By Kim Leonard TRIBUNE-REVIEW
A call made over the Internet will sound about the same as one made on a traditional home phone.
Still, Internet-based phone services such as Vonage, Verizon VoiceWing and AT&T CallVantage are signing up customers steadily for two reasons: They cost less than comparable, regular phone service and their special features appeal to professionals and others who want more control over when and where they receive calls.
Most consumers still know very little about Internet calling, known as Voice over Internet Protocol service. But in the Pittsburgh area, they're about to see offers from at least four companies that are jumping into the emerging field.
"If I'm at the office, I can get an e-mail on my computer with a voice mail that somebody left for me at home," said John Curry, president of the Monroeville phone company known until a few weeks ago as Curry Communications.
The new name is Curry IP Solutions, as in Internet protocol, and Curry's enthusiasm for his company's new direction is evident as he talks about three newly launched VoIP service packages with "a few" customers so far.
Meanwhile, Downtown-based Full Service Network and North Pittsburgh Telephone Co. plan to launch VoIP packages in coming weeks. Cable giant Comcast is testing its service, for a rollout later this fall.
Internet phone services essentially take analog audio signals and turn them into digital data, to be transferred over the Web.
A broadband connection is necessary, and most VoIP packages will work over any telecommunications or cable provider's service. North Pittsburgh's VoIP service will work only with that company's Internet service.
Call quality can depend on the quality of the broadband connection, and a customer may have to buy an adapter for about $60 to get the service to work with regular phones, or a cordless broadband phone system that includes a few handsets.
A VoIP user can keep a previous phone number, get a new 412 or 724 number, or even take a number in a different area code. Someone who moved to Pittsburgh from New York, for example, may want a 212 number in order to make "local" calls back home.
By opting for additional lines, a customer can receive local calls from children at a college hundreds of miles away. Vonage offers a "virtual phone number" service for $4.99 a month that makes calls local from two or more area codes.
Travelers can take their adapters along, plug into broadband connections and use the phone just as if they were sitting in their family rooms. "You avoid all those crazy hotel charges," Vonage spokesman Mitchell Slepian said.
Still, Internet calling departs most from regular phone service for its ability to manage calls. Customers can go to a Web page and change options at any time for call waiting, caller ID and voice mail, and they can forward calls to other numbers.
The service can respond differently to different calls. A former boyfriend can be sent straight to voice mail, while Mom's calls go to a cell phone. And calls can be programmed to ring to a home and cell phone at the same time.
Greg Waldo, of Silver Spring, Md., likes VoiceWing's ability to keep a record of calls his family makes, as well as incoming calls.
"If a call was made to someone you don't generally call, like a plumber, and you know you used him two months ago, you can go and retrieve the number. That's helpful," said Waldo, an engineer with Lockheed Martin who has used Verizon's service for about a year.
Waldo cut his family's $60 phone bill almost in half with the switch, and used the savings to buy a battery backup that would power his phone adapter and other equipment during a power outage.
He and his family also worry about VoIP's much-publicized shortcomings when it comes to making 911 emergency calls, although he knows Verizon and other companies are addressing this.
"I don't see why Verizon sells any other service," he said.
The lack of full 911 service, worries about outages and questions about directory service are the typical issues raised in debates about whether to drop a land line phone for VoIP.
Most Internet calling services have been limited to simple 911 service that won't display the caller's phone number and address at a dispatch center.
VoIP providers now are rushing to meet the Federal Communications Commission's Nov. 28 deadline to certify that 911 calls will go straight to an emergency dispatcher, instead of a main number for the center, and that the phone number and location will be shown.
Vonage and Verizon now offer this enhanced 911 service in New York, and are expanding it nationwide. Pittsburgh area companies moving into VoIP point out that they already have agreements with emergency centers, so their 911 will mirror the service that comes with regular phone plans.
Another worry is that VoIP service will fail in a power outage, and any time broadband service is down.
While Internet outages happen, "it's one thing if you can't check your e-mail. It's another if that is the sole source of communication in your house," said Charles White, vice president of TNS Telecoms, a market research firm in Jenkintown, Pa.
While big and small telecom providers nationwide are moving full speed into VoIP, a recent TNS survey found that residents in just 33 percent of households know what it is. That's an increase of about 10 percent over the last year.
Nationwide, about 4 percent of households use Internet calling.
Vonage, the leader in market share, said its business has expanded to more than 800,000 customers. Verizon and AT&T don't disclose customer figures, although AT&T spokeswoman Deborah Jones said VoIP has been the company's focus, since it stopped marketing its traditional phone services last year.
Verizon views VoiceWing as one of its many phone options, a less expensive alternative to the roughly comparable Freedom local and long distance package for $54.95 a month.
"It's just another choice that we are offering customers," spokesman Lee Gierczynski said. "Everybody's communications needs are different."
Small phone companies like Curry and Full Service, meanwhile, view the Internet as their path to the future partly because of changes in federal and state law over the past year that require them to pay more to lease parts of Verizon's network.
They also plan to build on the fact that the Internet knows no boundaries, and neither will their Internet phone products.
Full Service, which sells phone service across Pennsylvania, plans to kick off VoIP on Sept. 12 in the 412 and 724 area codes.
"Then, there are plans to expand into 26 markets across the United States," company President David E. Schwencke said.
Those markets are cities with NFL teams. Schwencke said he's talking with investment bankers about securing $3.5 million for marketing, and working on a partnership with the National Football League to promote Full Service this fall.
Curry said he is talking with Shop 'n Save and Fox's Pizza Den about promotions. He hopes to expand service to New Jersey and Ohio this month, and eventually go nationwide.
He also plans to market the service through universities. "Students don't need a full-blown land line to call home. The $9.99 package is a good package for them -- and most colleges already provide the high-speed internet access," Curry said, adding that cell phone service costs much more.
Calling on the Web
Vonage, Verizon and AT&T sell Voice over Internet Protocol packages in the Pittsburgh region, and several other companies will jump into this emerging field in coming weeks.
Here's a look at monthly costs, some of which have dropped in recent months:
AT&T CallVantage: $19.99 for unlimited local service, 4 cents/minute for long distance; or $29.99 unlimited local and long distance to U.S. and Canada.
Comcast: Expected to introduce service this fall; details unavailable.
Curry IP Solutions: $9.99 plus 3.9 cents/minute for all calls; or $14.99 unlimited local plus 500 minutes long distance, 3.9 cents/minute afterward; or $24.99 unlimited local and long distance.
Full Service Network: $19.99 for unlimited nationwide calling, debuting in September in 412 and 724 area codes.
North Pittsburgh Telephone Co.: Introducing service early fall to work with company's broadband; details unavailable.
Verizon VoiceWing: $19.95 for 500 minutes to anywhere in U.S., 4 cents/minute afterward; or $34.95 unlimited local and long distance.
Vonage: $14.99 for 500 minutes to anywhere in U.S. or Canada, 3.9 cents/minute afterward; or $24.99 unlimited U.S. and Canada calls.
Kim Leonard can be reached at snipped-for-privacy@tribweb.com or (412)
380-5606.Copyright 2005 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
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