Friday, October 16, 2009

ACN IRIS 3000 VIDEOPHONE REVIEW

This review is for the ACN IRIS 3000 Videophone. This phone is a voice over IP (VOIP) phone that promises unlimited calls to the US, Canada, & Puerto Rico and unlimited videophone calls between other ACN videophones, all for the monthly cost of about $40 after taxes & fees.



It is necessary to have a broadband internet connection for this phone to operate. It is supposed to be easy to plug in and turn on, making it appealing for folks with limited technical skills. Also the promise of seeing the person you are talking to is exciting and this promises to be the next wave of technology.

I purchased the phone when I signed up as a representative for ACN, this review in no way reflects an opinion on the opportunity the company provides.

The phone had some high expectations to live up to. Installation was easy- just plug the phone into a high speed internet connection and turn the power on. It registered just fine and voice quality was good. Video quality with other phones took a little time to optimize and was good at best. The largest issue is that the video part only works with other ACN phones and to this date the only people I know who have one are ACN reps or their families.

A few other features of the phone are worth mentioning. You can connect another phone to it and use that for voice calls (cordless phone). You can also plug a USB drive or SD photo card and it will show photos on the 7" screen. I did have to return my original device because of a problem with the screen and it was replaced for free under warranty.

Over the past 6 months I have used the phone extensively in my home office. My complaints are as follows. As anyone who uses a corded phone can attest to, handset cords tend to get tangled after any considerable amount of use- this cord is permanently attached to the handset so is not easily replaceable nor can you use a swivel with it. The speakerphone works well as a speaker can. The larger issues are connectivity and the phone operation itself. Mine frequently drops calls and 'locks up' and must be power cycled, at a rate of at least once per day. Sometimes when you pick up the handset to make a call it takes 10-15 seconds to respond. I have put in several support requests and have made changes in my router to give the phone a static IP address and also open all ports recommended by ACN. I also have a 25/15 MBps FIOS connetion which is the fastest you can get. Not good for a device that promises to be easy to use.

Despite all my issues, so far ACN refuses to waive their early termination fee if I cancel before the 2 year committment is up. I intend to cancel service anyways because the phone is clearly not up to par with what I expect for phone service. My wife hit the nail on the head when she said it was more of a novelty. I am certain that video calls are the future of communication and hopefully ACN will get it right soon. I would not recommend this phone to anyone.