by the VOIP speed test website), I experienced this problem periodically.  Packet loss is explained for the layman at http://is.gd/3Ptj2.

Next I contacted the Comcast technicians by phone and web chat.  I mentioned my usage of both Skype and Vonage, along with chats from the Vonage technicians, and tests from the  http://is.gd/3OSJo website.  They sent out a technician, who conducted some tests, and chatted with a Vonage technician.  Comcast didn’t find any issues (neither would a mechanic via electronic diagnosis, on a vehicle with intermittent problems).

So far, everything has been smooth the past couple of days.  I’m even used the free Google directory assistance at 1-800-GOOG-411 and I’m on the notification list for Google phone.   To be safe, I have briefly related my finding on Linkedin, seeking advice in the technology Q&A , and the telecommunications group.   My next venture is upgrading from Windows Vista  to Windows 7.

Randy Kemp

Blog http://b2b-techcopy.net

Business http://b2b-techcopy.com