The Pitfalls of Technology

As many of you know, all but one of the telephone lines that we use at the Sierra Stone Head Office are internet-based, voice-over-internet-protocol (i.e. VOIP) lines.  We implemented the VOIP system a few years ago because we needed more lines due to higher call volumes, and being in a rural area made the cost of getting more land-lines put in far to expensive.  Voice-over-IP services have proven to be both highly effective and extremely economical for many companies in recent years, and I had hoped that ours would benefit as well.


Over the years we've fought with inconsistent internet service and slow internet speeds more often than we would have liked until the last few months.  We switched internet service providers and now have a very strong and consistent internet signal.  However, now our VOIP provider has decided to change over its billing system which means creating new accounts and changing our settings.  This has led, at least in part, to a barrage of persistent (and extremely frustrating), technical problems which have lasted for a good portion of this month.  On Thursday the problems peaked when our VOIP provider attempted to do a "simple" account upgrade which has resulted in an almost complete lack of VOIP telephone services in our office:  we can call out, but our customers can't call in.


We all know what an office space can be like when important pieces of technology aren't working, and our office is no exception.  All of us have been frustrated at the current situation, and the most frustrating part about it is that we are essentially at the mercy of technicians who are a very long distance from our office.  The frustration and pressure from within the office have prompted me to switch VOIP providers, so we are now using the services of a company that provides VOIP for Delta Airlines, IBM, StateFarm, and a number of other large companies.  HOWEVER, it appears that we have run into a similar problem during the setup process:  I can call out, but our customers cannot call in.  The symptoms of the problem are different than those with our other provider, and I am relatively certain they should have things up and running by Monday at the latest.  


In any case, we ask that you be patient with us as we try and work this out.  Believe it or not, we're as frustrated as anybody about this whole situation.  Hopefully this new service provider will be the last step in perfecting our system.


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UPDATE:  As of August 22, 2011 our 1-888-799-3960 number has been call-forwarded to our new provider so we are up and running again.  Now to see how reliable the service is . . .