AT&T Begins Marketing VoIP to the SOHO Community

AT&T Begins Marketing VoIP to the SOHO Community

Small Office/Home Office Workers to Benefit From Broadband Technologies

BEDMINSTER, N.J., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T announced today the immediate availability of its AT&T CallVantage(R) Small Office Plan targeting Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) workers with a broadband phone service that delivers tremendous calling capabilities and cost benefits to help them grow their business.

This feature-rich, two-line offer includes unlimited local and long- distance calling throughout the U.S. and Canada, plus the ability to send and receive faxes for $49.99 per month.

"The Small Office Plan is a robust solution for small-office communications, providing substantial savings over traditional telephone services and increasing productivity through advanced features," said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony. "Most home offices will find they can keep their existing telephone numbers and expand their community or geographic visibility by purchasing additional numbers in other areas.

"And, it's loaded with features strengthened by the introduction of our industry-leading sub-account capabilities that we delivered to users late last year. Called AT&T CallVantage(R) Plus, SOHO workers can receive calls when and where they want, providing each member of their business a completely customizable telephone experience. No other broadband phone provider delivers this unique control."

At the heart of the offer is the AT&T CallVantage Service platform that provides the ability to subscribe to as many as nine distinctive telephone numbers on the primary line. For an additional monthly charge of $7.49 per number, each additional number's inbound call experience can be managed independently, even though all the numbers share the same line.

In this manner, it's possible for users of the AT&T CallVantage Small Office Plan to receive multiple calls by using AT&T's powerful 'Locate Me' feature while sharing two lines. 'Locate Me' makes it possible to ring up to five phones, all at once, or sequentially. If the primary office phones are busy, calls would be automatically redirected to alternate locations such as employee home phones, cell phones or voicemail.

"Now the SOHO community has the ability to economically assign each of their workers or departments with their own individual telephone number without the investment of dedicated telephone lines or the installation of expensive PBX equipment," explained Martine. "Imagine running a small home- based business with the ability to assign separate numbers to each of your virtual workers. By using features like 'Locate Me,' those workers can receive calls at home or while traveling at no additional expense.

"These additional numbers can be local to the SOHO or be assigned area codes that are strategically located throughout the U.S. It's a great way to look like a much larger player in the marketplace, with minimal expense."

The AT&T CallVantage Small Office Plan also includes all of AT&T's standard and advanced VoIP services with access to all of its premium features. An example of a premium feature would be the recently introduced 'Call Filtering' capability that, when combined with other service features, provides the ability to direct calls based on who is calling. 'Call Filtering' carries a monthly recurring charge of $1.99.

Workers might elect to use 'Do Not Disturb' to send all calls directly to voicemail when meeting with clients, while allowing calls from the boss to always ring through.

A small-office worker might use AT&T's 'Record & Send' feature to update as many as 20 key clients or colleagues at once with important product availability or pricing information with a single message delivered by phone, rather than making repetitive calls.

AT&T also delivers this market segment its popular 'Conference Calling' feature that enables callers to establish a 10-line conference call. The account holder is charged a very affordable flat rate of 35 cents per minute, regardless of whether four conference lines are used or all 10.

"Based upon IDC's view of the market, AT&T's latest offering will meet the needs of the small business customer," said Will Stofega, Senior Analyst at IDC. "IDC believes that there is no substitute for experience, given the potential that VoIP holds in reshaping the telecom ecosystem. The AT&T CallVantage features move AT&T to the head of the class in terms of product flexibility and enhancements that accommodate ease of use."

According to a Small Business Administration office automation study by TeleNomic Research in March 2004, smaller businesses spend more per employee on telecommunications than do their larger counterparts. The study cites the typical small office comprised of four or fewer employees using two telephone lines spending, on average, $153 a month.

"A typical four-person business might spend $65 a month for unlimited service giving each user their own telephone number which represents rather significant savings over traditional business calling," said Martine. "It's a no lose proposition for those ready to take the plunge into VoIP."

Introduced in late March 2004, AT&T CallVantage Service is now serving customers in more than 170 markets in 39 states and Washington, D.C., with a customer supplied high-speed Internet connection such as cable or DSL. It's estimated that about a third of all small offices maintain a broadband connection.

To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, customers may visit http://www.callvantage.com/, call 1-866-816-3815 extension 70339, or visit one of its valued retailers.

About AT&T

For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.

The foregoing contains "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside AT&T's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Source: AT&T

CONTACT: Gary Morgenstern of AT&T, +1-908-234-6416,
gmorgenstern@att.com

Web site: http://www.att.com/


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