VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison

Are there any users of Source-Connect who have successfully bridged a connection to an ISDN studio? I'm anxious to hear everything about it.

Thanks!
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

bobsouer · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:23 am Post subject:

Mike,

I have. The studio was very happy with the sound. I used Digifon for the bridge.
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NorthEndVoice · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:21 am Post subject:

I bridged with Out of Hear studio (Steven Nafshun) last year. Worked like a charm and certainly reasonable price wise. Digifon was mentioned as well. They're all good for bridging with Source Connect, Standard or Pro.

kgenus · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:54 pm Post subject:

I went through a test with Steven as well. Currently his rates are $80/hour billed in 30min increments with a 5 minute availability. Connection rocked but they opted for a phone patched conference call.
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COURVO · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:05 am Post subject:

What Bob said....'used Digifon, which, BTW, is an incredible authority on all things ISDN in the U.S.

Dave Immer runs things there. He's understated, but oh so knowledgeable.

CourVO
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Donna · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:14 am Post subject:

How does the sound quality of Source Connect compare to ISDN?

Philip Banks · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:25 am Post subject:

Delays can be a real problem as can drop outs. The numbers look better, 256 as opposed to 128 (or that type of thing) but on the ear the sound difference is undetectable except by the people you tell "Hey this is twice the ..."

bobsouer · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:33 am Post subject:

Donna,

Philip is quite right. The main difference is the much larger latency or delay in the connection.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch

Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:37 am Post subject:

Wow... thanks, everyone, for the great feedback. Much appreciated.

I've had ISDN since 2003, but just moved. And you wouldn't believe what I had to go through with Verizon to simply disconnect what had been a residential account and set it up again as a business account (they no longer offer residential ISDN) in a new location only 5 miles away. I think it would've been easier getting into Fort Knox.

After beginning discussions with Verizon in January, I was given an install date (Monday 3/22) only this morning.

On the eighth day, the phone company was created, and on on the ninth day, there came benzodiazepines.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

COURVO · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:33 pm Post subject:

Criminy!...but my experience was much the same a couple of years ago...

The major Telcos just don't wanna mess with ISDN, really, which is why they usually relegate ALL requests through ONE office for the WHOLE company. Once you find THE office, you're usually set.

CourVO
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Dave Courvoisier - Las Vegas, NV
http://www.CourVO.com
CourVO@CourVO.com
Courvo's "Voice Acting in Vegas" Blog: http://www.CourVO.biz
on your phone at courvo.mobi
702.610.6288
"I'm not a news anchor, but I play one on TV."

Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject:

I'm just a little irked (and very disappointed) that dealing with this and other seemingly basic Telco issues is now such a problem in my home state of New Jersey.

Among many other pretty hefty technological advances (including the laser), the transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ in 1947. In 1951, Direct Distance Dialing made it possible for customers to dial their own long-distance calls without operator assistance when the country's first area code, 201, was put into service in Northern New Jersey, home to both Bell Labs and AT&T, and their Network Operations Center. Telstar, the first communications satellite to carry live television pictures, was built for AT&T by Bell Labs and launched into orbit in 1962. The first touch-tone service was launched in New Jersey in 1964. A year later, New Jersey Bell installed the first electronic switching system. And, in 1987, Caller ID service was introduced in New Jersey. Anytime one needed something having to do with phones, New Jersey Bell was right there, and they got it right first time, every time. (In the late 1970s, I did a lot of narration work for them, Bell Labs, AT&T and Western Electric [what is now Lucent].)

And then, when the government broke up the 'Ma Bell' monopoly in 1984, everything went to hell. New Jersey Bell became Bell Atlantic NJ in 1994 and, in 2002, after its merger with GTE, Bell Atlantic became Verizon.

Verizon announced to Goldman-Sachs last year that they "are no longer concerned with telephones that are connected by wires." That has been clearly evident for quite some time.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

melissa eX · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:58 pm Post subject:

Ah yes, Bell "we cut our own cables" Atlantic.. But getting ISDN in here was actually pretty painless. I did find the right person who set it up . (I sent her the instructions to forward to the implementer) From the minute I put in the order (which was less than a week after I began inquiries) my lines were in in less than 10 days. So the whole thing took only 2- 2 1/2 weeks.

The only thing I haven't been able to determine is how much my long distance is costing me. See... we have to have MCI for long distance. But MCI now belongs to Verizon. Sounds simple right? Well... since this is -after all - a communications company - MCI communicated to me that they are now part of Verizon so I need to ask Verizon. But you see, Verizon doesn't know anything about MCI because they're still a separate company. I finally - after a week got hold of someone in the business office who - after consulting with I don't know how many people - said it was 3.5 cents per minute.

I'm waiting for my first bill.... if it's a .5 more than that- the gloves come off.

Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:17 pm Post subject:

I'm using AT&T for long distance for two reasons: they built the long distance network, and I don't trust Verizon with anything more than what I absolutely need them for. My long distance rate with AT&T is .10/minute, and that's fine with me.

I think what really caused Verizon to lose grasp of my ISDN needs was because I had a residential ISDN account, and it needed to become a business account. That seems like something they could handle on Sesame Street, but look who we're talking about. Had this not been the situation; had I been a brand new customer; someone who didn't have an existing ISDN account, I can only guess my order would have been handled as quickly as yours, Melissa. When I first got ISDN back in 2003 things went very smoothly and quickly.

"Oh, the pain... the pain."
(the late Jonathan Harris as the unscrupulous Dr. Zachary Smith in 'Lost In Space')
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Pierce · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:09 pm Post subject:

I'm late to the party, but I want to give another shout out for Digifon Dave (as he's labeled on my phone contacts). Incredibly informed & a great guy to work with.

I've done national tv spots using SC-to-Bridge & the client was happy with everything. Just be careful how much you try to explain the whole "bridging" thing to potentials... less info is less likely to scare them away from what may sound like jury rigging.

K, bye!
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