Guest Paul [MVP] Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Upon returning home today, I opened a letter from Orange to be greeted with the sad news that they are withdrawing 'Wildfire', their cool voice controlled answerphone service ;) Following on from the closure of Orange Everyphone (another great service), this is yet another example of Orange's fantastic services falling by the wayside. Why Orange why? (sob) Read more about the soon-to-be-deceased Wildfire here. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest i_oWn_u Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 ..Orange... :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adjonline Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Someone didn't notice my earlier moan in 'Smartphone Main' ;) I'm still majorly annoyed. I called OCS and got told the reason is the American company that made the technology going bust - my knowledge is that it was orginally an in-house product that was sold, and the company that a post on this site says now has the rights to it is www.crtechnologyinc.com, who for all I can see appear to be going strong. Can't see them changing their minds. Nevertheless, I'd urge any and all to moan - occasionally (as I remember from a long-ago controversy over changes to the original PAYG Out Here from five -> three messages), enough complaints can reverse policy. Sadly, though, requests for a favour may be at an end. The Cows will be missed!! A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jasonkruys Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 I too had the same letter. Very sad to see her go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Oops, didn't see your Smartphone Main post, sorry! :oops: P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Will Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 crazy, was just looking at getting a spare handset and using everyphone for those 'forgot my phone' days. Wildfire was useful, but i never really got hooked. - now i find it's gone ;) Well done orange, find good idea. other networks take a beating because of it for a while, then ditch it ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rikwebb Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Not had the letter yet. BUT :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: Why oh Why Rik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Everyphone was a FANTASTIC service that was never marketed... ;) P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adjonline Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Oops, didn't see your Smartphone Main post, sorry! :oops: P <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'll survive ;)!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest markd66 Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Another service "improvement" from Orange.... just as they start running TV ads about looking after their existing customers. If I didn't use WF so much it would be funny. But it isn't ;) The sad thing is that O once liked this technology so much, they bought the original comapny (Wildfire Communications Inc) - cost them $148 million back in 2000 A petition to save her has been started here "Wildfire" "Here I am!" "Do me a favour" "What kind of favour?" "I'm depressed" "I'm sorry, but my off switch is controlled by an accountant in France" <click> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adjonline Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 A case of 'Goodbye, Wildfire', one last time. Ok...maybe the cheesiness needs to stop...nah ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beersoft Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 but do we get our tenner back now they have stopped the service? /me looks for a new way to amuse himself whilst looking like his on the phone later Owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adjonline Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 My letter, which at least one other says does not reflect his, tells me I'll receive £4/month talk credit until I next upgrade (at which point I'm glad I upgraded recently ;) - thought it's nothing really, compared to the value of the service being lost) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Arisme Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 (edited) Well, Orange FR has introduced this (only for the voicemail, and for free) one year ago, and I think it's here to stay. Another fine example of group policies ;) Edited May 9, 2005 by Arisme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adjonline Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 What does a French cow say then?? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest badlad Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Moi ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TigerNet Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 ...related, but slightly off topic...have you seen this from SpinVox though...I find it really useful... http://www.spinvox.com/ Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wideawake Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 (edited) Really bad news. This was the only way I could use my PPC for voice dialing. Crazy! At what cost to Orange to keep the service online? *oops I should not I meant voice dialing via bluetooth. And I haven't received any alternative incentive..... Edited May 10, 2005 by wideawake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chucky.egg Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 ...related, but slightly off topic...have you seen this from SpinVox though...I find it really useful... http://www.spinvox.com/ Cheers Nick <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's neat! I've been "testing" it with all sorts of words ;) We have an SMS system that we can use to issue commands to the systems (things like PINGs and unlock user accounts etc) so now it's all voice-activated too! Top find there fella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TigerNet Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 That's neat! I've been "testing" it with all sorts of words ;) We have an SMS system that we can use to issue commands to the systems (things like PINGs and unlock user accounts etc) so now it's all voice-activated too! Top find there fella Thanks Chucky...here's a snippet from one voicemail: "just testing how good your phone is, just want to see if it can spell antidisestablishmentarianism or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I can't think of any more words, I'm gonna try & speak quite quickly, see what your capacity is. Ok, mate, speak soon. Bye." I have it send my voice mail to me both as text AND e-mail...it's now kept in my Outlook folders!!! Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dazza12 Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 I've just posted the following in Pocket PC Main, but just to repeat it here as I've got the Executive Office fax number: --- If you are a heavy user like me, no doubt you've been using Wildfire, the answerphone replacement that you speak to to retrieve and manage your messages. Orange bought the company that developed Wildfire some time ago, so it is now an in-house product. I find it invaluable, as if I am driving I can get my messages without breaking the law (apart from pressing one button on the phone). I can retrieve, delete - even call recipients from within the product. Imagine my annoyance at receiving a letter this morning announcing that the product will be discontinued at the end of this month (May). Not only do we get very little notice of this fact, but the product isn't being replaced. We revert to the old answerphone service. This is impossible to use in the car, as you need to press buttons on the phone to go to the next message, delete etc, and doesn't save numbers as callers come in. There is a high level of interaction needed. Orange clearly haven't thought this through. I suspect this is a money decision, unfortunately they've not really paid that much attention to how much some users depend on the product and will be looking to move to a network that provides a better service. I for one am not happy at this and will be complaining to the Executive Office. If you are in a similar position, I urge you to either write to them or fax them on 0870 374 8129. Don't bother writing to the Correspondance department, they've ignored my last two complaints. --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chucky.egg Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Don't bother writing to the Correspondance department, they've ignored my last two complaints. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hands up everyone who's experienced that! \o/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pondrew Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Is this really surprising though given that new customer's haven't been able to opt into Wildfire for ages now? They weren't going to maintain the service for what has to be a steadily decreasing number of subscribers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Signed up for SpinVox, not working very well for me! Can't get my PIN, and when I call myself, messages don't get thru! P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chucky.egg Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 I've "lost" a few test messages from SpinVox, and delivery times seem to be very variable, but all of the short messages I've sent have come through quickly - maybe the longer messages take longer to process and it gets bogged down somewhere. I've attached it to our SMS-to-Email service and found that all (10 or so) of the short messages I sent were delivered as emails well within 1 minute More testing required by the sounds of it though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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