I posted a question to Skype technical support (I made sure that it wasn’t already answered in their Knowledge Base). It took over two weeks, but they did get back to me. Better late than never I guess. Honestly, whenever I fill in one of those web forms, I’m sure I’m sending my question into a black hole. I didn’t expect Skype to get back to me, but they did. So, if you’re not in any kind of hurry, go ahead and ask away.

Andy takes some time walking us through why many great tech ideas fail. Know thy customer is the mantra here. Walk a day in their shoes.

I’ve worked for many companies in high tech where honestly the idea of actually talking to the customer was just too big or too complicated a prospect. Yes, lipservice was paid to market research, but for some reason it’s way easier to analyze a bunch of pie charts than talk one on one with the people you’re building for. 

I don’t know why this is so hard for companies to get right. Research is expensive which certainly has a lot to do with it, but I’ll say there is other deep rooted psychological trauma going on as well.

I mean, if you start talking with customers, they’ll start wanting stuff. These people are demanding! They want things done better, faster, simpler, more buttons, less buttons. They’re never satisfied. Don’t they understand what you’re trying to do? That the underlying technology of the thing is flat out amazing? So forget it, you just can’t talk to the customer because they’re high maintenance and don’t know what they need anyway. But we the Company do, and that’s what we’ll build.

Pause.

Okay, that got a little chippy. So I’ll conclude by saying that companies with the best of intentions can get lost in their own story. You still need to have the story, a damn good one, but you also need the wherewithall to put a great book in someone’s hands and have them read it.

It’s been about a year since I bought my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop and I’ve really loved it, except for one little thing that’s become a big annoying problem. When I have a headset plugged in, I quite often hear squealch-like static that renders the conversation inaudible. Calls I’ve had on SightSpeed and Skype have been plagued by this problem, and until now I always put it down to cheap headset hardware. Instead it turns out to be a Dell design flaw.  My searches on the Dell forums indicate that it’s been more than just me experiencing this static and the culprit seems to be a wonky bit of wiring in the headset jack.

So, I’ve broke up with analog headsets  forever and purchased a Plantronics DSP-400 folding USB headset. So far so good. It’s a wired headset and costs about $100.

Some wireless headsets worth a look if you’re having a similiar Dell moment is the Plantronics CS-50 USB Wireless Headset, Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth Headset, or the Plantronics Audio 910 Bluetooth headset. All are pricey but going wireless may be worth it.

The intrepid Tom Keating reviews two headsets here:

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/gadgets/plantronics-voyager-510usb-bluetooth-headset-review.asp

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/headsets/plantronics-audio-910-headset.asp

Tom Keating recently talked about how to pure VOIP providers like Vonage stack up against the cable and telco companies offering broadband Internet VOIP phone services.

In the article he compares pure VOIP providers like Vonage and Packet8 to telecos and cable companies like Verizon and Time Warner. What do consumers really want? Is cost always the bottom line or are people looking for brand trust, quality of service and reliability over the long haul? His assessment may surprise you.

Click here to read the complete article on his blog.

Who is Tom Keating? He owns the VOIP and Gadgets Blog and is CTO, VP and founder of TMC Labs, one of the leading sources for unbiased opinions and reviews in the VoIP, call center, datacom/telecom industries.

 

Thanks to Tom Keating for alerting me to Skype’s new call transfer feature. Tom points out that this feature that smooths the way for Skype as a practical business phone system.

Call transfer is available as part of Skype 3.5 BETA so it’s still in trial mode. You won’t get this version by updating Skype from the Help menu. You need to go here and download the beta.

Have you noticed that it’s raining mobile VOIP these days? Information Week asserts that VOIP has finally hit the mainstream wireless market and points to Fring, JaJah Mobile and Windows Mobile 6 as indicators who’ve all had new announcements this week. Truphone is also part of that crowd.

Tom Keating reviews Jajah Mobile on his blog. Check it out.

As a consumer, I’m happy there are options. But I’m also a consumer who’s not really ready. This mobile VOIP stuff means more decisions. What’s most important to me? Being in touch with my Skype contacts, my Google Talk buddies, my JaJah list or some other list somewhere? Do I like downloading an application to my phone or would I rather not–too finicky? Do I need multiple phone numbers for my cell phone? I like to use the Wi-Fi capability of my nifty Nokia N80i, but cruising around my usual haunts in town I’ve yet to find a free access point (obviously I need to get out more). The only place I’ve used mobile VOIP is from the comfort of my own desk.

Gizmo Project announced today an new update to their popular softphone. Read reviews by Om Malik, Luca, and Tom Keating. The biggest addition is the ability to now call Windows Live and Yahoo Messenger contacts in addition to Google Talk, Jabber and other Gizmo users.

Today, if you’re already a Gizmo Project user you get the download and install the new version from the web site, click here. Sometime tomorrow or Thursday, the Gizmo folks will add an automatic install feature that prompts you to install the new version the next time Gizmo starts up. I like that.

As for using it, I’ve made a few test calls to Windows Live Messenger. Just enter the MSN ID in the  call field, pretty easy. However the only way I can see to save a MSN or Yahoo contact to the contact list, is to select GoogleTalk in the Contact Type box. I don’t know if this is the intended use but….users don’t always do what they’re supposed to do…

On the receiving end, the incoming call didn’t look like me. It looked like GTalkToVoip was calling (who in the world is that?). Answering the call and hanging up seem fine, but after that, the whole process seemed to crash Windows Live (receiving end). I don’t use Windows Live for voice at all so I’m not an expert. In my opinion, you’re better off just inviting your friends to join Gizmo.

 

 

If you are thinking about trying Asterisk open source PBX in your home or small business, I suggest you read Tom Keating on Trixbox 2.0, “the easiest way to get Asterisk up and running in just minutes”. 

Now chances are at this point you probably already know more than a little about what Asterisk is and why you need it. But, if you’re like me and need to start at the beginning, start with the Trixbox wiki (formerly Asterisk@Home) on voip-info.org.

I’m a few days behind on this one (see VoIP Watch and VoIP and Gadgets), but Laptop magazine is giving away a few Skype Wi-Fi phones and router bundles. To qualify you’ve got to tell them the craziest place you want to set up a Wi-Fi connection and make a Skype call.  Sign up here…

While I can appreciate Tom Keating’s wholehearted enthusiasm for the rash of gadget deals that abound today, Black Friday and all, I do pause ever so slightly when I remember that isn’t this time supposed to be well, Thanksgiving, as in the Giving of Thanks?

I’m hardly the first person to point out that giving thanks with the right hand hand whilst brandishing our credit cards with the left seems a little crazy. In Canada, many of us watch American news stations showing the 5 am line-ups, door crashing mayhem, and fist fighting moms. But we’re no better. The traditional Boxing Day Sale, the day after the biggest “giving” day of the year, is when Canadians lose their heads.

Who started this anyway? Okay, enough sour grapes.