Internet telephone service providers aim for technology enhancements

By Jim Stafford

Published: August 5, 2008

There are consumers and then there are "pro-sumers,” at least according to the Internet telephone service provider known as Vonage.

Vonage recently launched Vonage Pro, designed for consumers who embrace technology, or "pro-sumers,” a Vonage spokeswoman said last week.

For instance, a consumer who will gladly ditch their traditional land-line home phone for Internet calling, more formally known as Voice over Internet Protocol technology — VoIP — would be a "pro-sumer.”

"Vonage believes that the future of the VoIP industry isn't going to be about bundling and price,” said Mary Rikas, executive director of device development at Vonage. "It's really going to be about the customer experience. We've learned that historically, that low prices don't equate to customer loyalty.

"Our customers sometimes come for the price but the stay for the features.”

Which brings us to Vonage Pro, a $34.99 monthly service that Rikas described as "feature rich.”

Vonage markets Vonage Pro as a landline replacement service that features unlimited local and long distance and myriad other calling features such as call forwarding and conference calling.

Vonage also provides access numbers that allow foreign callers, such as those in Mexico, to call a local number that then forwards them to a U.S. number without paying a long-distance fee.

Vonage Pro also features "visual voicemail” that will transcribe voicemails to text and deliver them to an e-mail box or as an SMS text message to a wireless user. Subscribers can have up to 25 visual voicemails per month.

Vonage also has created a "softphone” called Vonage Companion that allows users to access their number from any laptop or desktop computer. A cool feature of Companion is that Vonage users at home can still make and receive calls while the mobile user makes calls over their computer.

Vonage claims about 2.6 million subscribers nationwide, and competes against not only other VoIP providers but traditional telephone and cable phone providers, Rikas said.

"Our customers will be loyal to us if we work hard to create features and service and products that make their lives easier,” Rikas said.

However, a spokeswoman for Cox Communications said that the Vonage service offers little that the cable company's telephone service doesn't provide. Cox customers already have visual voice mail and they can set alerts so that home voice messages are sent to cell phones immediately, spokeswoman Christine Martin said.

"We don't really see much competition from Vonage,” Martin said. "They are an ‘over-the-top' provider, meaning they do not have any facilities or plant and they need their customers to use some else's Internet connection.”

AT&T Oklahoma spokesman Andy Morgan said that the telecommunications giant also offers a VoIP product through its U-verse television, voice and Internet service that offers many of the same services.

"There are literally dozens of VoIP providers that Oklahomans can sign up with,” Morgan said. "We see Vonage as an additional competitor, but feel we provide good value and good services.”

Comments