Submission + - Gizmo5 to Cease Operations 1
theNAM666 writes: I just received an email from Gizmo5, which begins:
"Gizmo5 is writing to let you know that we will no longer be providing service starting on April 3, 2011. A week from today, March 11, 2011, you will no longer be able to add credit to your account.
Although the standalone Gizmo5 client will no longer be available, we have since launched the ability to call phones from within Gmail at even more affordable rates."
For those who don't know, Gizmo5 is an intergrated SIP/online phone service, spanning Skype, GTalk, and other services, which allows users to call out or in from a variety of devices-- that is, a service which allowed me to call in or receive calls with a single or multiple phone numbers on a PC, a SIP-enabled phone, and other devices.
In particular, Gizmo5 allowed me to route incoming GTalk and other SIP numbers worldwide, back to my handheld (via SIP) or PC, in a single solution.
GIzmo5's purchase by Google, which closed it to new sign-ups, and ultimate mothballing is highly disappointing — as Google does not seem to have a commitment to maintaining the same service, and has provided next-to-no information until now.
What obligations to companies have to maintain services that customers have grown used to, besides a "thirty day notice?" And do readers have suggestions, for Gizmo5 alternatives?
"Gizmo5 is writing to let you know that we will no longer be providing service starting on April 3, 2011. A week from today, March 11, 2011, you will no longer be able to add credit to your account.
Although the standalone Gizmo5 client will no longer be available, we have since launched the ability to call phones from within Gmail at even more affordable rates."
For those who don't know, Gizmo5 is an intergrated SIP/online phone service, spanning Skype, GTalk, and other services, which allows users to call out or in from a variety of devices-- that is, a service which allowed me to call in or receive calls with a single or multiple phone numbers on a PC, a SIP-enabled phone, and other devices.
In particular, Gizmo5 allowed me to route incoming GTalk and other SIP numbers worldwide, back to my handheld (via SIP) or PC, in a single solution.
GIzmo5's purchase by Google, which closed it to new sign-ups, and ultimate mothballing is highly disappointing — as Google does not seem to have a commitment to maintaining the same service, and has provided next-to-no information until now.
What obligations to companies have to maintain services that customers have grown used to, besides a "thirty day notice?" And do readers have suggestions, for Gizmo5 alternatives?
