CallVantage Goes Local

AT&T has a new local only plan for CallVantage. This makes VoIP even more of a competitive product with the Baby Bells in my opinion.

AT&T Introduces New Residential VoIP Plan Feature-rich Unlimited Local Service for $19.99 per month
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2004

BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Providing customers a choice in voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling plans, AT&T today introduced an unlimited local version of its popular residential broadband phone service called AT&T CallVantageSM Local Plan.

For $19.99 per month, customers receive unlimited local calling and access to the entire AT&T CallVantage Service advanced feature set. All local toll and long distance calling in the U.S. and to Canada will be billed at $0.04 a minute. International calling will be billed by the minute at rates on average 50 percent less than the company’s leading offers. The new calling plan will become available October 17.

“The AT&T CallVantage Local Plan was designed to serve the needs of those customers who make relatively few long distance calls, but who are looking for an economical, feature-rich, local service alternative,” said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony. “This plan provides the best of all worlds, unlimited local calling, very competitive long distance rates and access to a complete suite of powerful calling features including voicemail.”

The AT&T CallVantage Local Plan is available to consumers in more than 170 markets coast-to-coast representing 62 percent of the nation’s households.

Upon signing up, all that’s required to use AT&T CallVantage Local is a telephone adapter provided by AT&T or its valued retailers, and a broadband connection, which lets consumers talk over high-speed Internet connections.

The AT&T CallVantage Local Plan 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, cost savings and control with innovative features including:
* “Call Logs,” to track incoming and outgoing calls;
* “Do Not Disturb,” to receive calls only when wanted;
* “Voicemail with eFeatures,” to listen to messages from any phone or PC and forward them to anyone on the Web;
* “Simple Reach(SM) Number, which enables customers to add up to nine telephone numbers with area codes anywhere in the country where AT&T offers residential VoIP service for $4.99 per number;
* “Personal Conferencing,” to set up meetings with up to nine additional callers; and,
* “Locate Me,” which rings up to five phones, all at once, or sequentially (long distance charges will apply to calls forwarded to non-local numbers).

All AT&T CallVantage Service customers also receive a “Home Wiring Do-It-Yourself Guide” with each self-install kit that provides step-by-step instructions for connecting the service to multiple home phones to replicate the traditional home calling environment and make the most efficient use of their existing telephone equipment.

For those homeowners who prefer that a trained technician perform the work, AT&T has a fee-based inside wiring service to reconfigure existing lines and telephone jacks, install additional jacks if required, and provide limited assistance with service set-up.

“Now customers can choose between an unlimited local plan for $19.99 a month or the original unlimited local and long distance plan for $29.99 a month,” said Martine.

Both AT&T CallVantage Service plans are available through many of the nation’s leading retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City and TigerDirect.com.

To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, consumers can visit , call 1-866-816-3815, extension 70339, or visit one of these retailers.