NEW YORK - Changing my landline phone service to an Internet telephone provider seemed like a very good idea. Voice over Internet was a lot cheaper, had lots of bells and whistles and offered unlimited long-distance packages that could eliminate that ticking-clock feeling whenever you call someone who lives far away.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
Have a thought?
Go to the Forums or Chat.
|
|
|
Plus, it was cool: phone calls over the Internet. Totally modern, right?
Well, yes. But here's something to keep in mind: As the VoIP (that's short for Voice over Internet Protocol) providers are reinventing phone service, you may be more than just a customer enjoying a nifty new service.
As one of the technical support people for my VoIP provider told me on the phone, they're still working out a lot of the bugs, and sometimes things go wrong and they just don't know what causes it.
And you, my friend, may well be one of the guinea pigs.
Which is something I thought I wouldn't mind. That is, until I woke up one morning and discovered that my Internet connection and newly installed VoIP phone service from AT&T CallVantage were down.
Left with no landline, I called up my Internet provider, Time Warner Cable, on my cell phone and they assured me there was no problem with the Internet service, but if I liked they could schedule a service call five days later.
When I tried to explain to them that I used the Internet connection for VoIP phone service, the person on the other end had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
One of the possible downsides of being an early adopter of a cool new technology, I guess.
Then came the call to AT&T CallVantage, which was a little unnerving since my cell phone has limited coverage inside my apartment building (I live in Manhattan). They had me reset the router I was using for Internet access a few times, to no avail, but finally a "hard reset" (holding in a 'reset' button in the back of the phone router for half a minute) did the trick.
All told: about two hours of my morning evaporated, and in the end the AT&T people couldn't explain what went wrong.
It just happens sometimes, they said.
They had me do a speed test for my broadband service and made an adjustment on their end, but they still weren't sure that was the problem.
On a subsequent call, another technician speculated that it could have been my answering machine that caused the system to short out - didn't I know that I should have disconnected it when I installed the VoIP service, she said.
Surprised, I asked why this apparently crucial piece of information wasn't explained to new customers. It's on the Web site somewhere, she thought, but that wasn't her department.
Now, here's the thing: Phone service to your home isn't just another utility like cable TV. It's a kind of a lifeline.
Just remember that they're still sorting out the kinks.
