My original service consisted of basic POTS: dial-tone and long distance; then came caller-ID, I paid for that. For a small additional fee call waiting caller-ID followed. Enhanced calling features came next, busy redial, three-way calling, call forwarding, selective call forwarding, and I paid for them too. With my phone service bill bloating, I called 611 and was introduced to bundled pricing for about a 30% saving. Privacy Manager and Unified Messaging were late entrants that helped rebloat my monthly bill bringing telemarketeer freedom, our voice messages in email as attachments and incoming FAXes. We had it all - for about $48/month. I've paid at that level for more years than I care to remember.
Then came U-Verse - AT&T's new bundled service delivering TV, broadband and VoIP on a single copper pair. In late April - U-Verse became available and the AT&T tech verified that I was the first one on the block to help light the fiber to our curb.
With UVerse installed on May 7th, I found the voice service much below par. I could hear myself talk, my own voice was clipped and came with a chirp - a call to 611 helped a little. There was no Privacy Manager, but that was acceptable. They allowed an online address book, but there was no way to import - like they think users were going to type in contacts by hand. Not happening. The killer was voicemail which did not come as an attachment - a feature my wife and I had gotten used to. No FAX either - an entire service removed. And I was now paying $30 per month. Considering the service reduction, I was not really saving anything. How does AT&T expect to introduce a lesser product and keep customers?
So - I have gone with Ooma and AT&T lost my voice business. For $229 one time charge, I get almost everything. Voicemail as an email attachment is part of their $99/yr annual option and I'll have to give up on receiving FAXes. My 20 year old number is currently being ported over to Ooma for a one time $39.99 fee - and then I am done! No more monthly bills.
What are you doing with your landline service? Are you as apprehensive letting go of POTS for VoIP as some of us? From up to $600/year to nothing - is that incentive enough to switch? Does the Ooma business model have legs?
In a future post, I'll talk about my Ooma experience. Stay tuned.
PS: In AT&T's defence - I have to say, UVerse broadband and TV service are excellent.
About the banner: A fascinating piece of architecture - if you recognize it, leave your answer in a comment!
2 comments:
I'm keeping my POTS service (about $18/month) only because I have two young kids and I want a babysitter to have real 911 access. Thanks to Skype and cell phones, we almost never use the land line.
Glad to see you like the U-Verse internet and video service. I understand your comments regarding the voice option.
Post a Comment