July 25th, 2007
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with SunRocket preferred provider TeleBlend distribution partner's CEO
TeleBlend is one of two “preferred” VoIP service providers suggested by Sherwood Partners, which is handling SunRocket’s dissolution
With more than a week since the shutoff, and former SunRocket customers still transitioning to new homes, I thought it might be interesting to check in with someone on the TeleBlend side for their perspective.
So yesterday I submitted some questions to Bill Fogg, CEO of Competive Local Exchange carrier. USA Telephone, which, in conjunction with Unified Communications Corp., is jointly offering the TeleBlend service.
Here is the interview:
Russ: First of all, since many readers first got to know of TeleBlend after SunRocket went out of business, your own take on why SunRocket failed and how the immediate circumstances of the out of business transition was handled from SR’s end?
Bill: We believe the SunRocket’s failure should not dampen consumer enthusiasm for the VoIP category. I can’t profess to know what occurred there internally, but it is clear that cable companies, independents and others are adding VoIP subscribers at a healthy clip. For their former customers, the way the company went out of business was far more disruptive than fact they went out of business in that they left customers confused and caught off guard, scrambling to maintain their communications lifeline. That shouldn’t have happened and we – along with other providers – have stepped in to try and minimize this disruption.
Russ: What was involved in the deal to become a preferred provider after SR crash? Did you approach Sherwood, or did they approach you?
Bill: We approached Sherwood and in their desire to offer SunRocket customers a choice (i.e. – multiple preferred providers), we completed a transition agreement.
Russ: There are two preferred successor providers. What would you say to a prospective customer who is trying to decide between your company’s service and Packet 8?
Bill: I’d say that consumers should look at the plan offerings (price, features, etc.) and decide which service best fits their needs. The advantage with our service is that customers can keep using their existing SunRocket equipment, keep their existing phone number, and while obviously SunRocket customers who pre-paid and had unused months will never be made completely whole, we hope that our $12.95 monthly offer for the duration of customer’s annual contract – which is actually lower than what SunRocket was charging – will at least soften the blow a little bit.
Russ: Vonage has been grabbing SR customers as well- 13,000 by some counts. Vonage is using their size (2.2 million lines) to state their case they are the biggest pure play VoIP and unlike SR aren’t going to blow up right away. So if a reader is trying to decide between TB and Vonage, what would you say to try and convince them?
Bill: Well, though our TeleBlend offering is obviously new for customers, the management team leading the TeleBlend effort has actually been around providing reliable residential and small business phone service quite a bit longer than Vonage – since 1999 to be exact. The USA Telephone team, in conjunction with Unified Communications, know the phone business, and while we did have a regional VoIP offering prior to TeleBlend, we viewed this as an opportunity to expand our national footprint.
Russ: On this blog and others, many commenters have a “once bitten twice shy” attitude about VoIP- got burned once so stay away from the standalones and go with established triple-play voice such as Comcast, etc. What would you say to those people?
Bill: Some consumers are still going to feel the burn for a little bit, and part of our job is to restore their faith in a maturing technology. Again, because management and resources for TeleBlend are rooted in years of experience in the space and have been offering phone service for nearly a decade, our VoIP offering stands on very solid footing and we will continue to communicate that message to existing and prospective customers.
Russ: Some other readers of my blog plan to “sit out” VoIP for awhile, using IM-based voice services such as Skype, Yahoo, Gizmo, etc until smoke clears. What can you offer in terms of services that they can’t?
Bill: For consumers deciding between replacement phone service such as TeleBlend, Vonage, Packet 8, and PC-to-PC voice services, it is really a question of how they are comfortable communicating. For those that don’t mind sitting in front of a computer to make calls, then the latter might be the best option. But for most consumers, leveraging their broadband connection and existing cordless phones to save money and experience enhanced features is most preferable.
Russ: How do you see the competitive IP Phone landscape in the consumer area? No longer a pricing war, more of a services war? And what do you bring to the table?
Bill: It is pretty clear that prices are leveling out and that consumers will increasingly demand enhanced services when deciding which IP phone option to go with. While our immediate goal is to successfully transition thousands of former SunRocket customers to our network, we do expect that over time our service portfolio will grow. As far as the competitive landscape, there are new IP phone flavors hitting the market everyday, but the market for replacement home phone service is fairly settled, and we expect to be a growing part of that market going forward.
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
