Jumping through Hoops to Make a Telephone Call
I recently traveled to Europe and always trying to be mindful of mobile phone costs – I used Wi-Fi connections wherever I could to make outbound calls. I use a number of different VoIP providers depending on whom I need to connect with, if they are on instant messenger I can connect via Nimbuzz because Nimbuzz connects a number of social and instant messenger clients.
When I need to connect with a landline or mobile phone I have a number of other VoIP clients. The quality of the experience is important and while I’m a believer in VoIP it’s easy to see why VoIP can, and has in some cases, got a bad name. My experience with some applications is less than good (none of them GIPS’ customers I might add.) When a free call is placed, people may a tolerance for inferior quality – that is until a better application or client comes along. Bad voice quality drives away customers and it’s a great way to push new customers over to your competitor.
However, when a customer is paying there is little tolerance for substandard calls – it becomes frustrating and annoying – it’s like going to a restaurant and ordering filet mignon but ending up with overdone rump steak. It’s easy to see that such a place of business will see customers go elsewhere.
Thankfully, I like to tinker with different VoIP clients on my iPhone – try them all out for yourself and see which one suits you
Tags: mobile VoIP, Roaming costs, VoIP, Wi-FI
September 1st, 2009 at 9:33 am
John,
What would you consider as the worst part of the experience – the UI, the audio quality or the need to switch between applications depending on who you are trying to contact?
Tsahi