Six weeks ago I gushed about the personal productivity benefits of Sunrocket VOIP. This week, Sunrocket, suddenly and unexpectedly ceased operations, leaving me without a business “land line” though for now the forward to my cell phone works at least intermittently. 

I called the FCC to ask about phone number portability. I was reminded that the FCC does not have regulatory authority over VOIP but they are investigating if they can do anything. So my business number of 10 years may be history. Any change in technology takes time – evaluating, installing, and learning. The switch to Sunrocket was a good decision with a bad outcome. Now I’m back to evaluating, ordering, etc.

Comcast digital looks ok but costs more than Sunrocket and lacks several features that I liked and used. Skype is intriguing and, with a Netgear box, allows calls even if my PC is off. Unfortunately, with Skype, I would not be able to use my analog phone with its high-quality cordless headset. The ATT CallVantage web site does not explain if there is a web interface; when I called, I could not get a live rep. Verizon’s VOIP looks reasonable, costs less than Comcast, and the web site has more info than ATT’s. Anyone with experience and opinions on solutions can e-mail me at ron at prismlegal dot com.

Update 7/19/07: I found a press release saying Packet8 has an agreement with Sunrocket to port numbers and provide discounts. I couldn’t figure out if it was exclusive, but rather than wait and risk losing my number, I signed up. Pricing and features seem about the same as SunRocket. During the sign-up, the agent took my info for number porting. But I called back today, at agent’s suggestion “to accelerate to number transfer,” and found out the porting order had not been placed. I was able to do that on the web. When technology (or providers fail) it really kills productivity.!