Crazytel: The Who, What, When & Why

Boy oh boy - the rumour mill is running overtime and the keyboard warriors are in full flight. Normally we don't pay it much mind, but things have reached the point where we reckon it's worth putting out this newsletter to set the record straight, put your mind at ease, and give everyone a chance to calm their farm.

The last 12 months have been tough on us. For a good while, everything was pottering along nicely. We were quietly building new systems - back end and front end - without advertising, growing organically at a comfortable pace. That steady growth let us roll out new features and products at a rate both we and you, our customers, could actually keep up with.

And then, to put it bluntly, it all went pear-shaped.

The wheels started to wobble when MyNetPhone was sold off. Then Skype shut its doors. Then a string of smaller providers pulled out of VoIP altogether. Almost overnight we were getting hammered with demand - and we won't lie to you, we were under-prepared for it. We simply didn't see it coming.

Now, we know exactly what you're thinking: that's a good problem to have. And you're right, it is. But it also means we've occasionally fallen short of what some of you have come to expect from Crazytel, and for that we're genuinely sorry. Every single person on the Crazytel team has put in a massive effort to welcome this wave of new customers, but we know a few of you have felt the strain along the way.

And as if that wasn't enough, AI decided to have its moment too. It's advanced so quickly that customers now expect - and rightly demand - more from us: AI receptionists, AI-powered outbound call systems, and everything in between.

Let's clear up a few wild rumours

Has Crazytel been sold, or are we preparing to sell?
No. Crazytel has not been sold, and there are no current plans to sell it. Full stop. We're fully Australian owned and operated - we're not a publicly listed company, we don't have investors, and we're completely debt free. That means we answer to you, our customers, and no one else. We're simply doing everything in our power to handle this unexpected growth the right way.

Are my plans being changed?
No. If you're on an old grandfathered plan, we have no plans to change it. And if that ever did change somewhere down the track, we'd follow the proper ACMA notification regulations to the letter - you'd hear it from us well in advance, never as a nasty surprise.

What's happening with the old SIP Trunk features?
Yes, these are being decommissioned, and yes, the new features come with revised pricing. That's exactly why we haven't force-migrated anyone - the choice is yours. You can move across to the new features, or take the opportunity to look at an alternate provider if that suits you better. The new premium features were built directly off customer feedback, which is why we went for a total rebuild rather than a quick patch job, and the pricing reflects that work. That said, we're still one of the most affordable providers in Australia - and we fully intend to stay that way.

It's been a wild 12 months. We know we've let some people down, and please don't think we haven't noticed - because we have. We see it, we hear it, and we're heads-down working to make it right.

We hope this clears up a few of the rumours. We've always liked to be upfront and honest with our customers, and we're not about to stop now. We also want to take this opportunity to say a genuine thank you - to our long-time customers and our brand-new ones alike. In the coming months you should see a ton more features, more reliability, and the level of customer care you're used to and rightly expect from us.

But please, be gentle with us in the meantime - we're trying our best!