If you live in a Comcast cable market, then you’ve seen the Comcast digital voice commercials touting “digital clarity” and flat fee dialing in North America. If you know even a little about Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephony, then you know that the “new” digital phone service Comcast advertises is nothing more than VOIP. And at this point, you’re probably thinking, “What’s the big deal?”

Comcast swtiching phones from copper to VOIP

Comcast originally offered traditional phone service using existing copper phone wire which they inherited during their acquisition of AT&T Broadband back in 2002. Customers that signed up for Comcast phone back then had a traditional copper wire phone. Now that Comcast is offering “digital phone service” (a.k.a. VOIP phone service) the company is migrating existing copper wire customers over to the new technology whether they want it or not. And that is the big deal.

The big deal is the stuff they don’t tell you

Most customers don’t understand VOIP phone service and therefore have no idea that when they were moved from copper wire to VOIP the switch brought with it a new set of service restrictions:

• If the cable goes out, so too does the telephone.
• If you lose power, your phone only lasts as long as the installed battery backup. Usually about 8 to 10 hours but depending on the actual talk time it could be shorter.
• Rechargable batteries don’t last forever. When the backup battery no longer holds a charge, Comcast will replace it but not until someone tells them it’s dead. Obviously, most customers won’t know the backup battery has died until it’s too late.
• According to the terms of service, the “digital” phone may not function due to network congestion, network/equipment failure, or another technical problem.
• Comcast recommends that in hurricane prone areas, digital voice customers should also have a “traditional hard-wired phone on standby.” So tell again the benefit of “digital” phone service.

I love VOIP! I just wish Comcast explained all of the “gotchas”

I’m not anti-VOIP phone service. I love my Vonage phone but it is my business line for home. If cable goes out, no big deal. I still have a “traditional hard-wired phone.”

The problem I have with Comcast’s digital voice service is that the average person is not made completely aware of what they are getting into. My father-in-law was one such person. All he could talk about was the great savings he was going to realize with the new service. He had no idea about the battery backup, nor the conditions under which he might lose phone service.

For most people, the “big savings” gets them every time. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Comcast should do a better job educating their customers before they switch them. I believe, however, that the “lack of education” is intentional. Think about it — most customers wouldn’t switch if they knew the downside.

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