AT&T announced the availability of its residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, called AT&T CallVantage Service, to consumers throughout the Golden State, providing a high-tech alternative for their personal communications needs.
AT&T CallVantage Service began setting benchmarks two weeks ago for what the company believes will be the industry's most reliable and innovative broadband phone service in the country as it made the service generally available to consumers in New Jersey and Texas. Now the company is expanding its service footprint in California for consumers in the Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Riverside/San Bernadino metropolitan areas. The service will be expanded to other areas in California and the nation over the coming months.
The company also announced the local availability of AT&T CallVantage Service in parts of New York and in San Antonio, Texas.
AT&T CallVantage Service requires a customer to have a high-speed Internet connection to the home. While a growing number of households have access to these broadband connections through their local cable or telephone company, only about one in five subscribe nationally. Broadband penetration in California, at about 24 percent, ranks near the top in the United States according to data from TNS Telecoms.
VoIP applications might just be the "value-add" that consumers are seeking to justify their investment in broadband, Martine said.
AT&T CallVantage Service is different than traditional phone services because through the use of IP-based networks it can offer customers typical features such as call waiting, three-way calling, and call forwarding, and far more advanced ones as well. Indeed, consumers will get unprecedented convenience and control with innovative features including:
- "Call Logs," which tracks incoming and outgoing calling with "click to dial" capability;
- "Do Not Disturb," which allows customers to receive calls only when they want, while letting emergency calls ring in;
- "Personal Conferencing," which enables users to set up a meeting with up to nine additional callers;
- "Locate Me," which enables home phones to find customers by ringing up to five phones all at once or one right after the other;
- "Voicemail with eFeatures," which allows customers to hear their messages from any phone or PC and forward the voicemail to anyone on the Web via e-mail.
All that is required for service is an easy-to-connect, plug-in telephone adapter (TA) provided by AT&T, and a broadband Internet connection and regular telephone supplied by the customer. It is simple to use and easy for consumers to install -- typically in 10 minutes.
AT&T CallVantage Service works with most cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband connections. The TA is compatible with most home computer networks and may be used in conjunction with various home network routers. And, the adapter can be used from almost any location where there is a telephone and a broadband connection. That gives customers the ability to stay connected by taking this service with them when they travel.