The surreal world of VoIP

We're currently working on a massive project involving telephony and mobile technologies, and I had to look for VoIP vendors to cater for relatively simple needs of my client. I have to say that while the needs are simple, the traffic is extremely high, so in monetary terms, it could be a nice deal for the VoIP vendors.

But... is VoIP a strange industry or what. I don't know who runs all these companies - but:

• if you don't know what IVR, DID, PSTN, or all their other "secret handshakes" mean - they won't even talk to you. Forget about the forums, they are even less helpful than Usenet.
  
• the responses come usually after weeks, and they are of the type "I just transferred your inquiry to our sales representative". Obviously, unless you kick and scream, the sales rep won't get back
• you have to re-tell the story over and over again

Ah yes, but the internet is full of dotcomish optimism about mashups and other kewl stuff. Awesome, dude.

Of course, there are also people who do need paying customers, and those who are able to concentrate, and - surprise surprise - they were the ones who got the job eventually.