[Hidden-tech] DSL & Voip

[Matthew S. Crocker]

Have you looked at Zimbra?  It is competitive feature wise with Google Mail and can be hosted.   I use Zimbra for @corp.crocker.com mail for the past year and I love it.   We also host Zimbra for clients,  we have roughly 2k mailboxes on the platform now and growing.    Your data & $$ also stay with a local company.

-Matt



----- htcontact at townwebsites.com wrote:

> From: htcontact at townwebsites.com
> To: "hidden-discuss" <Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
> Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:30:57 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] DSL & Voip
>
> ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's
> area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> A third "ditto" - I'm nervous putting my data into the hands of a  
> company that isn't sure who owns the online rights to copyrighted
> books.
> 
> I have succumbed, though, to using a couple gmail accounts, one for  
> document sharing and another for email.  Email hosting is a hassle and
>  
> a resource hog, so I'm happily transferring some of my domains' email 
> 
> accounts from a VPS to google apps.  Wish someone else would compete 
> 
> with google in this space; I'd trust many companies more with my data 
> 
> than Google.
> 
> Charlie
> 
>   (checking my carefully SEO'd page ranks as they dissappear from view
> :)
> 
> Quoting Lynne Rudié <lynnerudie at verizon.net>:
> 
> >    ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the
> member's area.
> >    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >
> >
> > Hi Mik
> > 	I agree with you about the "creepiness factor" and I'm glad to
> hear
> > another techie say it out loud. I consciously keep my business
> small
> > (and local) enough that I don't need to consider the global issues
> > that Maria has to deal with, otherwise I'd probably be using Google
> too.
> > 	The parts of Google I use (I have gmail accounts for specific
> > purposes and/or groups) are great but the indexing issue is
> something
> > that I'm not sure how to feel about. The data is there and that's
> the
> > way the world is going, but I think we need to keep a certain
> amount
> > of mindfulness about it. It's one of those things that can be used
> for
> > good or evil, and one really evil person/entity who puts their mind
> to
> > it has the ability to take down a whole lot of good folks. Maybe
> that
> > will never happen and I'm just being an old fogey. But still, it's
> > worth thinking about.
> >
> > 	And I know, this has nothing to do with the subject of this thread
> so
> > those of you who aren't old fogeys please disregard.
> > 	Lynne
> >
> >
> >
> > On Oct 29, 2009, at 12:24 PM, Michael Muller wrote:
> >
> >>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the
> member's
> >> area.
> >>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Well, the future may be here already.
> >>
> >> I guess I am one of those stalwarts who wants to hold back hyper-
> >> global-integration wherein everyone uses one platform that
> provides
> >> everything for everyone.
> >>
> >> Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying what Google offers is bad, or
> >> that what you're doing, Maria, is bad. It serves your purposes and
> >> probably you couldn't be efficient if you didn't have this system.
> >>
> >> But, although I'm a technologist and a programmer, I still prefer
> to
> >> hold off on full adoption of anything that removes my control, or
> >> puts me into a single-entity hosted matrix of a gajillion other
> >> people.  Not only is there an all-eggs-in-one-basket issue, but
> >> there's the creepiness factor too.
> >>
> >> And outside of the subpeona issue, there's also the indexing
> issue.
> >> They know what people are talking about en mass because they index
> >> everything they touch.  That sort of global trend awareness scares
> >> me a little.
> >>
> >> Anyway, that's my reasoning for trying to remain the little local
> >> guy who could.  Keeping SOME things out of Google's databases is
> >> probably a good thing, including our emails.
> >>
> >> Mik
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> At 12:08 PM 10/29/2009, Maria Korolov (Trombly) wrote:
> >>> Another option if you have to have your own email address is to
> use
> >>> Google's hosted mail service. It's part of their Google Apps
> >>> platform, and the basic service is free.
> >>>
> >>> For example, for this account, i have unlimited email addresses
> >>> that end in @<http://tromblyltd.com>tromblyltd.com, as well as
> >>> shared documents and shared company calendars.
> >>>
> >>> (And free Google Analytics and everything else.)
> >>>
> >>> If you don't mind running your business on Google, you can't beat
> >>> the price, and their spam filters are basically the best around.
> >>>
> >>> And they'll replace their own branding on top of the email page
> >>> with your company logo. Again, for free.
> >>>
> >>> They do this because they put a little sidebar on the far right
> >>> with a list of Google ads, which I believe you can get rid of if
> >>> you upgrade to their paid service.
> >>>
> >>> I've been using this for ... about four years now, I guess.
> They've
> >>> been more reliable than any other email platform I've used so
> far,
> >>> and I've had zero problems getting anything to work. They have
> had
> >>> a couple of outages this year, which brought down the system, but
> >>> again, fewer than I've had with my previous email hosts.
> >>>
> >>> You can access them online from wherever you are by using a URL
> >>> something like this: <http://mail.google.com/a/tromblyltd.com/
> >>> #inbox>http://mail.google.com/a/tromblyltd.com/#inbox
> >>>
> >>> (In my case, I have
> <http://mail.tromblyltd.com>mail.tromblyltd.com
> >>> redirect automatically to that address.)
> >>>
> >>> Since I have employees around the world, this is a great deal.
> >>>
> >>> If you want to, you can also use Outlook in conjunction with this
> >>> -- they support POP3 and IMAP access. They've also recently
> rolled
> >>> out an offline version where they store backups of everything on
> >>> your computer, for when you don't have access to the Internet.
> >>>
> >>> Currently, the free version offers more than 7 gig of storage,
> per
> >>> employee or user. The Premier version offers 25 gig of storage
> per
> >>> employee, at a price of $50 per user per year. (Nor per domain
> >>> name, per user.)
> >>>
> >>> I don't mind the privacy issues -- if someone wanted to subpoena
> my
> >>> emails for a court case, it probably wouldn't make much
> difference
> >>> if they were hosted with Google or a smaller provider or on my
> own
> >>> server. Though I have been careful not to have discussions in
> email
> >>> relating to Chinese human rights issues while I was based in
> China.
> >>> If you're going to be doing that, I strongly recommend using one
> of
> >>> the encrypted, secure email systems specifically designed to
> avoid
> >>> detection by totalitarian governments.
> >>>
> >>> Some webhosts today -- Dreamhost, for example -- automatically
> >>> offer Google Apps integration as part of their domain services,
> in
> >>> addition to or instead of their own webmail platforms. I don't
> >>> blame them. I've seen the webmail offered by the other guys, and
> it
> >>> lags significantly behind features and usability of Gmail. In
> >>> addition to the spectacular spam filters, for example, Gmail
> emails
> >>> can be stored in multiple folders (they call them "labels") --
> most
> >>> webmail systems will only allow you to put an email into one
> folder
> >>> at a time. Gmail also has a huge number of other features --
> >>> automatic translations of emails from other languages, filters
> that
> >>> automatically sort incoming emails into folders, canned responses
> >>> that you can pull from a menu and drop into an email, group
> >>> calendar integration -- it can even remind you if you forgot to
> >>> include the attachment you mentioned in your email, or are
> sending
> >>> your email to the wrong "Bob". (Creepy, but can be very useful!)
> >>>
> >>> I know that Google doesn't provide the personalized service that
> >>> local hosting companies do. But, on the other hand, I've never
> >>> needed it. It just works. If it doesn't work, then it's not
> working
> >>> for everyone on the planet and you know they've got a gajillion
> >>> people on it fixing it.
> >>>
> >>> Oh, the other great thing about Google's hosted email system --
> >>> it's integrated with Google Chat (and AIM). I can instantly see
> >>> which of my employees are online, chat with them -- even have
> video
> >>> calls with them, all inside the email system. I use this daily to
> >>> stay in touch with my guys in India and China and Europe, and
> with
> >>> some of my clients who prefer to IM me.
> >>>
> >>> Best,
> >>>
> >>> Maria
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Maria Korolov
> >>> Technology columnist, Securities Industry News
> >>> Editor & publisher, Hypergrid Business (<http://
> >>> hypergridbusiness.com>hypergridbusiness.com)
> >>> President, Trombly Ltd.
> >>> 508-443-1130 | <mailto:maria at tromblyltd.com>maria at tromblyltd.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:31 AM, Michael Muller   
> >>> <<mailto:michael at mullertech.com
> >>> >michael at mullertech.com> wrote:
> >>> ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the
> member's
> >>> area.
> >>> ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Stacey,
> >>>
> >>> You are not the only one who is experiencing the issue of Verizon
> >>> unilaterally changing the SMTP port blocking / firewalling.  This
> >>> behavior costs small companies like mine a lot of time and
> >>> agravation. (Disclaimer: Montague WebWorks, of whom I am a
> partner,
> >>> is Stacey's hosting company.)
> >>>
> >>> Whenever Verizon makes a change we get barraged with calls. 
> Since
> >>> this occurance is really out of our hands -- essentially we're on
> >>> the other side of a wall we have no control over -- all we can do
> >>> is offer suggestions for port numbers and server names.  And
> >>> Verizon's support numbers and pages are usually very hard to get
> >>> and sometimes completely useless.
> >>>
> >>> I would imagine if they keep this up one of two things will
> >>> happen:  (a) America will give up on vanity domains for email and
> >>> all switch to gmail or hotmail or yahoo or whatever, thus
> >>> abandoning the small ISP's services, and/or (b) the small ISPs
> will
> >>> organize with the cafe owners (will explain that in a sec) and
> file
> >>> a class-action suit against Verizon and any other large
> >>> connectivity providers for loss of business and unfiar practices.
> >>>
> >>> To say that switching to port 587 will stop spam is a complete
> >>> joke. I mean really, what spammer sits in a cafe and sends a
> >>> million emails from their laptop?  If you're a real spammer
> you've
> >>> got your own server or you're using virus-bot technology, which
> >>> infects and uses unsuspecting desktop and laptop machines across
> >>> the Internet to send their spam emails.  Also, do you think they
> >>> don't know that Verizon has changed to port 587?  Aren't the
> >>> spammers EXPERTS in how email works?  Do you think everyone else
> >>> will know to use port 587 and they wouldn't? Are they walking
> >>> around right now scratching their heads saying "well hell... how
> >>> come it's not working?"
> >>>
> >>> Bell South and Comcast both require that ALL outgoing POP-style
> >>> email (not webmail) uses their own mailservers with a username
> and
> >>> password.  This is unfortunate for people sitting in a cafe
> >>> somewhere, using Outlook or an iPhone or any email client,
> because
> >>> they'll never know the username and password to use.  So, they're
> >>> screwed.  And maybe they'll stop going to that cafe.  Sucks for
> the
> >>> cafe owners.
> >>>
> >>> No, it's bogus. And at a certain point they should all have to
> stop
> >>> these inconvenient practices.
> >>>
> >>> The best thing they could do for the convenience of users of
> their
> >>> service if they want to stop spam is to simply throttle down
> >>> traffic over port 25 and 587.  Stop any connection if more than,
> >>> say, 25 emails are being sent in a single shot. Simple.
> >>>
> >>> They have the technology, and that would open up commerce again
> for
> >>> the small ISP (such as myself) and the cafes who can't get their
> >>> customer email out.  I can get testimonials from two cafe owners
> >>> that the recent change impacted their business.
> >>>
> >>> Mik
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> At 02:45 PM 10/27/2009, Stacey Langknecht wrote:
> >>>>  ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the
> >>>> member's area.
> >>>>  ** If you did, we all thank you.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Hello Everyone -
> >>>>
> >>>> A few things here...first, some feedback about Verizon: the
> worst
> >>>> customer service I've ever experienced, and this was from the
> >>>> beginning of my dsl service a few years ago! Everything is awful
> >>>> from their obnoxious auto-operator to the incompetent csr's. I
> >>>> just got my email back up and running really due to the help of
> my
> >>>> host company, not Verizon, even though it was their fault (they
> >>>> blocked the port a few weeks ago, then told me port 587 was
> fine,
> >>>> then after a few weeks that stopped working, and now port 26 is
> >>>> working again, but who knows how long this will last?!) - all
> this
> >>>> is because we have a home business with our own domain name.
> >>>> So....does anyone know of another company that offers dsl service
> to
> >>>> home biz folks that's also reasonable???? I understand that
> >>>> Comcast, AT&T and the other huge companies are all doing the
> same
> >>>> thing, and Crocker is more expensive and I hear that they don't
> >>>> offer 'round the clock service if something goes wrong. Any
> >>>> suggestions?
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm also looking into VOIP and have heard mixed reviews on
> Vonage
> >>>> and Magic Jack. Has anyone used Ooma? I have a friend down south
> >>>> who uses them and says they're OK. It seems like the big issue
> >>>> with Voip is the connection. Any feedback here?
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks for all your help!!
> >>>>
> >>>> Stacey Langknecht
> >>>> Hotsapp Woodworks
> >>>> 413-367-9408
> >>>>
> <mailto:stacey at hotsapp.com><mailto:stacey at hotsapp.com>stacey at hotsapp.com
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>> --------
> >>> Michael Muller
> >>> office (413) 863-6455
> >>> cell (413) 320-5336
> >>> skype: michaelBmuller
> >>> <http://MontagueWebWorks.com>http://MontagueWebWorks.com
> >>>
> >>> Information is not knowledge
> >>> Knowlege is not wisdom
> >>>
> >>> Eschew Obfuscation
> >>>
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> >>>
> >>
> >> --------
> >> Michael Muller
> >> office (413) 863-6455
> >> cell (413) 320-5336
> >> skype: michaelBmuller
> >> http://MontagueWebWorks.com
> >>
> >> Information is not knowledge
> >> Knowlege is not wisdom
> >>
> >> Eschew Obfuscation
> >>
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-- 
Matthew S. Crocker
President
Crocker Communications, Inc.
PO BOX 710
Greenfield, MA 01302-0710
http://www.crocker.com
P: 413-746-2760