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
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.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: ACN, philippines, video phones, voip |
A.c.n.technicalities 
I am an independent representative of ACN and I have a friend in Canada with family in the Philippines; she only wants to consider becoming a representative and/or purchasing a phone if her family there can also use the videophone to see her in Canada. Can you tell me the situation now and advise me if it might improve soon.
If her family is in the Metro area. (example: Manila, Quezon City, Pasig City, etc) then most probably it will work. The main thing is for the family in the Philippines to purchase / install an internet connection. As far as I have heard there are 3 major internet providers PLDT, Globe Telecom and Smart). Average price of service across the board is around 1000 pesos/ month. If she could have her family obtain an internet connection, then run a speed test to see if it meets the minimum requirements for the ACN Video Phone.
Use this link to run the test (http://www.speedtest.net/)
Just a few tips.
– since most homes in the Philippines are still not wired to the internet, it would be good to remind her that the family does NOT need a computer. some how most people tend to equate a computer with internet and vice versa
– installation of internet service in the Philippines takes a minimum of 3 months on average. (more or less, but I have not received any reports of any improvements)
– if she does buy the Video Phone, have it activated here first before sending it over there.
– remind her, to remind the family never to use the phone for local calls, specially the 911. it was reported to me that 911 over there is a pizza delivery number. (this info was not verified)
I am sure there are other Filipino ACN reps over there on your end. Try to get in touch with one and get a Video Phone number that is being used over there in the Philippines for a demo. So she can actually see that it works. If all else fails and you can’t find one, contact me again, and we’ll set up a call from one of the phones I sent over there in Phil.
Hope this helps.
i went to Philipinnes from april 2008 to june 2008 and i bring my acn adaptor and it was no problem for me to call in canada and states. i had an internet connection and it was working perfect. it was at pasig city..
EtcEtcEtc
yes, just like what i wrote in “voip adapter better for Philippines”. The adapter surely works better than the video phone since it requires less data to function.
According to my friends in Facebook, there are still complaints that the PLDT DSL is too slow even for the average internet browsing, while the SMART internet service was down for a whole day some time a couple of months ago.
It’s not the ACN devices that are questionable, but the internet connection providers in the Philippines. Now as long as they have a decent connection, either of the devices are sure to work.
They don’t allow to distribute or ship the video phone to Asia.
But I’ve heard that it’ll be available in this area end of this year.
true, the video phone is not allowed to be directly shipped to Asia, besides all the technical issues, I assume there might be some legal reasoning behind that as well.
the way we do it, is we let the customer ship it themselves. Once they have purchased the video phone, it is technically there property, whatever they want to do with it is up to them. So if they want to ship it to there families around the world, it is up to them. If it works, well and good but we try to warn them of the potential technical issues that might occur.
Bottom line it is quite risky to market the video phone as a “world phone” with all its legal and technical limitations as of now. I wouldn’t recommend it to any representative, because those additional points will come with additional head aches (hence the dog with an ice pack picture) On my part, I simply try my best to accommodate the customer, because as an independent representative the company with all the limits they set upon us, service is the only thing I have control of.
Hi..can i ask if globe tatoo broadband can be used to connect internet in ACN video phone? and 911 is not for pizza delivery here in Davao City PH..its a emergency respond unit..
it has been mixed feedback that I got from friends in the philippines about this globe tatoo broadband. It sounds like it’s speed is good enough for regular web browsing but too slow for data guzzling video phones.
Bottom line as always is the speed of data going through the internet providers. Often times, you would get better results with Skype or Facetime.