In my earlier post this week I wrote about the marketing behind the release of AT&T's CallVantage VoIP service.
Today, I took the plunge and signed up and plan to be doing some test calling next week after the ATA arrives via FedEx.
The sign up process was painless, and within seconds the e-mail arrived with all of my information.
Much to my surprise, I was able to secure a local 858 area code number here in San Diego County, though I do have to admit, I was very tempted to take a 212 number. Why? Number portability. Since the FCC now lets consumers take control of their landline numbers the same way as cell, you could grab one, use the VOIP service then migrate the number over to a cell phone. With 212's all but dried up from Verizon, or very hard to get, AT&T seems to have cornered the market on those numbers. Now that's one feature Vonage doesn't offer!
Are you sure whether you can get 212 from CallVantage and then port it to another service provider. If I were you I will verify whether AT&T participates in number portability in the reverse direction. One of the implecations of unregulated business I suppose.
By the way, AT&T currently does not support SIP on the customer interface.
Posted by: Aswath | September 02, 2004 at 04:10 AM
What ATA box did you get? Is it possible to unlock it and register with different SIP server other than AT&T?
Posted by: Jamie | September 02, 2004 at 03:44 AM