Liars, Deceivers, Thieves…

The singer Cher sang and popularized a tune many years ago entitled ‘Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves.’ I considered that as a title for this entry, though I obviously did not use it.

Not that I’m concerned about offending Gypsies… or tramps and thieves, for that matter. I suppose in some way, it could be considered Equal Opportunity Offense. Not that I purposely make offense, but that some folks wear their feelings on their sleeves. And then, some wear them like a block on their shoulder – daring anyone to knock it off. In the interim, out of fear mistakenly disguised as respect, no one mentions anyone else.

Lesson: Don’t wear your feelings on your sleeves.

Now on to what I had intended to write about – deception.

Formerly, I was a customer/subscriber to the Toktumi/Line2 service. What exactly is that? They provide telephony services via an Apple iPhone (and now the Android phone) which work on either the cellular signal of their carrier, or through the Internet through VOIP. Their product was pretty cool, insofar as it could access the VOIP side via the cellular carrier network. However, the downside of the product is – and remains – that a monthly subscription fee is charged in ADDITION to your cell phone bill. For some folks, that’s an extra $15/month atop a bill that may already exceed $100/month, and is payable to someone else.

When Line2/Toktumi figures out how to make money besides selling a secondary number/service, then their business model will be a phenomenal success. In the interim, given the very poor quality of service that AT&T, Vonage, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc., and all other cellular carriers provide, it’s not a good deal. Especially and particularly given that when one is out in the countryside cellular service virtually falls to nothing. And forget Wi-Fi. It ain’t gonna’ happen. It just ain’t.

But again, that wasn’t what I had hoped to write about. (I feel some sense of success, having covered at least two topics which I’d not intended – woo hoo!)

What I had initially intended to write about was deception.

And so, here we go!

As I mentioned, at one time, I had subscribed to Line2/Toktumi’s service. Part of that service was mentioned above. What was unmentioned were the ancillary services that accompanied that service. Among them, as you might imagine, is an answering service. As well, a virtual PBX system is available to every subscriber at no extra cost.

Now, having rarely been impressed with any company’s telephone practices, I have mostly scathing remarks for the way in which the exceeding majority of telephone calls are answered. For example, when making a phone call to perform any account related management, why is it necessary to repeat your name, account number and problem? That’s just plain STOOPID. PERIOD!

It’s not as if these things cannot be handled by one person, as they damn well should. The person that answers “hello” ought to be empowered to take care of EVERY PROBLEM ON YOUR ACCOUNT – PERIOD!!

Now, when I saw the following, I was struck with an overwhelming sense of deception.

Toktumi: Virtual Phone System + VoIP PBX

Simple Yet Powerful – Create a Big Company Image at a Small Business Price

Toktumi Unlimited is a simple yet powerful solution for your small business or virtual office. Toktumi combines the call management features of a virtual phone system with a feature rich VoIP PBX –providing you with a big business image for only $14.95/month.

Image.

Big Business Image.

Is that really something anyone wants?

How about the low-tech, high-touch? Whatever happened to the mom and pop shop feeling? You knew from the moment you walked in that you were the single most important person in their shop. Why? Their attention was undividedly and unmistakably upon you, exclusively.

Why would anyone – particularly given this rancorously unstable economic climate  with its increased distrust in Big Business – why would anyone want to emulate or pretend to be one of them?

And then, why would anyone want to deceive anyone about the true nature of their enterprise? Such ethos flies in the very face of, and is offensive to the high moral values of honesty and integrity that have traditionally accompanied business and enterprise – the Free Enterprise system.