Brendan from ViaTalk is a brave lad. Offering QnA in DSLReports forum to address the massive amount of concerns from subscribers. I will summarize the questions and answers posted.
Q: You've stated on numerous ocassions that current customers could expect some new features soon.When will these new features start to appear. With the SR influx your TS is almost unreachable and you stated a couple of weeks ago that the wait time should drop dramatically. When?
A: Features - Our dev team will be being diverted back to their regular duties within the next week or two.
Support - We've been working very hard on this, as it has been our primary area of focus lately. Hold times already have dropped dramatically - For instance our average hold time right now is at about 30 minutes.
Q: I as well as several thousand others, emailed in supporting documents for the contract buyout. The system created a support ticket for such. When do you anticipate these tickets will be addressed and current contract end dates then modified?
I understand this is not top priority, however, many of us feel lost in the system with no communication.
A: These are being treated as our lowest priority issue at the current time, as they are not really time sensitive issues. They will all be taken care of well before they will become an issue (renewal time).
Q: After signing up and already paying my $199 up front for a year, I was just sent an invoice today for an additional $2.50 for E911 service. I was under the impression that this monthly fee was included in the $199 yearly promotional. If that assumption is incorrect, the $199/year deal is no longer such a good deal. Was it supposed to be included or not?
A: There are two $1.25 charges, invoiced monthly on the 15th of the month, that cover various 911, regulatory fees, etc. These are listed on the plan pages, the order form, and in the terms of service.
Q: Could you please comment on this voicemail issue? It affects many of us and gives my callers the impression that we don't have a "real" phone company (or our answering machines are broken). The impression that I get is that no one really knows what the issue is - hopefully, you can dispel this. I'd appreciate hearing a firm target date for when this will be fixed.
A: We are aware of this issue and are currently working a resolution to it. My guess on an ETA would be within a couple of days.
Q: West coast servers? Plus is fail over still working even though it is not in CP? Thanks, Eric
A: We have at least one west coast server online currently, with more to follow in the future.
Q: There has been a lot of discussion for a long time now regarding the voicemail system. A voicemail system is a key element in a phone service...and the current system lacks just about everything that a "modern" voicemail system should offer (better navigation such as fast forward, rewind, pause, etc, etc). Using an open source product puts that responsibility on the provider to improve its functionality. Curious as to why this has remained the way it has for so long. It is a negative point of the service. Thanks Brendan.
A: Upgrading our VM system is something that is on our radar, however it currently is not at the top of the list as a result of our efforts being concentrated elsewhere due to the SR incident.
Q: Any plans in the near future to add the ability for a distinctive ring for a virtual number (no matter who the caller is)?
A: This is something we have discussed recently, and it will require some modification to how forwards are currently working, so while it is possible in the future it is not on the immediate radar.
Q: How about answering tickets? Mine was posted last week and is still open--considering the subject (I never got a password for configuring my ex-SR gizmo, therefore I have no service), I was expecting it to be answered by now.
A: We're working our staff back into their normal rotation/duties as quickly as we can. In the meantime, if you have access to your control panel, you can get this information yourself in the softphone section of your control panel.
This is a clear statement from ViaTalk, that they are dedicated to providing quality service to their customers. I feel confident that they have our best interests in mind.
But I have a few comments of my own, which I think would make me a happier customer.
- When you send someone an invoice, take a moment and write what it is for. Don't just send an invoice with no information on it whatsoever.
- Reorganize your pricing plans to include the $2.50 charge per month for E911 service. It is quite tacky to request your customers to pay $199 up front for service, and then charge them $2.50 a month for a lousy government regulation fee.
- The day that SunRocket showed signs it was going to tank, they should have had every HR person on the phone calling applicants. I am sorry, but it has been about 23 days since it was quite obvious SunRocket was biting the bullet, they could have had quite a bit of staff trained by that time. Or alternatively, they could have temporarily hired a call center to handle the influx until they could hire an adequate staff to handle the load.
- Offer better support for BYOD customers. Since you obviously will not have the staff to support your customers the best way possible the next time a large competitor tanks, then they should take the time to draft up some tutorials on configuring gizmos for their service.
- When it there is going to be an extra charge to port more than one number, tell the customer before processing the port.
- Lastly, when you tell the customer that their number will be completely ported by a specific date, have it done by that date. My one number was supposed to be ported on the 13th, it is now the 16th and it still has not been done.
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