While home phone service lacks the sizzling sex appeal of a new iPhone 5, Time Warner Cable has added some new features to its VoIP service.
Time Warner Cable has added VoiceZone to its home phone service, which ties in the phone service to home computers, TVs and mobile devices. VoiceZone is free to Time Warner Cable customers that subscribe to its phone and voicemail services.
While Time Warner Cable has had features such as Caller ID on TV enabled for years, the latest additions add more functionality across more devices. According to a blog post by Ingrid Simunic, Time Warner Cable developed the new features internally.
VoiceZone Connect is a downloadable app that gives customers control over their home phone features from their Windows PC or Mac. Customers can see incoming call notifications with Caller ID, send calls directly to voicemail, forward calls to a different number, or ignore the calls and stop the phone from ringing.
VoiceZone Connect also includes visual voicemail, which lets customers view their messages and listen to them in any order; see a list of recent incoming calls and a contacts list for storing names and numbers for frequent contacts; and “click to call,” so they can initiate a call from a home phone to any number displayed in a call log, visual voicemail or contacts list.
Another new app is VoiceZone on TV, which gives customers control of their home phone service from their Time Warner Cable TV remote control devices. VoiceZone on TV adds to Caller ID on TV by enabling customers to use their remotes to send a call to voicemail or ignore the call. Either action stops the phone from ringing.
Customers can also turn on “no calls now,” which prevents any further phone interruptions by turning off the ringers on all home phones, as well as Caller ID prompts until a TV show ends. After the show is over, the phone service returns to normal and notifies customers of any missed calls or new voicemail messages.
Like VoiceZone Connect, for select set-top boxes, VoiceZone on TV also provides visual voicemail and lets customers play messages in any order through the TV and, with a press of the remote, return the call.
When customers are away from home or on their mobile phones, VoiceZone is also accessible from the My TWC app for iPhone and Android devices. The My TWC app has been updated to include access to visual voicemail, a list of incoming calls and the ability to manage call forwarding for home phones.
