This is something I've never understood. Why haven't all voicemail systems (including the older 'non-visual' ones) simply downloaded the messages to the handset's memory, and allow the user to manage them as they see fit? Why this exclusive dependence on the carrier's servers?
When VM started out phones didn't have the capacity to store messages. It became the way things are done and Verizon apparently wants to continue along that path.
So does this mean the verizon network now has a snowball's chance of working visual voice-mail on a liberated iPhone?
I just left Verizon for AT&T and an iPhone 3g. I would have left sooner, but I was waiting for the 3g.
Verizon is CDMA. AT&T's GSM service at my home is sub-par, but it is good where I am most of my day: at work.
So liberated iPhones, as far as I know, don't have a snowball's chance in hell working on CDMA networks, visual voicemail or not.
This is one of the reasons, iPhone aside, I was looking to ditch Verizon. They just don't get it. They cock block all of a phone's features, and then charge you for using the ones that are included on the most basic phone. People are running for the iPhone not because it's tpouch screen, or looks nice, but because the feature set its awesome, and the carriers aren't killing you to use it. My AT&T bill is ~$80, including 200 SMS. My Treo 650, on Verizon, about 18 months ago, was around $120 a month. What the big V ( number 2, I might add) needs to do is step up the features like VVM, and NOT CHARGE FOR IT. The damn phones are fully functional. Verizon goes through the trouble of removing the stock software and then charging you for using theirs.
This is the reason the USA needs to stop carriers from exclusive phones and what not. No subsidies. Let the consumer buy the phone at retail, then choose a carrier. No contracts. The prices will surely fall, and the better customer service, the more subscribers you will gain.
I'd rather have free visual voicemail than free SMS.
Losing your messages after 40 days sounds really irritating to say the least. I have a few on my home phone that I've kept much longer. How long can you keep your messages with an iPhone?
We know that Klausner has patented it but I can find no info on a trademark from them for the Visual Voicemail title. The name for a similar functioning VOIP and POTS service used By Nortel/Citrix also bares the VV moniker.
PS: This was a non-story when it was announced that Sprint had also licensed VV for its Samsung Instinct.
This is something I've never understood. Why haven't all voicemail systems (including the older 'non-visual' ones) simply downloaded the messages to the handset's memory, and allow the user to manage them as they see fit? Why this exclusive dependence on the carrier's servers?
I don't know, but sometimes it's handy to not have the phone be the place it is stored. If the phone can't be located or it's out of battery, then any other phone can be used to get the messages. If you lost the phone, wouldn't you be losing your messages too?
To echo what's been said before - that's one clunky interface!
Why are the telco's so stingy with their messages? With Telus in Canada I can store up to 3 messages for a limited time. I have to pay something like $10 per month to get more. When I signed up I questioned this absolute rip off. I get 6gb free with Google. How much space does 10 messages take up?
I don't know, but sometimes it's handy to not have the phone be the place it is stored. If the phone can't be located or it's out of battery, then any other phone can be used to get the messages. If you lost the phone, wouldn't you be losing your messages too?
(My original question was a bit brief because I was heading out the door.)
@solipsism: Yes, it's clear that older handsets had next to no memory, so downloading VM messages wouldn't have been feasible. But that's no longer the case with many models today.
@JeffDM: I should have specified that downloading the messages would be an option, and the limitations on messages left on the server would remain. This could be more like IMAP, except that the messages on the server expire after 40 days or whatever. An added benefit is the user could retrieve an earlier message from a landline or other handset within the expiration period. After that, the messages you've downloaded are yours to keep or delete as you see fit, just like email.
@Everyone else: Carriers are greedy?!? I would have never guessed!
I came across the following quote while reading some "random" articles here and there:
Quote:
Responding to questions from New York Times correspondent John Markoff at a Churchill Club breakfast gathering Thursday morning, Colligan laughed off the idea that any company -- including the wildly popular Apple Computer -- could easily win customers in the finicky smart-phone sector.
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," he said. ""PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.'"
Figures the crooks at Verizon would charge you for it. If they could, they would charge you to browse your own address book! As another already pointed out, Verizon cripples most standard features on a phone, then charges you for it.
I came across the following quote while reading some "random" articles here and there:
Responding to questions from New York Times correspondent John Markoff at a Churchill Club breakfast gathering Thursday morning, Colligan laughed off the idea that any company -- including the wildly popular Apple Computer -- could easily win customers in the finicky smart-phone sector.
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," he said. ""PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.'"
In Markoff's defence he was probably thinking along the lines of MS' mobile OS. Though I think he made that claim after the demo of the iPhone was available, so he should have seen it and realised that Apple has to create just one HW platform to make it work and that it's Unix-based OS is considerably more scalable than what MS had to work with.
You would think Apple would have patented the phrase "visual voice mail" by now.
Lawsuit coming.
You don't patent phrases, you trademark them, besides, visual voicemail has been in Asia for several years now. If there's anyone suing, it won't be Apple.
This is one of the reasons, iPhone aside, I was looking to ditch Verizon. They just don't get it. They cock block all of a phone's features, and then charge you for using the ones that are included on the most basic phone. People are running for the iPhone not because it's tpouch screen, or looks nice, but because the feature set its awesome, and the carriers aren't killing you to use it.
As a current Verizon subscriber, I'm well aware of how of "cock blocked" their phones are, but how is the iPhone really that much better? My crappy Motorola KRAZOR supports more Bluetooth profiles than the iPhone's paltry one. Any syncing of contacts/calendars/music/etc. still required physically hooking either the Verizon phone or iPhone to the computer. I guess for an extra $100 a year, you can wirelessly sync the iPhone contacts and calendar now via MobileMe, but all other syncing still requires that physical connection.
All of the things I really didn't like about my Verizon phone are still present on the iPhone.
Figures the crooks at Verizon would charge you for it. If they could, they would charge you to browse your own address book! As another already pointed out, Verizon cripples most standard features on a phone, then charges you for it.
I'm currently with Verizon and they definitely are a big rip off. On my last months bill, I had $20 in data charges. I couldn't believe it, I don't use the web on my phone. When I sat and thought about it, I realized that my wife was looking for a new ringtone using the Verizon Tones application. Now, I've been with them for 6 years and in that time I've probably got about 4 or 5 ringtones. NEVER have I been charged for browsing for a ringtone, only for purchasing one. I received no notice from Verizon saying that they were going to start charging for it.
I'm seriously thinking about changing to AT&T (mainly for the iPhone) but I had a really bad experience with them in the past. The only reason why I've stayed with Verizon this long is because everyone I talk to is on it so I never go over on minutes.
I just left Verizon for AT&T and an iPhone 3g. I would have left sooner, but I was waiting for the 3g.
Verizon is CDMA. AT&T's GSM service at my home is sub-par, but it is good where I am most of my day: at work.
So liberated iPhones, as far as I know, don't have a snowball's chance in hell working on CDMA networks, visual voicemail or not.
This is one of the reasons, iPhone aside, I was looking to ditch Verizon. They just don't get it. They cock block all of a phone's features, and then charge you for using the ones that are included on the most basic phone. People are running for the iPhone not because it's tpouch screen, or looks nice, but because the feature set its awesome, and the carriers aren't killing you to use it. My AT&T bill is ~$80, including 200 SMS. My Treo 650, on Verizon, about 18 months ago, was around $120 a month. What the big V ( number 2, I might add) needs to do is step up the features like VVM, and NOT CHARGE FOR IT. The damn phones are fully functional. Verizon goes through the trouble of removing the stock software and then charging you for using theirs.
1.) You bitch about Verizon yet your iPhone's reception at home is sub-par? How was it with Verizon - I bet no problem.
2.) You know and note that the iPhone is GSM and then bitch that is doesn't work on CDMA Verizon? makes no sense.
3.) Verizon has to cripple most phones because they have GSM feature that won't work with CDMA. example- the Razr.
4.) Verizon charges for the software- where? monthly?
5.) Can you get SMS pix on your iPhone from any other cariers including Verizon?
6.)How's AT&T's notorious lousy customer service? AT&T is ranked near the bottom according to Consumers Reports.
I'm currently with Verizon and they definitely are a big rip off. On my last months bill, I had $20 in data charges. I couldn't believe it, I don't use the web on my phone. When I sat and thought about it, I realized that my wife was looking for a new ringtone using the Verizon Tones application. Now, I've been with them for 6 years and in that time I've probably got about 4 or 5 ringtones. NEVER have I been charged for browsing for a ringtone, only for purchasing one. I received no notice from Verizon saying that they were going to start charging for it.
I'm seriously thinking about changing to AT&T (mainly for the iPhone) but I had a really bad experience with them in the past. The only reason why I've stayed with Verizon this long is because everyone I talk to is on it so I never go over on minutes.
Look up AT&T at Consumers Reports before changing. Do you have any connection issues with Verizon? Call Verizon and get the charges reversed if they are in error. They will usually reverse them if they are a one time thing.
Comments
This is something I've never understood. Why haven't all voicemail systems (including the older 'non-visual' ones) simply downloaded the messages to the handset's memory, and allow the user to manage them as they see fit? Why this exclusive dependence on the carrier's servers?
When VM started out phones didn't have the capacity to store messages. It became the way things are done and Verizon apparently wants to continue along that path.
So does this mean the verizon network now has a snowball's chance of working visual voice-mail on a liberated iPhone?
I just left Verizon for AT&T and an iPhone 3g. I would have left sooner, but I was waiting for the 3g.
Verizon is CDMA. AT&T's GSM service at my home is sub-par, but it is good where I am most of my day: at work.
So liberated iPhones, as far as I know, don't have a snowball's chance in hell working on CDMA networks, visual voicemail or not.
This is one of the reasons, iPhone aside, I was looking to ditch Verizon. They just don't get it. They cock block all of a phone's features, and then charge you for using the ones that are included on the most basic phone. People are running for the iPhone not because it's tpouch screen, or looks nice, but because the feature set its awesome, and the carriers aren't killing you to use it. My AT&T bill is ~$80, including 200 SMS. My Treo 650, on Verizon, about 18 months ago, was around $120 a month. What the big V ( number 2, I might add) needs to do is step up the features like VVM, and NOT CHARGE FOR IT. The damn phones are fully functional. Verizon goes through the trouble of removing the stock software and then charging you for using theirs.
This is the reason the USA needs to stop carriers from exclusive phones and what not. No subsidies. Let the consumer buy the phone at retail, then choose a carrier. No contracts. The prices will surely fall, and the better customer service, the more subscribers you will gain.
Losing your messages after 40 days sounds really irritating to say the least. I have a few on my home phone that I've kept much longer. How long can you keep your messages with an iPhone?
I guess I had it mixed up, Klausner settled with Apple for using the technology.
How long can you keep your messages with an iPhone?
I don't think there is an auto delete for saved iPhone messages.
I do remember reading somewhere that Apple had begun licensing Visual Voice Mail, and that it had a few patents on the technology.
I guess I had it mixed up, Klausner settled with Apple for using the technology.
Yep. Just googled. They settled with and licensed it from Klausner Technologies. Guess Verizon licensed likewise.
Note that the name of the feature is the same.
Note that the name of the feature is the same.
We know that Klausner has patented it but I can find no info on a trademark from them for the Visual Voicemail title. The name for a similar functioning VOIP and POTS service used By Nortel/Citrix also bares the VV moniker.
PS: This was a non-story when it was announced that Sprint had also licensed VV for its Samsung Instinct.
This is something I've never understood. Why haven't all voicemail systems (including the older 'non-visual' ones) simply downloaded the messages to the handset's memory, and allow the user to manage them as they see fit? Why this exclusive dependence on the carrier's servers?
I don't know, but sometimes it's handy to not have the phone be the place it is stored. If the phone can't be located or it's out of battery, then any other phone can be used to get the messages. If you lost the phone, wouldn't you be losing your messages too?
Why are the telco's so stingy with their messages? With Telus in Canada I can store up to 3 messages for a limited time. I have to pay something like $10 per month to get more. When I signed up I questioned this absolute rip off. I get 6gb free with Google. How much space does 10 messages take up?
I don't know, but sometimes it's handy to not have the phone be the place it is stored. If the phone can't be located or it's out of battery, then any other phone can be used to get the messages. If you lost the phone, wouldn't you be losing your messages too?
(My original question was a bit brief because I was heading out the door.)
@solipsism: Yes, it's clear that older handsets had next to no memory, so downloading VM messages wouldn't have been feasible. But that's no longer the case with many models today.
@JeffDM: I should have specified that downloading the messages would be an option, and the limitations on messages left on the server would remain. This could be more like IMAP, except that the messages on the server expire after 40 days or whatever. An added benefit is the user could retrieve an earlier message from a landline or other handset within the expiration period. After that, the messages you've downloaded are yours to keep or delete as you see fit, just like email.
@Everyone else: Carriers are greedy?!? I would have never guessed!
I came across the following quote while reading some "random" articles here and there:
Responding to questions from New York Times correspondent John Markoff at a Churchill Club breakfast gathering Thursday morning, Colligan laughed off the idea that any company -- including the wildly popular Apple Computer -- could easily win customers in the finicky smart-phone sector.
"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," he said. ""PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.'"
off topic
I came across the following quote while reading some "random" articles here and there:
In Markoff's defence he was probably thinking along the lines of MS' mobile OS. Though I think he made that claim after the demo of the iPhone was available, so he should have seen it and realised that Apple has to create just one HW platform to make it work and that it's Unix-based OS is considerably more scalable than what MS had to work with.
Lawsuit coming.
You would think Apple would have patented the phrase "visual voice mail" by now.
Lawsuit coming.
You don't patent phrases, you trademark them, besides, visual voicemail has been in Asia for several years now. If there's anyone suing, it won't be Apple.
This is one of the reasons, iPhone aside, I was looking to ditch Verizon. They just don't get it. They cock block all of a phone's features, and then charge you for using the ones that are included on the most basic phone. People are running for the iPhone not because it's tpouch screen, or looks nice, but because the feature set its awesome, and the carriers aren't killing you to use it.
As a current Verizon subscriber, I'm well aware of how of "cock blocked" their phones are, but how is the iPhone really that much better? My crappy Motorola KRAZOR supports more Bluetooth profiles than the iPhone's paltry one. Any syncing of contacts/calendars/music/etc. still required physically hooking either the Verizon phone or iPhone to the computer. I guess for an extra $100 a year, you can wirelessly sync the iPhone contacts and calendar now via MobileMe, but all other syncing still requires that physical connection.
All of the things I really didn't like about my Verizon phone are still present on the iPhone.
Figures the crooks at Verizon would charge you for it. If they could, they would charge you to browse your own address book! As another already pointed out, Verizon cripples most standard features on a phone, then charges you for it.
I'm currently with Verizon and they definitely are a big rip off. On my last months bill, I had $20 in data charges. I couldn't believe it, I don't use the web on my phone. When I sat and thought about it, I realized that my wife was looking for a new ringtone using the Verizon Tones application. Now, I've been with them for 6 years and in that time I've probably got about 4 or 5 ringtones. NEVER have I been charged for browsing for a ringtone, only for purchasing one. I received no notice from Verizon saying that they were going to start charging for it.
I'm seriously thinking about changing to AT&T (mainly for the iPhone) but I had a really bad experience with them in the past. The only reason why I've stayed with Verizon this long is because everyone I talk to is on it so I never go over on minutes.
I just left Verizon for AT&T and an iPhone 3g. I would have left sooner, but I was waiting for the 3g.
Verizon is CDMA. AT&T's GSM service at my home is sub-par, but it is good where I am most of my day: at work.
So liberated iPhones, as far as I know, don't have a snowball's chance in hell working on CDMA networks, visual voicemail or not.
This is one of the reasons, iPhone aside, I was looking to ditch Verizon. They just don't get it. They cock block all of a phone's features, and then charge you for using the ones that are included on the most basic phone. People are running for the iPhone not because it's tpouch screen, or looks nice, but because the feature set its awesome, and the carriers aren't killing you to use it. My AT&T bill is ~$80, including 200 SMS. My Treo 650, on Verizon, about 18 months ago, was around $120 a month. What the big V ( number 2, I might add) needs to do is step up the features like VVM, and NOT CHARGE FOR IT. The damn phones are fully functional. Verizon goes through the trouble of removing the stock software and then charging you for using theirs.
1.) You bitch about Verizon yet your iPhone's reception at home is sub-par? How was it with Verizon - I bet no problem.
2.) You know and note that the iPhone is GSM and then bitch that is doesn't work on CDMA Verizon? makes no sense.
3.) Verizon has to cripple most phones because they have GSM feature that won't work with CDMA. example- the Razr.
4.) Verizon charges for the software- where? monthly?
5.) Can you get SMS pix on your iPhone from any other cariers including Verizon?
6.)How's AT&T's notorious lousy customer service? AT&T is ranked near the bottom according to Consumers Reports.
I'm currently with Verizon and they definitely are a big rip off. On my last months bill, I had $20 in data charges. I couldn't believe it, I don't use the web on my phone. When I sat and thought about it, I realized that my wife was looking for a new ringtone using the Verizon Tones application. Now, I've been with them for 6 years and in that time I've probably got about 4 or 5 ringtones. NEVER have I been charged for browsing for a ringtone, only for purchasing one. I received no notice from Verizon saying that they were going to start charging for it.
I'm seriously thinking about changing to AT&T (mainly for the iPhone) but I had a really bad experience with them in the past. The only reason why I've stayed with Verizon this long is because everyone I talk to is on it so I never go over on minutes.
Look up AT&T at Consumers Reports before changing. Do you have any connection issues with Verizon? Call Verizon and get the charges reversed if they are in error. They will usually reverse them if they are a one time thing.