Feb 1 Launch: Toll-Free Numbers, Online Faxing, Virtual Numbers

[Nate425]

It seems like people don't really care about the amount of money that it was increased, but rather how they did it. I'd bet you'd be pretty well off if you didn't get in to the "Unfees" business like that and just told people how it was.

And I even posted that I didn't care what VT did, but that was because I'm dumb and didn't pay attention to how they were doing it. When my contract is up with them in June, I'll probably be looking this way assuming everything still looks good then.

[NY Tel Guy]

It seems like people don't really care about the amount of money that it was increased, but rather how they did it. I'd bet you'd be pretty well off if you didn't get in to the "Unfees" business like that and just told people how it was.

And I even posted that I didn't care what VT did, but that was because I'm dumb and didn't pay attention to how they were doing it. When my contract is up with them in June, I'll probably be looking this way assuming everything still looks good then.

Exactly - I hate being nickel and dimed. Tell me up front with reasonable assurance what it is going to cost and I'll be fine with it. That coupled with the "seat of the pants, we don't need no stinkin documentation" mentality makes me lose all faith in that company's ability to survive and in their overall business integrity.

[dswartz]

Agreed on all counts.

[fisamo]

Exactly - I hate being nickel and dimed. Tell me up front with reasonable assurance what it is going to cost and I'll be fine with it. That coupled with the "seat of the pants, we don't need no stinkin documentation" mentality makes me lose all faith in that company's ability to survive and in their overall business integrity.

I guess I'm too late to 'second' those comments, but I agree completely. Whether the goings on of late have been actions in bad faith, desperation moves to keep the lights on, a combination of the two, or something completely different, there's no sense of self-accountability there. Also, as mentioned on DSLR, the timing couldn't be worse...

[Brian]

Tim, how are we coming with the residential pricing post?

[VOIPoTim]

Tim, how are we coming with the residential pricing post?

Well there's definitely a tradeoff in terms of marketing vs how pricing is structured. I'm trying to see if I can find some middle ground. The problem is that our costs to comply with various new initiatives that the government may be require are not factored into pricing if they don't exist today. So it's hard to "include" all of them without being able to tell what's going to happen in the future.

To qualify this, one thing I do not support is changing pricing to accommodate for required changes for customers who are in a prepaid term. I think that's a risk we as a service provider take on if we choose to accept a prepayment. I also feel that if we accept prepayment, we should accept it all at once so there are not additional charges until the term renews unless there are international calls or other usage based services. This is how our billing system has been designed to handle things already.

I have seen a lot of posts with people looking for bottom line pricing though and am trying to find some middle ground.

Any ideas?

[usa2k]

... I'm trying to see if I can find some middle ground. ...

I have seen a lot of posts with people looking for bottom line pricing though and am trying to find some middle ground.

Any ideas?

The acid test may be what DSLR says.
They are tough on you guys! Thus, I understand hesitation.

Right here and now we are your test group.
(I see this thread is in the beta area - not alpha)
Somewhere on this site we can be a sounding board.
(Hopefully people can comment here and not leak unpublished info!)

Your safe, all-you-can-eat -price is $25 (Packet8/Vonage)
$20 plus fees is competitive (Packet8 stayed there a loooooooong time when new.)

I can remember when Vonage was $40. But the Bells were higher too.
Two lines at $25 plus fees (same adapter) would be a great deal

You are in the best position to say what is right.

I would hold off public number filtering until it is polished.
Hopefully voicemail is rock solid with message indicators or that will get you heat.
Outgoing CID/CNAM will be a must for reputation.
CID/CNAM and Phone Book to CNAM will be something to earn praise.

Forward to sip as we've seen will also be praise worthy
(Vonage dropped FreeWorldDialup to Vonage calling for fear of fraud.)

Prepay is a double edged sword for penny pincers gamble and cry loud when they don't get all they imagined. I am not a prepay person. You may want to hold off.

Disconnect fees are a double edged sword so you may want to charge for the adapter and let them keep it. If you do this too cheaply, then you will see people getting the adapter and leaving for other pastures. Especially the rebate near nothing type marketing.

Money-back trial period is never long enough. 60 days is better than the 30 or 15 days that have been marketed. 500 minutes was another restriction that seems fair. Within 60 days but over 500 minutes should only require the difference at a set per minute rate, so people can get a good test drive (make it $0.039 per minute for over 500.)

I fear the admin concerning adapters for Money-back returns.

[jmczeal]

As regards to the reselling......
Is there a system or strategy in place to integrate with billing solution software to the point where available numbers will automatically be updated as necessary, and everything will work in sync (such as autopilot and whm)?

And on a side note, can you guys develop a voice menu to retrieve voicemail through phone, and send a signal for voicemail indicator (on phones with that feature)?

[gbh2o]

Well there's definitely a tradeoff in terms of marketing vs how pricing is structured. I'm trying to see if I can find some middle ground. The problem is that our costs to comply with various new initiatives that the government may be require are not factored into pricing if they don't exist today. So it's hard to "include" all of them without being able to tell what's going to happen in the future.

To qualify this, one thing I do not support is changing pricing to accommodate for required changes for customers who are in a prepaid term. I think that's a risk we as a service provider take on if we choose to accept a prepayment. I also feel that if we accept prepayment, we should accept it all at once so there are not additional charges until the term renews unless there are international calls or other usage based services. This is how our billing system has been designed to handle things already.

I have seen a lot of posts with people looking for bottom line pricing though and am trying to find some middle ground.

Any ideas?

I think there are two issues here Tim. First is the issue of 'real' government mandated fees and taxes. Although the public moans and groans, I believe they generally understand that you must pass through any _new_ ones that are meant to be user paid. Second is the elusive "compliance fees" which are quite obviously what I call "oops and gouge" fees; oops, we screwed up in our cost calculations and planning phase and need to charge more to balance the books, or the let's see how much we can tighten the thumb screws on our customers with fees that only add to our bottom line without showing an actual price hike.

The first is the reality of government largess and the politicians need to grab every penny they can to keep the ship from sinking... we pretty much understand that to be beyond your control. The second issue is the one that gets caught between the public's teeth and _really_ irritates the hell out of them because they just can't get it out... the dreaded 'unfees'. Don't go there, just offer price plans that are fair to the customer and that reflect the actual cost you need to charge to do business without the 'unfees'. If you need to raise prices based on sound business practices, then do so when contracts end, monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually as the case may be. Give fair notice, and no after the fact rate hikes.

The issue of prepayment is simply one of having a contract for services. Unless the contract allows for surcharges for things such as fluctuating fuel costs, then the contract should stand as it is written. If I enter a contract for 10000 gallons of #1 diesel at $x.xx/gal I expect to receive exactly that, regardless of any market fluctuations.

[RockyBB]

Any ideas?

It's so difficult being me, but as you asked I feel obligated to provide you with your pricing strategy. Too bad you've wasted so much time without consulting with me upfront.

First, you will not collect prepayments. You've stated in other messages that you're rolling in dough, so you don't need loans from your customers. Instead you will offer discounts for term commitments. No commitment, the price is $24.99/month. Commit for 1 year, get 10% off ... bill will be 90% of 24.99 = $22.49/month. Commit for 2 years, get 15% off ... bill will be 85% of 24.99 = $21.24/month. You will bill that every month. On each emailed invoice you will keep a running total of savings due to commitment. For the two year term example, the discount is 15% of 24.99 or $3.76. After 6 months, continuing the example, that running total adds up to $22.56. Your invoice will say "Congratulations! Your 2 year term plan so far has saved you $22.56. You earn a total of $90.24 when you complete the 18 months remaining in your plan." If someone cancels early, they pay you that savings back because they didn't earn the discount. The amount will be no surprise. Someone has problems early on, the penalty is relatively light. The longer someone stays, the tighter the handcuffs. At end of the term, discounts stop until customer recommits. Then the cycle starts again, but the 1 year renewals get their first month free; the 2 year renewals get their first two months free. Reward the loyal renewing customers. Of course, those free months populate the restarted cumulative savings amount! This monthly billing strategy also allows you to bill taxes as they get applied by jurisdictions and not have to eat them if some states start to require them. I never liked "bottom line pricing" because if Ernie's state charges tax and my state does not charge tax, you'll be using my money to pay Ernie's taxes. I'll agree that you should try to avoid the "surcharges" that are not passed through -- that will give you a true marketing differential against just about every other VOIP competitor...add on only "honest" taxes.

For market segmentation purposes, you might consider a "Titanium Plan" at the $24.99 price point, which includes 5,000 minutes of calling, with extra minutes at 4¢. Also a "Platinum Plan" at the $20.99 price point with 2,500 minutes of calling, with extra minutes at 3¢ each, and a "Gold Plan" at the $14.99 price point with 500 minutes of calling, with extra minutes at 3¢ each. Term discounts apply to the fixed plan charge, not to the usage charges. By staying out of the "unlimited" game, you'll be avoiding the 3rd World Dictionary Police (otherwise known as home based telemarketers and phone rooms) and scaring off the heavy users who you don't want anyway, and you'll have a compelling reason for subscribers to enroll their "friends and family" because VOIPO to VOIPO will not count against their allowance (like Verizon Wireless IN-NETWORK)! For heavy international users, offer a $5 monthly fee in return for a 5% discount on your international rates. Send all your Directory Assistance traffic to 1-800-YELLOW PAGES and advertise no extra charge for directory assistance calls.

I mentioned to your Brandon on a long phone call a bit ago that you should not be offering adapters that are not routers. Especially if you are going mass market, you don't want to ship out a PAP2 only to surprise grandma that she has to now buy a router -- talk about a "gotcha." I like the way that Vonage does it -- asking customers to identify what their network looks like and shipping the proper device. I don't know if you have the scale to offer multiple devices; if not, ship the combo unit only. As time goes on you'll have the need to replace defective adapters -- I like the idea of having returned units (after appropriate cleaning) be sent out as replacements -- so you'll need a steady supply of those, which you'll get by having a charge for canceling service and keeping the adapters.

This ain't pricing, but if you've made it this far I'll squeeze it in... For as long as I've been in telecom I've always been a one man cheerleading squad for call branding. After your customer dials a phone number, they should hear some appropriate electronic swoosh sound with a whispered "voipo" ... which will create some attachment to the brand (imagine the interest among resellers with their own branding!), while eating up post dial delay time. This should also be done for incoming calls to tollfree numbers that your customers sign up for. Of course, the control panel should have some hidden toggle on/off option to assuage the screamers.