atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information VoIP service question

I just read Arthur's VoIP Madness topic and laughed...I agree, that level of service was not tolerated in the past!

Anyway, on to my question regarding VoIP service providers and PUC's...

I support our LEC service and the hardware equipment for hundreds of locations and from time to time (very rare actually) I depend on the PUC to assist with a service issue with a LEC. My past experience as an AT&T/Bell tech is still very helpful.

My question is this...I have been told by a couple of state's PUC that internet based VoIP service providers (such as Vonage, etc...) are not regulated by the PUC's and that a PUC cannot help with service provider issues BUT... if the VoIP service is provided by a company that also delivers it to the location such as a cable company (Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, etc...) that the PUC can help assist with any issues. (At least in the handful of state PUCs I have talked with.)

I'm asking this because we are starting to look/research VoIP service delivered via broadband and I'm thinking that in this case we would lose any support if necessary/required from the state's PUC.

Even though I could count on both hands the number of times I have contacted a PUC in the past decade, it is good to know they are there if necessary. At this time I see this as a negative when using a VoIP service delivered by a different companies broadband.

I welcome any thoughts on this...thanks

The answer is simple. If you have a problem and you replace or test everything on your end and you still have a problem and you are convinced it's not your wiring or equipment and the unregulated provider says "too bad," what do you do now? At least, with a regulated provider, you have some recourse. Just think about it.

Rcaman