Call Assistant fee???

[credit]

I just signed up for this Verizon Call Assistant because it said it was free. Now I am worried that I didn't read the fine print well enough and they are going to charge me for something. Is there an extra charge for this service??? Did I miss something??

[hydroron]

That's what I want to know. Does Call assistant cost something or is it really free?

[Justin46]

I have had Call Assistant for several months and have never beeen billed anything for it (and I check my bill very closely every month). So, at least for now, it really is free. As far as I know, Verizon does not have any plans to charge for it, but I suppose they could do so sometime in the future, and if they do I will probably discontinue it unless it is something trivial like $1/month.

Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.5.0
Keller, TX

[hydroron]

I decided to contact Verizon directly to make sure. They tell me there is no charge and that they know of no plans to charge in the future.

[credit · Accepted solution]

So far they have not charged me a fee. I have my bill in front of me and it lists Verizon Call Assistant on it, but the charge is $0.00. I wouldn't put it past these clowns to start billing me at any point so I am going to look at it every month. So for now I will say that it is free.

[credit]

They haven't charged me yet. So I am going to say it is free for now.

It is pretty cool though. I downloaded the call assistant to my desktop and now I can tell whenever someone calls my home #....my wife doesn't know this and I am never going to tell.

[Justin46]

credit,

Yeah, it is kinda neat, the popup shows up 1 to 2 seconds before the phone actually starts ringing. But they have some things they need to work on:

1) It needs at least an option to display on the TVs. It is pretty useless if I am sitting in the easy chair, not at my desk.

2) The popup does not stay on the screen long enough, I see it, and just about get to read it, when it disappears. There should be an option for me to decide how long I want the popup to stay.

3) I like to have the application window in the lower left of my screen. However, when I start the application, it always comes up in the middle of the screen. It should have an option to remember where it was the last time it was used, and automatically position intself there.

4) I like to have the list of calls displayed all of the time. When it starts now, there are no calls displayed, I have to click the phone icon to get the list. There should be an option to automatically display the call list.

5) When I park the application in the lower left, I can see a small part of that window the way I have my screen set up. But clicking on the exposed portion of the window does not bring it to the front of other windows, I have to click on the icon on the Task Bar to get it to display. This should be fixed.

6) You can only delete one call at a time. There should be an option to select multiple calls for deletion (like you can with the browser-based part of Call Assistant).

7) I understand you can have it active on only one PC at a time. I have never tried multiple, but we have several PCs in the house, I should have the option for it to work on any PCs I want, concurrently.

There are probably a number of other enhancements they can make, I put my requests in to the Call Assistant Help Desk quite a while ago, nothing yet, but I can always hope....or does anyone out there know how to fix any of the issues I have listed?

Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.5.0
Keller, TX 

[markhil]

How do you signup to get call assistant ?  I called VZ and they did not know anything about call assistant.  Also is call assistant available for residential or is it only for small business ?

[hydroron]

Here's the URL to sign up: https://www22.verizon.com/callassistant/

[markhil]

I went to the page for Call Assistant but there was no link to signup.  I called Verizon and they said the Call Assistant service is suspended in my area (Philly suburbs).  Don't if it's just my area or nationwide.

[Justin46]

I don't think it is nationwide, I have it active on my PC right now and it logged a call a short time ago.

When you go to the link posted earlier, you don't see the "Activate Your Verizon Call Assistant Account" link right under the login? I see it there, and at that point I am not signed in so I presume it doesn't know where I am. I clicked on it and it started the sign-up process, wanted my phone number. Huh???? Strange....

Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.5.0
Keller, TX

[markhil]

When I try to register I got this,called the busines office and was told it's not available.        We are sorry. You have not ordered Verizon Call Assistant,     
or your order has not been processed yet.       If you have already ordered Verizon Call Assistant, you will
receive an email notification when the order has been
completed.       If you have not yet ordered Verizon Call Assistant, please
contact the Verizon Business Office.      

[hydroron]

I'm up and running. Got the letter about signing up and the download went smooth. sonce my phone is on a Freedom account, Verizon said there's no cahrge.

[markhil]

It finally became available in my area a few days ago.  I'm up and running now on several different PC.  Cool program.

[Bolt]

I agree it's a cool feature.  Enterprise phone systems have offered similar internet links for call traffic/voicemail for some time, but extending it to residential phones promises to be very useful.

When I signed up, I also recall that Verizon indicated the feature is free, and I'm reassured that is the case by earlier responses (thanks for the research).  (I, too, subscribe to the Freedom Essentials service).  But I do think that the confirmation letter I received from Verizon a few days ago, signed by Edward L. Googe, Director, Voice Product Management, is confusing on this score (which, in my experience, is quite characteristic of written communications from Verizon).  The letter identifies the new service (Verizon Call Assistant), and then states: "All monthly service charges are billed one month in advance . . . [Y]our first bill will include both charges for the upcoming month of service and the pro-rated charge for the first partial month of service . . ."

If Verizon offers customers a free service, why would it then send them a confirmation letter with an extended discussion of how fees for the service will be billed?  Frankly, careless, neglectful, confusing and/or inaccurate statements such as this in Verizon's letters are surprisingly poor business practice.  Verizon seems to have a poorly designed system for internally tracking and classifying the billing categories into which its customers fall, and sometimes fails to customize customer communications appropriately and accurately as a result.

[Justin46]

Bolt,

I signed up for Call Assistant on Aug 3rd. I have received several bills from Verizon since then, nothing appears on the bill related to Call Assistant, my bill is exactly what I think it should be. Also, the letter I received from Verizon confirming my adding Call Assistant clearly says the "Monthly Rate" for the service is".00". My letter was not signed by anybody though, FWTW.

I agree, the way the letter is worded, Verizon could at some time in the future decide to charge for the service, but if they do I think they have to give you at least a 30 day advance notice, and like I suspect many would, I would immediately call and cancel. I think the wording in the letter is just boilerplate, standard stuff for any order, free or not. I like the service, but it is not worth any extra money to me to have it.

Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.0, Build 06.89
Keller, TX