The Verizon Hub: Home Phone 2.0
The Verizon Hub turns your family phone into a modern-day communication center.
The new Verizon Hub was not what I was looking for on a recent trip to the Verizon store. I desperately need to replace my wireless phone, which has developed a mind of its own -- evidenced by it continuous dialing of my contact list, randomly... and on its own. I walked into the store, intent on buying a new wireless device that was more phone than computer, and there was the Hub.
Reimagining the landline
At long last, a phone company has brought the home phone into the 21st century. With so many people abandoning their landline phone in favor of their wireless, the home phone is rapidly heading for extinction. So Verizon took the old landline and added the features of a wireless phone, meant for use specifically in the house.
The Hub uses Verizon's Digital Voice service, which is VoIP technology (like Skype). It includes unlimited local and long-distance calling within the U.S., U.S. territories, and Canada, as well as your choice of any area code for your home number. The phone stores up to 128 contacts, with three numbers (i.e. home, work, and cell) for each contact.
The cool stuff
So, enough of the techy stuff... what makes the Hub really cool? It's the features like Messaging, Traffic, Weather, Maps, and Chaperone, easily accessible from widgets on the Hub's screen that really get us excited. The $34.99 monthly service charge includes unlimited messages -- whether text, picture, or video -- to and from any other Verizon Wireless customers. Picture messages can be stored on the Hub's screen, so that it functions like a digital photo frame, or as a background image.
Traffic reports are currently available for 37 metro areas and VZ Navigator is available at no additional charge. If you also have VZ Navigator on your cell phone, you can send an address with turn-by-turn directions from one phone to the other. If not, you'll only receive a text message with the address.
With Chaperone, you can check on the location of your Chaperone Child devices, just as you can as the Chaperone registered Parent on your wireless phone. Again, there is a monthly charge for the service on the wireless phones, but not for the Parent phone or Hub. You simply log on, locate your Child devices, and then view them on a map on the Hub's screen. Security and relief right at your fingertips.
There's so much else to tell you about the Hub, including the easy display for missed calls, messages and voicemail; the ability to watch movies and videos through VCast; and even the ringtone capability. Your best bet is to check it out online or in a Verizon Wireless store.
The Verizon Hub will definitely be on your gift list -- for gifts you give to yourself!