Video phones; not for Philippines

Technically, Video phones can be used anywhere, any where you can get a descent high speed Internet connection. To be specific, 128 kbps upload (256 kbps is recommended) you can ask your Internet service provider at what speed you are subscribing to or

http://www.speedtest.net/

you can use the link above to check the speed of your Internet connection, before ordering the video phones

Possibly due to infrastructure and economic reasons, Internet providers in the Philippines have not been at par with their western counter parts. It has been reported that it takes at least 2-3 months before a DSL connection can be installed from the time of application. One client even reported that she had to physically go to the service provider’s office to apply, phone orders were not an option.

We have sent 4 video phones to the Philippines

1 was sent to manila, but got short circuit due to lightning storm (customer didn’t use a power strip with fuse)

1 was sent to Bacolod, Internet connection was so bad, erratic and data flow fluctuates so bad that the customer just terminated the service

2 were sent to Novaliches and Nueva Ecija, both were returned to the customer’s families in the US because there wasn’t enough data to for the video to function properly.

We did have a couple of successful Video phones, but both were sent to the Metro area and the customers did bombard their service providers for better service. One customer had to call and complain that the data flow is being regulated. Some how, the customer did not get the speed she signed up for. Either the Internet providers just assumed that their client wouldn’t know the difference or that they are intentionally regulating the data flow because they also have a VoIP service to offer and wants to eliminate competition. (all are just logical speculation)

Bottom line:

1 . Have your loved ones check their Internet connection speed over there in the Philippines first before ordering the ACN Video phones, make sure that they have the required speed as mentioned above.

2. If the Video Phones in the Philippines seems to bag down, check the speed again and have them call their Internet service provider to maintain the speed.

3. Leave the video phones turned on to receive updates from the Network. Some phones in the Philippines malfunctioned because they were either off and didn’t receive the updates or the speed of the data was to low that the updates could not get through.

4. Set up the Video phone in the most cool and less humid room in the house and use a power strip with a fuse or a voltage regulator. Philippine weather is mostly hot, very hot and very humid, generally not good for any electronic devices. Also, power surge is quite common specially in stormy weather which is the only weather the Philippines have besides hot summers.