Circuit City To Offer Vonage In Stores

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March 5, 2004
By Staff

Circuit City will offer Vonage's industry leading Voice over IP phone service in all its 600 stores starting Monday, giving Vonage its first national retail deal.

The move is expected to sharply raise the profile of the discount phone service, expand its fast-growing customer base and entice a somewhat less tech-savvy audience.

High-speed Internet customers who have a standard telephone, can sign up for Vonage service and purchase a Vonage starter kit from Circuit City for $99.99 will be able to make local, toll and domestic long distance telephone calls through the Internet for one low, flat monthly rate. In addition, Circuit City will offer Vonage customers two months of free service and free activation when customers purchase a starter kit and sign up for service.

“Circuit City’s national roll-out of Vonage’s service is evidence of the transformation of the telecommunications industry and the need to make broadband telephony more readily available to the general consumer market,” stated Matthew Deatrick, vice president, retail channel sales for Vonage. “We are looking forward to a successful sales relationship with one of the nation’s top consumer electronics retailers.”

What is Broadband Phone Service?

Broadband phone service works by turning voice calls into data packets and sending them over the Internet. When the data packs approach their destination, they are reassembled, and delivered in the form of a traditional call. Vonage customers require only a high-speed Internet connection and a regular home telephone to utilize the service.

The company offers rate plans, ranging from $14.99 for residential customers to $49.99 for small businesses. All rate plans include a full set of features, including caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, call forwarding, and emergency calling service. In addition, Vonage offers a number of enhanced voicemail and code selection features:Voicemail: Vonage offers three options for checking voicemail: you can dial into a menu and listen over the phone; listen to voicemail online, or listen to voicemail in your email box (a .wav file will be sent to your account).

Area Code Selection: Vonage customers can choose any area code, regardless of location.

Vonage’s technology offers substantial benefits to customers, including:

Huge cost savings
Increased functionality
Improved call quality
Free calls to other Vonage subscribers
Improvements in employee productivity and mobility
Service portability, wherever broadband is available

The company continues to enhance its service and features. “Offering Vonage in our stores enables us to provide a new service to a rapidly growing base of customers who are also broadband subscribers,” said Ron Baime, senior vice president, general merchandise manager of audio, video and technology for Circuit City Stores, Inc. “The relationship with Vonage is a new business opportunity, which allows Circuit City to further our efforts of offering a wide range of products and services to meet the needs of our customers.”