Save More with Cable Phone
More than 15 million Americans have switched to cable’s digital voice service. One big reason that consumers are switching is the significant savings that can be found, especially if the service is included as part of a bundle that includes video and high-speed Internet.
In fact, in the past four years, consumers that have switched to cable phone service have already saved $23 billion. Evidence of that can be found in a study by Microeconomic Consulting & Research Associates, Inc. (MiCRA). The report, “Consumer Benefits from Cable-Telco Competition,” was first prepared in 2006 and then updated in November of 2007.
According to MiCRA, consumers and small businesses across the country have already saved $23.5 billion and may save a total of $111 billion on their phone bills over the next five years as a result of robust competition. MiCRA estimates that residential consumers could save an average of $144 or more each year, while small businesses could save 50-70% on their phone bills – although the projections conservatively assumed that small businesses would save about $240 each year.
And the power of the bundle shouldn’t be forgotten. Think of what you used to pay separately for multichannel video service, Internet access, and local & long distance phone service, and the total was probably approaching $200 per month. Well, if you get all these services from your local cable operator, you can realize great savings and have the convenience of one monthly bill.
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April 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Most phone prices with the cable companies are still to high. I pay 25 a month with Vonage, can call my relatives in the UK and Canada for free and I couldn’t be happier. Of course I’d look into another option if I had some. Unfortunately all I have is Comcast for VOIP and I am not pleased with the TV/Internet service anyway, so there is no way I’ll give them extra money for phone service.
If and when cable companies can match other VOIP providers like Vonage/Viatalk I might try it out, until then…no way.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Vonage is choice for some people and it’s good to hear your happy with it. The principal difference is piece of mind. With cable’s VOIP, your calls are routed across cable’s private network, which allows us to provide a quality of service that you may not get if you’re not using facilities-based VOIP. Vonage routes all your calls across the public Internet.
In addition, cable VOIP provides E911 services that can pass your location along with your call should you need emergency services. Vonage provides E911 only if you happen to be calling from your registered address. Given one relative advantage of Vonage is the phone portability, you may be calling 911 from a location that’s not your home. If you’re unable to speak, or don’t know your address during an emergency, that could be a problem - something even Vonage’s website points out:
Finally, the advantage to the bundle of cable, phone and Internet is the possibilities of a unified platform for calls, e-mail, and remote programming of your DVR - something Comcast announced at CES this year.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
If you have your address registered with Vonage it isn’t a problem. It’s your responsibility to do so. Once you do your address is in their database. Plus it allows forwarding to my cell phone in the case my internet connection goes down.
I can combine voicemail’s with email here:
https://secure.click2callu.com/. I can also check my voicemail from the internet.
The only reason I wouldn’t get good voice quality on my VOIP is because my provider would be throttling it. I’ve never had problems with voice quality, but unless they are doing QOS to prioritize their own VOIP packets over Vonage then it’s not an issue.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Cable-provided VoIP is still too expensive. Why does Comcast charge ~$40/mo for essentially the same service other providers provide for 1/2 the amount or even far less?
E911 service cannot possibly cost $20/month/subscriber to provide.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Michael -
Reread my reply. The difference is carriage of your VOIP call over a private network with guaranteed quality versus carriage over the public Internet. That private network costs money to build and maintain, but it ensures a better product.
Is it worth the extra $20? Well, that’s up to you to decide.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I agree that the cable companies are too high and so is Vonage for what you’re paying for. We use TrinitiComm (http://www.triniticomm.com) and their price is lower, phone service is better, service/support is better and we get more stuff for free that matters like unlimited calls to certain countries in Europe or Asia. Oh, and they don’t lock their adapters like Vonage did mine, which is nuts. Provide a great quality service and your customers won’t leave. You don’t have to strong arm them especially when they paid for the device. I use them for both my business and personal phones and they are absolutely phenomenal. These guys are doing it right and you will be hearing a lot more about them.