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AT&T shuts down CallVantage VoIP service; Subscribers have strong replacement options
Posted by Joe on April 22nd, 2009
Subscribers of AT&T's CallVantage began receiving notification this week that the VoIP service would be phased out between now and the end of the year. This announcement comes just about a year after AT&T stopped signing up new CallVantage subscribers.
This is the second time this year that a traditional phone service provider has decided to shutter a VoIP service. Verizon shutdown the VoiceWing Internet phone service in January.
Luckily, CallVantage subscribers have several great options to choose from when looking for a replacement VoIP service. CallVantage plans ranged from about $20 to $30 per month, so most former subscribers could save a significant amount of money by switching to a VoIP service like Vonage or PhonePower. These providers offer plans starting at $9.95 and $8.33 per month respectively.
Whether you are a current CallVantage subscriber looking for an alternative or simply interested in learning more about VoIP, we suggest that you read our comparison and detailed reviews of VoIP services.
5 Responses to “AT&T shuts down CallVantage VoIP service; Subscribers have strong replacement options”
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August 14th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I just switched from an ATT landline to the ATT VOIP service 8-14-09. When questioned about Callvantage, rep said it is being SWITCHED to the ATT Uverse program. Subscribers are not being dropped as reported here. I keep the same number, services, Metro Line etc.
Not sure, but Verizon may be doing the same thing through their optic/DSL FIOS program. They may be terminating the direct outside VOIP programs previously offered, and bundling the service with Net and TV connections.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Hi Chuck- thanks for the comment and for sharing your first hand experience.
It is worth pointing out that CallVantage and Uverse are different products. CallVantage was a traditional VoIP service, similar to Vonage and Phone Power, where subscribers could receive Internet phone service through any broadband Internet connection. Uverse, on the other hand, is not universally available (for example, we are based in San Francisco, CA and the Uverse service is not available to us).
So, it is great that many CallVantage subscribers may be able to transition to Uverse, particularly if they are happy with AT&T services in general. But, many others will likely need an alternative service if they wish to continue taking advantage of the many benefits of VoIP.
Thanks again,
Joe
NextAdvisor.com
September 5th, 2009 at 5:26 am
AT&T CallVantage has been an awesome service for me. I replaced my Vonage with it — I was an early adopter of VoIP. Anyway, Vonage can't move my number so I decided to give Phone Power a try for 30-days on this go-round. My other option was Comcast, but sticker shock set in after talking with them.
I'm wondering when VoIP providers will start doing video (set-top) and music services. Seems like a logical next step for those guys to me.
The cheaper the better and cheaper can't happen w/o competition.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I was a very satisfied ATT callvantage user for many years. Had to change out an old VIOP phone adapter once a few years back. Outstanding sound quality always through cable modem. Have now switch to Vonage. So far somewhat disatisfied. The sound quality is marginal in that I hear echoes when calling to my voip line. Also audio pauses are regularly experienced in both directions. I insured the vonage viop adaptor or portal, as they refer to it, was configured to allow maximum speed to voip calls. The rest of my network hardware have remained unchanged. I wan the portal directly to the cable modem then lan my wireless router wan port to the portal. I had powered down the cable modem and vonage portal and repower both. this seemed to help for a day or so but the echoes and audio pauses are back. I never had any issues with the exact same setup with callvantage. The only different component is the att voip adapter has been replaced with the vonage adapter. As a side note the vonage site has very similar features as callvantage. I feel the callvantage site was laid out better but you can get configurations set without too much intuition on vonage's site. The only other thing about vonage is that ou cannot configure all your options such as call forwarding using a remote phone such as your cell phone. You can configure some phone mail settings but not forward or the equivelent to att's followme. I have been a vonage customer for about thirty days now and I will say that the customer service seems to be exceptional. Time will tell. I hope there is a way to tweek up the vonage's voip portal beyond the canned maximum 90kbps. my cable upload speed as measured through the vonage adapter is 490kbps up and 6.9Mbps down. There should be no audio pause.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
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