SunRocket

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SunRocket, Inc.
Image:SunRocket.png
Fate Ceased operations
Founded 2004
Defunct 2007-07-16
Location Vienna, Virginia
Industry VoIP phone service
Key people Lisa Hook: President, CEO
Joyce Dorris: CMO, Co-founder
Paul Erickson: Chairman, Co-founder
Peak size 160+[citation needed] employees

SunRocket was a U.S.-based VOIP provider established in early 2004 by Joyce Dorris and Paul Erickson, former MCI executives who were coworkers for over ten years. Dorris and Erickson departed the company in February 2007 along with roughly 30 other employees based at SunRocket’s corporate headquarters in Vienna, Virginia.[1],[2] SunRocket maintained primary offices in the United States and Canada.

Contents

[edit] Company shutdown

SunRocket's website on the last official day of service.
SunRocket's website on the last official day of service.

On July 16, 2007, SunRocket ceased operations with no warning given to customers or employees. SunRocket's customer service line plays a recorded message stating that SunRocket is "no longer taking customer service or sales calls." [3] Roger Pondel of Bell Industries, a spokesman for the Springfield, Missouri based call center which provided services for SunRocket, stated that all 197 of its employees were terminated as of Monday, July 16, 2007. [4] The official planned cut-off date for SunRocket service was August 5, 2007[5]. However, it is presently unclear, if service to SunRocket customers has actually been terminated. Customers whose service was abruptly cut off found that they could forward calls from their SunRocket number to another number, such as a cell phone. However, many SunRocket clients have had intermittent or no success with this method[citation needed].

The New York Times article dated July 17 stated that SunRocket "is moving its customers to one or more other companies, a person briefed on its status said yesterday."[3] Wind-down and other matters relating to the liquidation of SunRocket are purportedly being handled by Sherwood Partners, LLC. [6]

On July 19, Sherwood Partners announced that two "preferred providers" are offering replacement service to SunRocket customers. The providers are Packet8 and TeleBlend. [7] Since SunRocket's closure, several other VoIP providers have offered special discounts in an attempt to win former SunRocket customers. One of the few advantages of SunRocket's shutdown has been that customers continuing to receive its service have been able to make international calls.[citation needed]

A common SunRocket Linksys VOIP adapter, often called a "Gizmo" by SunRocket
A common SunRocket Linksys VOIP adapter, often called a "Gizmo" by SunRocket

Several SunRocket customers have dedicated themselves to assisting others in unlocking their SunRocket Telephone adapters for use with other VOIP services. [8] A group of users have cracked at least one of the web administration passwords necessary to modify the device settings. This password is used in the only publicly available unlock method, which requires users to provide the device a new configuration file with a known password. [9] At this time, it is not clear who locked out the Telephone adapters, SunRocket or Teleblend. [10]

Sunrocket continued to have problems after the company went defunct[citation needed]. In August, 2007, many customers reported having problems transferring their phone numbers from Sunrocket to other providers.

[edit] E911

A frequent criticism of VoIP providers is that emergency telephone number service isn't available, because the physical location of a caller may not correspond to his or her listed phone number. SunRocket was compliant with FCC regulations mandating E911 capability, however the service requires subscribers to register their address with the company and, unless the subscriber is using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for backup power, is not operative in the event of a power failure.

[edit] Vonage lawsuit

On August 23, 2007, SunRocket filed a lawsuit against Vonage for violating a confidentiality agreement, by using SunRocket's customer lists. Vonage claims to have bought the customer lists from a third party, Paradysz Matera. In the complaint, SunRocket claims that Vonage has exposed them to privacy related lawsuits from customers.[11][12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "2007 Annual Report"; Commonwealth of Virginia, State Corporation Commission; April 02, 2007
  2. ^ "Internet-Phone-Service Provider Drops a Fourth of Its Staff"; The Washington Post; July 03, 2007
  3. ^ a b "Internet Phone Company Halts Operations"; The New York Times; July 17, 2007
  4. ^ "Closure leaves 197 without jobs"; Springfield News-Leader; July 17, 2007
  5. ^ Notice on sunrocket's site
  6. ^ "VoIP Provider SunRocket Suddenly Closes"; Associated Press Online; July 17, 2007
  7. ^ "Two service providers to pick up SunRocket customers", Springfield News-Leader, 2007-07-19. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. 
  8. ^ Washington Post: SunRocket, Jerk Company of the Month
  9. ^ SPA2102-R Unlocking Procedure
  10. ^ http://gizmopasswords.blogspot.com/ SunRocket Gizmo Passwords
  11. ^ Hart, Kim. "SunRocket Sues Vonage Over Use of Customer List", The Washington Post, 2007-08-23. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. 
  12. ^ Metz, Cade. "Vonage attacked by defunct rival", 2007-08-23, The Register. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. 

[edit] External links