I use GV on my computer to place outgoing calls from my landline. (If AT&T cell reception was better in my house, I might also use [...]]]> Google Voice (GV) is a free service that has many features. A feature I often employ is to have GV make my calls for me.

I use GV on my computer to place outgoing calls from my landline. (If AT&T cell reception was better in my house, I might also use GV to call from my iPhone.) I am always in front of or near a computer when I am in my office. I use the Google Voice web page to dial for me.

Here is how it is done:

1. Click on the webpage’s Call button.
2. Type or paste the phone number in the Number to call field.
3. Select the phone you wish to call from in the Number to call with field.
4. Click the Connect button.

GV rings my phone. I pick it up and it calls the number I entered in step 2, above.

Using GV to make calls is very easy. I make most of calls this way. I can quickly copy and paste a phone number from Outlook, my Gmail Contacts, a website or somewhere else on my computer. I rarely dial a wrong number this way.

Google Voice keeps track of the people I called so I can quickly see who I called when and easily redial if I want.

If you have a GV number and have not used this feature I suggest you give it try. If you don’t have a GV number go and get one. It’s free and available to anyone in the United States.

You use it by typing text into the application or speaking into your telephone. The speech-to-text facility is surprisingly [...]]]> Are you overwhelmed with the minutiae of modern life? Who isn’t? reQall is a service that helps us deal with the deluge of things we have to remember and attend to.

You use it by typing text into the application or speaking into your telephone. The speech-to-text facility is surprisingly accurate in my testing. It has been almost letter perfect in every one of my trials. It puts a similar feature in Google Voice to shame.

A moment ago I spoke the following to the reQall automated telephone attendant, “To-Do Sunday July 25th at 3:30 check reQall see if it transcribed this message.”

I got an email a few minutes later that read, “Reminder for 3:30 PM: To-Do: Sunday, July 25th at 3:30 PM, check reQall see if it transcribed this message.”

I am impressed.

reQall has both free and paid versions (AKA reQall Standard and reQall Pro). Pro costs $24.99 per year or $2.99 per month, and has several additional features compared to the free Standard version.  They provide a free 15 day trial of the Pro version so you can test the service before paying them.

You can use it to set up appointments, tasks, reminders, and shopping lists. The Pro version has location awareness so that if you tell it you want to buy fruit at Costco it will remind you when you are near Costco.

reQall works on Windows and Mac computers. It can be accessed via a web browser. They provide free apps for Android, BlackBerry and iPhone cell phones. You can also set up several landlines to work with the service as well.

reQall integrates with Outlook (both versions), Google Calendar (both versions) and Evernote (Pro version only). If you want reQall will send you text message (Pro version only) and email reminders (both versions). They even provide an RSS feed for your reQall items. You can share your reQall items with people in your BlackBerry or iPhone contact list.

Everything isn’t perfect though. The iPhone app is a bit clunky and the web descriptions and tutorials do not do justice to the elegance of the service. They also do a mediocre job of explaining what the service is or how to use it. I suspect the folks at reQall are engineers and not marketers.

I like what I see. My testing indicates that this service is useful and probably worth paying for the Pro version. I suggest you try it out. I think you will agree.

Not all large communications companies treat their customers like dirt. Cablevision bucks the industry trend.

Large telcos do not have a good image. They have earned their reputations by gouging customers, restricting competition, under-investing in plant and infrastructure, being slow to adopt new technology, providing poor customer service and overpaying their executives. 

I [...]]]>

Not all large communications companies treat their customers like dirt. Cablevision bucks the industry trend.

Large telcos do not have a good image. They have earned their reputations by gouging customers, restricting competition, under-investing in plant and infrastructure, being slow to adopt new technology, providing poor customer service and overpaying their executives. 

I am impressed by the contrast between, AT&T and Verizon, who appear to see their customers as little more than open wallets, with Cablevision, who actually gives its customers a fair deal.

AT&T recently changed wireless data plans. One consequence is that Apple’s 3G iPad products are less desirable. The cost of cellular data for streaming media skyrockets under the new plans. AT&T’s executives tacitly admitted that they had underinvested in their infrastructure and were overwhelmed by customer demand. They blame and gouge their customers rather than build out their network and take a hit on year-end bonuses. They never mentioned crediting iPhone customers in New York City, San Francisco and elsewhere where they have not delivered reliable service at any time over the past 3 years. I wonder if they ever considered doing that. (The Dutch subsidiary of T-Mobile is crediting its iPhone customers because of these issues.)

They also just raised the early termination fees (ETF) on smartphones from $175 to $325. Verizon raised their ETF to $350 last year. Both companies say they need these fees to recoup the cost of subsidizing handset prices. The ETFs are reduced each month but not symmetrically with the contract. Verizon reduces its ETF by $10/mo. rather than by $14.58 ($350/24 months). Furthermore, if you buy your own phone from elsewhere, assuming that is possible, or after 24 months when the contract is done, the monthly rate does not decrease in recognition of the lack of subsidization.

Their stated reasons for their fees and monthly charges are corporate doublespeak. There is a lack of parallel treatment for their customers (that’s us) versus for themselves. It’s clearly a case of heads-they-win, tails-we-lose. Don’t look to Congress or the FCC to help. They are in the thrall of telco lobbyists. The FCC and our elected legislators make noise about the shoddy treatment telco customers receive but do little or nothing to alter the situation. 

This past week AT&T threatened a customer who complained about the new wireless charges by writing two emails to their CEO, Randall Stephenson, with a legal cease and desist order. The company, not Stephenson, apologized both publicly and to the customer after the story made it big on the Internet. I doubt that AT&T would have responded otherwise.

Today, I compared switching my home communications services from Cablevision, where I have Internet, TV and voice, to AT&T. If U-verse were available here, which it is not (see my above comment about under-investing infrastructure), it would cost me about $50/month more. I would get less telephone features and slower Internet for that $50/month more. I believe, although I am uncertain, I would be required to sign a two-year subscription agreement. Cablevision is month-to-month and always has been.

If I lived in an area serviced by Verizon and wanted to get FiOS-based communications services I would have to sign a two-year agreement. There would be an ETF, which Verizon raised at the beginning of this year from $179 to $360. I don’t know how their pricing compares with Cablevision’s.

Cablevision’s pricing has been relatively flat for voice and Internet for several years. They have raised prices for TV but it seems that this is to offset wholesale price increases which they pay. (See: Is your cable TV bill too high?)

Their voice services are highly reliable and feature-rich. I use the service that forwards voice mail as an email attachment to keep me connected to my business customers when I am away from the office.

I think their Internet service is the best in the United States. Their basic Internet service is 15Mb/s upstream and 2Mb/s downstream. I pay for and have had 30+Mb/s up and 5+Mb/s down for several years. If I wanted to pay for it they offer 101Mb/s service too.

They have great customer service (billing area excepted – see: Another angry Cablevision customer.) Their representatives are polite, not easily ruffled, knowledgeable, available 24/7 and locally-based! When I need in-home service their techs arrive within the specified time period, usually call me 20 minutes before they arrive, and know what they are doing.

When I have called AT&T Wireless customer service the representatives are either in another part of the country or overseas. They have not been as knowledgeable or as helpful as Cablevision’s.

Cablevision provides free WiFi across much of their service area. This lets me connect to the Internet when I am out and about in Westport, Wilton, Norwalk and other local towns. I use it frequently. I don’t need to pay $60/mo. for a limited capacity cell data service and another $270 for a wireless adapter.

They recently entered into a reciprocal sharing agreement with Comcast and Time Warner Cable to allow their customers access to the other companies’ WiFi when in those service areas. The cost to customers for the additional service is $0/month. That’s right, zero, zilch, zip, nada, bupkis! Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless charge for access to their data networks and limit capacity.

Cablevision is continually investing in new services and infrastructure. They recently added web programming features to their customers’ DVR. You can see what’s on your Cablevision-supplied DVR from your computer, iPad or smartphone. You can also program recordings as well. (See: Programming your Cablevision iO DVR is now easy.)

They are dabbling with offering mobile phone services as well. Cablevision is testing a combined WiFi/cell phone service in their service region. I look forward to having more competition in this space than only the four major cell carriers—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. I hope that Cablevision will offer a first class service, but not at an outrageous price.

They recently offered to equip Long Island and Metro-North commuter trains with WiFi. The service would be free to subscribers and provide a reasonable-access service to non-subscribers.

Cablevision is involved in our local communities. They offer Channel 12 local news to their subscribers. They cover stories that the big TV stations, the big NYC newspapers and radio stations don’t.

Cablevision also provides local municipalities and school districts with their own cable channels, e.g. Optimum iO channels 79 and 78 for Weston and the Weston school system. I know this very well. I manage the Weston CATV government access channel and broadcast both Town and Board of Education meetings. This is a fantastic resource for Weston as we don’t get much coverage elsewhere. Cablevision also pays for much of the broadcast equipment for these stations. AT&T, who competes with Cablevision for communications customers in Weston and other Fairfield County, CT communities, does not do this.

¹ My friend Serdar suggested the article’s title. Thanks.

Effective November 14, 2009 10-digit local call dialing will be required. (10-digit is area code + phone number.)

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