This article explains and addresses the issue surrounding the failure of calls from our Voifone™ users in Canada and some other areas.
The Problem
Several comments have recently arrived from our Canadian users that they cannot make calls with Voifone™ because our software will not connect with our server. Our developers have been studying the issue. As a part of a troubleshooting process, we had some users attempt to log into their account using a competitor's VoIP software and the competing software also failed to connect. This tells us that the problem is likely not our Voifone™ software but instead has something to do either with the connection between the software and our server, or with our server itself.
Most users are able to use Voifone™ without a problem. However, our friends in Canada are experiencing chronic issues with their connection to our servers.
One Theory
Today, one of the 2 developers working on this issue reported back that he believes the issue is SIP Blocking and that there is nothing wrong with our software. He thinks the issue lies with the Internet Service Provider (ISP) through which our users are attempting to place calls. The other developer has not yet offered his opinion.
"SIP" stands for Session Initiated Protocol. This is the standard software used for a combination of voice calls, video calls, chat and image file transfer over the Internet. We, and hundreds of other similar companies worldwide use this standard protocol (software). Many ISP ("Internet Service Provider") companies, especially when the ISP is a cell phone provider's data connection, don't like SIP (VoIP) calls. This is the type of calling service we provide. The reason is that SIP competes with their service for a lower price or for free. FREE is even WORSE in their opinion. In addition to ISP's blocking SIP signals, there are a number of countries around the world that block SIP (VoIP) signals into our out of their country. When we see an entire country where Voifone™ fails to work, it's usually the result of SIP blocking. When all users with an entire ISP, such as the same cell phone carrier, or the same cable Internet service provider, etc. always fail, this is often a good indication of SIP blocking.
Our Opinion Of SIP/VoIP Blocking
In our view, blocking SIP signals is an unethical practice that's contrary to the principles of free enterprise plus open and fair competition. When a company or country cannot compete fairly, they sometimes "cheat" (ie SIP blocking) with an attempt at banning that which they don't like. This stifles competition. Stifling competition is bad for customers and results in higher prices. This is why we believe SIP blocking to be an unethical practice, foisted on an unsuspecting public to unfairly block their access to a superior - and less expensive - method of communication. A part of our mission is to defeat such attempts to prevent our users from access to our service (provided we don't violate local domestic laws in doing so).
A Possible Solution In The Works
Our Voifone™ developer knows how to defeat SIP blocking so our Voifone™ users can make calls despite the attempt by ISP's or Countries to block such calls. It's through the use of encrypted call technology. Programmers refer to this type of SIP or VoIP call as a "tunnel". This is because the ISP or the country who is blocking SIP signals, cannot recognize encrypted calls as "SIP signals". To the SIP blocking software, the encrypted signal simply appears to be normal data traveling through the Internet. Therefore the SIP/VoIP call cannot be detected as "SIP", and therefore cannot be blocked. The SIP signal, when encrypted, travels discretely through the Internet as if in a tunnel. Hence the term "tunnel".
Patience Is Required - Why It Takes So Long To Correct Some Software Issues
We appreciate all our users. Most of you, especially you PRG Members, are aware that we're an early stage company, and that Voifone™ remains in the Beta stage of development. Most software goes through years of development and testing before being released as as a fully developed application, and then only after being tested by thousands, and in some cases, millions of people.
All current users of our software and service are "early adopters." The fact that Voifone™, and all our other applications (even those which are in use right now) remain under continual development, is the very element that makes it possible for us to offer the Port Referral Group Membership to all our users and the public at large. As many of you know, the PRG represents an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from a dynamic service that we believe is destined to eventually become a very large, worldwide service, used by tens to hundreds of millions of people. No other company in our industry has ever offered such an opportunity to so many people. Usually, such a privilege is only available to a handful of owners, officers and possibly some original employees. Our philosophy is to make the PRG opportunity available to thousands, not just tens or a few people at the top.
Because our company is still very small, we don't have sufficient cash flow from either Voifone™ loads or PRG Membership sales to support even one single full-time VoIP developer. We have two part-time developers who work on the Voifone system at the present time. Larger companies in our industry, such as Skype or Viber, employ tens, hundreds and in the largest case (Skype) thousands of VoIP developers to keep their systems running. Please understand that the primary reason to employ such a staff around the clock (24x7x365) is that this type of software "breaks" constantly. There's nothing unusual about this condition. Compare it to operating equipment of any type. All equipment must be regularly maintained or it will eventually cease to work. The same is true with VoIP systems; there are so many variables that affect the smooth operation of the system, that such systems require constant maintenance. VoIP and SIP software engineers aren't sitting around constantly developing new software. Most of their time is spent monitoring the system, and fixing things that constantly go wrong as those problems arise. This is why, with the larger companies in our field, most users aren't aware of problems; they are fixed before the problem affects very many users. In our case, this is not yet possible.
We have a near-term goal to hire 3 such full-time developers. How soon we do this is completely dependent on how many PRG Memberships we can sell per month to continuously bring in sufficient revenue to support our company and sustain our growth. Hiring new full time VoIP engineers will drastically increase the speed at which we can correct problems such as that when we're experiencing in Canada right now. We'll hire these people as soon as we can afford to do so. You can expect to see us increase our efforts at selling more PRG Memberships.
As always, we welcome any comments or questions. Please don't hesitate to use the Contact Us form or chat with our support team on the website.
If these applications were fully developed to the point where we're merely improving features from time to time, the PRG wouldn't even be a possibility. By its very definition, PRG Members are "beta testers."
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