oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA
3 edits | It's called...
...charging too much...along with not enough promotion. I mean other than DSLR where will you see CallVantage talked about? I see Vonage commercials all the time. If they aren't going to advertise, that means they're only going to come across customers who are doing research into VoIP plans and if that's the case they're going to find their competitors like Broadvoice and Voicepulse to be as much as 30% cheaper with major competitors like Voicepulse and Vonage 15-20% cheaper. |
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digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana
| IE Required?
Not sure if this is still true... about 6 months ago their web portal required IE and wouldn't work with FireFox. Then having to put the TA in front of my router. I was disgusted with the service within minutes of setting it up.
I'll stick with my VoicePulse....they give you more features for less money anyways. |
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nightwalker
Nightwalker
join:1999-08-07
Chicago, IL
1 edit | 95% of the site seems to work fine with FireFox 1.0.1
Every VOIP solution has pro's and cons.
Some Pro's:
1. Fast LNP porting (10 days or less)
2. Clear and Reliable Phone Service (comparable to pots)
Some Cons:
1. International calls a bit higher than most.
2. ATA behind router issues.
3. Price?
Overall, I'm a happy ATT Callvantage customer. They ported my number in under 10 days, and works as advertised.
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»www.reverse.net |
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Clickie
@wdiv.com
| On Par for the Telcos
This is on-par for all telco initiated voice over IP. They seem to think that telephone service should be $40 per month, and if you look at the offerings from SBC and Verizon, VoIP is about that. AT&T was pricey enough, and like the incumbents, they totally miss the point of VoIP; that people are tired of paying outrageous amounts of money for what should be declining prices for old technology.
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs: | Quality
I, for one, am perfectly willing to pay more for the quality I get with ATT CV. THe voice quality is second to none... |
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SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
| reply to nightwalker
Re: IE Required?
Interesting you mention international calls being more expensive on VOIP solutions. The one I'm planning on getting (VoicePulse) has lower rates than SBC's special international calling plan over here. At least with the country we call (Guatemala). Price is definitely better too. Maybe it's a Callvantage thing or maybe we got lucky on the rates on a specific country. |
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Cyber2lz
join:2001-11-15
Odessa, FL
| Beta Tested ATT
I was in on the Beta Test for T's Voip offering.
The call quality IS second to none!!!
That lone pro does not offset the myriad of cons that plagued the early product. That combined with a 100% premium to the market did not justify residential outgoing calls for us.
Just a thought, |
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Doubledee32
join:2002-06-20
Charlotte, NC
| Well I'm happy!
I've had them for almost a year now and I have no plan to go back to a Pots line. But really outside of this forum-I don't see them advertising anywhere and I think thats whats hurting thier growth. Vonage has commericals on TV in my area now, Time-Warner also advertises on TV. So I'm sure they would get more customers if they were to do more advertising. |
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IanR
join:2001-03-22
Madison, NJ | It all goes to prove
1) That the AT&T Brand is NO longer a sure fire winner (even though I did see a lot of promotion early on)
2) You overprive this product and unless you are a Cable provider, with silly customers, it won't sell |
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CodeTech
join:2005-02-24
Calgary, AB
| Shaw VoIP
I just signed up with Shaw's VoIP service, only available in Calgary, well actually the day it was finally available. They spent $100 million putting an entire second internet system in place, and ALL Canada and US calls are free (except Hawaii and Alaska). Long distance is beyond reasonable, 4.9 cents/minute to Australia is not expensive and as I understand it the only actual expense is probably mandatory taxes anyway.
All it is hardware wise is a 2nd cable modem in the basement that connects to the phone lines in the house. It took 2 guys 2 hours to completely replace the wire from the alley and much of the cable in my house, and it all works perfectly (no service charges with Shaw). All telephone service options are included.
If VoIP worked this way everywhere, VoIP would definitely be the only answer. |
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SolarPup
IT Geek-Dawg
Premium
join:2002-03-07
The Pound
clubs:
 ·Comcast
 ·AT&T CallVantage
 ·Osiris Communicati..
1 edit | ATT CV Rocks
I'd love to know where they get that you have to place the TA in front of a router... because quite honestly that's BS.. I have mine on the other side of my router right now, and works great, no problem. There is even 2 versions of the TA that *IS* a router itself. AT&T's voice quality is superior. I had packet8 before, and it just sounded like i was talking through a bunch of digital ice cubes. Plus, the support and everything you get with the service for that price is well worth it.
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...It was a good ol' deck, the fast forwards, the rewinds, the good play times.. |
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ricep5
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL
 ·AT&T Southeast
·AT&T CallVantage
·VoicePulse
·Comcast Formerly ..
| AT&T CV is OK by me
I personally love the service.
Good things of note;
- AT&T CV hired Accenture to survey their customers about the service. It wasn't a fluff session, they wanted to know everything.
- The top issue surveyed was the website, and within 2 weeks of the survey, AT&T went out and redid the website.
- AT&T CV has great call quality. Everyone I have spoken too cannot believe its a IP phone at work.
- AT&T still has a 100% rebate on the TA. (Though I still haven't gotten mine yet)
- Some router vendors have posted recommendations for placing your AT&T CV TA behind your router. Others have posted their recommendations in the DSLR hardware forums.
- For what I get, I think the pricing is reasonable. I queried a corporate telecom manager and they can't roll out VoIP internally this cheaply.
Improvements?
- The first level tech support is very basic. The reboot and reset staff.
- Marketing, where are the CV ads in the tech space? (Let alone the general population)
- Bandwidth, the call quality exacts a price, CV uses more bandwidth than others. However when behind a router with QoS, you can get it down pretty low w/o losing anything.
- The DLink TA model is a security problem. Running a standard port scan from DSLR resets it. Service will stop for about a minute and then come back.
- Need to market a better combined router/TA or expand the compatible hardware list. Vonage seems to have locked out AT&T on desirable Linksys models.
I have run my CV service over 2 broadband types (wireless & cable modem) and it has worked w/o an issue. In fact, I have never had an AT&T based outage. |
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ricep5
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL | reply to digiblur
Re: IE Required?
After a user survey complained about the website, they redid it. Almost all of it is Firefox capable now. |
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cplater
@wayne.edu
| They were the only choice for me.
I had a few requirements when I looked into VOIP: 1) Number portability. 2) TiVo/PVR support. I started with Vonage, and I really liked them. I was able to get my TiVo to dial out on a semi regular basis (it failed about 20% of the time,) but they were not able to port my number (my number is in the 1 (out of 5) zones that they don't support.) I then tried Packet8 (8x8.) They could port my number, but they do not support TiVo/modem calls. I then looked at CallVantage. Yes, it's $5 more per month than Vonage, but they were able to port my number, and they list TiVo/PVR support in their feature list. My TiVos dial out reliably 100% of the time when using the D-Link adapter (they were not as reliable using a Linksys Wireless G/CallVantage router.) I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they are not charging a lot of taxes in my area (it's under $4.)
FWIW -- Packet8 and Vonage charge fees if you cancel in the first year (after you're out of the trial period.) CallVantage does not.
If Vonage ever gets a POP in my CLEC, and they can reliably support my TiVo, I'll switch in a heartbeat. |
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shashinka
join:2000-09-16
West Boylston, MA
| reply to nightwalker
Re: VOIPinternational calls more expensive than
My wife makes calls every week or two to Japan. The cheapeast is a VOIP solution. SkypeOut (3cents), Vonage (5cents), AT&T Calling Card (7cents) and then finally Verizon (10cents).
I love my SkypeOut for that reason and if that has a problem I use my Vonage. |
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shashinka
join:2000-09-16
West Boylston, MA
| reply to Clickie
Re: On Par for the Telcos
It is REALLY stupid that most of the Telco VOIP plans are almost the same as their POTs plans. Get a CLUE!
Cable/Vonage, Dry DSL/Vonage.
Speaking of Dry DSL, check out speakeasy's new QOS Dry DSL/VOIP offering. That is a great package if you're worried about QOS from your provider. For me I don't really care because I have my cell as a backup. If charter is having a problem on their network I'll just use my cell, worth only having to pay Vonage $15 a month to keep my home phone (for kids and security system). |
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navalpatel
join:2003-07-28
Lubbock, TX | reply to oliphant
Re: It's called...
I suppose its just the areas that they choose. In the DFW area I used to see their commercials all the time as well. I think its more of the fact of their customers being able to justifty the price for what features they offer. |
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AntiTelco
@shawcable.net
| Well, at least they are doing better than FTTH
Didn't Verizon state they were going to have just about everyone everywhere wired with Fiber by now? LOL! That's another dirty little secret that will eventually come out. Wake up guys, all the Telco's are full of $hit. Deep pockets and huge marketing budgets ain't gonna cut it anymore. Having a monopoly for their entire existance is permanently engrained into their culture. They are NOT CAPABLE of competing! |
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nightwalker
Nightwalker
join:1999-08-07
Chicago, IL
4 edits | reply to oliphant
Re: ATT seems to be winning the war...
Let's compare ATT and Vonage.
»www.vonage.com/corporate/press_index.php
05.01.2001 Vonage Launch
06.16.2003 Vonage has 30,000 Lines
09.23.2003 Vonage has 50,000 Lines
50,000 / 28 months = 1786 lines per month
CallVantage:
03.30.2004: CallVantage Launch
12.30.2004: CallVantage has 53,000 Lines
53,000 / 9 months = 5888 lines per month
It took only 8.5 months for ATT to hit 50K subscribers.
Vonage took over 27 months to hit the 50K mark.
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»www.reverse.net |
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djhexer
join:2002-10-07
Sparks, NV
| had CV for a day then...
discontinued it.... yes the call were GREAT and I love it BUT while you were on the phone if you tried to even use the internet...FORGET IT!!! I can say i couldnt even notice the difference between my POTS and CV but my roommates want to be on the phone 24/7 and well I do like to surf the web sometimes.....
I have comcast had it took about 3Mbps downstream to make a call.
anyone else have this problem?? my friend has vonage on a 1.5 DSL line and uses it constantly while surfing the web and not that much lag unless he is uploading and well the call breaks up here and there |
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