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Review by NYC Girl See Profile

  • Location: Bronx, Bronx, NY, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Install: about 20 days
High sound quality, reliability, works w/home alarm system, mimicks landline
Pricey, customer service is the worst, different areas offer different perks, extra cost for voicemail, few call features
Quality VoIP and works seamlessly w/RR High Speed Online
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

UPDATE: 9/26/11

I have since moved to the Bronx and no longer use Digital Voice as it is not available where I live. I am sure my review would be the same as below.

UPDATE 4/22/07:

The service itself continues to be great no issues no outages, etc.; however, what is annoying is that each area is not on the same page as far as benefits and features and NYC is getting shafted in this area. TWC offers different / more benefits to other areas of the state, such as free voicemail (3.95 per month for me), highly discounted introductory pricing (I was lucky to get the 2 month free offer and had to fight for THAT).

Customer service sucks as they are not knowledgeable of their products and services. It is a waste of time calling them as they roll over and play dead when you ask them about services in other areas. UUUUGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

UPDATE 3/24/07:

Digital Phone must have read my post about offering more calling features. They have just now offered FREE 3 way calling, a bit long overdue, but nevertheless I am glad it is here and not offered for an additional charge. With Verizon you definitely had to pay for the service, 4.00 per month depending on the package have w/them.

UPDATE: 3/20/07

I have since discontinued the monthly unlisted service for 2.50 as I am not even sure that they even publish phone numbers; might be one of those bogus charges like what POTS charges.

Customer service is OK, kinda, except you have to call a few times before you actually get your request handled. For example I had to call twice in order for them to remove the monthly charge for the unlisting. It depends on who you get on the line when you call. In order to get the 2 months service credit on my bill, I had to call several times and spoke to several different people and departments. I did not give up as I was going to get my 2 months service credit, LOL. OR, it would have been a formal letter to their complaints department and then I will get a 6 month credit instead, this has happened to me; however, I will write about that later in a TWCTV review, LMAOOOO. I finally got one good customer service representative who credited my account right away. They were claiming that was not eligible for the discount as I didn't actually subscribe to the service online. I did, they send me an email stating that someone would call me back to handle my order - that's not subscribing online. So, I called customer service directly to sign up. AND, their was nothing on the site that stated that you must order online to qualify for the 2 month credit (now it does and it still is vague to me). I would have been happy to complete the order online, in fact, I would have preferred it. I made changes to my Verizon account online when I was moving 2 years ago, just followed up w/a phone call later to confirm and it was fine. The TWC website is horrible as their information is not up to date, not user friendly, you cannot send them an email message for service on it as you get an error message stating that they are looking into the problem, and you have to call them directly for any little change you want to make on your account. And I have mentioned to customer service that their website is not up to date and they just had a nonchalant attitude about it, too much!!!!

The service is great, I have not had any issues. I did call about the bit of feedback on the phone, of course nothing can be done. It is very slight and sometimes not there at all, it could be me looking for flaws, nothing to worry about though if you are considering DP. The overall call quality is great, sometimes better than POTS. The caller id doesn't always work but could be my phone, who knows. I just wish they had more features such as free voicemail w/the email notification feature, 3 way calling, etc. Brighthouse DP HAS free voicemail and 3 way calling, I need to make another call and ask about THAT!!!! I guess they think NYers are rich or something. We always pay more for everything. This division of TWC services FL and other states.

DP is a little pricier than other VoIP providers (actually now w/triple pay it is $33.91 - advertised price is $39.95 per month); however, I have not had any startup issues, I think I may have lost a call or two in the begining. The service works w/my alarm system which was a major concern and one of the reasons for not getting this sooner. Damn, I could have saved some money on the taxes for a bit until they decided to charge them in 07. Sales people told me there would be very little taxes paid and specifically asked them about this. They mentioned the E911 fee and a 3.00 sales tax added, NOT. It is still cheaper than the POTS line as I pay less for taxes and fees.

_________________________________________________________________

2/22 Voice Mail 3.95



02/22 Private Listing 2.50 - have since discontinued



02/22 All IN One Triple 129.95

Digital Phone Service, Basic Service, ., Remote(s) @ $0.25 Ea, Standard Service, Converter(s) @ $7.40 Ea, DTV, Phone @ $33.91, Road Runner Online Svc

02/22 Franchise Fee 4.13 - I have always paid this

02/22 FCC Regulatory Fee .06 - I have always paid this

______________________________________________________

02/22 Federal Universal Service Fund 2.25

02/22 State And Local Sales Tax 2.79

02/22 State And Local Telecom Excise Tax 1.78

02/22 State Gross Receipts Tax .11

02/22 E-911 Surcharge 1.78

02/22 Mctd (186e And 184) Surcharge .28

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

The $149.05 is TWC's triple play packages which includes digital cable service (minus premium channels - I have HBO and Showtime for 19.95), digital phone +3.95 per month for voicemail, and road runner standard service along with applicable NYC, NYS taxes and 911 fees.

The reason I made the switch from Verizon to TWC Digital Phone service was due to the fact that I was fed up w/Verizon and their exorbitant fees and taxes!!! I was up to $65.79 per month for the Verizon Freedom Essentials package for 39.99 (unlimited calling to the US and PR). I originally signed up for the service when it was 34.99; it was $5.00 cheaper for me since I have Verizon wireless. It was a "good deal" at the time since I was on their regional plan for the same amount. A few months later the price of all their packages went up $5.00!!! I was still receiving my multiple services discount; however, if I were not a wireless customer the package would have cost me 44.99 per month, too much!! PLUS TAXES AND FEES!! AND 2 months free service from TWC wasn't too shabby either, LOL!!

The reason I didn't make the switch from Verizon to VoIP sooner is that I was too chicken to experience any potential drama with switching phone services and was worried about compatibility with my alarm system. It had only become available in my area since last year anyway. Sprint once offered inexpensive local and long distance phone service (or maybe they still do) and all the features were not available at the time the phone service was in place (had to wait 2 weeks) such as caller id, etc. I immediately switched back to Verizon like w/in 2 days.

I have had the service for over a month now, digital phone was installed on 1/20. Installation was OK, the tech guy took a while to install as he or customer service mixed up the serial numbers on the new modem ... who knows (uugghhh). All he did was replace my old modem, install a phone jack,hook up the cable wire, ethernet, and phone wire (not sure what it is called) to the modem. My old verizon number was ported seamlessly which was a pleasant surprise. I thought I was going to experience drama with that and have to get a new number. Once the modem was finally installed my phone service worked immediately, all features, caller id, call waiting id, call waiting, etc.

My long distance call quality actually got BETTER!!! I called a friend in CT and he noticed the difference right away w/out me even mentioning my new phone service. Local call quality is about the same as Verizon. Occasionally, at night, I do hear a bit of feedback when the phone is ringing on the other end before the person picks up to talk, very slight, not bothersome though. I will have to call tech support to see what's going on. No issues with dropped calls and such so far, occasionally the caller id does not work; I am not sure if it is my phone or the service. I don't have a special VoIP phone just my vtech fancy silver phone, their newest model. No issues w/using the internet while talking whatsoever; I think they actually gave me more "juice" the web seems faster for some reason - shhhhhh, LOL.

Digital Phone only offers basic call features, such as caller id, call waiting id, call waiting, speed dial, call forwarding, plus the *82 type features (no *69 - I don't use it anyway). Voicemail is $3.95 8-(. You can view your long distance calls on the web. You can call all 50 US states, US territories such as the USVI, Marshall Islands, Guam, PR, and Canada - don't know anyone in these countries but I can call there for free, LOL.

Will provide additional information on customer service soon.



member for 17.1 years, 635 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago
updated 12.4 years ago

PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

1 edit

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

Ex post facto post

NYC Girl said:

UPDATE: 9/26/11

I have since moved to the Bronx and no longer use Digital Voice as it is not available where I live. I am sure my review would be the same as below.

While honesty is good, it is nevertheless not appropriate to update a review of a service you no longer use. An exception might apply if you were adding historical data for a provider that was no longer operational.

I am sure my review would be the same as below.

That makes no sense at all.

Review by Ronnie_USA See Profile

  • Location: Morehead, Rowan, KY, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 7 days
Price
None
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
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Value for money:

While I was sick I had My internet turned off for 2 months, (hard to type with a broken hand) so I went to get it turned back on, and they offered this to for free for a year.

The only cost was a $44.00 dollar install. That amounts to $3.66 a month for telephone.

member for 20.4 years, 2751 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago
updated 12.7 years ago







Review by trparky See Profile

  • Location: Cleveland, Cuyahoga, OH, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
  • Install: about 4 days
Everything.
Works wonderfully.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

My Other Reviews

·AT&T U-Verse
What can I say... the service works and it works great. What more can I ask for?

member for 23.8 years, 11800 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 12.8 years ago







Review by qwertyuiop74 See Profile

  • Location: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $30 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
reliable, I forget anything has changed
number porting took a little while
as reliable as POTS at a much lower price
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ordered service on a Sunday, was told that Verizon could not port number until Thursday. Installers came (NOT in-house as I was promised, but they were very professional) and had it up and running within 90 min, which is great given the complexity of our phone wiring.

As soon as service was installed most people could call me. For people in my local Verizon exchange, it took until Saturday before calls came through as the porting took a little longer than expected. Now, everything works perfectly and I forget that the provider changed

member for 13.9 years, 5 visits, last login: 13.9 years ago
lodged 13.9 years ago


Review by dellsweig See Profile

  • Location: Campbell Hall, Orange, NY, USA
  • Cost: $150 per month
30 Meg Internet, very reliable video and data
none that I can think of
good value - no worse than any other utility
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All

It is intersting to read the posts in this forum.

I live in a very rural area of southern NY state. I have been a TWC customer for many years and have seen them improve from a basic cable company to what we have now.

I must say that my service has been second to none - as close to 100% uptime on both the video and internet. Over the years there have been issues but TWC has upgraded the infrastructure so that now I get a nice selection of HD plus digital TV and 12M down, 500K up internet.

MOST of my dealings with support have been good. No better or worse than any other utility I have had to deal with. When we have required service - the on site guys are usually great - they will take the time to run a new cable or crimp on better connectors

Keep up the good work


member for 20.2 years, 4350 visits, last login: 9 years ago
updated 14.4 years ago


Review by alexintexas See Profile

  • Location: San Antonio, Bexar, TX, USA
  • Cost: $43 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Sound quality, value over competition
IS NOT GUARANTEE TO WORK IN THE EVENT OF POWER FAILURE
excellent value over competition
Web-site:
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I cant stress this enough to everyone who thinks this service will work in a power failure situation,,,,,,,TWC STATES it MAY NOT work in a power failure situation and DO NOT GUARANTEE it to work in a power failure event. if lives depends on a working phone line then i would question this servce. (read the fine print in attachment)

Another thing many many think that because the unit may have a battery back up that it will work in a power failure event THIS IS NOT THE CASE. (read the fine print in attachment)

now my re-view on the service.

Fist off i have had the service for about 1.5 years now on a NON BATTERY BACK UP Arris cable/voip modem

This service has excellent voice quality and sounds better then any experienced pots service.

The value of service/money is very comparable to the compitition in this market, does not come attached with 15-20 dollars of added fees and taxes like telco does, has detailed calling via web site, free long distance to canada/puerto rico/competitve LD rates, 39.99 a month when bundled of course = excellent value.

i will say when i first got the service, "When first launced in SATX" TWC was handing out modems with backup battery, and both times i did lose power the service was working. However again They dont GUARANTEE it to work in such an event

overall the service has very little down time, 3 times and nomore then an hour, due to maint. in the area. again i get far better uptime/quality compared to the telco where i had about 85% uptime on phone side with telco.

updated 9-22-08

great service overall, a little overpriced as a stand-a-lone service imo, great overall pricing when locked into a bundled discount.

updated 7-2-09

well just recently dump DP from TWC the recesion is hitting hard in my line of work so must cut back on expenses. Phone service tho not much cheaper then telco had a 99% uptime with much better sound voice quality over telco. TWC does discount heavily when you bundle over $100 a month over services was dishing out $150 a month for all 3, now paying $39 a month for 2 services

Attachments:
Click for full size


member for 21.1 years, 2370 visits, last login: 69 days ago
updated 14.7 years ago


Review by Tallisan See Profile

  • Location: North Tonawanda, Niagara, NY, USA
  • Cost: $29 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Sounds great, always works. Local techs
None
Wished we had gotten it sooner
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4/7/09 Still great service not one issue
***************************************************************************************
10/1/08 No problems at all would highly recommend this to anyone.
***************************************************************************************
Install was fast and easy the installer knew exactly what he was doing and he rewired my old phone jacks, He was done in less than an hour.

Love the service never a dropped call or someone saying they can't hear us like I used to get with Vonage. The triple play is the way to go with 29.95 per service. Love that if I had a problem I can get a tech come and fix it for free unlike Vonage where you call India and the best thing they can do is either blame your ISP or mail you another adapter.

A lot cheaper then Verizon in this area. We got unlimited calling to US and Canada that I used to pay $75 a month to Verzion.

member for 22 years, 4207 visits, last login: 10.8 years ago
updated 14.9 years ago


alpo41
@rr.com

alpo41

Anon

Vonage

I have been with Vonage for 3 years now and I am please with the service. The voice is the same as with a reg phone and the only time I lost using the phone was when my cable went down. Vonage then sends the calls to my cell phone what could be better then that, and I only pay $15.00 a month for 500 minutes and I can call anywhere my bill with Verison was $32. Per month and that was only local call I love the money I’m saving
djscal
join:2005-04-09
Los Angeles, CA

djscal

Member

Vonage doesn't work unless you have a super reliable internet connecton. Most people experience dropped calls, reverberation, echos, and generally poor voice quality. There is no comparison between Vonage which routes calls over the internet, and Time Warner Digital Phone which routes calls over Time Warner's private network. For a few dollars more a month than Vonage you get far superior voice quality and reliability than Vonage.

I had Vonage prior to having Time Warner's digital phone and there is no comparison really. Vonage sucks unless you have a super fast and extremely reliable internet connection which very few have.

Review by ucrazy51 See Profile

  • Location: Port Arthur, Jefferson, TX, USA
  • Cost: $161 per month
  • Install: about 10 days
Free Long Distance to anywhere
None
Great Value for the $$$
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Value for money:

2-23-09 Update - Still a happy customer with TW Cable, Roadrunner, Phone.



member for 22.9 years, 716 visits, last login: 13 years ago
updated 15 years ago







Review by djscal See Profile

  • Location: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $35 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Better call quality and value than POTS
Coax wiring to the digital phone unit must be pristine w/out splitters in the way
Will save money over traditional phone service
Web-site:
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I was sick and tired of paying $67 a month to Verizon for my telephone line. This included unlimited local and long distance and taxes via the Verizon Freedom Value plan. Looking to save some money I started investigating VOIP options. I had used Vonage in the past for a business telephone line with poor results. Vonage often dropped calls, garbled voices and was not generally reliable over my Time Warner cable modem service. I also tried Vonage over a Verizon DSL line, which improved the quality and reliability of the service, however it still was not reliable enough to replace my home telephone line with.

After reading all of the reviews here, I decided to give Time Warner's digital phone service a try. While it does use VOIP technology, the calls are routed over Time Warner's private IP network versus going over the regular internet like with Vonage.

The installers came yesterday and did not speak English well which was a big worry for me. This is because I have a somewhat complicated telephone and network wiring situation at my house. After explaining how I wanted them to install the digital phone several times, they finally understood what I wanted. I wanted them to disconnect only one of the pairs from my unit to the wiring box outside. The other pair I wanted to remain connected so that I could maintain a naked dsl line from Verizon. I also wanted them to understand that one of my jacks was on that naked dsl pair and the other jacks in the house would be on the other pair which I wanted to be converted to digital phone service from a Verizon POTS line.

The intallers tried installing the digital phone line in my office which had a long coax run from the garage and was behind a couple of splitters. They got an ok (not great) signal with their testing equipment and began installing the digital phone at that location. After plugging in the line to the Arris voip modem that they brought they couldn't get a dial tone. After 45 minutes of troubleshooting I suggested that we try to install the modem in the garage where the coax lines come in from the street. I pointed to a single line coming in to the house (I have three coax lines coming in through the garage) with no splitter and suggested putting a splitter on that line and wiring the voip modem to that line. I thought they understood what I meant but instead began running a 4th new coax line from outside into my townhouse. Realizing what they were doing, I did not correct them as I thought having a dedicated line from outside to the digital voip modem would be the ideal situation. Long story short, after running the dedicated cable from outside to the modem, it fired up and immediately gave dial tone. They plugged the modem into one of the nearby jacks (after disconnecting voltage to my telephone line from outside) and I had digital phone service to all of the jacks in my house.

I have been using the digital phone service for only a day, however the call quality is actually better than my old Verizon POTS line. There is no delay or noise in the line and the voices are clear and loud. People can also hear me perfectly. The service should remain up even in a power outage because of the 6 hour battery that comes with the Arris voip modem that Time Warner delivered.

The nice thing about digital phone is that you get a whole bunch of features such as call waiting, caller id, three way calling, call forwarding included with the cost of the line. Of course you also get unlimited long distance calling as well.

Overall I'm very pleased with the digital phone so far. The features, the cost and the service has been excellent. The caveat is that your coax wiring in your residence must high quality and devoid of splitters before the Time Warner digital voip modem. If your call quality is not good, I would recommend running another coax line from outside directly to the voip modem such as what they did with my installation. You would have to have Time Warner come out and do that work of course. I will post updates if I have any problems with the service, or interruptions of service.

Update: Looking great after one week of service! No dropped calls. Perfect audio quality.

Update 08/08/08:

Superb call quality, bulletproof reliability. Telephone service has not gone once in over 3 months. Absolutely no problems, and have been saving over $30 a month! Highly recommended to others on POTS who are paying way too much money for land line phone service.

Update 1/14/09:

No changes, except I had my first dropped call since I hooked up the service. Not a big deal to have only dropped call in several months. Otherwise, I am loving the savings that Time Warner provides over Verizon! I recently signed up for the triple play package to save even more.

member for 18.9 years, 171 visits, last login: 11.2 years ago
updated 15.1 years ago


Review by habsr1 See Profile

  • Location: South Glens Falls, Saratoga, NY, USA
  • Cost: $40 per month
  • Install: about 3 days
value
battery back up
product is well worth the money
Web-site:
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I have the triple play package. 10 by 1 Road Runner speed. The MTA is Motorola with SA DVR box. The service works real nice. The only issue I would have is the lack of battery back up in time warners power supplies.

member for 23.1 years, 67 visits, last login: 12.9 years ago
lodged 15.2 years ago