Since I haven’t received my Ojo videophone yet, I wasn’t aware that the Ojo network is now down. But I just received an email from the CEO of Snap!VRS explaining that the Ojo manufacturer and operator of the Ojo network had been “forced to shut down operations.” I’m including a copy of the email below.
Makes me wonder about other videophones that are currently out on the market or soon will be released. I believe the Sorenson network is owned and operated by Sorenson itself (correct me if I’m wrong), but what about other videophones like Viable’s VPAD that will soon be released? (Update: Viable owns the VPAD’s network; see email at the bottom of this post from a Viable rep.) Reminds me about all the difficulties that Sidekick users have been having because their Sidekicks were running on the Danger network instead of Tmobile’s own network.
Here’s the letter from Snap!VRS’s CEO. I hope those nifty Ojo videophones will be working soon and not destined to be scrap metal.
Dear Snap!VRS Customers,
Today, I am writing to give you facts about the current Ojo network disruption, but most importantly to assure you that Snap!VRS has acted, and will continue to act, with the highest degree of integrity and ethics. I’m sure you are well aware by now that the Ojo network is down. Please be assured that Snap!VRS is committed to you, our valued customer, and we are doing everything in our control to best serve your needs. This is a frustrating experience for all of us.
Yesterday morning, WorldGate Communications, Inc. (“WorldGate”), a public company that manufactures the Ojo video phone and operates the Ojo network that enables you to make calls, issued an SEC filing stating that they have been forced to shut down operations “as a first step to winding down its business” as a result of a dispute over payments supposedly owed by “its largest customer.” Although WorldGate did not identify the customer by name, we want you to know that this is a direct reference to us, Snap!VRS.
While WorldGate would like to direct the blame for its present financial troubles on us, the blame does not reside with Snap!VRS and it is misleading for WorldGate to suggest so. In actuality, we are current on all payments and do not owe WorldGate any money. We feel so strongly about our position and are so intent on resolving this matter swiftly that we have offered to submit this disagreement to immediate binding arbitration, a process by which an independent third party decides who is right. WorldGate has rejected this offer.
Our priority is to ensure that the Ojo network is always up. In efforts to help WorldGate through its financial troubles, we have made numerous offers to finance WorldGate’s continued operations - even without the usual equity stake an investor would typically take. So you know how committed we are to resolving this situation, it is important to note that these offers have actually exceeded the amount WorldGate claims we owe them. WorldGate has thus far refused all of these offers, but we remain in discussions with them.
We have recently extended another financing offer to help WorldGate through its financial troubles that would include restoring the Ojo network. Although we still do not know when the Ojo network will be back up, I am hopeful that a solution is nearly at hand. So please keep your Ojo close by.
In the meantime, the Snap!VRS network and our highly qualified interpreters are available and proudly serving customers 24 hours a day. While the Ojo network is down, you may use an alternative video phone (e.g. VP-100/200 and D-Link) to call Snap!VRS for all of your interpreting needs. Please dial “snapvrs.tv” or “call.snapvrs.com” from your video phone.
Sincerely,
Richard Schatzberg
CEO
EDIT (8:20pm, 2/6/2008): I recently received the following email from Glenn Lockhart, who’s responsible for Corporate Communications at Viable, Inc and who was kind enough to give me permission to reprint this:
Josh:
I came across your latest blog on DeafDC.com, in which you admit to wondering who owns the network on which the VPAD will run. I an pleased to say our network is in-house; we own and operate it ourselves, and consider this a feather in our cap.
Glenn Lockhart
Corporate Communications
Viable, Inc.
VRS: ViableVRS.TV
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Eh…it doesn’t look good for those of us who are still waiting for Ojos.
I hope they get running again, otherwise I’d do something artistic with my Ojo. :)
I have an Ojo for a while and I am very disappointed that they have another hurdle. SnapVRS is still up and running so you can call them from your other VP devices (dlink, i2eye, vp-100/200) or software program.
I wonder how long before FCC steps in and breaks up Sorenson for being a monopoly?
Since when has Sorenson been a monopoly? If I want a different VRS provider, I can switch anytime I want. If I want to use a different device, I can do that if I want. Where’s the monopoly here?
Sorenson has a monopoly on the videophone itself.
I don’t think that Sorenson is a monopoly I do think they have a better product at the moment. There are only two things appealing about the Ojo, it doesn’t take up much space, and it has an answering machine. I have had mine for about 2 months now and I have only used it 3 times.
I also never signed up for one, I walked in my office one morning and there it was.
I like Sorenson, I’m not going to complain about it because they have been very instrumental in all of us having a FREE videophone in our homes and offices.
Where else can you get a videophone for free? I would say that IS a monopoly.
Actually there is, you can get a free D Link videophone from CSD VRS. I believe other VRS providers provide videophones as well.
I got my Sorenson VP-100 from Sorenson, for free.
I got my Sorenson VP-200 from Sorenson, for free.
I got my D-Link VP from Hamilton, for free.
I got my Logitech webcam from HOVRS, for free.
I got my ISight webcam from HOVRS, for free.
I got my Ojo from Snap!VRS, for free.
Am I to conclude that all the above providers are running a monopoly?
This is a clear indication of the lack of education on consumer rights in the Deaf community. I find it astonishing that with all of our new-fangled devices and increased amounts of communication abilities that such basic facts are still not known to the majority of our population. How can this be? And whose responsibility is it to get the word out?
I agree with you. Sorenson is not a monopoly. However, they do have some incredible advantages.
Sorenson actually developed the Eye2I and sold it to D-Link, but reserved the rights to certain technology that made it inferior to their branded VP-100. When the other VRS providers picked up on the D-Link rather than developing their own devices it put Sorenson at a huge advantage.
Snap introduced a new device but as we can see, it was not their own device and so much like the other VRS companies, they are relying on another company to manufacture and make available the equipment. Thank God for Viable developing their own new device, the V-Pad.
But Sorenson also perpetuates their “advantage” by hoarding interpreters and not allowing them to work with other VRS providers. So interpreters feel stuck, as if they cannot leave Sorenson for a different VRS company which may provide an healthier work environment. They are terrified of being sued.
And by threatening Deaf consumers that they will take their VPs away if they install a competitor’s device.
It’s not a clear monopoly by any means, but it is dirty busniess. And the bottom line is they don’t care about their callers. They only care about the dollars that are made when they have the caller on the VP and the dollars that are spent when interpreters are not being worked into the ground.
[…] DeafDC is following up on Snap!VRS and Ojo videophones at: Snap!VRS Letter […]
I do not know of many people who use Ojo videophones so it is limited use for when you want to call other Ojo users. I had a friend demonstrate how it worked and it really looked cool but she only had one friend that she could call on it besides using it for VRS. Mmm…wonder if that would change?
If there really is an unfair accusation lobbed at SnapVRS by the owner of the Ojo Network, I would hope they have legal litigation options available, because if it is true that SnapVRS has paid its bills, then this sounds akin to slander.
But, I find the existence of the letter more troubling than the case itself. Like others here, including Josh, I’ve yet to receive my Ojo phone. Repeated contacts every few months with SnapVRS always result in very vague answers about when and even IF I’ll ever receive the phone.
What I find troubling is that I received this email. It shows that SnapVRS doesn’t even know which of their customers actually have an Ojo phone. Since SnapVRS itself is still up and running, the Ojo network outage is inapplicable to me and many others who still don’t have an Ojo phone. If they can’t figure out which one of their applicants actually have an Ojo phone, that’s troublesome to me that indicates a serious lack of accountability at SnapVRS. By sending out this email to everyone they revealed a deeper problem internally than just an outage.
I find the discussion about SNAPVRS here and elsewhere interesting. Some people are calling for the FCC to step in to ensure that the network SNAPVRS operates on should be ‘guaranteed’ to be always on to ensure that SNAPVRS (and other providers using other networks) will remain ‘alive’ and that the FCC are to implement regulations, etc. etc…
Honestly, unlike the PSTN network, the FCC will not step in. Digital based networks are not a scarcity compared with the PSTN network, so there’s no obligation for the FCC to do anything.
This is pure business… SNAPVRS chose to use the Ojo and its accompanying network. Their problem, not ours…
There is a misunderstanding here. SnapVRS’s network is live. You can call them from your VP. Interpreters are readily available. Snap!VRS has not gone down and they are not in violation of any FCC reg.
It is WorldGate’s network that is down. Worldgate’s network is the SIP network which is a different protocol than what all other VPs operate on (h.323).
I can use my Ojo to call VRS still, or accept and make calls to other VPs by dialing a URL or IP address becasue all other VPs and even Snap!VRS is available on the h.323 network which is installed on Deaf consumer Ojos. Ojo works with everything EXCEPT calling other Ojos.
So a complaint to the FCC is fruitless. The FCC required Ojo to be interoperable. It is. This may actually be Snap’s saving grace in this situation.
Reading Glenn Lockehart’s email, I am VERY impressed of their innovation efforts. Keep up the good work, Viable.
p.s. I am falling in love with the VMan. Ain’t he cute!?!http://viable.net/img/2007/upload/wave.png
I must admit Viable using their software from a webcam standpoint is magnificent good. However, three things occurs to be in need of “work”. Their customer service seemingly not to know all the answers, the interpreters has not met my satisfaction. They can sign but apparently they could not read us. I tried this out once and realized sometimes they may have disconnected me for some reason. Typically if they will come up with excuses that could not see me or so forth and disconnect. No winning situation here it happens to other Providers as well. Thirdly, their technology need to be fixed as their software for contact names disappears, etc. Overall, the viable vision webcam software are a postive to have around.
On a side note to clarify GeekGal s comment, Dlink owes and manufactures the I2eye, VP 200 devices. Sorenson provided I2eye the programming card in the devices for I2eye (with very limit opportunities) and VP100 (with the ringing telephone numbers, and missing calls, etc). Dlink manufactures the VP200 box and TDI provided the programming cards. Hope I correctly stand out this way as I learned just back then. Correct me if I am wrong. Smiles
So does Sorenson have their own network?
lot of Ojo news at news.google.com and groups.google.com also for wordgate
I received an Ojo videophone a few months ago, and despite all attempts to get it set up, including professional help, I have never been able to use it. For some reason, the connection keeps shutting down an attempt is made to make a call. We also tried to receive assistance from the Ojo customer service and it was no help at all. It’s been a very frustrating process and still no working videophone….
Perhaps this might add fuel to rumors and speculations - I firmly believe something is going on further up the ladder. Not just a bitter dispute between two power-hungry companies, but Worldgate has disabled ALL ojo devices - meaning not just the deaf users, but even hearing users who do in fact pay a monthly charge to use their devices that were not provided by snap. If this was the case, then Worldgate could have simply disabled the Snap sponsored Ojo’s and let the non-snap users still be able to contact other ojo users. But in this case, it’s not happening.
there’s always something going on that the general public doesn’t know about. Maybe it’s a dispute due to the fact that the ojo’s were slow to get out to begin with. But nonetheless, the path i see this going now is aiming towards complete shutdown and bankruptcy unless someone jumps in and pays a nice large cash advance.
Farewell worldgate. I’m sure I can find some good uses for the nice color display on the ojo I have. :D
[…] DeafDC Blog has reactions on the Snap!VRS and Ojo Troubles. « ooVoo Video Recording Direct to […]
what happen not working of network since 2 month now what matter with you im tired of it not working.
you better get to fix network.
if not working of ojo then i will change to get vp of 100.
thanks
Does anyone have any info about alternative video phones? Do any work as well as the OJO? (or at least close?)
I own an Ojo. I loved it. I want it back!
I have set up a website to try and bring the Ojo community together to find a way to get them working again:
http://www.theojocollective.com/
Any input welcome. It may come to nothing, but we can but try!
Well, I got OJO two weeks before WorldGate decided to “shutdown” the network because it did not “get the payment” from “SnapVRS”
I have contacted OJO support and they keep telling me “It is temporarly” (Yes, I just copied what they exactly told me”. I have asked what is the timeframe, etc. and they keep telling me “THank you for using OJO. You can contact us through VP100, VP200″. It seems that the customer service and technical support at SnapVRS is very inferior. I even filed the support ticket and got a response “We have not heard from you so we are closing the ticket”. HUH? I filed a support ticket , and they responded by saying that??? Oh my G_d!
I was hoping I could use some “mobile” phone that I could use at work. I mean, I could move the mobile phone from one room to another room and plug it in and use interpreter immediately. Another benefit of using the mobile phone like OJO is to make calls to other VP200 users. At work, I am not allowed to use VP200 and there are lot of firewalls and those Hxxx ports would not be opened for me for security reasons.
Overall, it is really sad to see SnapVRS customer service and technical support tell me “the same story” and perform poorly on support tickets. It is sad that CEO of SnapVRS has not updated us since his last email on Feb 6.
Josh, if you want to get OJO, you have to keep calling SnapVRS every week on AIM (asksnap). But since OJO is winding down, you may not get so lucky like the person in the first post said so.
Vadim
hope get free vpad i would like to fill out on list to get vpad real so cool thank allyson mogstad
i want to like webcams how can help ur i got it frm webscams buy or free for deaf ? or