Ball State University might have access to Comcast Corp.'s Web-based phone service in late June or early July, when the service is expected to reach Muncie.
The phone service, called Digital Voice, provides users with a variety of features, including unlimited local and domestic calls, caller ID, voice mail, call waiting services and battery backup to keep the phone line running up to eight hours during power outages.
Comcast is joining the crowd of major cable television and telephone companies venturing into Internet-based phone services. The company has tested its technology, known as Voice over Internet Protocol, in its home base of Philadelphia; in Springfield, Mass., and in Indianapolis. It is the last of the major cable companies, such as Cablevision Systems and Cox Communications, to lay out details of its VoIP plans.
O'Neal Smitherman, vice president for information technology, said one of the primary benefits of VoIP is it allows users to take the service with them wherever they are.
"It makes the phone service attach to the person rather than the location," Smitherman said. "There are huge advantages, many of which we haven't realized yet."
Customer account executives at Comcast's call center in Indianapolis said Comcast differs from other cable companies because it uses a fiber-optic cable line that can support multiple services -- the television, Internet and phone.
Although the company's focus is now on VoIP, it will not force customers of the old phone service to switch over as the company rolls out the new service, Bob Smith, senior director of corporate communications at Comcast, said to Network News Fusion.
Comcast, Ball State's main provider for cable and Internet, has not necessarily talked with the university yet about the VoIP, Smitherman said.
"I don't know what implications it will have for Ball State," Smitherman said. "I'm sure when options become available, the university will consider them."
When Comcast's Web-based phone service comes to Muncie, students will benefit because of the unlimited calls, the convenience of having one bill for their Comcast services and the ability to keep their current phone numbers, account executives said. In addition, because Comcast users do not have to worry about major contracts or obligations, they are able to make changes to their Comcast service without a hassle, the executives said.
The installation process for the new Comcast service will not affect students' access to their computers or television. Phone lines will work all the way up until the new ones are installed, which is expected to take between 30 minutes and one hour.
Students most likely will receive some kind of promotional deal at the beginning of the Digital Voice setup, executives said. In Indianapolis, for example, new users already receive a discounted rate of $33 a month for three months. After the three-month period, regular rates kick in.
Comcast charges a regular rate of $40 a month for its Digital Voice service, although the price is available only to consumers who buy cable television and high-speed Internet service as well. For customers taking only one other service, the price will be $45. Comcast also offers a stand-alone Digital Voice package for $55 a month, almost identical to Verizon's unlimited local and national phone plan.
The company anticipates future features including unified voice-mail and e-mail, customized ring tones, caller ID information that appears on the television when a call comes in, voice-activated dialing and eventually a videophone capability, according to Network World Fusion.
Comcast expects to expand its new service into 20 markets this year, and by the end of 2006, the phone service will be available across Comcast's entire network.
As Comcast prepares to expand its new Web-based phone service to Muncie within the next few months, executives anticipate a positive response from Ball State students. With the installation period set for late June or early July, executives are trying to ensure Comcast's new Web-based phone service will be available before fall so students will reap the benefits as they embark on the new school year.
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