AT&T CallVantage VOIP Marketing Effort a Dud?
Let me just start out by saying that I've been a very happy AT&T CallVantage VOIP customer for the past nine months. While it's only been about a year since the CallVantage roll out, it turns out that AT&T nipped the VOIP marketing campaign in the bud, just months after it was launched. That nipping may have lead to the marketing effort's dud status.
I was perturbed after reading an article on news.com. Concerned that my VOIP service of choice was about to go by the wayside, I buckled down and updated the geekbooks.com VOIP Plan Comparison, with 36 VOIP plans from 9 vendors.
But finding a replacement for the service only served to stoke my inquisitive nature. I wanted to know why CallVantage was on the rocks. And I wasn't about to settle for a reporter's interpretation of an analyst's opinion. I wanted to do my own homework.
Putting on my Jimmy Olsen hat, I went to the SEC's EDGAR database to see if I could dig out the AT&T document that was referenced in the article. After a bit of sleuthing, I found AT&T's 10-K, filed on March 10th, 2005.
Here's the passage that spells out the CallVantage VOIP subscriber tally:
We currently offer our AT&T CallVantage(SM) VoIP services to consumers
wanting area codes and local numbers in portions of 39 states and the District
of Columbia. The service offers enhanced information services, including
advanced call management capabilities and special web-based features. Although
our decision on July 22, 2004 to shift away from mass market services has
curtailed our ability to market this product, as of December 31, 2004 we had
approximately 53 thousand AT&T CallVantage VoIP services customers.
Now I'll agree that 53,000 customers has to be a disappointment. But I was taken back by the "curtailed our ability to market this product" statement. So I pulled down the brim of my cub reporter's hat and went back to work. It wasn't tough. Tracking the company's consumer VOIP marketing efforts is a snap when you can simply peruse the database of press releases.
Here's what the string of PR looked like from the Spring of 2005 through the end of the year:
- April 19, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to New York
- April 26, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Boston Area
- May 17, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Serve The
Western United States
- May 27, 2004 - AT&T Adds New Features and Enhances AT&T CallVantage
Service
- June 3, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Atlanta Area
- June 3, 2004 - AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Chicago Area
- June 14, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Expands to Serve 10 Major
Markets in Florida
- June 30, 2004 - AT&T Continues National Deployment of AT&T
CallVantage Service
- July 12, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in 100 Major
Markets
- July 19, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available in New Hampshire
- July 19, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Available In Northern
Kentucky
- August 19, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Expands to 21 New Markets
in Seven States in Nationwide Deployment
- August 20, 2004 - AT&T to Spur Growth of AT&T CallVantage Service
- August 25, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Online@Amazon.com
- September 1, 2004 - AT&T to Offer AT&T CallVantage Service
with Adelphia High-Speed Internet Access
- September 15, 2004 - AT&T Adds More Advanced Calling Features to
AT&T CallVantage Service
- September 29, 2004 - Circuit City Signs On To Sell AT&T CallVantage
Service
- October 11, 2004 - Linksys to Deliver New Home Networking Options for
AT&T CallVantage Service
- October 13, 2004 - TigerDirect.com Now Marketing AT&T CallVantage
Service
- November 8, 2004 - AT&T CallVantage Service Now Offered Online
At Buy.com
- November 10, 2004 - Office Depot to Market AT&T CallVantage Service
- November 30, 2004 - Home for the Holidays With AT&T CallVantage
Service
- December 16, 2004 - AT&T Makes AT&T CallVantage Service "Family
Friendly"
If they stopped marketing after July 22nd, it would be tough to tell. Perhaps it will just take a bit of time for the SBC merger to settle down before they begin to actively market CallVantage once again. Perhaps not. That's why I'm glad I updated my VOIP Plan chart ...
Posted by geekbooks at March 18, 2005 07:30 PM
