AT&T has turned my smile upside down.
One of the things I’ve been happiest with for a good long time now is my telephone service.
Happiness is, of course, a fleeting thing.
I’ve been using AT&T CallVantage, a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) for several years and it has been marvelous (very affordable and reliable with all sorts of great features (call forwarding, the ability pickup messages from anywhere via phone or online, no roaming charges, no dial “1″, all that good stuff and more).
I have VOIP set up to ring my cell phone as well as the home phone every time, which means, for all practical purposes, anyone who wants to call me needs only one number to reach me anywhere, anytime that I am reachable. I have lately been browbeating those few misguided souls who have the actual cell number and use it regularly (my son and Lew Bryson being the prime offenders) to instead use the home number because that cell number is not long for this world. The contract runs out this fall and won’t be renewed.
As you may have surmized buy now, I got a notice in the mail today that AT&T is cancelling CallVantage at some point this year. I have some time to figure what to do next.
An offer to switch me to a different AT&T VOIP plan doesn’t cut it because said service is not available out here where I live. If anyone out there uses a different VOIP service and is happy with it, I’d be grateful for shout-out so I can explore that option. Vonage is the only one I know of and I believe I heard they may be shutting down.
Were I to find a plan similar to the one I had, I can do what I’ve been planning—let my cell phone contract run out this fall and just get a throwaway cell or something like that to which I can continue forwarding calls as I do now. I use nothing remotely close to the minutes I’m paying for under the current cell contract, which is the cheapest available, and have a ridiculous cache of never to-be-used rollover minutes.
If I can’t find something similar to what I now have, I suspect I will go almost completely wireless, get a better cell phone and do away with having two different numbers. I will add a land line for 911 purposes (they can’t come help you if they don’t know where you are).
I took that approach originally when I went to VOIP, spending about $10 a month for a hookup to a number I didn’t even know, just to have it there as a safeguard.
Basically, I’m looking for options at the moment. Any and all suggestions would be welcome.
Help make me happy again.
[...] Telephonery. I am looking for advice with regard to a forthcoming and forced change in my telephone service. [...]
This may help. http://www.timewarnercable.com/NortheastOhio/learn/phone/callingoptions/default.html
I’m very happy with T-mobile @home - it’s about 10 bucks a month and, if you’re ready to change your cell service, you can work up a deal where ALL of your minutes are cycled through your at home service, which is unlimited minutes. Which means you can get the lowest-cost T-mobile cell plan and not worry about minutes.
Mr. Sixpack, that sounds like something I need to look at. Many thanks.
I’ve been using Vonage for several years now and am happy with it. It does what you need. I heard they’re not making as much money and some rumors about their demise, but nothing lately and nothing from the company about shutting down.
You might also look into your local Telco and cable companies. I know Comcast has a similar service and Verizon bundles FIOS with TV, internet, and phone (VOIP). (If Vonage did go under I’d probably go with Comcast’s offering.)