Relative to routers: at the SR collapse a buddy's mom (literally a little old lady) who was in trouble asked for my help and I suggested ViaTalk. She got a PAP2. She had no router. The SR gizmo had a pass through port so she didn't need a router. I had to give her my prized SMC 4-port router (which I was saving for the Smithsonian) just to keep her from being disappointed in her son's friend. (I now shy away from residential VOIP as I don't have any more spare routers.) If VOIPO is going mass market, they must anticipate mass market which is the non-sophisticated consumer. Avoid the flood of calls to customer service, the resulting flood of immediate cancellations and ship a combo unit.

Relative to market segmentation ... given VOIPO's relaxed pace for launch, I wouldn't think that immediate gratification would be so necessary. Instead do a little marketing spin and emphasize the familiar IN-NETWORK concept, which has worked wonders for Verizon Wireless and MCI Friends and Family. Why be satisfied with only one sale to a family, when you can make two sales to a distributed family with the purpose of all calls between the households are free! No one has attacked the parents at home, kids away from home market!

I developed the following thought a little bit afterwards, recognizing that there will be some private branding going on. VOIPO could develop the "V-Plan" concept. V-Plan would be the way to get all private label and direct customers to be able to call each other on-net without using allowance minutes. V-Plan would simply be all the phone numbers running on the VOIPO platform under all the marketing names. "Are you in the V-Plan?" Each of the resellers would participate in the V-Plan Alliance. There would be a website where one could key in the 10 digit number and the site would say yes or no if the number is in the V-Plan that day. Maybe a cross-marketing agreement with Verizon Wireless (starts with V) so that calls with V-Plan phone numbers don't use cell or VOIP minutes. This might set up nicely for VOIPO to takeover the Voicewing deal from deltathree, and/or if Tim should want to go to the paywindow one day.