Mark Evans from his perch in the great white north, has an observation in the last line of this post about Packet 8’s announcement that Tom’s Hardware rates them the best, all based on one line in the entire report, which is an opinion of Russell Shaw of ZDNet and VoN magazine.
In reading over the account by Russell, who previously admitted having issues with his cable provider, it appears not all of the information he presented is current.
My guess is he tested many of the carriers over a period of time, just as I have been doing. As a CallVantage customer, it is easy to spot the old service issues, which have been cleared up as of now.
One of the problems with reviews in this Internet era is time sensitivity. Also, if you don’t stay current and work with the PR pros at the companies like Angela at Broadvoice, Gary at AT&T and Brooke and Mitchell at Vonage, who all do a great job at feeding me the correct info and insight on a regular basis, you end up with reviews that are more “hobby” oriented than “professional.”
In defense of Packet 8, I have to retry their service, but since I never hear from their PR team, not even a press release, it’s harder to grasp what they are really trying to do.. Reportedly their PR person is going to call me, according to one of their investors who regularly moans about the companies lack of execution and what it calls “good ideas.” I look forward to that as I really don’t have an axe to grind.
Speaking of P8, I went to San Jose’s Valley Fair and saw the kiosk. Someone needs a lesson in merchandising. Boxes piled high on one side, a rather less than professionally dressed sales person, T-Shirt and jeans–at least give him a golf shirt, a video phone without a big monitor, just the phone. How are people supposed to get the idea that they can be on the camera if they don’t stop, and oh, an offer about saving money that doesn’t say over what period of time.
What P8 should be doing is selling a two video phone bundle at the Kiosk, with a trial and the offer to arrange at no cost for the installation of DSL or Cable at both ends of the line. That way, grandma and grandpa, who would love to see the kids get a present and eventually migrate over to VoIP. DUH !!! How obvious. While I know P8 has made the two for one offers in the past, the kiosk, if properly merchandised could be an ideal way to sell that.