Rogers launches two line wireless service

Rogers Wireless wants you to mix business with pleasure, and its new Second Voice Line Service could help customers with two devices shave almost 50% off their monthly wireless expenses. The media and communications conglomerate unveiled the service on Tuesday and is a first in Canada. The service enables Rogers Wireless customers to have two phone numbers on one mobile phone. Users could manage their personal life on one line, for example, and conduct business on the other without having to fumble between two phones. "We think this will be really popular with small to medium size businesses, which is our initial target," said new service and market launch director, Reade Barber, during a demonstration at his Toronto office. Users, particularly business users, will be able to consolidate multiple numbers of a single device as a result of number portability. "If you've had a business line for 10 years and you want to keep it, you can actually take that traditional landline number that's on all your business cards and port that number onto your cell phone," explained Barber enthusiastically.Road warriors can also opt for two different Canadian area codes. But long distances charges will still apply. "From a long distance perspective, it's like having two phones," cautions marketing director, Pippa Van Dam. That said, it will ease long distance charges when you're physically conducting business in more than one city and will help reduce your family's and customers' long distance charges when calling you.Charges that would typically apply for two devices will only be assessed once to subscribers of the service. For example, the system access fee, voicemail and call display can be used on the second line at no additional cost. Rate plans start at $20 per month per line.The system is actually quite intuitive. When receiving a call, the screen will display a "1" or a "2", depending on which line is being called. Certain handset models will even allow users to name the lines, such as "business" and "personal". Users can select the line from which they want to make a call, and this will be the active line until you change it again. There are two voicemail boxes, but messages can be retrieved through the same access process. The plans are available on more than 120 devices, including the BlackBerry Curve, Treo 650 and 680 and all handsets currently sold in Rogers' retail stores.Over the course of the next week, I'll be testing the service and will report back my impressions on its convenience and usability.

Rogers launches two line wireless service

News | 08/23/2007 4:09 pm EDT

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