VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD! Forum Index VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!
Where A.I. is a four-letter word.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

voice 123 bites the dust....
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD! Forum Index -> Chat
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
mike e
Guest





PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2005 5:55 pm    Post subject: voice 123 bites the dust.... Reply with quote

(sorry...just a sensationalist attention grabber).



Seriously, it kinda has for me anyway.... not that i am a huge fan of this

shark-feeding-frenzy/cattle-call site, but as a premium member who's picked up a few decent relationships through my affiliation with V123,

I was surprised to discover that, out of the blue, the interface...and most importantly...browser-compatibility was suddenly thrown in total disarray!? what's the point of a re-design that makes a product LESS user friendly.?



I know i can't be the ONLY one running a Mac OS. However, does my

IE or current mozilla/netscape browser work with the voice 123 the way

they seem to intend it to? Not at all. Not to mention it's a clumsy and far

more cumbersome layout. Kind of reminds me of how Apple decided to

emulate the clumsiness of Windows with the added complexity that so much of OSX introduced, but i digress as a Mac-Head who believes in the

old 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' mentality.



what, are they deliberately trying to reduce their compatibility? DId they

not bother testing compatibility on a variety of browsers/systems before

radically altering this thing?



Very F-ed up move, from what i can see and a pain in the ass to try and

deal with now... Sorry, but I'll repeat, regardless of what the ideals may

be on their part, some people still don't "do Windows..." and this seems

like a perfect example of a presumption that there is one standard that

fits all, without doing any research first.



No sour grapes....just common sense... What was the awesome problem

with their old interface anyway? And, god-forbid, I still happen to run

OS 9.2.... so with that evil notion, any suggestions on a browser that'll

allow me to continue to access Voice123 without a hassle? I know Explorer

5.1.7 no longer does the job.
Back to top
Andy
Guest





PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2005 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The upgrades ain't no pic-nic for us cows using Windows, either. "forked" up is an understatement.
Back to top
Charlie Channel
Club 300


Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 356
Location: East Palo Alto, CA

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2005 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't do IE. I use Firefox. Tip for Windows users: Get FireFox. You won't regret it. I haven't had any incompatibility issues and the tab feature is great for flipping between servers and BB's. Like now, I've got v123 in a tab, IV in a tab, Cybervoices.info, VO-BB.com, craigslist.org and my Yahoo.com e-mail accout in tabs. It's a click and flip kind of thing.



The last day job I had was as a project manager for Sun Microsystems, Inc. And, I was an advocate of the WWW and Internet to solve business problems. I was involved in the deployment a couple of portals and was responsible for business process communications within internal operations for supplier management, using extranet facilities.



Anyway, the big rule is to program servers and applications to work with the lowest common denominator browser that most people have. That's impossible. There is no common denominator. Like every browser does HTML, but which version? Java? Java script? There are even different implementations of XML. So, on the server side, usually the application server is set to recognize and work with a couple of 'em. The mess is made worse by different implementation of client side stuff based on the operating system, i.e., Mac versus Windows versus Unix versus Linux.



The voice123 foot race is a drag under the best circumstances. And, I've noticed that the number of leads has decreased significantly over the past month. Is that due to the cyclical nature of the business? Or, is something else happening?



CC
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
kgenus
Seriously Devoted


Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 889
Location: Greater NYC Area

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2005 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I worked in IT as well and to be honest, with all the changes that have taken place, the least they could have done was built a flash enabled site with an Oracle backend. Performance would have been an issue, but the interface would have been much improved. They're doing very well for their target market.



I recommend a price filter which would be seen as the minimum a talent would work for on the search page. Anything over that limit would be included as additional selection criteria for a subscribers leads. They claimed they would implement it, but that's pretty much the last advice I'll provide.



I believe I would sooner develop a service than support Voice 123 at this point. You know, the software used for this BB, phpBB is an example of good, clean, no frills development that works on all browsers because the pages are generated on the server and sent to the web browsers and it's all module based.



It's very simple to do.



Kevin
_________________
Genus
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
kgenus
Seriously Devoted


Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 889
Location: Greater NYC Area

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2005 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Charlie Channel wrote:
The last day job I had was as a project manager for Sun Microsystems, Inc.

CC




Charlie, I hope you were there long enough for the stock options to mature. I worked for Newbridge Networks and had to work in Santa Clara 4 months out of the year, was very "satisfied" when I left. I do miss going to Fry's and riding the rented Harley's down 101.



Kevin
_________________
Genus
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Charlie Channel
Club 300


Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 356
Location: East Palo Alto, CA

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2005 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kgenus wrote:


Charlie, I hope you were there long enough for the stock options to mature. I worked for Newbridge Networks and had to work in Santa Clara 4 months out of the year, was very "satisfied" when I left. I do miss going to Fry's and riding the rented Harley's down 101.

Kevin




I was at Sun 5 years. It was a great ride. Great bonuses, too. But, what was really great about the place was the people I had the privilege of working with.



Fry's is still good and a lot of fun; although, I have to admit their consumer focus is somewhat distracting. I went looking for a resistor a couple of weeks ago and could find nothing that was of the value I needed. I finally ended up at Radio Shack and even they didn't have what I needed. Fortunately, I recalled something I learned about parallel resistance circuits and was able to pull off a trick that solved a problem. Lots of things have changed. Component level repair? I don't know if it's even possible any more in this country.



I agree with you: A service is better than a server, any day of the week. Well, at least that's my opinion at the moment after a year of playing in the virtual world. I think many of us had a dream that hardware and software through a portal would enable us to increase productivity and transaction velocity, decrease expense and improve profit margins.



OSF has really made a difference, and continues to do so with PHP, MySQL and Apache. But, the business process itself -- the service -- is the key.



CC
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
DaveHines
Guest





PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Charlie Channel wrote:
...And, I've noticed that the number of leads has decreased significantly over the past month. Is that due to the cyclical nature of the business? Or, is something else happening?



CC




Of course. Right after I finally decide to break down and join, leads start to tank. Granted, I've only been a member for a few weeks...but so far I can report a 0% return on investment. :lol: I guess I just figured..."the worst it could do is give me a little more practice."



I too can't stand the new interface. I know that the old one wasn't perfect...but it was better than this. I sent an email to tech support making a couple of suggestions. The response I got back said this:

Dear Dave,



Thank you for your feedback. The way the system is designed it doesn't allow you to do either of your suggestions. But I will try to pass these on to the rest of the team for their consideration.



Sincerely,



Caroline


Gee, thanks. Perhaps next time I'll try to suggest a service that's currently available to make it easier for the team.



I don't mean to sound bitter...it's not like I expected voice123 to make jobs magically appear. I just wish that they had taken the time they spent coming up with the new interface and spent it on coming up with a way to get an email to my inbox before the job had been answered by 200 talents.



I still think the site is really good for what it is. I just have to keep reminding myself that these are open auditions.
Back to top
Andy
Guest





PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I've been going around with them the past few days regarding lost auditions and sudden denied access to others. This was the last reply I got from sweet Caroline:



Dear Drew,



Thank you for your message. As you are so dissatisfied with our service I would like to offer you a refund of the remaining time of your Premium membership. Please advise me how you would like this to be paid.



Sincerely,



Caroline






My counter was that since I lost out on bidding for two $300 jobs, how 'bout a free membership for year two.



So far the only thing I be hearing out of NYC from my little sweetie be crickets chirpin'.



Dave, it's a poor business model, and the real producers from whom I've gotten work, are pulling away from that kind of platform.
Back to top
billelder
Guest





PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is just my opinion so take it as such. I get a lot of work from satisfied customers recommending me to other folks they know. Included in it is whatever reputation I have worked to foster. The flaw in these "pay to audition" sites (to me) is this. If you're a client that finds and uses "that" voice for your project, there is no telling what you're getting as far a the VO Artist's dependability to deliver on time, their work ethic or ability to take instruction.



Sorry for your troubles. For Caroline, it's a license to print money. I mean, where else can you have a business that takes your money and doesn't offer any guarantee for anything? Laugh
Back to top
Charlie Channel
Club 300


Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 356
Location: East Palo Alto, CA

PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just returned home from a weekend + Monday in L.A., where I was using an iMac. And, I can stay that there's definitely something "broken" between auditioning using a Mac platform versus WinTel.



I believe it's the way cookies are handled with the Mac X o/s versus XP, using IE. I found the audition button does NOT appear using the Mac unless your link to their site through the E-mail notification. Thus, only when I received a notice via E-mail could I audition using the iMac with I.E. On my XP platform, when I directly open the voice123 URL, I can audtion even if I didn't check my E-mail account. Frustrating, to say the least. :evil:



CC
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Andy
Guest





PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They gotta be taking heat from a lot of members, Charlie. I can't be the only one going South Philly all over their sorry butts.
Back to top
Charlie Channel
Club 300


Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 356
Location: East Palo Alto, CA

PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the reply I got:



Quote:
Dear Charlie,



The site is not compatible with Internet Explorer for Mac because the latest version of IE for Mac is out of date and Microsoft are no longer making this browser for Mac. Therefore the new technology that we have used on the site is not supported by IE for Mac. As we have increasing numbers of Mac users we have made the site fully compatible with Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Netscape. Please could you try one of these alternate browsers for full funcionality.



Sincerely,



Caroline

Voice123 - The voice over marketplace

Toll Free from the US: 1.877.ASK.VOICE

New York & International: (+1) 646.825.9005

www.voice123.com




Very interesting. Safari, as far as I know, is POP/IMAP based e-mail client, not a browser. I don't thing Firefox works on Mac O/S. Netscape? Maybe, but I've not heard of too many Mac users beating the bushes for a Netscape browser at all. Also, I use a browser for web-based E-mail server (Yahoo and Comcast), which many may do.



A client browser should work with a server that's programmed to both recognize which browser is requesting data and present the functionality programmed into the server's application.



So, what's being required of Mac users is to use Safari with a POP/IMAP to receive notices of leads. That's all Mac users get. When you use IE through a webtop for E-mail, you can also get leads. You cannot browse to the voice123.com server and "answer" on a Mac, as you could using XP.



Not good.



CC



It's the virtual Tower of Babel.



C
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Don G.
King's Row


Joined: 11 Nov 2004
Posts: 1071
Location: MA

PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
...Very interesting. Safari, as far as I know, is POP/IMAP based e-mail client, not a browser. I don't thing Firefox works on Mac O/S. Netscape? Maybe, but I've not heard of too many Mac users beating the bushes for a Netscape browser at all. Also, I use a browser for web-based E-mail server (Yahoo and Comcast), which many may do.




If it's any consolation, Safari is a Mac browser. Mail is their email application. Also, Firefox is definitely available for Mac; in fact it's what I use instead of Safari, 99% of the time. http://www.mozilla.org
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Charlie Channel
Club 300


Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 356
Location: East Palo Alto, CA

PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah ... Thanks for the info. There ought to be no problem, then.



I've just called and confirmed that the iMac I use now has the newer browser installed. Although the iMac doesn't belong to me, the owner's machine has both Safari and an E-mail application on it.



Safari was on disk but not on the desktop. It's got a compass as an icon, I've been told. 'cool'



Thanks for the assist on that.



CC
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Andy
Guest





PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2005 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fer what it's worth, sweet Caroline did get back to me. And for my inconvenience, V123 has given me a free, 1-month extension to my current subscription. It's worth about $16.58
Back to top
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD! Forum Index -> Chat All times are GMT - 7 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group