How to Increase Call Quality in Vonage
We were talking to our family and friends to pass our Diwali greetings. It’s such a wonderful feeling to talk to friends and family members for the first time from US without the worry of phone bill/balance/recharge/time remaining/… Thanks to Vonage World Calling Plan.
I noticed another something different while talking to India through Vonage. We were using Reliance to call India before Vonage World Plan was introduced, always during festival time, new year,.. Reliance lines will be busy, we have to try many times, before call will connect. That was not the case with Vonage (Maybe Reliance could be different if we tried today)
Increase Vonage Call Quality
Eventhough we didn’t experience connection issues during our calls to India, call quality was less. There were noise disturbances during the phone call. Many of you might not be aware of one of the features offered by Vonage, which will allow us to increase the call quality by changing the bandwidth used by vonage connection.
- Go to Login to Vonage Account > Features > Bandwidth Saver
3 Bandwidth options (30, 50 and 90 kbps) will be listed. Set the bandwidth to 90kbps and within few minutes, noise disturbances in the call was almost gone. If you have dial-up internet connection, this might slow down your internet connection, but with High Speed Cable/DSL connections, you will not find any impact to your browsing speed.
How I Got $30 Discount on ATT iPhone Bill
I received a bill from ATT in my name and address. Bill had a phone number that is different from the number I have. When I called ATT Customer Care, they asked me to ignore the bill, since it was not associated to my account.
After 30 days or so I received another bill and I ignored it, since I already spoke to Customer Care. Within 30 days I received call from a Collections company that I have a bill due from ATT and it was forwarded to collections.
ATT Customer Service Phone Call
Immediately I called ATT Customer Service (CS) to ask about the bill. CS agent asked me lot of questions and I spent over 20 minutes explaining how I got new iPhone account from ATT Store and blah blah..
CS gave the name of the company and few other numbers that was associated with the phone number. But, none of the details were familiar to me. CS said I could be victim of identity theft and forwarded my phone call to ATT Fraud Monitoring department.
When I got my new iPhone 3GS account, I was moving from T-Mobile to ATT. Since I got the phone early in the morning, I had to wait till 9 AM to transfer my current phone number to ATT. So, they setup a new account with temporary phone number.
After ATT transferred the phone number from T-Mobile, they didn’t close the temporary account. So, I was billed for 2 accounts at the same time. That was the bill sent to collections by ATT.
$30 Phone Bill Credit
ATT Fraud CS forwarded my phone back to ATT CS and after 10 minutes of hold, I was informed that problem will be solved and they will inform the collections company. Next question from CS was
Is there anything else I can do for you?
I asked for a credit for the inconvenience and time I spent on phone. After few minutes hold, I was given $30 credit towards the monthly bill.
So, if you ever encounter any issues in service or billing error, ask for a credit. Sometimes you might get additional minutes or credit to your bill.
Spend $200 to Save Power Using Google Powermeter
Recently Google announced their first device partner to use PowerMeter. Before that What is Google Power Meter?
Google PowerMeter is a free electricity usage monitoring tool that provides you with information on how much energy your home is consuming. Google PowerMeter receives information from utility smart meters and in-home energy management devices and visualizes this information for you on iGoogle (your personalized Google homepage). And, Google PowerMeter is free.
Save Money using Power Meter
To use the Google PowerMeter you will have to install a smart device.
- Do I want to save money? Yes
- Do I want to save money on Electricity? Yes
- Do I want to monitor Power Usage and Save money? Yes
- Do I want to use Google PowerMeter to monitor Electricity? Yes
- Do I want to spend $200 to use Google Powermeter? No
- How much I’m willing to spend? Less than $25
New TED 5000 series of device costs around $200. Even though Google PowerMeter is free, for individual homes, it doesn’t make sense to spend that much to save power.
Mortgage Rates are Low – No Cost, No Escrow, 30 Year 4.875%
Mortgage Rates are back to all time low. Few rates that are available in Triangle area ( Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Morrisville)
- 30 Year Fixed, No Closing Cost, No Escrow Low – 4.875%
- 15 Year Fixed, No Closing Cost, No Escrow – 4.375%
I already have 4.875% without Escrow Account. I will refinance again, if I can get 4.625% No Closing Cost Loan. Why are you still waiting, call your broker and lock in the low rates.
Shop around to find the lowest rate. Rates varies between brokers and lenders. If you have to pay closing cost for 4.875% call a different broker. Remember – Its all about saving money! Don’t try to be with same broker, if he’s not giving you the best mortgage refinance rates.
Vonage iPhone App to Call India – $0.07 per minute
World Calling plan had vonage free calls to India, but we have to use the landline. People around the net, started talking about calling India using iPhone or blackberry using same plan and some were considering Lingo, which offers plan to call from Cell Phone to India for free. ( It comes with 2 years contract)
Apple approved Vonage iPhone app, that will allow calls to India for 7 cents per minute. Reliance India Call and AirTel Call home has the same deal, but Vonage iPhone app uses Wi-Fi, so your Cell Phone minutes will not be affected.
This is very cool feature. Using Reliance and Airtel will use the cell phone minutes, but not the case with Vonage. I haven’t tried it yet, but planning to give it a try.
It would be nice to make free calls to India using Voip from iPhone that includes option to use World Calling Plan. But, this is a good start for Vonage.
How to Take Care of Your Wife
I got forwarded email “How to Take Care of Your Wife”.
In the world, one single rule applies to the men: Make the Woman happy. Do something she likes, and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don’t get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that’s the way the game is played.
SIMPLE DUTIES
- You make the bed (+1)
- You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
- You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
- You go out to buy her what she wants (+5)
- In the rain (+8)
- But return with Beer (-5)
- You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
- You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
- You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
- You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
- It’s her pet (-10)
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
- You stay by her side the entire party (0)
- You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college buddy (-2)
- Named Tina (-4)
- Tina is a dancer (-10)
HER BIRTHDAY
- You take her out to dinner (0)
- You take her out to dinner and it’s not a sports bar (+1)
- Okay, it’s a sports bar (-2)
- And it’s all-you-can- eat night (-3)
- It’s a sports bar, it’s all-you-can- eat night, and your face is painted the colours of your favourite team (-10)
A NIGHT OUT
- You take her to a movie (+2)
- You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
- You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
- You take her to a movie you like (-2)
- It’s called ‘DeathCop’ (-3)
- You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)
YOUR PHYSIQUE
- You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
- You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
- You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts (-30)
- You say, “It doesn’t matter, you have one too.” (-8000)
ENJOY THE ‘BIG’ QUESTION
- She asks, “Do I look fat?” (-5) [Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT]
- You hesitate in responding (-10)
- You reply, “Where?” (-35)
- Any other response (-20)
COMMUNICATION
- When she wants to talk about a problem , you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned _____expression (0)
- You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
- You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
- She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)
So how many points did you score.
Update on Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Although President Obama has put off an immigration overhaul until next year, the federal agency in charge of approving visas is planning ahead for the possibility of giving legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, the agency’s director said Thursday.
We are under way to prepare for that,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the agency, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in an interview. Mr. Obama has told immigration officials that a legalization program would be part of legislation the White House would propose, said Mr. Mayorkas, who became director in August. The agency’s goal, he said, is to be ready to expand rapidly to handle the gigantic increase in visa applications it would face if the legislation, known as comprehensive immigration reform, passed Congress. Via NewYork Times
Meeting Senator for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Friend of mine recently meet with Senator John Cornyn’s Immigration Specialist from Texas about Green Card issues and Comprehensive Immigration reform.
Also, you can read more about his calculation on 22 years for Green Card in EB3.
Use http://whoismyrepresentative.com/ to find your the congressman and senator.
How to Call India from Vonage
We signed-up for Vonage World Calling month back. Using referral and Vonage 20% discounts we get Vonage Free Calls to India for $18 per month.
But, first questions we had after signing up for world calling plan – How to call India in using Vonage?
- Call – 011 + Country Code + Area Code + Number
- Landline India : 011 + 91 + Area Code + phone number
- Mobile India : 011 + 91 + Cell Number
- To Hide Caller Id in Vonage : *67 + Number
Where 011 is the International Access code. Codes of major cities of India include 44 for Chennai, 80 for Bangalore and 11 for Delhi.
Change Ceiling Fan Rotation. Save Dollars
In the summer, use the ceiling fan in the counter-clockwise (Forward) direction. While standing directly under the ceiling fan you should feel a cool breeze. This will circulate the cool air throughout the room to ensure your comfort.
In the winter, reverse the motor and operate the ceiling fan at low speed in the clockwise(Reverse) direction. This produces a gentle updraft, which forces warm air near the ceiling down into the occupied space. You can save lots of money on your heating bill when you reverse the ceiling fan direction in the winter.
Remember to adjust your thermostat when using your ceiling fan. In summer set the thermostat temperature from 84 to 80F and with Ceiling turned on, room temperature will be around 79 – 75F.
During Winter, set the thermostat to 67 to 69F and Ceiling Fan, it should feel like 70 to 72F.
Image Credit – ukmari
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