From aredant@pclink.com Sun Jun 11 18:05:34 2000
Subject:Re: more about voce service

--- In VoceSupportGroup@egroups.com, "Bruce Wahler"
wrote:
> Bruce (and group),
>
> > I did get a response from the maker of the IC I needed and they
said
> > that they sold the specified IC to VOCE, Inc (now out of business)
> > and last sold to them in 1995. (I purchased the unit in 1998).?
>
> This is very common practice in the electronics industry,
especially for
> small companies like Voce, Inc. The production of IC's involves a
lot
> of setup and manufacturing costs, which are better spread out over
> large-quantity builds. Also, as production processes improve, IC
> manufacturers try to phase out older processes, usually by offering
a
> last-time-buy to the current users, often with financial incentives.
> The IC manufacturer probably made it attractive for Voce to buy
> thousands of parts in 1995, and since the Micro-BII was a respin of
the
> successful Micro-B, it probably seemed like a safe decision at the
time.
>

Yes, they probably didn't have much of a choice in the matter unless
they wanted to spring for more setup fees. Or maybe the minimum
orders were too high for them to use up in a reasonable amount of
time. Two year old components are definitly not fresh parts. I wish I
had known more about the state of the company at the time of
purchase. As far as the designers are concerned, you know, sometimes
the only way to get away from a project is to quit your job.
Does anyone know anything about Viscount? I was sent one mistakenly
when I bought the Voce and was considering buying it.

Bruce Honnigford