Vonage has sued AT&T for trademark infringement, alleging that the name of AT&T's newly launched VoIP service (CallVantage) is confusingly similar to its company and product name.
In its lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, Vonage alleges that AT&T is infringing on its name by launching a VoIP service called CallVantage. Vonage also accusied AT&T of cybersquatting for having filed a series of domain names that it says are similar to those owned by Vonage. Those Web addresses include variations on "callvontage" in the .com, .net and .biz domains.
Wow! Talk about your David vs. Goliath battles. This is great news for the VoIP / Internet telephony industries. No doubt with AT&T’s entry into the broadband VoIP space, the smaller players (Vonage) included have to be a little worried. I personally don’t see the similarity between Vonage and CallVantage. If you were to say the worth CallVantage to me, I would NOT think of Vonage. Actually when I hear the word CallVantage I would think of another company & product – that is Artisoft’s PC-based PBX, which is called TeleVantage and ironically also supports VoIP!
So I don’t agree with Vonage on that aspect of the lawsuit. But I will say I am a bit suspicious of AT&T’s domain registrations. www.callvontage.com? C’mon that’s a bit fishy AT&T. Play nice with the little fishies!! It’s hard not to root for the little guy against that big behemoth known as AT&T. I wish you luck Vonage, but if you do lose the lawsuit, no worries – you have a great product. I’m both a fan and a user of Vonage.
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It’s easy to tell the difference between AT&T and Vonage
VONAGE SERVICE SUCKS
In June 2004, I paid $70 for a Vonage kit; it seems they are free now. It was an employment requirement that I get high speed internet and VoIP. It took two days of aggravation and tech support before we determined the first Vonage box was defective. I returned to Best Buy for a replacement kit. Due to the multiple attempts with the defective kit, I had trouble with the activation. The IT guru at my employers home office took charge and dealt directly with Vonage to get the system working. It took four days to get service. I quickly got over the initial problems and for 7 months had few problems and issues. My bill was always paid by my employer via credit card and since the IT guy had set up the activation I never bothered (nor needed) logging on to my account. A few weeks after terminating my employment, the phone was turned off (outgoing calls) for lack of payment. I attempted to pay my bill online but could not access my account. I contacted Vonage Tech services (40 minuet wait) to get the password altered in order to log on and set automatic credit card payment but it seemed I needed the original password to change the password. After offering proof of purchase (receipt) as well as the MAC id of the Vonage and my computer to prove ownership I was insulted by the tech rep when he implied that I was trying to steal the phone. I will never forget his sarcastic laugh. Furious, I gave up and contacted sales (5 minuet wait). I explained the whole story again. I was offered two choices.
A) Ask an ex employer (unhappy that I quit) to call (hold for 40 minuets) tech support to authorize me to have my phone number.
B) Wait for Vonage to send me a new box and lose my old number.
I was originally sold on the concept that I would have the same number wherever I went and yet here I was about to lose that very number (given to dozens of friends and hundreds over the internet).
I was told “sir, if your account is that important to you, you will find a way to get your former employer to contact us. I replied that it should be their concern to maintain me as an account.
Faced with no option but a new account, I did just that. I am now a happy customer of AT&T Callvantage. Vonage will need to work on their “service after the sale” before I would ever recommend them to anyone. AT&T has a better product (more features) and better service.
i am a very dissatified person who tried vonage for 1 month free but i live in a area where we have a monopoly i tried to explain i could not use their service because my phone an internet service were coming through the phone. lines if i canceled my phone service i would be disconected on my internet service and no one else will service this area for internet service vonage refuesd to let me cancel my service and is still takining money from my checking account i am paying for somthing i cannot use any one who can give me advice on what to do please help.
It just goes to show a local provider maybe a better option when choosing a VoIP provider. Always there to answer the phone and happy to help.
I too live in an area where a local firm has a monopoly over it's town (HULL UK)
Hopefully we can provide a better service.