I’d disagree with this because if your competition is new, it had to spend money getting that modern interfacing just as you have to - and they had to do it earlier than you which means it was more expensive for them and more likely to be a hodgepodge of stuff that isn’t as sustainable which also means they will have to eventually replace it. And they didn’t have a customer base when they started. If they were old, then they have the same issue you have now, except they went first into the boat so once more they had to pay more to get it.
If your cost to tread water (keep up with your competition that has more bells and whistles) can’t ever be made back for you then it can’t be made back for your competition either. In that case you are in a game of chicken with your competition and what matters in that game is who has the most cash as they will be the last one standing. Your company has been around 20 years it should have a lot of cash built up by now if it’s been adding to the pile over time as it should have been, so, if so, you will be fine and in fact you might be in a position to take over a competitor if they go bankrupt. Your younger competition likely is cash poor since they are young and might be in debt as well. Probably the most important thing with you is that you identified the problem and accept that you have to spend some money fixing it. That’s something a surprising number of businesses never manage.
If one of your competition fails or runs out of money - then the investment you are making now COULD pay off in a big way if you are in a position to buy them out or take all their customers. That’s risk - and with real risk you can’t predict if it will pay off or not. But with that high of a risk - when it does pay off it usually pays off a lot.
I’m not really a subscriber to “burn rate” and theories like that. I’m more of a see a need fill a need kind of person. While burn rate may have worked for Amazon, there’s only ONE Amazon. But plenty of dead orgs that died trying that.
But if you are more of a risk taker, then you might modify what I said to be:
Make sure that ANYTHING you take a low risk on and spend money on - eventually makes you more than what you spend it on. Make sure that ANYTHING you take a high risk on and spend money on - has the potential to give you a far higher rate of return than a low risk expenditure.
I think that’s maybe more accurate, but it won’t fit on a bumper sticker, LOL.
@dicko posted here that all of us who assist the users on these forums boycott any assistance until Sangoma gives up on their ban and changes their ways. I could not agree more. The censorship needs to end. #FreeJames
Well, It’s usual to see lot of forum keeping the good threads and ban the criticals. It’s like in the comments. The forum are ready to receive any good comment and not a comment showing truth. If you are consistent, you should accept everything and if someone saying something bad for you, then it’s a good time for improve you. Of course using a mutual respect.
You are not telling the truth. You banned me (my previous account) for several years, because I complained about the terrible s705 phone and created new accounts after the initial ban. I changed the name after that and the avatar
You were known for not having any social skills…here in the freePBX forum. Everybody can look it up.
According to @penguinpbx recent stance your post should be removed for violation of Code of Conduct “respect each other” per forum Code of Conduct. I am not advocating or suggesting you be banned but since Sangoma has decided they are going to use Respect Each Other so broadly they need to apply it fairly to all so we all know what the expectations are.
Well…do as you like…
I just wanted to highlight that a 2 months ban is nothing compared to what tm1000 did, when he was the boss. He banned me, because I listed the flaws of the firmware & hardware of the Sangoma s705 phone. At the time it was in a terrible state. The problem was that I did not receive the email from tm1000, so I didn’t know why I could not use my account anymore (and how long it will last). I opened a new one. Then, he banned me for years (maximum value in the GUI). I created numerous accounts after that…and he even blocked my IPs…which was, of course, useless
So…I just wanted to provide a correction of his misleading posting.
One more thing…the critical comments here in this thread come from people, who left Sangoma or sold freePBX to Sangoma…and now are employees of competing companies (or own them). So, I dont know if the opinions are balanced…but I might be wrong
Oh yeah, I remember all this. You didn’t need the email because it was in the thread where you were warned, continue to do what you were warned about and got silenced. Your answer to being silenced (not banned) for a week was to create more accounts to subvert the silence and that resulted in your lifetime ban.
So if I’m getting this right, you just admitted you have a lifetime ban on this forum and are using an alt. account to subvert this lifetime ban. The same thing that got you a lifetime ban in the first place. Not sure this plays like you think it does.
So, you just confirmed that lifetime bans were issued by tm1000 for complaining about the poor performance of the s705 back then (and recommending the Digium D65). So in comparison…2 months are a Kindergeburtstag (german).
Back to topic: Since @lgaetz left, I am also concerned about the future of freePBX. The new Sangoma P-series phones work with both platforms. It could well be that Sangoma will quit on freePBX.
Well, not since @lgaetz left, but before.
I’m pretty agree with you.
Like you, I’m concerned regarding the futur of FreePBX. Maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe it’s time for Sangoma to clarify the situation and why not sale for $1 FreePBX project and continue to maintaine only their commercial modules.
A few years ago @lgaetz corrected you on why you were silenced and ultimately banned because you ignored your warnings and then circumvented the process by creating new accounts. If James did the same thing I would expect him to get the same treatment but instead James is respecting the ban. So to be clear here, you were not banned for life because you were critical of a phone. You were banned for life because of your ignoring the 1 week silence (silence is not even a ban it just kept you from replying versus a ban) by circumventing your 1 week silence by creating new accounts numerous times after being told not to.
So if we are comparing bans James getting a 2 month ban versus you getting a 1 week silence is showing how over the top this ban is. I think with the facts, even you can agree with that.
Well…I stated that the s705 was an inferior phone (back then) and the Digium D65 was the better choice. No ad hominem stuff.
And the funny thing is that Sangoma finally bought Digium and the D65 became a Sangoma phone. The new Sangoma P-series phones are Digium phones 2.0 (the P330 is the D65 phone).
It seems I was right!
Again, I did not know how long the initial ban/silencing would last, because I did not get the email.
So the crime was that I complained about the s705, recommended the Digium phone and opened another account. A life sentence? Really? So, 2 months seem to be ok…
I think you are once again twisting facts. When you made your comments and were silenced it was in Feb 2019.
The purchase of Digium was Sept 5th 2018 and was announced on Aug 28 2018. I will never forget that dates since I spent a year pulling that deal together and was in Huntsville for all of it.
So your stance is you were silenced because you were recommending a phone that Sangoma owned over another phone that Sangoma also owned. It does not add up.
Yet, it took some time until it became clear that the Digium phones will become the new Sangoma D-series line (and will not be discontinued). I just remember that I set up the first system with the D65s without knowing, what the future holds. Maybe this was in 2018?
Anyways, I was very surprised to get silenced/banned for criticism of a product. And I did not write ad hominem.
I just mentioned it, because tm1000 wrote that he never banned anybody longer than 2 weeks. I am sure, I wasn’t the only one.
I would recommend that an admin is very careful with bans, because there aren’t many here in the forum, who try to help others…especially with lifelong bans…but 2 months, regarding James’ posting, I think is ok.
But you’re missing the point. You were not banned for life because of your postings. You were silenced for 1 week after being warned and you even liked the warning and in your next reply ack the warning and still went on and on.
On login of the forums or trying to reply to a thread you would see the message of you being silenced for 1 week, so let’s not keep twisting the facts here, you for sure knew how long it was for. Instead of waiting for the 1 week to expire you created numerous accounts to get around the silence the same day and week. You even admitted to it above that you created numerous accounts.
Only after you did this were you banned for life. That decision did not come from Andrew @tm1000 as you want to claim. That decision came from a group of people after discussion and deliberation on what to do, which would have included me and as COO of Sangoma at the time, you can blame me if you need someone to crucify.
But the funny thing is, here you are still engaging and bypassing your ban and Sangoma has decided that is ok. I won’t debate the merits on that decision but it again shows the double standard that is being applied.
So I would again say, you have to agree that the first reaction of banning him for 2 months versus you being silenced for 1 week is a vast difference of reactions.
Well…I am a free speech advocate…and as long as my postings are not ad hominem (or an attack) , and focus on improvements of a product, there is no cause for a ban.
To ban someone in a forum (who did not insult or attack anybody) is childish anyway. You spent so much time reading my old postings, if you had found anything worth banning me, you would have already presented it.
Sangoma has not known that I created another account, so it could well be that someone bans me again. Yet, I don’t care anymore, because currently I have nothing to say…except that James’ postings are (in my opinion) an attack against Sangoma…so I think a 2 months ban is a logical consequence!
