Vonage and VTech Intro Cordless VoIP Phone

Vonage and VTech Intro Cordless VoIP Phone

July 20, 2005

By Johanne Torres

Attention Vonage users: mark your calendars! Starting this Sunday, you will all be able to get your hands on a brand spanking new Vonage-ready IP-8100-2. The device is what seems to be one of the first cordless broadband phone systems available in over 8000 retail locations around the US.

The devices were designed by cordless phone giant VTech bundled with the TNETV1060, a VoIP chipset by Texas Instruments (TI). The IP-8100-2 is configured with Vonage's VoIP phone-based service and will be available for a retail price of $149.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate after sixty days of service. The ip8100-2 will be sold at retail locations nationwide including SAM's Club, RadioShack, Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, Fry's Electronics, Office Depot and CompUSA.

This is what Vonage Holdings chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Citron had to say about today’s announcement: "Vonage is pleased to offer its customers the world's first broadband enabled cordless phone system, as the company is always seeking to offer a variety of hardware choices for its innovative flat-rate, full featured calling plans that are rapidly becoming the touchstone of the telecommunications market. Vonage's service coupled with VTech's great design and retail strength makes this a strong partnership for two companies who share the same customer service vision of quality and ease of use."

According to an official news announcement released by the company today, the phone’s base serves as a little router, therefore eliminating your need to purchase and install a separate router to share your broadband connection with your PC. The ip8100-2 includes two handsets in the box, and it also has room for consumers to add up to four extra headsets. Because the phone plugs directly into your broadband connection or existing router, you won’t have to install a stand alone adapter and telephone. The retail price for additional handsets is $49.99 per device.

"Consumer interest in VoIP is increasing because it's significantly less expensive than regular phone service, offers equal clarity and is simple to set up, as long as you have the right equipment," said Matt Ramage, vice president of product management at VTech. "With VTech's first integrated broadband telephone, we selected Vonage as the service provider because they have the experience, expertise and track record of offering premium service that is often better quality than the traditional landline. Vonage shares a similar vision with VTech, which is to migrate consumers seamlessly to broadband services, delivering the tools they need that are easy to use."

Today’s news follow Vonage’s recent announcement about it tapping TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), a provider of precise location and wireless data technology, to provide E911 technology components for the company’s VoIP subscribers. Vonage chose TCS specifically for its ALI (Automatic Location Identification) steering, call routing, call center and other services. The announcement was released at a time when VoIP calling services providers are trying to beat the September mark set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for providers to have E911 access up and running. The news announcement released by the companies this week said that the TCS VoIP E911 service provides access for static, nomadic and mobile VoIP users.