Media

In April we decided it would be smart to get a toll free 1888 number for our United States clients.   Awesome!   So we got into a contract with my1Voice in April 2011, only 3 months ago.   This is what we received:

My1Voice

·         Toll free number

·         Ability to add Skype user name (not phone number) - this is important for Canadians who aren't allowed to purchase a Skype number

·         At least 10 extensions

·         Ability to convert all extension voicemails to emails ( wasn't a great conversion but you could get the gist of the voicemail usually)

So I happily spent hundreds of dollars getting new business cards, letterhead, changing our website to incorporate our new 1888 number.     On July 21 I received an email saying this:

We're pleased to announce that my1voice™ has partnered with eVoice®. Soon, you'll be able to enjoy the comfort of having your services backed by a network of business-critical communication services that serve over 11 million customers in 48 countries on 6 continents.Even better, if you make the transition to eVoice early, you can take advantage of our early bird offer of only $9.95 per month.

my1voice™ is becoming eVoice: A Radically Better Phone Number

All of us at eVoice look forward to providing you with valuable, ongoing communications services that will continually improve the way you do business.

Call us now to take advantage of this special offer. 866-711-3101

I thought no big deal, just move over seamlessly to @evoice and pay the early bird offer.  I spent about 4 hours on the phone yesterday bounced between my1voice and evoice.  No one really seems to know much about the buy out.  All I know is that I am now hooped!

@eVoice

·         Toll free number transfer

·         No ability to add a Skype user name

·         2 extensions

·         Convert voice to text for 5.95 a month

In talking to numerous support people @eVoice I as told different things each time.  I can do the transfer by July, Sept, November,  they didn't know the answer to my questions, etc.  I was getting pretty frustrated to asked if I could speak to a supervisor and was told that she would "try" to have one call but no guarantee as she told you everything I needed to know.  You will have to pay more for your current services and any add-on's that use to be included and now aren't.   Interesting maneuver to keep clients.

Anyone else have an experience with @evoice or can recommend another service, would love to hear from you!

The full text of the bill can be found here. It doesn't have a number assigned to it yet though, so it is very early in the process. I'll be curious to see how this moves through the House of Representatives. Do you think this kind of legislation is necessary or should market forces prevail?

Thanks to Ed Hansbury and information week for this article.  http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/231000332

Thanks to mashable.com:

Research in Motion (RIM) announced its first quarter financial results for fiscal 2012 on Thursday, and the outlook isn’t pretty.

Revenue was up 16% but earnings per share and net income were down from Q1 2011. The company said it shipped 13.2 million BlackBerry handheld devices and 500,000 BlackBerry Playbook tablets during the most-recent quarter.

Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said Thursday that RIM is having problems gaining traction in new markets and shipping updated products.

“Fiscal 2012 has gotten off to a challenging start. The slowdown we saw in the first quarter is continuing into Q2, and delays in new product introductions into the very late part of August is leading to a lower than expected outlook in the second quarter. RIM’s business is profitable and remains solid overall with growing market share in numerous markets around the world and a strong balance sheet with almost $3 billion in cash. We believe that with the new products scheduled for launch in the next few months and realigning our cost structure, RIM will see strong profit growth in the latter part of fiscal 2012.”

Once the world leader in smartphones, RIM has had a difficult time transitioning — not just to the emerging tablet space but to the app-centric nature of the mobile market. Additionally, RIM is being challenged by Apple, Google and Microsoft in the enterprise space, where the BlackBerry used to be ubiquitous.

SEE ALSO: Why Apps, Not Apple, Are Killing BlackBerry

The latest financial results mean that RIM will need to cut costs, which will include layoffs. The company has also updated its outlook for the rest of fiscal 2012, reducing its expected earnings and earnings per share.

RIM’s biggest enemy may simply be time. The company has already pushed back the release date for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 to late August (which means mid-September) and other devices running the next version of BlackBerry OS 7 may not ship until October or November. What makes that even more problematic is that these devices are not the future BlackBerry superphones that will run on the QNX-based operating system used by the BlackBerry PlayBook.

With each passing month, RIM falls further behind the juggernaut that is Android. Apple continues to release regular updates to its mobile OS and SDK, including the recently-announced iOS 5. Microsoft is also aggressively targeting the business customer with the next version of Windows Phone.

Can RIM escape this tailspin, or is it doomed to be the next Nokia or Palm? Let us know in the comments.

We use refillable ink but not Lexmark brand.  Have used Lexmark for years and after this update sent June 12/2011 you will no longer be able to use anything that isn't Lexmark.

What does this firmware do?

• Corrects issues waking up from power saver mode
• Corrects issues with print quality after long periods of non-use
• Prevents false "printhead error" messages
• Restricts use of unauthorized cartridges

We used their chat service at 7 am today and was told the below information:

From Lexmark Chat: The new firmware update cannot read other brands than Lexmark and you cannot undo the update.  They said this is who made the decision

·  Canada

Lexmark International, Inc.

740 W. New Circle Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40550

Tel:+1-859-232-2000

Corporate Headquarters information is here

Research in Motion buys Tungle!