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Archive for the 'telephone service' Tag

AT&T U-verse enables caller ID on TV for O.C., L.A.

March 16th, 2010, 1:53 pm by

AT&T said today that Orange County and Los Angeles customers can now get Caller ID on their TV.

The new feature pops up a message in a corner of the TV screen for 6 seconds so viewers can decide whether the caller is worth interrupting the TV program. Customers must subscribe to both AT&T U-verse TV and U-verse Voice telephone service to get this to work.

On-screen caller ID isn’t new.  AT&T first launched the feature last November in other parts of the country. Cable companies have offered it for several years to customers who order the two related services. Verizon added it for FiOS users in Orange County in December.

The on-screen caller ID is free and it starts working automatically. The feature also pops up a message for new voice mail.

Interestingly, AT&T tosses out a statistic on how many customers are paying for Voice service: More than 67 percent of new customers for a total of 1 million, as of January.

U-verse service is only available in certain parts of certain Orange County cities. Here is the updated list of local cities: Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Stanton, Villa Park, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.

More on AT&T U-verse:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Best home phone service? Winner isn’t a phone company

September 17th, 2009, 9:31 am by

Cox CableIn this wacky world of telecom service, the highest ranked telephone service in the West isn’t a telephone company, according to the 2009 J.D. Power report on  Residential Telephone Customer Satisfaction.

Cable TV provider Cox Communications took the lead in the West and East regions of the United States for having the most satisfied telephone customers. (The North and South regions also had TV companies offering phone service ranked at top.) It was the third year that traditional cable  TV companies were at the top. (Click image below to enlarge)

J.D. Power ranks Cox as top phone service in West.

This may sound like a coup, but don’t forget, last year’s TV service winners were the traditional phone companies, AT&T and Verizon. (Read earlier story: “What TV service has most satisfied customers? (Hint: Not cable)“)

Consumers are looking for alternatives to their long time TV or telephone provider. And in Orange County in the last few years, we’ve been getting that as Time Warner and Cox add phone service, and AT&T and Verizon add TV service. What the JD Power reports really show is that competition is improving service. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: service • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

Verizon turns selling TV service into school fundraiser

September 1st, 2009, 6:30 am by

Verizon enlists students, charities to sell TV service.In a novel approach to selling utility services, Verizon is enlisting the help of school children and charities.

Students or non-profit organizations can earn up to $65 for every new customer who signs up. The telecom is pitching its Verizon Velocity fundraising program as an alternative to selling cookies or candy bars door to door.

Students just spread the word, and a Verizon representative makes the sale. Schools get credit when a new customer mentions the school’s name or account. Although I doubt that Verizon is discouraging students from going door to door.

Verizon Products Donation
Amount
Verizon FiOS® Internet $25.00
Verizon High Speed Internet (768Kbps & 3.0Mbps) $25.00
DIRECTV® $20.00
Verizon FiOS® TV $20.00
Verizon Freedom Calling $10.00
Verizon Long Distance $10.00
Additional Line $10.00

Verizon Velocity partnered with the California State PTA and the program has been going on for a few months at some Orange County schools, including the William T. Newland Elementary School, Hope View Elementary School and Spring View Middle School, all in Huntington Beach. The local PTA gets the money. A few other O.C. schools and groups I spotted on the participant list hail from Westminster and Garden Grove.

Most of those schools happen to be in Verizon FiOS territory, which is a newish form of TV and Internet service over fiber-optic cables. But students can also sell Verizon’s bundled phone and Internet deal offering DirecTV service. Selling all three services — Internet, phone and TV — can get the school $65 per customer. Looks like wireless service is not included. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

4 million people trust Time Warner Cable with phone service

June 29th, 2009, 11:39 am by

Time Warner CableTime Warner Cable’s strategy to get customers to sign up for a bundle of services appears to be paying off — 4 million customers order digital phone service from the cable TV company.

The company, which announced Monday that it signed up its 4 millionth residential phone customer, has been in the telephone business since at least 2003, or a few years longer than telecom rivals Verizon and AT&T have offered TV service.

Its phone service alone costs $44.95/month, which includes unlimited nationwide long distance. But for $55 more per month, customers also get cable TV service and high-speed Internet.

Buying the service bundled seems like a better deal, not to mention everything is packaged in one convenient bill. That’s the thinking Time Warner and others are using to lure customers. For Time Warner, bundled services are such a huge push that they were highlighted in the company’s last earnings report (read the earlier, “Time Warner Cable makes $184 million, gains subscribers“). Time Warner credited gains to the growth of 60,000 customers for its double-play bundle and 146,000 customers for the triple-play pack.

There has been some discontent with Time Warner’s phone service, such as the L.A. Times story on Sunday about Time Warner charging $0.99 to customers wishing to remain unlisted in a public phone directory (this is new?). But I haven’t heard too many complaints from readers about Time Warner’s phone service (I’m listening…). And according to customer-satisfaction analysts at J.D. Power and Associates, Time Warner is, well, not the worst telephone provider out there.

In last year’s telephone service provider rankings, J.D. Power’s didn’t include Time Warner in its Western roundup (where Cox beat out AT&T and Verizon). But in the south, Time Warner was in a four-way tie for the lowest ranked service overall, scoring 2 out of 5. Time Warner did slightly better in the North Central region of the United States and ranked the second highest on the East Coast.

Recent Time Warner Cable news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services.  

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

911 still works if you discontinue phone service

December 18th, 2008, 9:28 am by

One of the sure ways to save money on your monthly home phone bill, as previously mentioned, is to discontinue service and rely on your cell phone or switch to Internet phone service (Voice over Internet Protocol). I did the latter myself maybe five years ago, cut my monthly bill by 70 percent, and have never, ever looked back.

Ahh, said some readers, but what about calling 9-1-1 when the power or cell phones are down? After all, Internet telephone service relies on Internet service, which in turn relies on electricity.

Well, 911 still works, in most cases. In California, telephone companies are required to keep the line “warm” even if service is voluntarily or involuntarily discontinued. This access to 911 service is often referred to as ‘warm line access’ or ‘quick dial tone,’ so named because a minimal amount of electricity continues to run through the line. You may not get a dial tone, but plug a phone into a socket with no phone service and the phone will light up. I verified this again with the California Public Utilities Commission.

Christopher Chow, a PUC public information officer, said that yes, not only is this true and part of the California Public Utilities Code, Section 2883, but the Commission renewed the requirements in October 2007 to ensure that telephone companies continue to offer 911 service to people who voluntarily or involuntarily discontinue service.

The code essentially says all local telephone providers must provide existing and newly installed residential telephone service with 911 access “regardless of whether an account has been established.” Read the code HERE (search for “2883″).

However, this isn’t an absolute, Chow added. Read the rest of this entry »

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