Thanks to the grassroots efforts of our customers, partners and the blogosphere, the current phone blocking situation has quickly become a turbo-charged topic rife with controversy.  On one hand, we have the telecom giants – in fairness to these companies, they have laid the infrastructure and given us the 5 9’s of phone reliability that we have continue to leverage.  On the other hand, you have those companies that disrupt and drive change in an antiquated industry that is 100 years old and in dire need of a face lift.  However, it appears that larger forces are at work than simply a debate between two sides of the telecom fence.  We are facing issues that will likely define how we handle our business, our customers and our communications in the future.

Carrier Neutrality-  You’ll notice in many of our linked blogs and news articles the authors make reference to Net Neutrality.  To the Internet, this concept is defined on the premise that all content, websites and access methods should be treated equal.  In both Internet and telecom, access to content and services are provided by a carrier.  As consumers, we rely on that carrier not to discriminate or select for us, our chosen content and services.  When a carrier is faced with competing services or content that is not aligned with their preference, they must continue to provide these options to their customers.  Only then is a carrier truly “neutral”; when it can stand between the business plan and the customers’ requests.

Customer Leverage-  One of the most puzzling aspects of this case has been the use of end-users as leverage.  We can’t quite figure out why a carrier would want to take valuable services out of the hands of its customers.  Granted the carriers offer options, but they are expensive and nowhere similar to FreeConferenceCall.  Since our model is built around our dedicated customers, we will never use them as a tool to settle a disagreement with another company. 

The Voice of the Consumer-  We have had an outpouring of support from numerous customers during this period.  Many of them have taken their complaints far up the chains of their carrier, their state regulators and even to the FCC.  Everyday, the call blocking situation becomes a bigger issue for all parties involved.  There will be a resolution soon and we are looking forward to sharing it with all of you.

Until then, keep blogging, keep contacting the FCC, and, most importantly, keep on conference calling.  Stay tuned for more updates…