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an open letter to Michael Robertson: my negative experience with SIPphone
Dear Michael,
i recently became a SIPphone customer and i wanted to write to you about my negative experience with your company. i've noticed that you've helped your customers in the past in the SIPphone discussion forums, and my hope here is that you'll see this letter and listen to my story.
after several weeks of trying to get SIPphone working on my mobile device, i have finally given up. i use a Zaurus, which is a world-class PDA running OpenZaurus (a full version of Linux that also runs on devices like the iPaq) and KPhone, an open source VoIP client.
(as an aside, this is the exact same hardware and software that the MIT Media Lab uses as a development platform for applications like the Jerk-O-Meter. i recommend to anyone who considers themself a VoIP enthusiast to take a close look at their exciting research.)
after configuring KPhone to use my SIPphone account, i'm able to make SIP to SIP calls. i can also receive calls from traditional PSTN phones to the virtual number i purchased from SIPphone. i cannot, however, place calls to PSTN numbers with KPhone (i've also tried tkcPhone, a commercial VoIP client for the Zaurus).
the reason i got a Zaurus in the first place was so that i could step away from the computer and still be able to use VoIP ~ and i wasn't going to resort to using a Pocket PC. i looked forward to being able to ride this exciting wave of free and near-free calls using VoIP and open standards. for this, however, SIPphone has turned out to be a disappointing dead end.
after my experience i can't easily recommend SIPphone as a VSP (voice-over-IP service provider) to anyone, and especially not to other Zaurus and OpenZaurus users. i think this is really unfortunate because i do believe SIPphone has a lot going for it. the prices and features are great, and the Gizmo Project software itself seemed like a terrific VoIP client when i used it. i also respect how you're calling Skype out with the whole open/closed argument.
so after several weeks of trying, i still can't dial out to PSTN numbers, even after checking and double-checking (and triple-checking) every setting in KPhone. the users and admins in the Gizmo Project and SIPphone discussion forums were of zero help to me. the only bit of useful information that i found was in an old post made by Digi, a SIPphone employee, that says "sorry for the trouble, however the kphone sip implementation when making a call doesn't cover the full range of options specified in the sip rfc."
this, and yet KPhone appears to be listed as a supported client at SIPphone's partner site, SIPsoftware.com.
to make matters worse, the trouble ticket that i submitted went unanswered for a week and then wasn't answered to my satisfaction (no solution for the problem was given, nor was an adequate explanation why it wouldn't work ~ i was referred instead to the developers of KPhone). it isn't a codec problem from what i can tell (KPhone supports two of the three codecs SIPphone uses, iLBC and g711u). however, the truth is that i have no idea what the problem is and nobody has been able to help me.
in the end, i created an account with Free World Dialup (FWD) on a whim, configured KPhone to use it and then dialed an 800 number ~ and it worked. it took less than 5 minutes.
while i'm still willing to use SIPphone as my VSP (more than willing actually, as my efforts during the past several weeks demonstrate), i wanted you to know that the lack of help from your support staff has forced me to turn elsewhere for now. i'll be going with FWD as soon as i find an affordable PSTN provider for outgoing calls.
although your company has lost me as a loyal customer and supporter, i do wish you the best in your endeavors. i've followed you in the media for some time and i admire your efforts in making computing and communications more open and accessible.
thank you for listening,
1 September 2006 update: today i came across a shocking response one of your employees posted in the SIPphone support forum. when asked which type of encryption Gizmo uses, sipphonephil bluntly says, "We cannot release this information." this question was asked almost exactly a year ago and that is still the only official answer in the entire forum thread!
i don't know if this question has been answered somewhere else, but this example of so-called support your company is providing is totally unacceptable. did you know that your staff is so unhelpful (others would say ignorant) and appears to be cavalier about your customers' concerns? sipphonephil, who's seems to have plenty of time and on average is posting more than twice a day, should get back in there and properly address this question.
~ Christefano, 29 August 2005
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