Comcast Digital Voice Broadband Phone Service Vs. IDT Phone Service

Cutting Edge Next Generation Versus a New Kid Trying Out an Old Path

For some time, I had Comcast Digital Voice, a broadband Internet phone service that offers a wide variety of benefits including free long distance, voice mail, caller ID, call waiting with caller ID, and other features included in the $39.95 monthly price. There are not many regular analog companies that could compare to the completeness of the feature list of Comcast Digital Voice. Unfortunately, Comcast Digital Voice had several profound drawbacks that led me to search for an alternative.

After reviewing several options, I decided to choose IDT, a service I first saw being advertised on the side of a bus riding through Philadelphia. IDT offered regular residential service with free long distance included for $39.95, the same price as Comcast Digital Voice. Of course, since Comcast Digital Voice is administered via the Internet, there are some service fees and related charges that Comcast Digital Voice does not charge that a traditional phone company, like an IDT, would be required to charge.

Moreover, some of the features included in Comcast’s Digital Voice, like voice mail and call forwarding, is not included in IDT’s price. They charge extra; for example, voice mail is an additional $2.95, and so forth. If you wanted to have the exact same package with IDT that you could obtain from Comcast Digital Voice, you could easily spend an extra $10.